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A flight, bus, and a ferry boat took us clear off the mainland and out into the Gulf of Thailand, to a very special place in Aphyna’s personal mythology: Koh Phangan (pronounced KOH pang-ON), home to almost the complete spectrum of human existence: from the legendary Full Moon Parties on Haad Rin beach, where thousands gather every full moon from around the world to get completely wasted on the full pantheon of intoxicating substances, to completely isolated spiritual communities in the electricity-free northeast jungle, to Yoga and Healing centers on the northwest beaches, to tree-covered mountains dotted with hidden waterfalls in the heart of the island, to macrobiotic and raw vegan restaurants situated between street vendors serving pork satay and massaman curry, to the week-long Detox program that Aphyna did on her visit last year – Phangan is a tropical microcosmic reflection of humanity. Plus coconuts.
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| Goodbye Mainland! |
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| Gorgeous sunsets on the beach at Ananda detox center |
We started with the Detox. 7 days, no solid food. 1 coconut water (from a freshly opened green coconut of course), 1 carrot juice, and 1 vegetable broth with cayenne and lime juice; 5 “detox shakes” of psyllium husk (a super fiber source) and bentonite clay (a super toxicity absorber) per day; a regiment of herbal nutrition supplements to help our bodies facilitate the cleansing and releasing processes (and to keep us from passing out standing up); and 2 “colemas” a day, basically a natural enema process that helps rehydrate and clear the colon (more details on request). Sounds pretty grueling? Like digestive boot camp! Well, the salt-water swimming pool, herbal steam room, daily massages, evening yoga classes, and beach sunsets helped a lot – whenever we had the energy to do them! Seriously, it was quite an adventure, but really an internal one; we really didn’t leave the detox center for the entire week. And we didn’t need to! We both felt like we hit the reset button on our digestive systems, but after forgoing food for 7 days, we were ready to eat again – man did we miss thai food!
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| Our first meal after the fast - the best watermelon of my life. |
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| Good Lord I was STARVING. I've never been so excited to eat! |
And we missed COOKING! So we found a bungalow, right next to some dear dear friends of Aphyna’s from Australia, Lauren (whom she met on Koh Phangan last year!) and Matteo, with a little kitchen that looked out onto the sloping coconut palms leading down to the beach, and chickens pecking around the backyard where we threw our kitchen scraps. The owner even made daily coconut milk and sticky rice for us! It was heavenly.
The two weeks we spent there flowed by swiftly because we filled them with joy and love; whether we were snorkeling in Salad Bay, practicing Asanas at Agama Yoga, getting our astrological birth charts read, listening to Eckhart Tolle audiobooks, meditating on the patio listening to whispering coconut palms, working on our Acro-Yoga on the beach, drinking matcha tea at Aphyna’s favorite coffee-shop, eating endless fresh tropical fruits and stir-fried veggies with thai noodles (bought from the BEST street veggie market I’ve ever been to), having little dinner dates with Lauren and Matteo, or just driving around the island and being awestruck at the incredible beauty of it all – we were in paradise.
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| Bungalow sweet bungalow!! |
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| The view out of our kitchen window - like a dream come true. |
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| Our little patio, site of many a delicious fruit breakfast |
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| Like this! |
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| And this! |
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| Haad Salad, our home beach, just a 2 minute barefoot walk from our doorstep |
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| We had no idea what half these veggies were, but everything was delicious! |
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Not a bad day at the market - for 20 bucks! Handmade noodles, homemade coconut oil, rambutans...
We did some big stuff, too: I got my PADI SCUBA open-water certification (which Aphyna got in Jordan), even though there were a few days of wild winds from the tail-end of a tropical storm in the Philippines that kept the boats from leaving the dock; I had to do 4 open-water dives down to 6 meters, and we managed to get them all in on the last day before we left, even though the visibility was barely 1 meter – I could hardly see my own fins! But that didn’t stop me from being completely blown away by diving, and how incredible it is to breathe, move, and BE underwater! I can’t recommend it enough; it was like transforming into a totally different creature! |
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| Hiking in the jungle with Lauren and Matteo - we got pretty lost, but we did find a great spot for a picnic |
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| Perfect day for sitting on the beach! And for some acro-yoga, too... |
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| Dinner Party! Nothing like 7 days of fasting to inspire you to make huge meals |
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| Aphyna and I transformed into our Atlantean personae, ready to take the plunge!! |
I also did my level 2 Reiki initiation at a very special healing center, Orion, where Aphyna also did hers last year! We are now both Reiki practitioners, and we’re both excited to share our Reiki with friends and family. It’s a beautiful Japanese healing art in which the practitioner channels Reiki, which literally means “Universal Life Energy”, to heal the person receiving the treatment. It’s meditative and a powerful practice that can have really astounding effects, healing on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. If you’re interested, we will be starting to give Reiki sessions professionally when we return, and we’d love to share this gift with you!
We decided to spend the last few days of our trip, from December 22nd to the 26th, on the even more idyllic island of Koh Tao (“Turtle Island”), Phangan’s neighbor to the north. Famous for its incredible SCUBA diving, we thought it would be the perfect place to end our trip, with a few dives now that we were both certified, a bungalow on the beach, and a lovely and relaxing Christmas celebration! Even our friends Lauren and Matteo decided to come join us especially for Christmas Eve and Day, which just made our last few days the crown jewel of our trip. Especially because I had a surprise for Aphyna which she never could have imagined… but I’ll let HER tell you about that!
The Proposal (by Aphyna)
It all started when our Australian friends Lauren & Matteo arrived on Koh Tao to spend Christmas Eve and Day with us. Alex left me at the resort while he took the motorbike to pick them up. What should have been a swift 30minutes pick up turned in to 3 hours; little did I know the scheming had begun and all 3 of them were secretly getting everything in order to make this the most beautiful night of my life. The previous night Lauren even feigned catching some sort of tummy bug to give her and Matteo a reason to decline my very enthusiastic invitation for all of us to stay in the same room and have a slumber party Christmas Eve. Sneaky sneaky, they reserved a second room instead.
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| Stunning Sairee beach on Koh Tao |
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| The site of the magic - this tree bore witness to a spectacular tribute to Love! |
Once they arrived we were all more than ready to get an early dinner. After our delicious Thai meal Alex and Matteo decided to head back to the resort early but not before Alex eagerly encouraged Lauren and Me to go get a Christmas Eve massage - he even handed Lauren money to pay for both of us. Still, I sensed nothing aside from a further affirmation that I had the sweetest, most thoughtful boyfriend ever.
Lauren and I didn't make it past the crepe shop. We spent nearly an hour talking over the frothiest cappuccinos and the most delicious nutella crepes. Finally I suggested we go get our massages and Lauren smoothly slipped in a suggestion to do it Christmas day instead because she was feeling too full. Great idea! We walked back to the resort, arms linked tightly. There was an undercurrent of anticipation that I hadn't quite noticed until looking back on that walk home.
First we spotted Matteo and as he walked up to the two of us, arms still linked, I noticed the lit candles scattered outside the room I thought they had reserved for themselves. Then I saw the flowers delicately placed along the steps. I hadn't registered what was going on or even that the carefully designed ambiance was meant for me. I can't even remember what it was Matteo said to me because as soon as I realized this romantic surprise had been intended for me and that our dearest friends were a part of it, a piece of me knew. My heart started pounding. I was in ecstatic disbelief. Matteo led my gaze to the path of candles leading out to the beach. I walked arm in arm with Lauren along the path until I saw the most beautiful vision I've ever seen before: Alex. Waiting for me underneath a tree full of pink flowers on the beach of Choloka Bay.
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| A sight neither of us will ever forget - our oceanside proposal shrine! Of course, the camera does little justice to the beauty of the moment. |
He was wearing his beautiful white linens, with a garland of yellow flowers around his neck. There were candles and more wreaths of flowers gracefully hung from the tree, there was an exquisite arrangement of candles and flowers that encircled us and led a path out to the ocean. As soon as we came together we held each other and both began to cry. I knew exactly what was going on and my heart was glowing and just so full with gratitude for this beautiful, kind, and exquisite man. My insides became a mosaic of giddiness, disbelief, love and deep gratitude. I could feel his heart beating and I could feel how much thought and love had gone into creating this moment, which was already more perfect and radiant than I could have ever dreamed it. He was perfect.
Alex picked up the ukulele and began to play the song he had written for me on my 26th Birthday while we were in India. My tears had not stopped since the moment I saw him but when he started to sing brand new verses in the song, I completely lost it. He was crying too, but still played beautifully to the end -tears and all. When the song ended a silence washed over us. My heart beating was all I heard as butterflies danced inside my ribcage. He turned to put down the ukulele and when he faced me again he was kneeling on one knee with a ring in his hand. "Will you marry me?" He asked with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes.
"Yes, yes yes yes yes." I said as I wrapped my arms around him. Suddenly unexpected clapping and cheering erupted all around us. Neither of us even looked away to see who the audience was - it all just seemed to be part of the divine unfolding, including the unplanned fireworks that went off just after I gave him my answer. We just held each other, kissed, cried, laughed, and shouted with excitement all within this perfect moment that I will never forget. We removed our garlands and ran hand in hand along the flower path and jumped into the warm, tropical ocean, screaming "we're getting married!" and laughing with joy.
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| Photographic evidence that our auras were bright purple. Our first picture as an engaged couple! |
The surprises were not even over yet. Alex informed me that Lauren and Matteo had swapped rooms with us. Alex and I followed the candles back to the room I once thought was intended for our friends and upon entering I was stunned. The entire room was filled with candles and flowers. There was even a buffet of fruits and chocolate set up at one table! It was incredible. Our first night as an engaged couple was truly magical, and we stayed up nearly the entire night giddily talking about our wedding, feeding each other pineapple and many other exotic fruits and rolling around on a bed of flowers, of course. I could not be happier. I feel so incredibly blessed I get to spend the rest of my life with the most wonderful man I have ever met: my soulmate.
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| I think this photo explains itself. |
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| Fruit and chocolate buffets are always a good idea. |
I still cannot believe all the thought and love that went into every little detail - it was all executed perfectly. It was beyond perfect. After we played in the water for a while and experienced calling each other husband-to-be and wife-to-be for the first time we finally came back onto the beach to hug and jump with joy with our amazing friends Lauren and Matteo who knew all along! I just feel so blessed to have such thoughtful, loving people in my life.
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS!
What a perfect note to end our adventure on - both for us and for you! It was, without a doubt, beyond any of our previous conceptions and expectations of what was possible. We grew as individuals, as a couple, and as human beings. We couldn't be more grateful for all the beautiful moments, the challenges, the surprises, the unexpected friendships, the magical gifts and divine interventions. Thank you so much for following us along on our adventures around the world - who knows what will happen next?? We'll keep you updated next time we take off :)
All love and blessings.
Alex "Atman" Freedman
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