Path of the Fire: The Road to Anywhere

Hello beautiful Path of the Fire followers and thanks for coming back after such a long period without me updating the blog... I'm glad to feel you here. It's been almost 2 months since the nearly 1 year "sabbatical" concluded for me and I've reimursed myself into the world of modern civilization...Western style ;) But more on that in a moment. I believe we left off working our way through Cambodia, seeing the stimulating sights and sounds of the capital Phnom Penh; visiting the ancestoral living and worshipping places, temples of Beng Melea and Angkor Wat and taking one last amazing cycling trip through the Cardamom mountains in SE Cambodia...Awesome!! The capital was cool...lots of great international and traditional food, great massages, friendly people and of course cycling through the city seeing the huge Royal Palace, cool statues, the bustling nightlife and great open markets with as many souvenirs as 2 people could pack into their cycling panniers...alot. From the capital we hit the ocean and from there back into the mountains...we entered the Cardamoms on a small dusty road, with a map, each other and high spirits. We spent the days soaking in creeks, listing to the songs of birds and the footsteps of elephants, worked our way through small wayout villages with curious smiling people and ate traditional rural culinary delights such as fried spiders and roasted crickets :) By night we camped deep among the trees with flourecent fireflys, sensational starlit skies, campfires that made shadows from our silhouettes and inspired us to dance around the soaring flames, and just each other ...sharing space with all the mysterious creatures of the night. I'll never forget those times and those moments, together in body and spirit as we intertwined on a journey of discovery, renewal and awareness...thank you Kaleb. Some parts of the trip were literally off trail, as we followed dry season riverbeds up and over mountainsides pushing our bikes and luggage, as well as taking ourselves to the edge of physical and mental limits... it was very challenging and with that came a deep sense of fulfillment. After ~ 150kms of unbelievable adventure we popped back into civilization and hooked up with a small river boat that took us back to the road to nowhere. Back to the capital shortly and then off to Siem Reap where we ate, shopped and hit the trails of temples to reflect back to the days of old...seeing incredible architecture and solid stone reclaimed by Mother Earth. Some of the larger temples, i.e. Angkor Wat was cool but very touristy and a bit overwhelming...however, we did find treasures such as Beng Melea where we climbed among the temple ruins and swung from huge vines, which were slowly taking back the borrowed space,....Indian Jones style!! Kaleb and I finished out the last of our trip in Southern Thailand which was sunny, sandy, seductive and sumptious; with many days spent scuba diving around the Similan Islands, walking barefoot on the shores of deserted islands, enjoying the alluring visual pleasures of so many beautiful people and stuffing ourselves with fresh and copious amounts of Southern style Seafood!! There was one particularly heart pounding event that occured while we were on a 3 day liveaboard scuba diving trip about 100 kms off shore. We had just finished our afternoon dive when the crew, wide eyed and with palpable anxiety told us that a 8.2 earthquake had just occured in Indonesia a few hundred miles from where we were. This was the area of Thailand that had suffered devestating destruction back in the Boxing day Tsunami of 2008. Thankfully after several tense hours we heard the all clear and everyone was all relieved to know that no giant waves would be rolling towards us...we were however near an offshore Island which I thought was high enough to climb out of rising water levels in case of an emergency...so? We spent our last 2 days living it up and partying down in Bangkok as we said our last goodbyes to great food, massages, as well as the travelers philosophy of cheap and easygoing living...Welcome back to Westernized reality...Ouch :)
Well friends, I'm both happy and sad, ready and not to be back ...and I keep trying to remind myself that wherever I am, whoever I am with and however I choose to see the world I can find the peace I desire right here in my heart, right now. This Path of the Fire has rekindled an ancient connection within my spirit and to the spirits around me, I create the world I wish to see and my search for happiness will keep me going until I draw my last breath from the winds of wisdom. I've enjoyed returning to see my long lost loved ones, with their smiling faces and their stimulating energies...their passions for life, their moments of insanity and the emotions those bring with them. Each situation offering me an opportunity to practice patience, hold space and appreciate the uniqueness and commonalities that we all share. I'm soon to leave Texas and head back to Seattle to work for a couple of months...and then I'll begin my first longterm foray into the wilderness of washington's Olympic Mountains. I should head in around the end of August and if things follow my intentions I should be reemerging in Feburary or March..if not my spirit will be free to roam among the beauties of this Earth, my Mother...the giver, the provider, the nurturer and the teacher...as well as among the other members of my spirit family.
And for you my wonderfully loving followers of the Path of the Fire, I wish you peace and love, happiness and life. Search yourself each day, find a new journey to begin and a new chance to grow, share your passions and your life with others through the beauty of yourself. Plant the seed of laughter and joy within your heart, see the Godliness that is within you and that connects us all to the great spirits of this Universe. Find your own Path of the Fire...your Path of Enlightenment...let it shine to all corners of the World...like a ripple from a raindrop spreading from your heart to the spirit that connects us all. Namaste, your friend...Will :)>

william.mcdonald@bastyr.edu

The journey of a thousand miles, begins with one push of the petal :)>