Debbie's Diary - NOW WITH PICTURES (page 6 of thread) Staying with Darrick, Freelea, Harley et al at The Raw House

OK, so this is ambitious, seeing as I might not even be able to get to an internet cafe while I'm there, but will try to keep you updated. Staying for two weeks. High-fruit (see My Page for more), taking non-raw, non-vegan husband. Neither of us come from an 'eco' lifestyle exactly...Freelea's told me they're not into hairdryers (aagh - won't be able to 'style' my hair, what will I do?? :-)) Have bought a backpack to fit in - very large! In that heat I might make a few yards with it on my back.

Monday 17th August - leaving for London Heathrow in half an hour. We fly to Bangkok, then fly to Koh Samui, meet Georgia and children, then take a boat to Koh Phangan.

Awful night's sleep (as usual, pre-holiday). Dreamt (as usual, pre-holiday) of all travel arrangements going wrong and getting lost in Australia (we are going to Thailand).

Have had green juice (kale, pineapple, celery). Bowels (as usual, pre-holiday) have frozen.

Taking melon and papaya for the journey, but have also booked the 'raw vegetarian' meal option on Thai Airlines as want the full experience!

Done a few last-minute jobs, such as putting out garden waste bin to be collected. Leigh complained last minute he couldn't move it. Told him he should eat more fruit.

Taking two books to read on the plane: Arnold Ehret to finish, and 'Confessions of a Medical Heretic' (Mendelsohnn).

Haven't a clue when I'll be able to write next - hopefully couple of days. Maybe not till the end!

(and feel free, everyone, to add to this thread, including anyone else out there!)

Byeeeeee!!!!!!

(Pictures - on page 6 of the thread).

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dr Gosia O'Reilly on August 17, 2009 at 5:12pm: Oh, this sounds interesting, I look forward to reading your reports! :))); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jasmin on August 17, 2009 at 6:33pm: i would love to be there now... freelea told me that there is internet access, so it should not be a problem. :)

hope to read from you soon!
enjoy!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by blueberry blossom on August 17, 2009 at 8:57pm: Thanks for the blog! I am looking forward to some interesting reads!

Have a safe and pleasant and fruitful journey! And keep us posted! BB; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rawgasm on August 17, 2009 at 9:46pm: Be warn! You cannot hangout with harley and not come out as a different person(for the good or worse); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lei on August 18, 2009 at 2:54am: lol; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by lady on August 17, 2009 at 11:59pm: I am so excited for you! I wish I was going to Thailand...
DR will probably exchange your hairdryer for a fruit tree.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Erthmum♥ on August 18, 2009 at 12:26am: oooh I'm V. Green..with envy. wish i was coming too. Can't wait to read about your fruity adventures.
Travel safely xo; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Snow on August 18, 2009 at 12:56am: How exciting!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lei on August 18, 2009 at 2:54am: Have great fun!! can't wait to read your next post!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by greenghost on August 18, 2009 at 3:49am: Super Cool! Good for you that you can go! Sounds so exciting and fun!
Cheers
PS: interesting reading material :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chloe Bruine on August 18, 2009 at 4:29am: Debbie,

Thanks so much for attempting to give your 30bad buddies a taste of your adventure!

Can't wait to read your next post.

Chloe; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Debbie Took on August 19, 2009 at 4:35pm: HELLO from Koh Phanghan :-)

Yes, there's internet access here, but only via cafes, so updates will be...intermittent!

Right, let's start with the flight - Thai Airways. Don't ever bother going for the 'raw vegetarian' option on Thai Airways! I'd fantasised that it might be an exquisite arrangement of fruits, or perhaps spiralised/beautifully-cut veg, or a sublime salad - perhaps decorated with a flower? Well - none of that malarkey! What I got for lunch was sliced peppers (red, yellow and underripe green), bits of cucumber and tomato, raw carrot, mushrooms, one pasteurised olive, and...a cooked roll, processed sunflower spread, and very processed cheese....needless I say I picked at some of the peppers and veg only. Next meal included a croissand and jam. Really not sure where the 'raw' bit comes in...!

Met Georgia and her gorgeous children, Bhala and Malakai at the stunningly pretty airport at Koh Samui and took a cab to the port where we hung around a long time with around a thousand other backpackers (well, it seemed like it..) and then got a boat (just half an hour) to KP. I could have taken a case actually. Had bought a backpack to 'fit in', but it's so huge I can hardly lift it. Saw some people pulling trolley-cases and wished I had bought mine. (That's for other suburban 'not used to eco travel' people thinking of going over there!).

Anyhow, now down to the important stuff. The beach house is lovely. Just a few footsteps from the beautiful sandy beach, and...HOT sea! Never been in hot sea before. OK - it gets a bit cooler in certain areas, but that was a very strange experience! Lots of palm trees - have to remember not to stand under them - can be fatal. As usual in beautiful hot tropical places, the bees and butterflies are all bigger than in the UK. Beautiful flowers, just growing along the roadside.

First person we met at the raw house was Rich, from New Jersey, and his girlfriend Choi (or maybe Joy?), who is Korean. Both very welcoming and chatty and very accepting of Leigh (not really very raw...). Then Harley dropped in - wonderful Harley...actually not at all strange to meet him in the flesh, as...he's so natural in the videos, when you meet him it's just the same - what you see is what you get! He told me off about my inappropriate footwear (OK - it is a bit daft) and gave us the heads-up for KP newbies. He also told us best not to eat durian on the first day after a long flight and other food or we might get football tummies.

Haven't actually seen Freelea yet. When we arrived she was resting (Harley and Freelea are in a bungalow - having made room for us), and today Leigh and I have gone into town.

In the afternoon Leigh and I went for a walk, and I 'foraged'...well, I suppose it might possibly have been someone's garden. Found some huge things that looked vaguely melon-like - tons of them on the ground so felt one could be spared...haven't opened it yet. And, while Leigh was on the road and I was disappearing into the trees, who should come by on his bike but Harley? Felt very proud.

Later in the day we met Darrick. What a brilliant host he is. He asked us if we'd like a durian feast that evening. Well...ignoring Harley's warning, we decided to go for it! And what a feast. Loads of durians lined up, splitting at the seams at the peak of ripeness, and..also..

MY NOW VERY FAVOURITE FRUIT - the amazing...CHUMPADAK!

Vaguely remember John Coleman mentioning this. A chumpadak looks like a jackfruit, and in fact is a 'type' of jackfruit, but tastes quite different. The flavour....you know how when asked to describe the flavour of a fruit you never can, because...it just tastes OF that fruit and there's nothing else like it? The best I can say is that is just DELICIOUS, is vaguely duriany, sweet, AND also tastes of a savoury cooked soup! It's very substantial, and tastes like a high-fat fruit, but apparently there's no fat in it!

And I'm going to have another one tonight....mmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!

Both durian and chumpadak are such incredibly filling fruits that I think anyone with access to them could very easily go raw without any yearnings for cooked food as they are so...dense, I think would be the right word. And creamy, and....simply amazing. How can they be fruits at atll? But they are.

Last night Leigh slept indoors, as being a non-raw vegan person, the few mozzies around have made a feast of him. I slept on the balcony, the sound of the lapping waves, with Darrick's adopted cat curled up with me.

This morning we've gone into the big town (Thongsaya? Or something like that) and are looking for transport. Toss-up between mopeds (dangerous) and a quadbike thing (not eco-friendly?).

Have just been to the market and bought: Hai Dok Mai mangoes (I think I have two of those words right - posted about them a while back), rambutan, cherimoya, and dragon fruit (the kind with red flesh - never had them before).

The raw house is of course full of bananas (little ones, very sweet). In fact, it occurred to me that when we all talk about consuming 'x' numbers of bananas, we're probably not comparing like with like, as bananas vary so much in size. Some of the ones we get in the UK are four times the size of these (and not nearly as nice).

See ya - Will post again in a few days...if I get time...gosh it's a hard life living in a tropical paradise.; ▶ Reply to This