THE LAST ENTRY OF THIS JOURNAL.
BANGKOK, THAILAND. MONDAY JUNE 21 2010, 1930 HRS. DAY 85.

So... now the time has come to wrap up this three-month experience in the East. My flight leaves tomorrow at 11:40 a.m. and I'll arrive to Hellsinki on Wednesday at 00:25 a.m.

A trip like this provides great possibilities to learn about oneself, and to grow as a person as one gains a whole new perspective on so many things, both esoteric and exoteric. It has been exactly that eye-opening experience which I wanted it to be, and more. There were changes to the original travel plan, many surprising situations I wasn't expecting, and that's just what I wanted also.

I've been constantly surprised by how friendly people in South-East Asia are and I don't know what it is that attracts me especially in Thailand… could it have something to do with the fact that Thailand is one of the only countries in Asia that hasn't been colonised? I don't know, I just know that this is an amazing place and that I really wouldn't feel like leaving.

It has been very interesting to take some part in Theravada Buddhist way of everyday life. Even with the inevitable down-sides with any spiritual tradition which becomes an institution, a religion, I still find this certain kind of harmony in Buddhism which I haven't witnessed anywhere else.

In India I got a some sort of an idea what Hinduism might be in the daily lives of Hindu people. As the iconography and the whole concept of Hinduism is so wide, it can be a bit confusing for a first-timer like me to try to find the wisdom of the ancient Vedic texts from the extreme poverty and the chaotic life of the streets in India. But I saw that both Hinduism and Buddhism are really a living part of people's lives, and I've seen a lot of spiritual devotion and sincerity.

Something I haven't mentioned at all are The Killing Fields and the "S-21" Genocide Museum in Cambodia. And I won't say more except that I highly recommend everyone to visit both of those places.

Probably the biggest contrast I witnessed during this time took place in Cambodia. I thought I was going just into a traditional Apsara dance show, but it turned out to be a shining palace building with the most luxurious international buffet I've ever seen. It was such an overkill to watch a dance show with tourists eating Western food, fat dripping from their mouths, with servants handing me paper in the toilet (!!!) while people outside were literally starving to death, struggling for every meal.

So naturally, some romanticized ideas of the Orient I had before coming here have crumbled down… But in return I've received many more fascinating new discoveries and I've gotten a far better insight into the life in Asia than I could've hoped for.

I conquered the hottest time of the year in South-East Asia, and I survived the record-breaking temperatures in India, so now I feel that I somehow know what a hot climate means.

Now it's time to return to my new home in Sweden, first through Finland though, and to spend the whole summer in the North partying and adventuring! Later this year, both DEATHCHAIN and FORGOTTEN HORROR will release full-lenght albums and then we'll start conquering the gig venues again… So for me this is not just the end of a journey: it's also the beginning for a year - and a decade - full of action!

Here was my journal, Three Months In South-East Asia & India, Part I… to be continued, someday. Until then, stay strong!
Vincit qui se vincit!

THE END.