Sitting Quietly in Thailand

I didn't anticipate being back in Thailand again this soon, but realized I was ready for another dose after the months spent meandering India & Nepal. I was especially interested in practicing the specific method of Vipassana meditation taught at a monastery in northern Thailand, as well as learning the unique form of "yoga massage" common throughout the area. So - I studied and practiced in a spa for a few weeks while preparing for meditation. The meditation retreat took place at Doi Suthep Buddhist Temple - located on top of a nearby mountain outside Chiang Mai. I spent a few weeks living with monks there - mostly in silence & without eating past noon. Days started with meditation at 5:00am - occasionally earlier when the mood struck me. A vegetarian breakfast was served at 6:30am, which typically consisted of a bowl of noodles or rice & vegetables in broth. At 8am each day we had a "Dhamma Talk" by the same monk tasked with teaching us meditation techniques. Vegetarian lunch was at 11am, then the rest of the day is spent meditating. We were invited to join the monks for evening chanting in the main temple, then slept at around midnight. Along with myself were up to a dozen others, mostly foreigners, who were from various, still unknown countries. Seeing as we don't speak to one another, I took it upon myself to name each person according to something they wore or did, typically something that annoyed me. Each meditator had their own room - which came sparsely decorated with 1 thin mattress on the floor, 3 blankets, 1 dense pillow. I thought I had followed what sounded like good advice of having "no expectations" of the experience, but upon arrival learned how drastically different things were from how I had, apparently, expected them. So - that was my first lesson. The rest of what I learned in the following weeks was equally unexpected & surprising. I realize now how one cannot choose what to learn from such an experience. I also discovered a renewed appreciation for sincerity & strictness. Due to the lack of enforcement of the rules, some meditators chose not to follow them. As someone who wanted to gain as much as possible from the experience, that bothered me at times. A lot of things bothered me - which was another lesson about myself. So anyhow, I spent my days walking/pacing extremely slowly for up to an hour, followed by motionless sitting for the same amount of time. The specific meditation style I practiced is called Vipassana/Insight and was developed by a Burmese monk named Mahasi Sayadaw, combined with techniques from a Thai monk named Ajahn Tong. I look forward to practicing & comparing additional styles in the future. I think I'll continue to discover lessons and insight from this experience as I look back on it throughout the coming weeks and months.