Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Up the River to Mandalay (Premium)

Episode Date: September 9, 2020

This is a preview episode. Get the full episode, and many more, ad free, on our supporter's feed: https://getsleepy.com/support. Up the River to MandalayTonight, Tom guides us on a calming boat ride up a tranquil river in Southeast Asia. Relax on the deck and drift off to sleep. 😴  Sound design: calm river.     About Get Sleepy Premium: Help support the podcast, and get: Monday and Wednesday night episodes (with zero ads) The exclusive Thursday night bonus episode Access to the entire back catalog (also ad-free) Premium sleep meditations, extra-long episodes and more! We'll love you forever. ❤️ Get a 7 day free trial, and join the Get Sleepy community here https://getsleepy.com/support. And thank you so, so much.  Tom, and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, Thomas here. You're listening to a preview episode. You can enjoy the entire story tonight by subscribing to our supporters' feed. There you'll get access to the entire back catalogue, bonus episodes, and more, and it's all completely ad-free. Click the link below to learn more and thank you so so much. Me and the team really appreciate your support. It is still dark outside when you and your driver arrive at the Began Myanmar Riverfront. Your chilly and exhilarating journey through the early morning streets, empty of everyone but you, has to get going. The took-took driver helps you down from his sputtering mototaxi and gently shepherd you pitch black, sandy beach, toward a series of lights at the water's edge.

You listen in the darkness to your own footsteps pressing into the damp sound. You realize you can hear the sound of your own heartbeat in your ears as you follow the lights that seem to bob up and down. A few cautious steps more and the inky blackness gives way to a narrow flashlight beam. The light comes from the hand of a young sailor. He smiles at you, directing you toward a wooden gang plank, laid across the lapping tide. With a polite nod, he bids you to enter the waiting boat. You thank the driver as he delivers you safely into the care of your boat's Abel crew. Climbing aboard the 4 deck of the watercraft, you take stock of what little you can see of

your surroundings. You seem to be on a medium-sized river cruiser, draped artfully from bow to stone in glowing light bulbs on a string. You listen to the river's languid waters clap against the boat's sides. It's a calming thud that caresses the ship, beckoning the craft, and you into the river's current. The kindly sailor ushers you through a metal bulkhead, and leads you below deck. You find yourself in the main cabin. Though there are port-hole-style windows that run the length of the cabin, the lights here are still dim and the air is perfectly still.

Rose of well-worn leather seats stretch back to the rear of the craft. stretch back to the rear of the craft. Typically, these seats would hold your fellow passengers. Gapier backpackers perhaps. Or adventure-seeking retirees. But not today. By complete chance, the boat seems to be yours alone. A private ferry to carry you up the enticing waters of the fabled Ayawadi River. In the half darkness, you set a wind to your seat, wrapping yourself up against the lingering call of the river air in a fuzzy windbreaker you keep in your bag. Below your feet you can feel the low rumble of the boat's diesel engines as the captain shifts them into reverse. You fill him steer away from port and into the center of the broad riverway. The sound vibrations radiate up through the souls of your feet. They spread low pulses

across your entire body, like the thump of your own heartbeat or the rustle of breath in your lungs. Soon the boat sweeps a wide turn crossing the current as the captain powers the engines forward. You rest your head up against the foggy window glass and drift back into a gentle half-sleep. Your journey up river is now underway. you