Henna Artist and Jungle Creature Mahta visits Phangan during her world tour!

How long have you been on Phangan?
This is my first stop on a tour of south east Asia. My friend and I are doing six countries in six weeks (staying in some more days than others) and I’ll probably come back here for a couple of months.

What are your first impressions of Koh Phangan?
It's a magical place and the whole world is here.  It's naturally so beautiful and full of people with good energy. I come from a small traveller town previous to here but in Central America and before that I was in LA so it's nice to be in an even more relaxed atmosphere.

What do you think of the Phangan party scene?
I think it’s beautiful, Jungle Experience is great because of the collaboration of all the different artists from all over the world. There is a lot of effort gone into these parties and it shows. It all blends so perfectly together and the music is on point. Also had a great time at Mellow mountain, Backyard and Lighthouse.

We met you at the last Jungle with the Alien Sisters, how did you get involved and what did you do?
Luana and I both lived in the same town in Costa Rica, she was there for four years before and right when she left I lived there for four years. We have a lot of mutual friends and I finally met her and her whole family last halloween. So when Thailand called this summer, I bought a oneway ticket and since I knew they were here, I thought this would be my first stop.

I got involved with Jungle Experience through them. I was originally going to be a model but when I was doing my makeup one day they noticed and asked if I could help. I have done makeup for photoshoots and music videos in the past, so it all worked perfect.
I did all the makeup for Oliver's models. Rainbow, Oliver, Cookie, about six people in total.

Your main skill currently is doing henna, what got you into this?
My sister was doing beautiful henna for years on friends and since I lived in a small tourist town, I was trying to figure out how I could work for myself with a low overhead. Finally one day I realised maybe I could do henna, I bought some materials, and it all came naturally. It has been a year and a wonderful experience. I have heard many stories from the people I work on which can be very entertaining. I go to a quiet meditative mode while I'm doing the Henna so it’s good for me and I just sit and listen.

What have you done on Koh Phangan?
I did Henna at Echo Beach hostel then the Friday night fire gathering at Green Gallery and some at SP resort on friends, hopefully I will do Green Gallery again when I come back.
I like the atmosphere at Green because after three days Parties it was nice to sit around a fire and relax, and listen to beautiful music. I like the balance of both worlds.

Will you be using your skills on your big travel to these six countries?
This year I have already done henna in four countries, on three continents. I plan on doing a bit of Henna in every country I go to. Hopefully ten when I am done this year. It's exciting and I'm so blessed to be a real global citizen and an international Henna artist!

What do you want to evolve next with your art?
I just love the opportunity of being able to share and meet people. I honestly have no plans, it just all morphs into shape and gets better and better every year and hopefully it will continue to do so.

What have you been doing in your free time on Koh Phangan?
Honestly, it was raining for the first three days, then we had the smog, then it’s been party non stop so it’s been a whirlwind, from super relaxed to madness back to relaxing again.
I did like secret beach and Chaloklum. I rode around the whole island on a motorbike which is new for me as I come from automobile land. Driving on the other side of the road can also be a challenge.
I love the Thong Sala night market too. I pretty much eat there all the time, l love all the different options.

What is your life philosophy?
Good thoughts, good words, good deeds and that the only way in life is the truth.
Also my favourite quote is “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to be so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion”.