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Article by: Chip Conley|@ChipConley

Fri September 28, 2012 | 00:00 AM


One of my favorite Playa pastimes is jumping on my $50 beat-up bike and riding to the far reaches of Black Rock City in all directions. This year, I even braved a 7 am ten-mile run around the fenced perimeter of BRC that is quite an endeavor after little sleep at 4,000 feet elevation.

Far off in the deep Playa is a tiny little movie house that’s constructed each year playing the oddest double features you could ever imagine (enjoyed “Hair” and “Lawrence of Arabia” one year). This year it was Joan Crawford in “The Women” meets John Wayne in “Red River.” Plentiful popcorn and bucket-fulls of alcohol flow throughout the evening and the truly hard core sit in their classic theater seats until morning so they can experience the most impressive visual experience of the night: sunrise over the Playa.

Burning Man is all about discovery. One of my favorite discoveries this past year was a gong meditation experience in which fifty of us lying on the ground were treated to a sound bath of bells and gongs – of all shapes and sizes – from all over the world. This ethereal event was offered daily right after a “Sweat Your Prayers” dance-a-thon. What most people don’t know is that there are more then 2,000 free classes, workshops, and events offered each year during the Burning Man festivities, everything from Virgin Speed Dating to a Vegan Coconut Ice Cream Social to Understanding Personality Types.

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