How tobegin? I've been saying he's like Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi and Mr. Miyagi mixed with a completely insane person. Allie made it pretty clear before we went that Pichest is completely nuts. But he's also quite a brilliant healer.
He is 50 years old but looks 40. He's fairly skinny and, to my syrprise, a chain smoker. Even while showing us some differnt movements he had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. His English was fairly understandable, but also fairly broken. To describe what he says let alone how he says it would take skills far beyond mine. I'm just going to go for a list:
A lot of wht he talks about is incorporating Buddhist principles in practicing Thai massage.
Think less and feel more.
Don't lose your dhamma.
Don't cave in to the "I likes"--to this end he references 7-11; always able to get what we want when we want it.
Heal yourself to heal others.
Think less, worry less.
Any kind of complication=headache
Instead of carrying baggage he calls any unnecessary worry or emotion a backpack.
There is so much more but I am just ill equipped to write it down in any kind of a way that does it justice. You should know that as serious as all of those things sound, he always speaks with a smile on his face. And he gigles after almost every story he tells and lesson he teaches. If you are working too hard (pushing your body too far, thinking too much) he knocks on your head as though it was a door to either an empty room or an overly full closet and says, "poke poke!".
When addressing the class from his pillow next to the alter he has several walking sticks to choose from to shake at us when he says, "polk, polk!". They are all gifts from previous students, walking sticks and canes from all over the world. You should know that Pichest has no trouble walking at all, these sticks and canes are solely for emphasizing his words.
That all said, he is actually quite kind and gentle...not soft spoken by any means, but he is a Buddhist in every way. There is much more to him and this week's lesson but I'm still digesting everything and honestly, it would take me quite some time to paint a complete portrait of Pichest with words if I could do it at all.
On a much lighter note, tonight is our last night in Chiang Mai before heading to Bangkok tomorrow. We are going out with Del, Tuppany and Awoo for dinner and whatever adventures (troubles;) we can find/stir up. I also have to say that the song Safety Dance by Men Without Hats has been in my head for over 2 weeks now. I just thought you all should know that.
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
Friday, September 26, 2008
Pichest-Monday Morning Offering and Prayers
Every Monday students are supposed to show up with offerings for the Buddha. We each needed 1 packet of white or yellow candles, 1 package of incense, 1 bundle of flowers and 3-4 pieces of fruit along with our tuition in an envelope with our name on it. Once there we were to take one of the red offering bowls, place the envelope on the bottom followed by the candles-wicks facing the Buddha shrine, incense with the burning end facing the Buddha, and then flowers on top. The fruit was to go in a separate basket.
Once everything was in it's place we each sat down 2 to a Thai mat. Pichest then spoke for about an hour or so at which point we were directed to pray with him. Everything was in Thai so I just followed his bowing pattern and listened. We prayed for at least 30 minutes when we reached the time for our offerings. Pichest would point to each person, one at a time, at which point we were each to go up to our bowl, raise it to our head, place it in front of the Buddha and bow three times.
When Allie described the whole process that morning it seemed kind of daunting. Not because it was difficult, but because I think we all wanted to make sure to do it right to show our respect to the man who would be teaching us for the next week. It all went smoothly in the end. No one tripped and fell on any of the plethora of Buddha statues in the shrine area. And the experience definitely set the tone for the week which involves praying for 20-40 minutes every morning and 10-15 minutes at the end of each day.
Everything was uncharted territory for me, but it felt good and it really opened my mind...not in a religious way, it's already pretty open there. But something about the rhythm of the praying really relaxed my mind, priming it for the day's lessons.
Once everything was in it's place we each sat down 2 to a Thai mat. Pichest then spoke for about an hour or so at which point we were directed to pray with him. Everything was in Thai so I just followed his bowing pattern and listened. We prayed for at least 30 minutes when we reached the time for our offerings. Pichest would point to each person, one at a time, at which point we were each to go up to our bowl, raise it to our head, place it in front of the Buddha and bow three times.
When Allie described the whole process that morning it seemed kind of daunting. Not because it was difficult, but because I think we all wanted to make sure to do it right to show our respect to the man who would be teaching us for the next week. It all went smoothly in the end. No one tripped and fell on any of the plethora of Buddha statues in the shrine area. And the experience definitely set the tone for the week which involves praying for 20-40 minutes every morning and 10-15 minutes at the end of each day.
Everything was uncharted territory for me, but it felt good and it really opened my mind...not in a religious way, it's already pretty open there. But something about the rhythm of the praying really relaxed my mind, priming it for the day's lessons.
Pichest-Getting There
Our first day with him was Monday. Waking up that morning I was a little nervous, but more excited than anything. It turns out I was the only person to sleep well that night, everyone was worrying about what it would be like to learn from this man who we'd heard so much about and yet seemed so mysterious. I don't know what it is about this place, but I sleep like a rock every night no matter what.
While I got up, showered and went to breakfast Allie stayed in bed because she had been up all night being sick. I know this is starting to seem like a common theme, but it's southeast Asia and we Americans are delicate.
After breakfast Todd and I ended up back at the room to check on Allie when she told us she was too sick and we'd be seeing Pichest for the first time on our own. She gave us directions to his house and told us about the Monday morning offering ritual. Directions to Pichest's involved taking a Sang Tao, Chiang Mai's version of a bus--a pick up truck with a cover and benches along each side of the truck bed. While riding the Sang Tao we had to look at the highway signs on the median and once we saw the 3rd 13 sign in a row, push the button to get off. On the left there should be a plant pot store and on the right a giant rice paddie.
We all stuck together and paid attention. Todd even hung out the back of the truck to watch and count the signs (don't worry mom, I didn't hang out the back of the truck I promise:). We got there quite easily and Pichest was waiting and expecting us.
While I got up, showered and went to breakfast Allie stayed in bed because she had been up all night being sick. I know this is starting to seem like a common theme, but it's southeast Asia and we Americans are delicate.
After breakfast Todd and I ended up back at the room to check on Allie when she told us she was too sick and we'd be seeing Pichest for the first time on our own. She gave us directions to his house and told us about the Monday morning offering ritual. Directions to Pichest's involved taking a Sang Tao, Chiang Mai's version of a bus--a pick up truck with a cover and benches along each side of the truck bed. While riding the Sang Tao we had to look at the highway signs on the median and once we saw the 3rd 13 sign in a row, push the button to get off. On the left there should be a plant pot store and on the right a giant rice paddie.
We all stuck together and paid attention. Todd even hung out the back of the truck to watch and count the signs (don't worry mom, I didn't hang out the back of the truck I promise:). We got there quite easily and Pichest was waiting and expecting us.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
5 Course Thai Meal Anyone?
If ever asked this question just say yes. You won't regret it for a moment, I promise. Today we took a Thai cooking class and learned how to prepare 5 Thai dishes. Even if they had tasted horrible, it just felt so good to be cooking again! Back home I used to think it might be nice to be able to eat out more often, but really it's not. I'm realizing in its absence that I love cooking and really miss it. Even if it's just throwing together a PB&J, it's my PB&J and it tastes good.
We started off making hot and sour prawn soup. There were quite a few ingredients but the galangla is the most memorable to me. When put in a soup for flavor you're really not supposed to eat it. It's like chewing on something woody and spicy/gingery, I learned this the hard way...one of the rare occasions that I've spit out my food. That glitch aside, it was so delicious. And i got to make it as spicy as I wanted. That is one odd thing I've found about the food here. No matter how much you ask for it, they never make the food too spicy. Probably because I'm white and white people aren't supposed to like it spicy:)
Then came the fish cakes. These were the most fun to make because they had the added danger of frying in grease. I don't know why I like that, but it's just more fun. Gently sliding each little cake into the grease, trying to cause the least amount of disturbance. No burn marks to date so that went pretty well. The fish cakes were alright, but I think I'd like to try them with chicken when I get back instead.
Next came the green curry with chicken. Green curry is my favorite kind out here. But I definitely need to work on my skills in actually making the curry. It may have gone better if one of the instructors wasn't looking over my choulder and throwing things in whenever he wanted...but then again, it may have gone worse had he not. I'll have to give it a try when I get back. I may need some guinea pigs so I hope some of you are up for it!
We made Pad Thai next. It's not my favorite dish and the people here don't really eat it. I kind of feel like they teach it to appease westerners. I did really enjoy making it though because I got to use a giant walk and a cool spatula-shovel looking utensil. It tasted fine, but I was also getting really full by then.
Our fourth course was called laap gai which is a Thai version of chicken salad. No mayo and much better than it's American counterpart. This was my favorite course hands down. It was so hot out that eating something somewhat cooler just felt nice. And it had a lot of flavor with simple ingredients. Delicious.
Last we threw together a dessert called Tab Tim Grop. After reading the description I was kind of skeptical-the main ingredient is water chestnuts which I don't like at all. What we did with them was very simple. Chopped them up, covered them in red food dye (not sure why, presentation?), rolled them in tapioca flour and stuck them in boiling water for 15 seconds. We then took them from the hot water, dipped them in cold water and set them aside to cool. Later on we covered them in sugar syrup, coconut milk and ice. Sounds strange, no? Remember Cap'n Crunch? The end result tasted kind of like crunch berries...it was really good! I want to try it with pears and apples when I get home just to see what the difference in taste is.
So that is a 5 course Thai meal. Oh so filling and oh so delicious.
Tomorrow we are starting class with Pichest about 30 mins outside the city. I've heard Allie talk about him for a long time now so I am really excited (and maybe a bit nervous) to work with him. It sounds like we'll be learning a lot more about theory and energy work which really interests me so I'm pretty stoked.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend...go Vikings!!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
We started off making hot and sour prawn soup. There were quite a few ingredients but the galangla is the most memorable to me. When put in a soup for flavor you're really not supposed to eat it. It's like chewing on something woody and spicy/gingery, I learned this the hard way...one of the rare occasions that I've spit out my food. That glitch aside, it was so delicious. And i got to make it as spicy as I wanted. That is one odd thing I've found about the food here. No matter how much you ask for it, they never make the food too spicy. Probably because I'm white and white people aren't supposed to like it spicy:)
Then came the fish cakes. These were the most fun to make because they had the added danger of frying in grease. I don't know why I like that, but it's just more fun. Gently sliding each little cake into the grease, trying to cause the least amount of disturbance. No burn marks to date so that went pretty well. The fish cakes were alright, but I think I'd like to try them with chicken when I get back instead.
Next came the green curry with chicken. Green curry is my favorite kind out here. But I definitely need to work on my skills in actually making the curry. It may have gone better if one of the instructors wasn't looking over my choulder and throwing things in whenever he wanted...but then again, it may have gone worse had he not. I'll have to give it a try when I get back. I may need some guinea pigs so I hope some of you are up for it!
We made Pad Thai next. It's not my favorite dish and the people here don't really eat it. I kind of feel like they teach it to appease westerners. I did really enjoy making it though because I got to use a giant walk and a cool spatula-shovel looking utensil. It tasted fine, but I was also getting really full by then.
Our fourth course was called laap gai which is a Thai version of chicken salad. No mayo and much better than it's American counterpart. This was my favorite course hands down. It was so hot out that eating something somewhat cooler just felt nice. And it had a lot of flavor with simple ingredients. Delicious.
Last we threw together a dessert called Tab Tim Grop. After reading the description I was kind of skeptical-the main ingredient is water chestnuts which I don't like at all. What we did with them was very simple. Chopped them up, covered them in red food dye (not sure why, presentation?), rolled them in tapioca flour and stuck them in boiling water for 15 seconds. We then took them from the hot water, dipped them in cold water and set them aside to cool. Later on we covered them in sugar syrup, coconut milk and ice. Sounds strange, no? Remember Cap'n Crunch? The end result tasted kind of like crunch berries...it was really good! I want to try it with pears and apples when I get home just to see what the difference in taste is.
So that is a 5 course Thai meal. Oh so filling and oh so delicious.
Tomorrow we are starting class with Pichest about 30 mins outside the city. I've heard Allie talk about him for a long time now so I am really excited (and maybe a bit nervous) to work with him. It sounds like we'll be learning a lot more about theory and energy work which really interests me so I'm pretty stoked.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend...go Vikings!!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
Saturday, September 20, 2008
School, Thai Yoga, Best Day Ever Part II
Our classes at Loi Kroh ended on Thursday and we were all exhausted. 6 of us took the advanced class and it truly kicked our asses. I've been laying pretty low at night because I've still been battling the parasite that has taken up residence in my gut. I've privately named my gut tenant Damian because I think it sounds evil and sinister. Plus it's easier to yell at when it has a name (yes, I yell at my parasite). But don't worry...it's very common in Thailand and I'm feeling a lot better today. On Friday we had a Thai yoga class all day. Unfortuneately I had to go back after lunch because Damian started to ast out. But doin't worry, I taught him a lesson...
During the lunch break on Friday I caved in and went to a pharmacy for some antibiotics. I'm really not into taking western style meds if I can avoid it, but seriously, when abroad go straight for the antibiotics. Do not wait and try other things like holisitic approaches or ignoring it until it goes away. Neither works (I've tried both). When in the luxury of your own home and country, by all means take your time and get well naturally if you can. But when you're abroad you have no kitchen with food in it you know will not make you sicker. You don't have your collection of movies and tv shows on dvd to get you through the waiting period. Instead you have to eat out every night in fear of what's in what's on your fork. And if you even have a tv in your room, it's full of flashy Asian tv shows and commercials that make no sense at all...and that may not even make sense with subtitles. This is my advice to you about being sick abroad-antibiotics.
Anyway, after I woke up I went to dinner and had the best oatmeal and bananas EVER. Probably because I was just glad not to be eating rice again, but it tasted so good. Allie and I then went in search of Silver Boy. This is a man from the Karen hill tribe who comes in town for the night bazar and sunday market to sell his silver. Allie thinks he's the best looking Thai man on the planet. Let me just say she is not wrong. Plus he does make some amazing silver jewelry (yes, that's why he's called silver boy).
I went to bed early again and woke up today FIANLLY feeling like myself. It was so nice! Today was the Best Day Ever Part II. With the help of Del, Todd secured a van with driver for the day and Avery, Ario and I joined him so we could get out of the city. Chiang Mai is great but it's also full of cars and tons of exhaust. We all needed some fresh air. We first went back up to Doi Sutep to check out a waterfall up there. It was so beautiful and peaceful. We went off the trail a bit and polked around and just enjoyed being outside again. We piled back in the van and after driving around Doi Sutep a little more, decided to head to a new area and check out the orchid and butterfly farm. On our way there we stopped to pick up what I thought was a hitch hiker but was actually Del joining us! A hitch hiker could have been really exciting too, but Del is much more fun. Plus he used to be a guide so he knew just where to take us.
Off we went to the orchid and butterfly farm. It was so beaufitul! All around us there were orchids hanging and growing. And the butterfly area was amazing. A giant moth had just come out of it's cacoon, it was so amazing. After wandering around there for a little longer we headed farther up the mountain towards one of the Queen's many botanical gardens. I'd try and describe what we saw but I could never do it justice. The gardens are sprawling, acre after acre of beauty. There are also several green houses with different kinds of plants in each. They even have a green house specifically for carnivorous plants, it was awesome! We also saw the biggest spider ever! It was orange and black and bigger than my face. Ario tried to put his hand next to it to show it's size which scared the spider into motion which in turn scared the crap out of all of us and sent us running in all directions. We laughed at ourselves and then set back to the task of showing the size of the spider some how, but from a step or two back (at least for my part anyway).
Then we stopped for lunch at this really nice resort farther up the mountain. Right now it's the low season because monsoon is ending (though you can't tell, it's barely rained...and when it does it's usually accompanied by some sweet thunder and lightening) so the resort was really empty. The food was alright, but the peace and quiet and view of the surrounding mountains was great.
After lunch we took at least an hour or two working our way around and through the mountains. Del had the van pull over at all the spots he knew with great views. My favorite stop was at an overlook pointing west to the mountain range Foot of the Himalayas. It was breathtaking in every sense of the word. I had that feeling you get when you know as you snap pictures that they will never even come close to the reality. You take them anyway just in case, but it's just not the same.
We left at about 9:30 and got home around 5, a great full day of exploring outside the city. I'm heading out to dinner now where I will enjoy anything BUT rice soup. It's going to be glorious.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful day back in the states.
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
During the lunch break on Friday I caved in and went to a pharmacy for some antibiotics. I'm really not into taking western style meds if I can avoid it, but seriously, when abroad go straight for the antibiotics. Do not wait and try other things like holisitic approaches or ignoring it until it goes away. Neither works (I've tried both). When in the luxury of your own home and country, by all means take your time and get well naturally if you can. But when you're abroad you have no kitchen with food in it you know will not make you sicker. You don't have your collection of movies and tv shows on dvd to get you through the waiting period. Instead you have to eat out every night in fear of what's in what's on your fork. And if you even have a tv in your room, it's full of flashy Asian tv shows and commercials that make no sense at all...and that may not even make sense with subtitles. This is my advice to you about being sick abroad-antibiotics.
Anyway, after I woke up I went to dinner and had the best oatmeal and bananas EVER. Probably because I was just glad not to be eating rice again, but it tasted so good. Allie and I then went in search of Silver Boy. This is a man from the Karen hill tribe who comes in town for the night bazar and sunday market to sell his silver. Allie thinks he's the best looking Thai man on the planet. Let me just say she is not wrong. Plus he does make some amazing silver jewelry (yes, that's why he's called silver boy).
I went to bed early again and woke up today FIANLLY feeling like myself. It was so nice! Today was the Best Day Ever Part II. With the help of Del, Todd secured a van with driver for the day and Avery, Ario and I joined him so we could get out of the city. Chiang Mai is great but it's also full of cars and tons of exhaust. We all needed some fresh air. We first went back up to Doi Sutep to check out a waterfall up there. It was so beautiful and peaceful. We went off the trail a bit and polked around and just enjoyed being outside again. We piled back in the van and after driving around Doi Sutep a little more, decided to head to a new area and check out the orchid and butterfly farm. On our way there we stopped to pick up what I thought was a hitch hiker but was actually Del joining us! A hitch hiker could have been really exciting too, but Del is much more fun. Plus he used to be a guide so he knew just where to take us.
Off we went to the orchid and butterfly farm. It was so beaufitul! All around us there were orchids hanging and growing. And the butterfly area was amazing. A giant moth had just come out of it's cacoon, it was so amazing. After wandering around there for a little longer we headed farther up the mountain towards one of the Queen's many botanical gardens. I'd try and describe what we saw but I could never do it justice. The gardens are sprawling, acre after acre of beauty. There are also several green houses with different kinds of plants in each. They even have a green house specifically for carnivorous plants, it was awesome! We also saw the biggest spider ever! It was orange and black and bigger than my face. Ario tried to put his hand next to it to show it's size which scared the spider into motion which in turn scared the crap out of all of us and sent us running in all directions. We laughed at ourselves and then set back to the task of showing the size of the spider some how, but from a step or two back (at least for my part anyway).
Then we stopped for lunch at this really nice resort farther up the mountain. Right now it's the low season because monsoon is ending (though you can't tell, it's barely rained...and when it does it's usually accompanied by some sweet thunder and lightening) so the resort was really empty. The food was alright, but the peace and quiet and view of the surrounding mountains was great.
After lunch we took at least an hour or two working our way around and through the mountains. Del had the van pull over at all the spots he knew with great views. My favorite stop was at an overlook pointing west to the mountain range Foot of the Himalayas. It was breathtaking in every sense of the word. I had that feeling you get when you know as you snap pictures that they will never even come close to the reality. You take them anyway just in case, but it's just not the same.
We left at about 9:30 and got home around 5, a great full day of exploring outside the city. I'm heading out to dinner now where I will enjoy anything BUT rice soup. It's going to be glorious.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful day back in the states.
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
School-Monday and Tuesday
We started our classes on Monday at Loi Kroh, a Thai massage school here in Chiang Mai. At this school we have one instructor for every 2 students so it's a pretty great learning environment. This week I've been working with Avery and ew have a teacher named Nanpa. Unfortuneatly, Avery was up all night on Sunday being sick (one of the risks of eating in Asia) so I actually had a private lesson on Monday. It was definitely a great experience having an instructor all to myself, but I got worked over by this woman in more ways than one.
First of all, never let the size of a person deceive you. Nanpa is maybe 4'10" and fairly slight. But I'm failry certain she could make a grown man cry if she wanted to...she wouldn't, but she could. So out whole day was Nanpa working on me to show me everything and then me working on Nanpa to practice. End result: I have bruises on my legs from the deep work and my thighs and ass were burning at the end of the day from squating in one form or another for about 5 hours. Oh, and my brain was completely fried. It was an awesome day!
After Monday and writing my emails I swung by the peppermint for some food and low and behold, there on the menu was a cheeseburger. If you don't know this already, I love cheeseburgers and miss them with a large amount of passion. I was feeling a little out of sorts but I ordered it anyway and it was delicious. Thai people can make a cheeseburger. After dinner I went home and to bed pretty early.
The next day I woke up with a stomach bug-probably some form of food poisoning. I didn't want to miss a day of class so I got ready and went anyway. Fortuneately Avery was back and feeling better so I could watch and learn a bit and didn't have to practice too much. In the end the bug got the best of me and I left around 4 and went straight to bed until this morning. I'm still feeling a little icky, but much much better. I was able to practice today with no problem, just some stomach pain. After class today I went and got an acupuncture treatment fromthe sweetest woman I've ever met. I'm feeling a lot better and she gave me some herbs to take for the next couple of days.
All in all, I've had a pretty well rounded experience here already, the good and the bad. I guess it's good not to leave anything out when visiting a new country...at least that's what I'm telling myself:)
Hope everyone is doing great!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
First of all, never let the size of a person deceive you. Nanpa is maybe 4'10" and fairly slight. But I'm failry certain she could make a grown man cry if she wanted to...she wouldn't, but she could. So out whole day was Nanpa working on me to show me everything and then me working on Nanpa to practice. End result: I have bruises on my legs from the deep work and my thighs and ass were burning at the end of the day from squating in one form or another for about 5 hours. Oh, and my brain was completely fried. It was an awesome day!
After Monday and writing my emails I swung by the peppermint for some food and low and behold, there on the menu was a cheeseburger. If you don't know this already, I love cheeseburgers and miss them with a large amount of passion. I was feeling a little out of sorts but I ordered it anyway and it was delicious. Thai people can make a cheeseburger. After dinner I went home and to bed pretty early.
The next day I woke up with a stomach bug-probably some form of food poisoning. I didn't want to miss a day of class so I got ready and went anyway. Fortuneately Avery was back and feeling better so I could watch and learn a bit and didn't have to practice too much. In the end the bug got the best of me and I left around 4 and went straight to bed until this morning. I'm still feeling a little icky, but much much better. I was able to practice today with no problem, just some stomach pain. After class today I went and got an acupuncture treatment fromthe sweetest woman I've ever met. I'm feeling a lot better and she gave me some herbs to take for the next couple of days.
All in all, I've had a pretty well rounded experience here already, the good and the bad. I guess it's good not to leave anything out when visiting a new country...at least that's what I'm telling myself:)
Hope everyone is doing great!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
Doi Sutep
So I didn't write yesterday because I was kind of sick. But that's another story.
On Sunday we all went up to the temple on Doi Sutep (Doi means mountain and Sutep is the name of the mountain). The name comes from a legend about a giant named Sutep who really wanted to become a buddhist but wasn't allowed because he wasn't human. He decided to sit down and meditate anyway and over time he became the mountain. The legend about the temple on Doi Sutep involves a dragon. The story goes that the dragon also really wanted to be a Buddhist monk. During the day he could change into anything he wanted. He made himself a man and became a monk. At night he had to return to his natural form and one evening he was discovered by a monk who reported to Buddha that he was actually a dragon. The Buddha told him he had to leave because he was not a human. The dragon was crushed but still practiced Buddhism for the rest of his life. He asked that a temple be built in his memory. That is why the over 300 stairs leading up to the temple are lined on both sides by a giant dragon, from foot to top.
We all met Allie's friend Del at 9 on Sunday morning, climbed into a van and started out of the moated city part of Chiang Mai (central Chiang Mai is surrounded on all 4 sides by a moat). We headed up the winding road which also has a story involving its creation, but this one is real. Just over 50 years ago a monk at the temple on Doi Sutep decided he wanted to build a road to the temple, just over 11 kilometers long (about 8 miles I think). He started building and as he went thousands of volunteers joined. So many that the road was completed in just over 5 months. Before the road existed people had to walk up, a trip that took about 5 hours. Buddhists wanting to bring breakfast offerings to the monks would have ot leave at 2 am just to make it there on time.
Once we arrived at the temple we began the walk to the top of the loooong stair case. Once up there we were led through the area surrounding the actual temple by Del. While walking around we came to an overlook with an amazing view of Chiang Mai. It had rained earlier that day and during the time we were standing at the overlook it went form cloudy to foggy to perfectly clear. It was so beautiful. Del also brought us by the bodi tree in the area surrounding the temple. The Indian government sent 5 branches from the actual tree of enlightenment, one of which resides at the temple of Doi Sutep. It was such an honor to see it. Once we entered the temple we spent some time looking at some of the beautiful statues, paying our respects and getting blessed by a monk.
It was a great experience and a calming, peaceful place to be.
I started class on monday and that has brought with it a whole other experience, moving some what out of tourist mode and into a learning mind set during the day.
I hope everyone is doing well back in the states!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
On Sunday we all went up to the temple on Doi Sutep (Doi means mountain and Sutep is the name of the mountain). The name comes from a legend about a giant named Sutep who really wanted to become a buddhist but wasn't allowed because he wasn't human. He decided to sit down and meditate anyway and over time he became the mountain. The legend about the temple on Doi Sutep involves a dragon. The story goes that the dragon also really wanted to be a Buddhist monk. During the day he could change into anything he wanted. He made himself a man and became a monk. At night he had to return to his natural form and one evening he was discovered by a monk who reported to Buddha that he was actually a dragon. The Buddha told him he had to leave because he was not a human. The dragon was crushed but still practiced Buddhism for the rest of his life. He asked that a temple be built in his memory. That is why the over 300 stairs leading up to the temple are lined on both sides by a giant dragon, from foot to top.
We all met Allie's friend Del at 9 on Sunday morning, climbed into a van and started out of the moated city part of Chiang Mai (central Chiang Mai is surrounded on all 4 sides by a moat). We headed up the winding road which also has a story involving its creation, but this one is real. Just over 50 years ago a monk at the temple on Doi Sutep decided he wanted to build a road to the temple, just over 11 kilometers long (about 8 miles I think). He started building and as he went thousands of volunteers joined. So many that the road was completed in just over 5 months. Before the road existed people had to walk up, a trip that took about 5 hours. Buddhists wanting to bring breakfast offerings to the monks would have ot leave at 2 am just to make it there on time.
Once we arrived at the temple we began the walk to the top of the loooong stair case. Once up there we were led through the area surrounding the actual temple by Del. While walking around we came to an overlook with an amazing view of Chiang Mai. It had rained earlier that day and during the time we were standing at the overlook it went form cloudy to foggy to perfectly clear. It was so beautiful. Del also brought us by the bodi tree in the area surrounding the temple. The Indian government sent 5 branches from the actual tree of enlightenment, one of which resides at the temple of Doi Sutep. It was such an honor to see it. Once we entered the temple we spent some time looking at some of the beautiful statues, paying our respects and getting blessed by a monk.
It was a great experience and a calming, peaceful place to be.
I started class on monday and that has brought with it a whole other experience, moving some what out of tourist mode and into a learning mind set during the day.
I hope everyone is doing well back in the states!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
Monday, September 15, 2008
Best Day Ever Part II
Let me just start of by saying I am physically exhausted right now after my first day of class. My legs are like noodles and my brain is sopmewhat fried. It was a really good day and I learned a TON but I am absolutely spent. So, if there are strangely spelled words or slightly incoherent sentences (more than usual anyway) that would be why.
On our van ride back from our trek Sanghay was asking us a lot of questions, among them, whether or not we have red bull back in the US. We all told him that we do and often it's combined with vodka for neverending good times. He said they did the same thing here in Thailand but with Lao Kao-Thai moonshine.
When we got back to our place I was pretty tired but decided to swing by the peppermint to check my email and eat something. I ended up at a table with Allie, Avery, Robbie (one of the owners) and Tuppany (the other owner/Robbie's wife/cook/waitress). I thought I'd have just one beer and call it a night. Most of you know that promising yourself just one beer is an invitation for an endless night of drinking way too much. I believe this subject was touched upon in an Onion article a few years ago (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31028) They had just sent one of the other waiters out to get a bottle of Lao Kao so we could all have a taste. In the meantime I sipped on my "one beer". The waitress came back with the goods and TUppany poured us eacha shot. It smelled like bad tequila but was completely clear. I took a sip....it went down sooooo smooth. This is a liquor I can actually drink and enjoy. Damn. Allie reminded us all that Sanhay had said one shot feels like about 4 beers so I nursed my shot and had some more beer as well.
Some more people from our group showed up over time and all had a little (or a large) taste of the moonshine. 1 Hour, 1 shot, and a few beers later Avery, Todd, Gina, Michaela and I were ready to go out...or go out more anyway. We headed towards a strip of bars that have live music every night, usually reggae and one place we found covered rock/grunge/punk music from teh 90s. But the first place we went to was a bar with a Thai reggae cover band with the lead singer Afroman. He is also a tattoo artist who worked on Avery earlier that day. Afroman is a very tall and robust Thai man with a giant afro. I've never seen anything like it, it was awesome.
The bar was pretty cool. All outside with a swing hanging from a tre and a fire pit. Now, listening to Thai people try and sing american songs/lyrics is really entertaining especially when you know all the actual words. And for some reason it's even funnier when they're trying to sing reggae music. While we were listening to the music a little Thai girl came around selling flower necklaces for 10 baht (about 25 cents). Gina and I decided to buy one cause why we couldn't think why not and they were pretty and she was adorable. After we purchased our necklaces she hung around and took a liking to Gina who thought she was so cute she gave the little girl the bracelet she had just purchased from one of the Hill tribes earlier that day. The little girl then turned to me and tried to get me to buy another necklace. I pointed to the one I was wearing and said no, I already have one from you. She promptly kicked me in the shine and ran away. What the heck crazy little hustling Thai girl!?!
She ended up coming back to see us and tried to get my bracelet ewhich I promptly took off and hid in my bag. After which Gina took hers back. I know what you're thinking, how can you take back a bracelet from a cute little Thai girl? When she kicks you or someone you know in the shin all bets are off, that's how. Regardless she still followed us around the rest of the night --to the 90s cover band bar and to the other reggae cover bar.
After that I headed out. That little girl was too damn sketchy and reggae music isn't my favorite, even when sung in poor English by a Thai man with a fro.
So there you have it folks, reggae and moonshine. I'm working on a way to ship back about a dozen bottles of that stuff to the states to have it analyzed and then mass produced.
I'm about a day behind right now but hopefully I'll catch up tomorrow.
Hope all is well with all of you!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
On our van ride back from our trek Sanghay was asking us a lot of questions, among them, whether or not we have red bull back in the US. We all told him that we do and often it's combined with vodka for neverending good times. He said they did the same thing here in Thailand but with Lao Kao-Thai moonshine.
When we got back to our place I was pretty tired but decided to swing by the peppermint to check my email and eat something. I ended up at a table with Allie, Avery, Robbie (one of the owners) and Tuppany (the other owner/Robbie's wife/cook/waitress). I thought I'd have just one beer and call it a night. Most of you know that promising yourself just one beer is an invitation for an endless night of drinking way too much. I believe this subject was touched upon in an Onion article a few years ago (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31028) They had just sent one of the other waiters out to get a bottle of Lao Kao so we could all have a taste. In the meantime I sipped on my "one beer". The waitress came back with the goods and TUppany poured us eacha shot. It smelled like bad tequila but was completely clear. I took a sip....it went down sooooo smooth. This is a liquor I can actually drink and enjoy. Damn. Allie reminded us all that Sanhay had said one shot feels like about 4 beers so I nursed my shot and had some more beer as well.
Some more people from our group showed up over time and all had a little (or a large) taste of the moonshine. 1 Hour, 1 shot, and a few beers later Avery, Todd, Gina, Michaela and I were ready to go out...or go out more anyway. We headed towards a strip of bars that have live music every night, usually reggae and one place we found covered rock/grunge/punk music from teh 90s. But the first place we went to was a bar with a Thai reggae cover band with the lead singer Afroman. He is also a tattoo artist who worked on Avery earlier that day. Afroman is a very tall and robust Thai man with a giant afro. I've never seen anything like it, it was awesome.
The bar was pretty cool. All outside with a swing hanging from a tre and a fire pit. Now, listening to Thai people try and sing american songs/lyrics is really entertaining especially when you know all the actual words. And for some reason it's even funnier when they're trying to sing reggae music. While we were listening to the music a little Thai girl came around selling flower necklaces for 10 baht (about 25 cents). Gina and I decided to buy one cause why we couldn't think why not and they were pretty and she was adorable. After we purchased our necklaces she hung around and took a liking to Gina who thought she was so cute she gave the little girl the bracelet she had just purchased from one of the Hill tribes earlier that day. The little girl then turned to me and tried to get me to buy another necklace. I pointed to the one I was wearing and said no, I already have one from you. She promptly kicked me in the shine and ran away. What the heck crazy little hustling Thai girl!?!
She ended up coming back to see us and tried to get my bracelet ewhich I promptly took off and hid in my bag. After which Gina took hers back. I know what you're thinking, how can you take back a bracelet from a cute little Thai girl? When she kicks you or someone you know in the shin all bets are off, that's how. Regardless she still followed us around the rest of the night --to the 90s cover band bar and to the other reggae cover bar.
After that I headed out. That little girl was too damn sketchy and reggae music isn't my favorite, even when sung in poor English by a Thai man with a fro.
So there you have it folks, reggae and moonshine. I'm working on a way to ship back about a dozen bottles of that stuff to the states to have it analyzed and then mass produced.
I'm about a day behind right now but hopefully I'll catch up tomorrow.
Hope all is well with all of you!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Best Day Ever Part I
We got up early yesterday (saturday) morning to have breakfast and get ready to go by 8 when our guide was set to puck us up for our trek into the mountains surrounding Chiang Mai. Our guide's name was Sanghay Darling, Hay Darling for short-seriously:) it was great! Allie has had him for a guide every year for the last 6 years. And it is so clear why, he is such an amazing person. I've never seen a bigger or more sincere smile on anyone's face in my entire life. The energy he exudes is so wonderful and his enjoyment and love of Thailand is contagious. Our driver for the day was called Mr. Buddha. He didn't speak much English, but he definitely got us where we were going in a jiffy...kind of wish I hadn't sat in the back of the van.
We arrived in a small village of one of the many (12-15 maybe?) hill tribes of Thailand called Chiang Doi. There weren't many people out--probably because it was early on a Saturday. There were a lot of pigs and chickens running around and many traditional tribal houses. And in among these structures was a very, very large satelite dish. So odd to see the oddly mismatched structures existing together amongst people you would never guess have even heard of television much less watch it. But there you go.
We passed through the first village and on passed their farm-consisting mostly of corn oddly enough. As we walked by some of the men loading bags of corn onto the truck stopped to look at us and gave a us a couple of ears of corn to eat. I wasn't aware that you can really eat corn raw but I gave it a whirl and it was so sweet and delicious. I was completely surprised. I didn't eat more than a bite though because it's so easy to get sick out here eating too much raw food--anything exposed to the water out here is suspect. But a bite here and there is all right.
We continued on into the mountains and along the muddiest, slipperiest path ever. It's teh end of the rainy season out here so it still rains about once a day for an hour or two. By the end of the trek my legs were covered in mud up to my knees...I loved it! I had forgotten how much fun I had as a kid playing in the mud and the rain. At one point we had to walk across/in a river which made me a little nervous because I definitely couldn't see what was beneath the surface. But we all made it rhough unscathed.
We then passed through another hill tribe village, also equipped with a satelite dish. Continuing on our hike, we climbed almost straight up through a corn field. It was so strange passing from jungle to corn field in a matter of minutes, but as a lot of hill tribes are moving from subsitence agriculture to commercial farming I'm sure there will be more corn fields popping up. I should also mention that at any moment I could stop and look back where we came from and see giant, green mountains peaking out from behind the low, fog like clouds. I could also see the rice paddies at the foot hills. It was absolutely breath taking. We also saw a lot of flowers and some crazy bugs. I was just glad that no snakes came out. Had it been dryer that could have been an issue, eeeee.
We came to our last stop on the hike in the village of the elephant hill tribe. Here is where we sat down to eat an amazing meal prepare for us by the tribe witht he vegetables Sanghay bought at a market we stopped at on our way out of town. It was so delicious! We had rice, sweet and sour vegetables, veggie stir fry, chicken, fresh pineapple (!) and a fruit native to Thailand called rambutan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambutan). It has the consistancy of a pear and the flavor of a very sweet kiwi. mmmmmm.
After we ate lunch and did some bartering with the women of the tribe we began the second part of our trek-the elephant ride! There were 2 of us to an elephant and one guide who sat on the neck of the elephant just behind its ears. I shared my elephant ride with Olivia and we had a great time. Our elephant's name was Do and I'm fairly certain he was hungriest elephant of the 4. At one point he went of the trail, wrapped his trunk around bamboo that was about 20 feet high with a diameter of about 5 or 6 inches, and snapped it in half like a twig. It was so cool!
We road on the elephants for about a half an hour or so. Once I understood the rhythm of the elephant's walk it was easy to sit back and relax and just take it all in. We were met at the end by Sanghay and Mr. Buddha who were ready to take us to the last part of our journey...bamboo raft down a river I can't remember the name of right now (the loanguage out here is beautiful but not easy to remember because it is so different).
Avery, Gina and Olivia started off on the first raft and left us all in the dust in a matter of moments. Allie, Michaela and I shared the second and Ario oand Todd were on the third. The last 2 rafts spent the rest of the time on the river floating together. The guides in both rafts let us try poling/steering. I was actually pretty good at it and started to feel comfortable until I almost lost the pole. I decided to leave it to the experts:) Right about then the guides and Todd dcided it was about time for a rowdy water fight/raft war. It was so much fun! The raft guides were absolutely relentless, but then so were the rest of us. At the end of the day I was completely drenched...which felt so great because it was so hot.
I'm going to leave the evening portion for later. It includes Thai moonshine and Thai reggae. I'm going to go nap now before we head up to the temple on the mountainm Doi Sutep. Like I said, Part II includes moonshine and reggae:)
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
We arrived in a small village of one of the many (12-15 maybe?) hill tribes of Thailand called Chiang Doi. There weren't many people out--probably because it was early on a Saturday. There were a lot of pigs and chickens running around and many traditional tribal houses. And in among these structures was a very, very large satelite dish. So odd to see the oddly mismatched structures existing together amongst people you would never guess have even heard of television much less watch it. But there you go.
We passed through the first village and on passed their farm-consisting mostly of corn oddly enough. As we walked by some of the men loading bags of corn onto the truck stopped to look at us and gave a us a couple of ears of corn to eat. I wasn't aware that you can really eat corn raw but I gave it a whirl and it was so sweet and delicious. I was completely surprised. I didn't eat more than a bite though because it's so easy to get sick out here eating too much raw food--anything exposed to the water out here is suspect. But a bite here and there is all right.
We continued on into the mountains and along the muddiest, slipperiest path ever. It's teh end of the rainy season out here so it still rains about once a day for an hour or two. By the end of the trek my legs were covered in mud up to my knees...I loved it! I had forgotten how much fun I had as a kid playing in the mud and the rain. At one point we had to walk across/in a river which made me a little nervous because I definitely couldn't see what was beneath the surface. But we all made it rhough unscathed.
We then passed through another hill tribe village, also equipped with a satelite dish. Continuing on our hike, we climbed almost straight up through a corn field. It was so strange passing from jungle to corn field in a matter of minutes, but as a lot of hill tribes are moving from subsitence agriculture to commercial farming I'm sure there will be more corn fields popping up. I should also mention that at any moment I could stop and look back where we came from and see giant, green mountains peaking out from behind the low, fog like clouds. I could also see the rice paddies at the foot hills. It was absolutely breath taking. We also saw a lot of flowers and some crazy bugs. I was just glad that no snakes came out. Had it been dryer that could have been an issue, eeeee.
We came to our last stop on the hike in the village of the elephant hill tribe. Here is where we sat down to eat an amazing meal prepare for us by the tribe witht he vegetables Sanghay bought at a market we stopped at on our way out of town. It was so delicious! We had rice, sweet and sour vegetables, veggie stir fry, chicken, fresh pineapple (!) and a fruit native to Thailand called rambutan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambutan). It has the consistancy of a pear and the flavor of a very sweet kiwi. mmmmmm.
After we ate lunch and did some bartering with the women of the tribe we began the second part of our trek-the elephant ride! There were 2 of us to an elephant and one guide who sat on the neck of the elephant just behind its ears. I shared my elephant ride with Olivia and we had a great time. Our elephant's name was Do and I'm fairly certain he was hungriest elephant of the 4. At one point he went of the trail, wrapped his trunk around bamboo that was about 20 feet high with a diameter of about 5 or 6 inches, and snapped it in half like a twig. It was so cool!
We road on the elephants for about a half an hour or so. Once I understood the rhythm of the elephant's walk it was easy to sit back and relax and just take it all in. We were met at the end by Sanghay and Mr. Buddha who were ready to take us to the last part of our journey...bamboo raft down a river I can't remember the name of right now (the loanguage out here is beautiful but not easy to remember because it is so different).
Avery, Gina and Olivia started off on the first raft and left us all in the dust in a matter of moments. Allie, Michaela and I shared the second and Ario oand Todd were on the third. The last 2 rafts spent the rest of the time on the river floating together. The guides in both rafts let us try poling/steering. I was actually pretty good at it and started to feel comfortable until I almost lost the pole. I decided to leave it to the experts:) Right about then the guides and Todd dcided it was about time for a rowdy water fight/raft war. It was so much fun! The raft guides were absolutely relentless, but then so were the rest of us. At the end of the day I was completely drenched...which felt so great because it was so hot.
I'm going to leave the evening portion for later. It includes Thai moonshine and Thai reggae. I'm going to go nap now before we head up to the temple on the mountainm Doi Sutep. Like I said, Part II includes moonshine and reggae:)
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
Friday, September 12, 2008
Bring in the Heat
I spent the day getting to know Chiang Mai a little better and now I am recovering from major sensory overload. We started the day at the Peppermint Cafe down the street from our guest house. Allie has been coming to Chiang Mai to study Thai massage for the past 7 years and over that time she's gotten to know the owners and frequenters of the cafe very well. The owners are Robbie, a very English Englishman, and his wife Tuppany, a very friendly, very funny Thai woman. They are both so great and have good food and amazing fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast-cold beers for dinner. Doesn't get much better than that. And then there is Del, a good friend of Allie's and such an outgoing person. He is going to bring us to one of the more beatiful wats (temples) in Chiang Mai on Sunday. There are some other names I've heard, but haven't had the chance to see their faces yet.
After breakfast Gina and I wandered over to the large food market NE of our guest house. This is where I was stunned senseless by all of the new sights and smells. At first I was merrily snapping pictures at every new thing I saw...breaded, deep fried fish ready to purchase and eat head included, a large pig's head with no body but the hooves were included, piles of fragrant tobacco and the banana leaves used to roll it in, some vegetables and fruit I have never seen before. So many colors! Ans do many smells, equal amounts of good and bad. And all the people and the motorbikes and people wanting to give me taxi rides...wow. I did manage to buy an entire sliced pineapple for one US dollar before succumbing to the frey.
It was so beautiful and wonderful and so incredibly overwhelming. We started back towards the guest house--I promised myself I would return to see more after a day or two away. Back to the Peppermint Cafe for an afternoon smoothie and to escape the noise and heat of the day. By heat I mean H E A T and crazy humidity. I'm fairly certain I've lost 5lbs since arriving mearly by sweating profusely.
After regrouping, Gina and I set out to a place we'd passed along the way to take a lesson in Qi Gong. There are many different styles of Qi Gong and I really can't say much about it as this was my first real experience with it, but it was very calming. I know it is tied into Chinese medicine as a meditative practice and that it is supposed to encourage internal health and mental peace through breath and slow, gentle movement. It was very peaceful.
Iwent back to the guest house to relax for a minute and eat the most delicious pineapple I'd ever tasted in my life. It honestly makes me want to brave the madness of the market sooner than later for a second serving. It was the kind of good that just lives with you for the rest of your life, it's a permanent memory of sensory bliss.
I decided that after all that walking around (did I mention we got lost a few times...and are you at all surprised??) I should get a foot massage. So I went to a thai sauna and massage place and received a 1 hour foot massage which sent me to sleep in a matter of minutes. It was a-mazing and will definitely be happening again. Definitely.
I find myself now at dinner time, ready to try some new food...though maybe not a deep friend fish with the head still attached...and the scales still on.
I hope if you're reading this that all is well where you are.
Saawat dee ka
Andrea
After breakfast Gina and I wandered over to the large food market NE of our guest house. This is where I was stunned senseless by all of the new sights and smells. At first I was merrily snapping pictures at every new thing I saw...breaded, deep fried fish ready to purchase and eat head included, a large pig's head with no body but the hooves were included, piles of fragrant tobacco and the banana leaves used to roll it in, some vegetables and fruit I have never seen before. So many colors! Ans do many smells, equal amounts of good and bad. And all the people and the motorbikes and people wanting to give me taxi rides...wow. I did manage to buy an entire sliced pineapple for one US dollar before succumbing to the frey.
It was so beautiful and wonderful and so incredibly overwhelming. We started back towards the guest house--I promised myself I would return to see more after a day or two away. Back to the Peppermint Cafe for an afternoon smoothie and to escape the noise and heat of the day. By heat I mean H E A T and crazy humidity. I'm fairly certain I've lost 5lbs since arriving mearly by sweating profusely.
After regrouping, Gina and I set out to a place we'd passed along the way to take a lesson in Qi Gong. There are many different styles of Qi Gong and I really can't say much about it as this was my first real experience with it, but it was very calming. I know it is tied into Chinese medicine as a meditative practice and that it is supposed to encourage internal health and mental peace through breath and slow, gentle movement. It was very peaceful.
Iwent back to the guest house to relax for a minute and eat the most delicious pineapple I'd ever tasted in my life. It honestly makes me want to brave the madness of the market sooner than later for a second serving. It was the kind of good that just lives with you for the rest of your life, it's a permanent memory of sensory bliss.
I decided that after all that walking around (did I mention we got lost a few times...and are you at all surprised??) I should get a foot massage. So I went to a thai sauna and massage place and received a 1 hour foot massage which sent me to sleep in a matter of minutes. It was a-mazing and will definitely be happening again. Definitely.
I find myself now at dinner time, ready to try some new food...though maybe not a deep friend fish with the head still attached...and the scales still on.
I hope if you're reading this that all is well where you are.
Saawat dee ka
Andrea
Thursday, September 11, 2008
They Say Getting There is Half the Battle
And they, whomever they are, aren't wrong. We left Portland on Tuesday evening some time between 8 and 9 pm...we were delayed but I can't think how long any more. There are 8 of us on the trip together; Allie, our fearless leader, and the rest of us in no particular order-Avery, Ario, Olivia, Todd, Gina, McKayla and me. We all arrived in LA just fine, but that's when we reached a major, major snag. McKayla's passport is set to expire in 2 months. Because our trip is only 3 weeks in length she didn't really think about it. But apparently when traveling to Thailand your passport must be good for at least 6 months. I could say something like holy shit right now, but that doesn't even come close to properly representing the sinking feeling I know she felt. She would have to sleep in LAX and try and fenagle a passport extension the next day in order to make the next flight out to Taipei the very next night. The rest of us had to move on.
It was really odd and I couldn't help feeling like it was somewhat ominous leaving a man behind so to speak, but staying would have made no difference and we all decided that we'd see her in Chiang Mai, just a day later. So, on to the mother-load of flights, the 14 hour sanity cracker.
It actually wasn't that bad. I know, you're thinking I'm just so full of shit right now, but I really mean it! I ate a not tooooo shabby meal while watching Forgetting Sara Marshal, which I've been wanting to catch for a while, had a glass of wine and some sweet Chinese herbs and fell right to sleep for about 8 hours. I woke up in time for breakfast and my second movie, Ironman, also on my theatrical to do list. Then 45 minutes later we were in Taiwan.
I thought, or maybe assumed really, that when I got off the airplane in a country that is supposed to be so foreign to me, that I would inhale exotic scents and see things I'd never before beheld in person. But quite honestly the first scent that invaded my olfactory senses was that of moth balls. Yes, I have no idea why, but that was the smell. I was immediately mentally slingshotted (slungshot?) back to our cottage in Michigan and into the presence of my very organized and clean Grandma Kayo who put moth balls EVERYWHERE. As a matter of fact, sometimes I had to wonder if she didn't just like the smell itself.
One pretty amazing thing we did see at the airport in Taipei was a full, giant, double rainbow. Laugh if you want at my cheesy excitement, but at a moment of arrival in a strange land, seeing something like that just makes it all feel somewhat fated.
There were a couple of nice novelties in the Taipei airport (beyond the rainbow greeting). I almost fell asleep in the Zen area, a circle of free massaging chairs ala Brookstone. In order to use them all you need to do is go to a duty free shop and ask for a token. Now I'm sure they are all sort of hoping that people might purchase something while in the shop, but do they really expect you to postpone your free chair massage after a 14 hour flight in order to get a slightly cheaper bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label which will still be there on your way home?? I did not purchase any liquor. But I did spend time meandering through a couple of the airport's art galleries after I felt sufficiently relaxed (which is to say after the 10 minutes the token was good for elapsed).
After a little more wandering around it was time for the last leg, our 3 and a half hour flight to Chiang Mai. Maybe you're thinking that after such a long flight this one would feel like nothing. But you would be wrong, let me tell you why. After a total of 16 hours on a plane and about 6 hours of layover time, getting on another plane sounds about as pleasant as a nice long walk on nails. (It should also be noted that at this point in time Ario received a text message from McKayla letting us all know that she got her extension and would be making the next flight out! We all said we new it would work out:)But on this flight the wine flowed like water and so we were all content.
We finally arrived in Chiang Mai, unscathed if a little disheveled and of kind of smelly. It was at this point in time that the wave of being in a new place finally hit. There were a lot of new smells, crazy signs, crazier drivers and the wonderful and weighty heat. There are so many differences that confront you right away, it was like wave after wave of the most wonderful sensory overload. But after all that it's easy to notice the similarities and to start asking yourself questions about the people that seem mundane but prove that there is a lot more we have in common than not.
We arrived at our guest house, it's called the White House (a sure sign that my guy is gonna win the election, I just know it), and unpacked. Then we all went to grab a beer and some food and to learn the lay of the land. I got a Thai spicy soup-surprisingly not spicy until you accidentally eat one of the very small peppers and feel as though your esophagus is going to erupt molten lava. I also opted for the large beer which I soon found meant the one created for giants and their kin. But I finished with a little help from a friend.
Avery, Gina and I then took of to our Thai massage appointments---that is why we're here after all! It felt amazing. My spine has never cracked so many times and in so many great ways before. It was definitely a style of Thai that I wasn't used to (southern vs northern) but it felt wonderful!
Now I'm all caught up to Thursday Sept 11th at 6:30 pm (we flew past Wednesday on our way out here). I'm hoping the rest of my ramblings won't be quite, or even nearly, this long...who knew airports could provide so much excitement?
Goodnight from Thailand!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
It was really odd and I couldn't help feeling like it was somewhat ominous leaving a man behind so to speak, but staying would have made no difference and we all decided that we'd see her in Chiang Mai, just a day later. So, on to the mother-load of flights, the 14 hour sanity cracker.
It actually wasn't that bad. I know, you're thinking I'm just so full of shit right now, but I really mean it! I ate a not tooooo shabby meal while watching Forgetting Sara Marshal, which I've been wanting to catch for a while, had a glass of wine and some sweet Chinese herbs and fell right to sleep for about 8 hours. I woke up in time for breakfast and my second movie, Ironman, also on my theatrical to do list. Then 45 minutes later we were in Taiwan.
I thought, or maybe assumed really, that when I got off the airplane in a country that is supposed to be so foreign to me, that I would inhale exotic scents and see things I'd never before beheld in person. But quite honestly the first scent that invaded my olfactory senses was that of moth balls. Yes, I have no idea why, but that was the smell. I was immediately mentally slingshotted (slungshot?) back to our cottage in Michigan and into the presence of my very organized and clean Grandma Kayo who put moth balls EVERYWHERE. As a matter of fact, sometimes I had to wonder if she didn't just like the smell itself.
One pretty amazing thing we did see at the airport in Taipei was a full, giant, double rainbow. Laugh if you want at my cheesy excitement, but at a moment of arrival in a strange land, seeing something like that just makes it all feel somewhat fated.
There were a couple of nice novelties in the Taipei airport (beyond the rainbow greeting). I almost fell asleep in the Zen area, a circle of free massaging chairs ala Brookstone. In order to use them all you need to do is go to a duty free shop and ask for a token. Now I'm sure they are all sort of hoping that people might purchase something while in the shop, but do they really expect you to postpone your free chair massage after a 14 hour flight in order to get a slightly cheaper bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label which will still be there on your way home?? I did not purchase any liquor. But I did spend time meandering through a couple of the airport's art galleries after I felt sufficiently relaxed (which is to say after the 10 minutes the token was good for elapsed).
After a little more wandering around it was time for the last leg, our 3 and a half hour flight to Chiang Mai. Maybe you're thinking that after such a long flight this one would feel like nothing. But you would be wrong, let me tell you why. After a total of 16 hours on a plane and about 6 hours of layover time, getting on another plane sounds about as pleasant as a nice long walk on nails. (It should also be noted that at this point in time Ario received a text message from McKayla letting us all know that she got her extension and would be making the next flight out! We all said we new it would work out:)But on this flight the wine flowed like water and so we were all content.
We finally arrived in Chiang Mai, unscathed if a little disheveled and of kind of smelly. It was at this point in time that the wave of being in a new place finally hit. There were a lot of new smells, crazy signs, crazier drivers and the wonderful and weighty heat. There are so many differences that confront you right away, it was like wave after wave of the most wonderful sensory overload. But after all that it's easy to notice the similarities and to start asking yourself questions about the people that seem mundane but prove that there is a lot more we have in common than not.
We arrived at our guest house, it's called the White House (a sure sign that my guy is gonna win the election, I just know it), and unpacked. Then we all went to grab a beer and some food and to learn the lay of the land. I got a Thai spicy soup-surprisingly not spicy until you accidentally eat one of the very small peppers and feel as though your esophagus is going to erupt molten lava. I also opted for the large beer which I soon found meant the one created for giants and their kin. But I finished with a little help from a friend.
Avery, Gina and I then took of to our Thai massage appointments---that is why we're here after all! It felt amazing. My spine has never cracked so many times and in so many great ways before. It was definitely a style of Thai that I wasn't used to (southern vs northern) but it felt wonderful!
Now I'm all caught up to Thursday Sept 11th at 6:30 pm (we flew past Wednesday on our way out here). I'm hoping the rest of my ramblings won't be quite, or even nearly, this long...who knew airports could provide so much excitement?
Goodnight from Thailand!
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
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