Oh, to be in cool fresh air again!
What an amazing day! I woke up early and started my usual walk to town but it was still early enough to be cool. What a refreshing start, especially since I over walked my turn and had to back track, I wasn’t heat stroking when I was turned to a “Red Taxi”. The taxi took me to where the “Yellow Taxis” (same set up as the red just yellow, how simple once you get it) were stationed and ready to head towards Doi Inthanon National Park. I got in and comfy for my 60 km ride to Chom Thong not knowing what to expect. I guess I had that deer in the headlight look because the guy sitting across from me started to ask where I was from and what I was up to, was I going to meditate? Sure. Sight see? Sure. Did I know what I was doing? Sure, no, not really. He invited me to join him and and his family to meditate in the wat (temple) in Chom Thong, guess he figured I could use a little head clearing. What I didn’t realize is that there is a meditation center at Chom Thong and there was a start of another retreat. Bummer! That would have been a cool thing to set up, especially because some of the locals have questioned if I am a nun. Since I didn’t know what I was doing and this guy and his family kind of knew they showed me around the center and the wat and talked to the locals about a ride up the mountain. It is amazing to see people bargain and if they don’t like the price they just walk away. I am learning, I can tell my people pleasing skills are starting to shift and I am learning to say no. So they got the price negotiated to a reasonable price, the family went to meditate and I headed up the mountain.
As I got further up and the air cooled, I got more and more homesick. I can tell that being in a place where language is a barrier, being inundated with new information every turn, and having restless nights, I am a little more vulnerable to the sadness that goes with homesickness. And yet I was able to have my feelings and experience the beauty around me too. There were coniferous trees! Can you believe it, in Thailand? I was so excited to see pine needles on trees. And right around these coniferous trees were white petal flowers that looked so tropical. It was great! So we climbed up and up and up to 2565m (about 8415 ft). I brought only my light tropical clothes and thank goodness my blood is still thick because it was cool up there. The people riding motorbikes up had winter hats and jackets on, it was pretty cute to watch. I am such a mountain girl that I was the tourist without my coat, not the other way around, as my mind thought.
Looking up at the sky I watched the clouds curl and shape themselves into the next curl, I felt so close I could touch them. There really wasn’t a wind I could feel but the clouds were moving with that windy speed, it was good to be up high.
I guess I stayed up there too long because my driver came looking for me, oops. So down we went, thank you mountain for giving me a breath of fresh air…literally! My driver was going to take me to a tourist stop but I told him to continue on. We did stop at a market place, I think the drivers get a bit of commission if they stop. I looked and watched, got a couple of trinkets and told him I was ready to go. I don’t think he was completely ready though, he got some corn, sampled some of the sweet foods, and talked story with some vendors. I had to laugh, most of the time it is the other way around, not with this mountain girl. The next stop was another one I needed to help recharge me, a waterfall. As we wove back into a village this cascade of water looked like liquid silver on the dark rock behind. I jumped out and and meandered my way back through this beautiful park of flowers, little resting huts, and rocks to the waterfall. Again, I was able to just rest in the peace of the place and know no matter what, I belong in the mountains, the country, in nature. I can try to be urban but my heart is happiest when I am in the thick of green, rocks, and AIR. The flowers were so fun to walk through because there were butterflies everywhere and they didn’t mind me at all, I was able to get these great shots of them just sunning themselves, what a treat. And all along my walk there was running water so the sound just soothed my ruffled feathers. When I felt like I was a little more Becky Sue style I walked back to the truck and told the driver I was ready to go back down.
There were a couple more touristy spots but I was done. I received what I needed from the mountain and I gave to the mountain what I came to give, I didn’t need to feed the merchant aspect. I could feel the heat seeping back in to my body too and realized I didn’t want to be out in the heat anymore either. On the 60 km ride I gave myself permission to close my eyes and just listen to my breathe, the the people chatting around me, the sound of the truck, the road noise, all of it. I ended up dozing off a couple of times, which I needed but, I was able to really be present in a crowd as well. It feels good to expand my mind and heart a bit more. When I got back to the city I went straight to a wat and sat again. I chose one with bells on the eaves and it was so good to have that quiet sound beckoning me back to Chiang Mai.
A full moon makes Becky’s head a bit full too
Man, this full moon has me working! I am so very aware of this cycle, when I am at home, I will have days go by that I forget she is up there doing her magic. Not this cycle, I have been very aware of her presence and I can tell in my dreams I am working on different things. One night was really traumatic, I dropped a baby girl on her knee and before she could cry I was doing Bowenwork on her. I ended up crying because of the shame I felt for dropping her and that started her crying. When I finally let her down, she walked a little catiwonka and she had a nasty bruise on the back of her knee but she was smiling. What the heck! Then another night’s dream I was really upset about something and as I was getting over it, there was a young woman who was going through a similar situation and what came to me was that no wonder I feel pain when others are hurting, we are the same. Needless to say I haven’t been sleeping as much the last few nights.
So on my Saturday morning I figured I would have my alarm go off or be awake before because I have been lately and get going to the close mountain. But no, my alarm didn’t go off, I over slept for I told Sabina I would meet her at her guesthouse at a certain time. Once I got to Sabina’s guesthouse we got ourselves situated and off we went to see Doi Suthep. This is the mountain just to the west of town and has been luring me since I got here. There is a temple on the side of it and every once in awhile I can see the glimmer of gold through the haze.
We got some directions of how to get the “Red Taxi” and get up the mountain, of course we didn’t follow them, so we got more directions and a ride. The “Red Taxis” are these converted pick-up trucks that zoom around the city packed with people. That is what I got to ride in on a mountain grade like Oak Creek or up Mingus Mountain. Yes, I turned a few shades greener but I did not lose my meals. Nor did anyone else. Back to the mountain, it was exactly what I had expected and it was great. There were lots of people visiting since it was Saturday but I am in a city so what can I expect. To get up to where the temple is you have to walk 300+ steps and many people make a huge pilgrimage to walk the steps, walk around the cedi, get blessings from the monks, and to see the views. I was able to put my mind in a space of “being one among many” and meditating my way up the steps.
About 3/4 of the way up an older couple was trying to pass so I let them by, she was giggling and he was skipping steps. Oh, the joy I get to witness here! At the chedi there were hundreds of people walking in a circle around the base with incense, candles, and lotus blossoms saying their prayers and conducting their ceremonies. I almost felt like an intruder, and yet my dream came back to me, we really are all the same. Back out on the grounds there were children performing all over the place, there was an orchestra, and different groups of dancers in different spots so we stopped to listen and watch. At one spot there was a toddler who came out to dance with the older girls and she stole the show. Again, the joy I get to witness is amazing!
Deciding it was getting warmer and we were getting hungry we decided to get back in to a “Red Taxi” an weave our way back down to the city. Sabina wanted to take me to a place she has really enjoyed eating at so we made our way to the restaurant and had a pleasant meal. I am still amazed that my vendor adventures have proven to be quite inexpensive and quite good. My meal today was more than twice the amount of my vendors and the quality was about the same. I guess I’m not as touristy as I thought I was. Since I have the Mills/Andrews gene that gives me energy like the Energizer bunny I left Sabina at her guest house and went on to see another temple and to check out the Saturday Walking Market. Wat Sisuphan is said to have the only “silver” ordination hall in Thailand and I was so excited to check it out BUT there was a sign that said no women. AURGH! This is the first time I really have felt the difference of being a woman here. Oh well, I was able to enjoy the outside and the inside is being renovated so neener-neener.
I can tell I am getting to know this city because as I was walking back to my hotel, I realized I was on a road I never been on and I couldn’t tell if I was going to hit the river or not so I turned up a street and when I came to a major street I started seeing things I remember seeing. It is good to feel that even if I feel lost, I have to tools to find my way. I am learning this is true with anything in life and what a great feeling it is!
Learning, learning, learning!
So I decided that I wanted to learn on this trip and boy have my prayers been answered. I am completely saturated in Thai massage yumminess right now and I my belly is full of 4 wonderful Thai dishes I just learned how to prepare. I am learning a little bit of Thai here and there as I go, I still really can only say Hello/goodbye, thank you, and how much. Pretty touristy if you ask me!
I decided to attend a school called Sunshine Massage School, they seem to be a pretty intensive school and the gentleman who runs the school went to a school here in Chiang Mai, I wasn’t here for the start of their workshop series, or I might have gone to the source. My instructor has been practicing Thai massage for most of her life through her grandmother, went to school in Bangkok at Wat Po, and then 6 years ago went through this program. It is fascinating to see what she likes and dislikes about our manual, we change things here and there, skip things, add things. My kind of learning…”breaking the law, breaking the law”. My classmates are all bringing a little bit to the class too, so it is really special, I guess that is a given. It has been fun because we are asked to switch partners each time we learn something so that has been really fun learning on almost all of my classmates, and having them learn on me. I forgot about the receiving part of learning.
After class we all seem to go our own ways, some people are here with spouses or friends, and some have lived here for years, months, etc so we all go onto our lives. I have been taking my little jaunt to the walled city for my evening entertainment, seeing some of the temples, people watching, just soaking up the sounds, smells, and sights. On one of my evening strolls I happened to see a cooking school and thought maybe I should attempt to cook Thai. Some of you know how I feel about my cooking, I am not the most confident in the kitchen. When I was in college some friends knew my phobia and sent me to cooking class, I think I still have the recipes, I don’t know if I have used them. Maybe it is time because…I just cooked 4 fabulous dishes and I have a recipe book for more. After my dishes I feel like maybe, just maybe I can try this cooking thing some more. I was able to finally figure out how to make my favorite, Papaya Salad, this salad has eluded me since Maui 6 years ago when I first had it at Saigon Cafe. Another favorite that was introduced to me just recently is Tom Kaa Gai, coconut milk chicken soup, it was great to relive that night as well, I ended up telling my fellow classmates, “Don’t eat the wood” and now I know what the wood is, Thai ginger and Lemongrass. I was also able to prepare a Chicken Pad Thai, pretty yummy I needed a little more spice, and a Red Curry Chicken Noodle plate by the time I got to the last one, I was FULL so I didn’t get to enjoy it as much. The best part about these recipes is that for my vegetarian/vegan friends I can make Tofu for you, they tell me how in my recipe book!
So now after a week of being in Chiang Mai, I have learned how to work the front of the body in Thai massage, I have 4 delicious plates to practice when I get home, I have seen upteenhundred Wats, and I am meeting some really amazing people.
Last night I was able to meet up with the woman I met on the train, Sabina, for dinner, we went to a swanky restaurant on the river. It was great to get to talk to her again and have some company for a meal but I noticed that even though we were going to pay 3 times as much for our meal, the food tasted the same as at my fun little vendor places, and now I can make the dishes myself. I guess it goes to show me that money doesn’t buy everything, knowing locals and how to cook is the secret.
Thai take-away (drive thru)
She had to go to the Night Bazaar to check on an order so I asked if I could join her. These markets are wild, there are venders everywhere and they are selling almost anything. I get overwhelmed quickly so I have to step back but watching her work her bargaining I realized this was a great teacher in getting the price down. Next time I want something I have some techniques. We decided to take a quick rest on a patio and sit for a second hoping to be served by one of the nearby cafes when I looked up and there was a baby elephant in the middle of the road. I keep forgetting I am in a place where this is normal. So of course I grabbed my camera popped up and got a couple of pictures. What a fun little (big) baby!
My first couple of days of school
I forgot how intense learning something can be for me. Learning is such a wonderfully humbling experience for me. I want to come out of the starting gates knowing most of anything I try, and when I get into a learning experience I realize I don’t know squat! It is good to be in this space for me, I will always be growing and changing and expanding. In the moment though I get pretty cranky. So that is what Thai massage is about for me right now. I did know a little bit of Thai massage from way back when and now I am getting to really learn Thai massage. There are 10 of us in the class, 2 English women, 2 German men, 1 French man, 1 South African woman, 1 Italian man, 1 Israeli woman, 1 Thai woman, and myself. The class is being taught by a Thai woman in English so you can just imagine the confusion we are getting…”was that left or right because it sound like wright and weft”. I have learned to listen with a half an ear to watch with both eyes and feel with my hearthands and I am getting it pretty good. I am grateful I have knowledge about massage already and how to dance with the body so now I am learning how to dance a different rhythm. To all of you clients, thank you for being my dancing partners for all these years, I have a lot more confidence and I know it is because of you.
I am also working to heal my own body right now too so learning is taking the back seat. My lungs have been through the wringer with all the terrible air around here, 2 stroke blue smoke, diesel exhaust, and then the humidity on top of it all, oh how I miss Prescott’s crisp, cool, fresh air. I have done okay, the spicy food is helping, and I found a place down the way that sells 6-1 liter bottles of water for 25 baht so I am able to keep my water intake up. Today I started laughing though and that got me into a wonderful laughing/coughing fit that got the rest of the class going. A really good thing about learning in a group is that we all kind of have to give ourselves permission to bumble our way through what we are learning. Even the instructor is getting to laugh about what she has forgotten, added, or said wrong, oh and man does she get a laugh out of what we are doing. Every once in a while I will catch her watching one of us shaking her head before she calls out our name or our gender “what are you doing?!” Then she will fix whatever she finds we are doing wrong and flitting off to the next student who needs adjustment.
With school starting at 9am and getting done at 4pm, I notice I haven’t been as willing to go site seeing after class I hope as I feel better that will change. Last night I did go across the river to the flower market and walk that, fresh flowers as far as the eye could see, oh, and the smells! At the corner of the flower market is the start of another market so where the markets overlap is the food market. I was able to get fresh fruit for pennies and dinner for almost the same. Tonight I plan on maybe going into the walled city to see the temples at night.
Opening up in Chiang Mai
I mentioned before I am a mountain girl, this city stuff can almost zap me of any willingness. I wanted to just sleep this morning and I was able to for the most part. There is building happening next door so my morning rest wasn’t a deep rest; weird dreams of movie stars chasing me through parking lots in the snow, where do I come up with this stuff!? Finally I decided to get up and start moving. I got on my walking shoes and got my map, I had some errands to run first thing and then I could walk the city again, and man did I walk this city. I am on the east end of the city outside of the moat so I walked down street I didn’t walk before and ended up seeing Wat Ketkarem, I am so grateful I am getting to see things, I have this idea that Buddhist monks are these men above us lay people who are living lives of purity. Today there was one smoking just outside the meditation hall. See we are all human, that is what I am getting to learn here. On Th Tha Phae, one of the main roads to the walled city, I was able to at least see 5 different temples if not more, some I would stop in and look around take a couple of pictures, others I would stop and actually site for a bit and soak in the yummies. It is neat to feel each temple’s energy and see if I can sit with it or if I get the feeling to keep going. At Wat Bupparam I felt like I needed to sit, and that is just what I did. I wasn’t able to sit too long, too many thoughts and antsy feet, plus some of these temples it is great to sit outside because on the roof there are bells and the wind will get them to sing. It is such a great sound to hear especially because you have to listen for them, the vehicles will drown out their song if you aren’t listening for it.
When I got to the walled city, there was a market being set up so I was able to get some pineapple and just walk and eat. I am getting a little more brave about speaking Thai, I can still only say hello, thank you, and how much. They start talking to me in Thai and I put on my deer-in-the-headlight look, they smile and start speaking English. Such gracious people. I went back to a couple of the temples I visited yesterday to slow down. When I was talking to the young monk yesterday he was teasing me about how Westerners walk quickly. I realized I do walk with a certain agenda and so I may be missing out on the stuff right here. So I stopped to just enjoy some tea at the temple I met the monk at and had some tea. It was good to watch all the people set up their day. I also revisited the temple with the elephant statues, when I was enjoying my tea I read that there was only one that is original the others have been redone. I had to see the original, it would be too touristy if I didn’t, hahaha.
On the way to the next place I realized that pineapple isn’t enough food for the day, so I stopped at a street vendor and had a 5 baht kabob, it was AMAZING or maybe I was just hungry, nah, it was amazing. I haven’t really talked about the food here but it is really cool. Anywhere you are if you want food you walk by a vendor and if you like, you buy, if not keep walking. Sure you can go to the cafes but you will spend a lot more for the same stuff. Lunch yesterday cost 60 baht from a cafe and dinner today cost 15 baht from a street vendor, same portions. Amazing! Now I just have to get over my phobia of weird animal parts, then I can eat anything.
Back to my walk, I stopped at this temple, Wat Phra Singh which has amazing grounds, it is busy as heck too but it was worth it. I was able to sit for awhile and have my two year old tantrum with The Buddha about all the things I needed to cry about and whine about. It felt good to start opening up and to get a little more willingness. I still have a little constriction but at least now I am aware of it and I am willing to acknowledge it, before, I tried to ignore it.
I decided that since I was on the west side of the walled city I would continue on to the outside city and see what else I could find. It was a great walk, getting to see all the vendors and as I got closer to the University I was able to see a lot more of the “hip” Thai culture. It is such an amazing contrast between the temples and what they stand for and then the modern culture and what it is doing to us and for us.
At another temple, Wat Suan Dok I decided to sit outside and listen to the music being played. Thai music has such a cool sound and being on these “holy” grounds just makes it that much more special. After a bit I decided to see what was happening with this group of musicians and what they were doing as well as see the Buddha statue inside. The instruments are so different from ours and they make such different sounds and yet it is so beautiful. I know I am a band geek when I break out in a grin because there is live music. Oh I do love it though!
So another little quirk that I have is that my family has this thing about “adventures”. When we would go on a hike or for a ride if one of us kids asked where we were going we were told, “On an adventure”. I hated this statement because I never knew if we were going to be get stuck in mud, lost in a city, walk for what seemed to be hundreds of miles, or if we were just going to the store. And yet I have succumbed to this idea that I am ‘”on an adventure”. So in true Mills’ fashion I decided to keep walking to this temple in the woods that I was told was too far to walk. HA! I walked there and I enjoyed the walk because?…you got it, I was on an adventure. As I was walking to Wat U Mong I did get that dreaded feeling once that I might get myself lost in a city and then I remembered, I can always ask directions. Sorry Mills family, I just couldn’t keep that part of the adventure anymore, I needed validation I was going in the right direction. Wat U Mong is a forest wat and it is another amazing temple. This one also houses nuns so it was good to see the women of the cloth too. Being in the forest helped feed my Mountain Girl needs. I was able to look up through the trees and see the blue sky, the moon, and remember I am a child of The Creator, and I was surrounded by a beautiful forest, also a gift of The Creator. What a great feeling. I found a bench next to a pond so I was able to soak up the forest juju and as I was sitting there, I became aware of butterflies, everywhere!
I don’t know if I have written about butterflies yet. When I was in California a couple of times I was aware of butterflies being around. Then when I was on Maui I was very aware of butterflies. It seemed like they were everywhere, out in the ocean, on the beach, at Becca’s house, in Iao Valley, they would just catch my eye. Then in Bangkok I was so absorbed by the bustle of the city I forgot that they even maybe around, but they caught my attention there too. So as I was sitting at this pond and surrounded by butterflies, I felt even more peace creeping in. I am like a little butterfly, flitting in and out of different situations, staying longer at some, revisiting others, and flitting quickly away from others. It was a very cool gift to have them flit into my life for a moment.
With the sun sinking in the sky I decided to move on and see the rest of the the temple, this temple has a statue of the Buddha when he was in the forest meditating for so long, a gruesome yet fascinating image. There are tunnels that run under ground so I explored those a little bit and then popped out by where the monks live. It is such a cool site to see these orange and gold robes out on lines to dry and to see a whole bunch of people with shaved heads. 
As I was leaving I heard chanting. The monks were in the building where the stairs are leading in the above picture. I had to stop for a few minutes to soak that in too. This was such an amazing place to hang out for the afternoon. I feel like I was given a little bit of reprieve.
Okay, so I have ridden in a taxi, a tuk-tuk, a bicycle, a subway, sky train, and train. I decided I would try a motorcycle taxi. That was a hoot! I am about as heavy as the Thai men so having this guy maneuver the motorcycle in his crazy way with twice the weight was worth the 70 baht. I was so glad that I couldn’t see around his head or I might have peed myself. I just couldn’t bring myself to walk back to the walled city with the sun sinking lower and lower. Plus it is the Sunday Walking Market. Now that is something to put me into overload.
The Sunday Walking Market is just that, they close down the streets to vehicles between a certain point and a certain point and venders come out to sell. They have all sorts of goodies and it is a great place to learn to bargain. I started slow but by the time I went through all the vending stalls I was getting the hang of it.
Among the vendors there were school music groups playing, little girls dancing, blind people walking and singing, blind people playing music, there were fire dancers, it was just amazing.
When I was completely wiped out, I went to where the tuk-tuk drivers where and decided to try my new bargaining skills out. The first driver said my price was too low, it was too much traffic but another guy said he would do it. So off I went in my chariot. Ahh, I might just get the hang of this bargaining thing.
Tomorrow I start my class and so that is exciting. It will be good to have a schedule again and I am excited to be doing my work again. I have missed doing massages and I can tell my body has missed receiving too.
Walking a city like Chiang Mai
I decided I just couldn’t get back on/in anything with wheels this morning so I packed up my bags, checked out of the guesthouse, and started walking. After riding the bike yesterday I got a pretty good feel for where I needed to at least go to head in the right direction. I had to laugh because I have been seeing things and experiencing things I could never imagine but on my walk I was reminded that no matter where you go you will still experience certain things, like men peeing off high places. There is a foot bridge across the river and as I was walking across there was a man swaying and leaning on the rail and as I walked by there was the stream. I guess that can be anywhere! Other than that it was a nice walk, only about a half hour but when I got to the school I was sweaty and hot. I checked into the school, got my book and then checked into my “home” for the next two weeks. It was good to settle in, unpack my special pieces of home and make this little room my cozy little room. As I got my stuff unpacked, I received a call from Sabina, the woman from the train, asking if I would like to join her for the day. So I packed my bag and headed back to the “Old city” to meet her. I ended up going through the secondhand market, that was a trip, there were clothes, motor parts, records, guitars, jewelry, electronics and it was all used.
When I got to Sabina’s hotel we decided that it was too late to take a tuk-tuk to go out far and explore so we decided to walk the city. I was pretty relieved to hear we were going to walk, I was still a little weary about wheels. Sabina wanted to show me Wat Chedi Luang because it is built around what is believed to be one of the tallest structures of ancient Chiang Mai. Yesterday when I was wandering around on the bike, out of the corner of my eye I saw this huge stone structure and had my breathe taken away so I was excited to go explore this temple. We got turned around right away and started our adventure. We ended up at this really quiet, peaceful, wat and just sat for a bit.
Just about a 1/4 mile away was Wat Chedi Luang. This place is amazing! As we turned a corner you could see the chedi sticking up above the trees. As we got closer I realized that at the base there were sculptures of elephants and there were relics of Buddha in nooks at the top. Also so many pretty shiny things, I couldn’t get it all in so I took a bunch of pictures!
After sitting and just enjoying the view and talking about how things are changing in the world faster than we can even fathom we decided it was lunch time, plus it was getting to be quite hot.
As we wandered down the streets headed for a good little restaurant that Sabina had been to before we happened upon Wat Phan Tao. This city is just packed with temples, it is so cool to be around such beautiful relics and to be in a city where people are making pilgrimages here to pay homage. I feel blessed to be here and to be doing the same in my own way. Back to Wat Phan Tao, the hall is built with teak wood, I am fascinated by teak wood. I learned about teak at Finders Keepers and how amazing the wood is for almost everything. The problem is that it take 50+ years for it to mature and most of the forests have been wiped out. So to see this hall was such a gift AND they had the alms bowls set up, similar to the ones from Baan Baht so I was excited to get to see those too.
I am always amazed by how my brain works, I read and I absorb and I file away. So on the train I read about all the sites and got a feel for what I wanted to see. As I was reading I was filing away what the other stuff was too, like different bazaars and when they are and what times they are, blah blah blah. Well I read about this monument of three Kings, it represents the different kings coming together for Chiang Mai but that is about all I can tell you about it. Well as we are walking by this park I realize oohooh, this is the Three Kings Monument. Sabina just looked at me the way many of you have looked at me and asked the question…”How do you know about this?” Ah yes that question has been asked many times, and my answer, “I don’t know, I just read/saw something about it somewhere.” The problem then was where did I read it because that would help us know where we were. Thankfully Sabina saw another cute little cafe and we at lunch there. When we sat down to look at the menu I read (I just can’t stop!) the front page and the cafe we were at was run by the women in the Chiang Mai Women’s Prison. This was part of their rehabilitation program. What a great way to help women get back on their feet! I read also that there is a store and a spa, so I may have to check those out. Our lunch was delicious and we were visited by some of Thailand’s wildlife so that was cool, I was feeling a little disjointed from nature in these cities.
After lunch we both were feeling a little like we needed a rest so we headed back towards Sabina’s hotel. As we turned a corner there was yet another temple, Wat Duang Di, I am blown away that these places are so well preserved. I mean they have been remodeled but even the buildings that have not are still beautiful.
Right across the street we entered another temple just for ease of getting through and this one was beautiful too. The name is, Wat Umongmahatherachan, I am not even going to attempt to act like I can pronounce that!
Now that we were both exhausted from the heat and having full bellies I told Sabina that I was going to take another road back towards my place and send her off to her place. It is such a great feeling to have someone to spend time with who is a complete stranger and yet I feel like I have known her forever. Another reminder that I may feel lonely sometimes but I am never really alone. So on my walk, I came upon yet another temple, this one is one of the more famous ones though so I decided to go in and have a look. I am so glad I did, right away I knew I could take a deep breath and rest. When I got up to the hall there was a young monk chatting with another tourist and no other person in the hall so I walked up front and just sat. It was great to connect and listen again. When I was done I went to put my shoes on and the young monk struck up a conversation. The monks here want to practice their English so if you are willing they will talk about pretty much anything. We talked about where I was from and how he had a pen pal in Colorado, where had I just arrived from, where was I going? How long had he been studying? 3 years. How much longer did he have? 2 years. What was he studying? Teaching English. As we were talking some amazing music started playing from the courtyard so my heart just sighed, I was safe. I didn’t want to admit that I am feeling so vulnerable but now that I felt safe I could just be. Now I have a place I can venture from, a “home”, I have a city that I get to explore and become part of, and I feel good about my purpose here.
Chiang Mai…
I woke up to the jostle of the train and our ladyboy (transgender) car attendant asking if I wanted coffee, I am learning that a lot of cream and a lot of sugar gets the stuff down so I don’t mind a morning cup here so much. As I looked out the window I was able to see these beautiful pink blossoms on the tops of the trees and new banana buds on the banana trees. In one of the fields I got to see my first oxen a bull, cow, and her calf. As the train passed the calf kicked up and got behind its mama, so cute. A great way to start the day. The train was about 3 hours late, I had heard it has a tendency to run late so I wasn’t so surprised. Plus I don’t have to be anywhere at any given time. I do feel like a leaf being tossed in the gentle breeze on this trip. I didn’t have a place to stay here, so on train I was working that out. A gentleman started a conversation with my seat mate and as their conversation progressed he included me. We started chatting about what I was doing and where I was going and all of that good stuff. He heard the school I was going to for training and made a face, (silly American girl) he gave me a name of a “better, more local” school so I am on my way to check that out. If I don’t like, I will continue on with the school I planned on but if I like it, I will change schools which brings me to the next thing. My seat mate invited me to come to her hotel since it is in the thick of things and she has stayed there before. We went in and no room for me only for her, so off I went to see if I could find a place. I made an oops-a-boo-boo loop, I had no clue where I was going but ended back up at the hotel, as I was passing a fellow female traveler she asked if I saw anything else the way I just came, I hadn’t, the best places seemed to be where she was coming from. She joined me and we walked together to the first place we found the Thailand Guesthouse and for 100 baht each we have a shared place to stay. She is traveling from California and has been on the road for about 5 months, I am realizing after only a month I miss my mountain home. I don’t want to be gone for that long, plus as a friend lovingly joked, I have a pace of about 4 days, I hit a place hard and fast and then move on, not wanting to miss anything. So 5 months sounds like I would actually learn the language fluently and we can’t have that (just joking!). So now I have to find this new school to see if I want to attend it and if I do, see how close this hotel is or if there is a place to stay closer. It is neat to not know where I am going and also a little nerve wracking. I guess this is that practice in faith, faith I am exactly where I need to be.
So fast forward about 9 hours and I had an experience of a life time. I decided instead of renting a tuk-tuk or a taxi or whatever I would rent a bicycle and do my adventuring on that. I figured I would rent it for the week so that way I could have transportation no matter what. I have to say my feet are the best transportation created. That bike ride scared the bageezes out of me. Chiang Mai has a walled city and then outside that walled city watch out, mass chaos for this mountain girl, one way streets with motorcycles splitting lanes, everybody sort of abiding the traffic rules but not really AND they drive on the wrong side of the road! I was so excited about my bicycle and my map, I got directions sort of and off I went. I did perfect in the walled city meandering down the streets and feeling pretty confident then I came to a gate, I had to merge with traffic then at some point in time make a U-turn. I did that fine then I didn’t know which lane to pick so I picked on stayed with that one just to find out it was the wrong one, I had to cross this wall of craziness to get to the other side. I don’t have a clue why a chicken would want to cross the road it is scary! I had to ask directions a couple of times and get myself reoriented but I found one of the schools but they had already started classes so no go. I got back on my bike and traveled back the way I came. I did have a little more finesse, by this time it was getting to be traffic and so I would get behind a group and then peddle like hell to not get ran over. Now that I am back in the comfort of my room I can giggle about it. So after asking a couple more people where the other school was I found it and they were closed…DAMN! There was somebody there so I asked about places to stay close by and he pointed out one. So off I went to see if they had a room the next two weeks and if I could get a deal because of the long stay, yes I get to have 2 nights free, YAY!!! That made up for the school being closed. By the time I got everything together and headed back to the walled part of the city it was almost 6 so I got to watch the sun set, it was beautiful. As I was watching the sun set I realized I don’t want to be on a bike, I will end up getting hurt so I gave it back. A friend said that they walk a city to get to know it, riding a bike just doesn’t do it for me so walking here I come. Oh I am just not a city girl, I really thought maybe I could be but I really get to accept I am a country bumpkin and today I can be proud of it.
Train to Chiang Mai
So I have taken a taxi, a tuk-tuk, the subway, the Sky Train, and now I am taking a real live choo-choo. I was told it is a true Thai experience to ride the over train to Chiang Mai. So I left Jenny hopped the subway to the train station, I am getting better at navigating my way around Bangkok, I guess it really is time for me to move on. I got my tickets yesterday and forgot to ask Lin what type of tickets she got me so when I arrived I made sure I was in the right place and then killed the 2 hour wait working on a plan for Chiang Mai and people watching. There were Thai families, other Asian families, monks, and a bunch of backpackers just like me all waiting to catch their trains.
When the time got closer I headed off to the platform to see if I could board, my train was there and people were in fact boarding. I hopped onto car #2 and looked for my seat, well someone was in it and in seat #39, there must be a mistake. Yes there was, the car number was not well marked the class was well marked. So there were about 10 #2 cars all lit up, the actual car number was in the middle of the car on a plackard. I was at #9 so I started my journey down the train through the diesel fumes mixed with Bangkok smog. I came upon the smoking area which was pretty much a glass room in the middle of the platform….hmmmm a little bit of irony perhaps. I found car #2, got on and there was a woman in my seat, she seemed pretty comfy so I put my stuff on her seat and called it good.
The amazing thing I am getting to experience is the large amount of female travelers, there are A LOT of us travelling right now, in this car alone it seems like at least 80% are women. “We Can Do It!” So one of the groups of women on the train were working on their calendar, when did they do what. They were talking about snorkeling and laying by the beach and I had to be nosey and ask if they were coming from the south, they were coming from Maui. HAHAHAHA! I am not alone. Well that gave me courage to ask the European woman in my old seat if she had ever been to Chiang Mai, she had. We started sharing stories and she is the woman I would want to be if I couldn’t be me. She traveled to India and Nepal before it was the cool thing to do, she hitchhiked across Europe to Turkey when she was about my age. This is her third trip to Chiang Mai so she had good information. You know the best part is that I AM me and by being me, I got to share some information about Bali with her. Oh the lessons I am getting to learn on this trip. And I haven’t even started with the massage learning yet.
A day of rest, well, sort of
Jenny and I decided today would be a quieter day, we were going to go to the floating market but I didn’t have enough time before I had to get to the train station. I couldn’t find anymore temples I couldn’t miss and I was feeling the 4 weeks of travel seeping in. So I checked out of my hotel and walked down to Jenny’s shop, we met up and then off we went. I couldn’t figure out where she was talking about, so I just followed like her little lamb. We got onto the Sky Train which was awesome to see the city and then headed to Jim Thompson’s house. You all know Jim right? Well I had no clue who this American yahoo was until after the tour and after reading a flyer about him. He helped popularize up the Thai silk weaving again and has been big in fashion. No wonder I have no clue who he is! Well here is the cool part, he took 6 traditional Thai homes some as old as 200 years and Lincoln logged them together to make one big house. He moved into his home in 1959 and then in 1967 he went on a trip to Malaysia and never came back. No wife, no kids, just a wonderful idea and a great house. The gift shop was selling scarves for 1800 baht (about $60) so I really felt out of place, not only am I totally not a fashion queen but I have a hard time spending $60 on shoes! Sorry everyone we left empty handed except for these pretty pictures.
Off we went again I was the little lamb. Jenny asked a few people questions as we went along and all of a sudden we were at another museum. This one was the Suan Pakkad Palace Museum. I had a lot of fun here, even though I didn’t get to see any Cabbage Patch Kids, the tour guide was very friendly and quite animated, he would speak Thai with Jenny and then switch to English for me, getting me to guess the answers to his questions. The fun part about this museum is that if you do a literal translation you get the Cabbage Patch Palace, yep remember our beloved friends. The story behind this palace is that in 1952 a prince and his wife did what Jim did, take old teak homes and Lincoln log them together for one big great house. They one upped though and filled the house with all sorts of cool artifacts. Our guide took a few pictures of us and I could only take pictures of the outside grounds and they didn’t have a collection of Cabbage Patch Kids, but it was beautiful all the same.
The Spectrum of life
Today was another wonderfully packed day. This morning Jenny, Pat, Katie, and I all clambered into the car to see Pat’s work. Pat is a manager for an English speaking school here in Bangkok. Any of you wonderlust people out there if you want to visit Bangkok and Thailand for a year come teach English. Kind of a cool set up, the students are there to learn conversational English and get a better feel for the language. It is very tempting, I just can’t handle Bangkok anymore, I am excited to see the country (yes, I am admitting I am mountain girl).
Jenny and I started off for Wat Traimit and the 9 foot tall solid gold Buddha. AMAZING! The temple is in China town and so it had a a large Chinese exhibit in the temple. As we wondered about we got to learn about the Chinese immigration and learn a little more about the Chinese influence in Thailand. I could tell I was like a child on Christmas, I like history but I wanted the meat, the juicy part, the Gold! It was beautiful! I couldn’t imagine being on the team trying to move this huge Buddha, dropping it, and having the plaster crumble enough to know something was hidden. Then to uncover it and here is solid gold?!?!
We decided to make it to Ratchanatdaram because it sounded cool, or maybe it just looked like it would sound cool, I can’t pronounce it! When we got there it was being remodeled so it felt like we were intruding which made it even more intriguing. This Wat had 360 degrees of Buddha relics, there seemed to be almost every pose and the staircase just wound it self up and up and up.
Just across the street is Wat Saket and Golden Mount so we went over and climbed up and up and up to the top of Golden Mount which was beautiful, have I mentioned that this is the cool season and it is about 85degrees with some wild amount of humidity? It is hot here! Oh, and if you want to go into the temples you have to have your arms and legs covered plus the fear of mosquitos has me doubly covered. It is hot here! Anyway we went up and up and up and got some more spectacular views and ran into a group of school girls wrapping the top of Golden Mount with a red scarf, it was perfect.
After climbing back down from the top of Golden Mount and resting in front of the Buddha. We went to Wat Suhtat and sat in front of the Buddha, what is amazing about the Thai Buddhists is that you can buy incense, candles, and lotus blossoms, and offer them to the Buddha then say your prayers/blessings at every temple, I enjoyed joining in and I also just enjoyed shutting my eyes and letting my mind quiet down. I can tell I am thirsting for that right now. Especially after we went hunting for Ban Baat which has its own post, if you are interested read So I had a dream.
Jenny has a friend Lin who got me tickets to and from Chiang Mai and who is working on getting a tickets to and from the south. She couldn’t get me on the Friday train so I leave tomorrow for Chiang Mai. I had to go into her office to get my tickets and we started talking, she was able to get me into a very swanky hotel right next to the subway for the train tomorrow. So here I am after a day of seeing poverty, a day of wealth, and partaking in both (my transfer of funds didn’t go through until just now so Yay for $), I am exhausted on more than one level. And yet I went back to Jenny’s salon to say goodnight and we went out again to get foot massages (wonderful!), see Soi Cowboy, a strip club row, the Bangkok Night Bazaar, and I ate tongue and heart soup at midnight. This mountain girl is beat!
Becky's Travel Blog 