Spent the day walking around Chiang Mai, eating food, checking out shops, and just enjoying being there. We spent about an hour in a textile place where Kerry bought the better part of a bolt of cloth to make a duvet. Then, we got on the train headed to Bangkok
Our last real day in Chiang Mai.
Honestly, at this point, I don’t remember what the friendly farang was about. But I know we had a good time.
We took the bus three hours north of Chiang Mai to the small town of Chiang Dao. When we told the locals we wanted to head up that way, invariably we got blank stares and were asked, “Why? There’s nothing there.” Which was exactly the point. It’s literally a stop on the side of the road, with not much else out there.
It was glorious. Stepping off the bus and walking to our huts was pretty hot, then we came across this thing:
Yeah, weird spot.
Then we got to the huts.
We got settled, rented some bikes, and started exploring.
It just so happened that the weekend we were visiting Chiang Dao was the same weekend of a Japanese hippy music festial, Shambala in your Heart. We arrived at the festival after the music had officially ended for the night, but it was a super chill scene. There was one guy raging on a harmonica with cockles tied to his ankles that was pretty cool. Sleeping arrancements for the festival were just camping out behind the stages. Someone had brought a teepee.
Today we ran through a whole massage, start to finish. At the end of the day, we had a graduation ceremony, complete with certificates, so you know it’s official.
That night we went out to celebrate graduation. And see Thor’s girlfriend Pear play at Elvis. She’s a total badass.
The set list:
By this point we had covered the entire body, so today was focused on closing (stretching, light massage) and linking each part together. We had a short written test where we had identify ten parts of the body that are sensitive to the touch. Real hard.
Legs. All legs. Holy shit, legs. So good.
The Swan (Burmese) for dinner, then watching Thor play Loco Elvis. Or at least that’s the plan. I’m beginning to suspect Kerry and I both suffer from FOMO because with both have trouble leaving anything before we shut the fucker down.
Yep, called it. After Loco Elvis, we hit up Zoe’s, danced for a bit, then stayed up talking till two.
Woke up early, went to Blue Diamond for breakfast, massage school (back and legs) then home. We rented bikes to get out to the train station to buy tickets back to bangkok next Tuesday, way, way ahead of any need to do so.
When we got to the station though, Kerry ran to the bathroom and I tried to buy tickets. When I told he agent what I wanted, she looked at me sadly and said there was only one berth left on the train. The look of relief on the agent’s face when Kerry walked up behind me was incredible. She explained that there was plenty of room in the Women’s car on the same train, so I could take the 2nd class berth, and Kerry could take a berth in the Women’s car. Lucked out there.
Both of us were craving western food, so after purchasing tickets we had planned to head out to the university district again and score something suitably American out there. As the sun fell, we both realized it’s one thing to ride in Thailand when traffic can see you and something wholly different when it’s dark out. So we bailed on going to The Pub and instead ended up at Mad Dog Farang Food, with pizza and a meat pie, both of which exceeded expectations.
Then we actually accomplished last nights goal of getting to bed early.
Waking up in a right state barely two hours after we had gone to sleep, I couldn’t face a cold shower, so I ran down stairs and used the communal shower with hot water. Kerry, a living saint, got up soon after, then quickly grabbed us roles and a slice of raisin bread. We both took naps in the red truck that came to pick us up.
The whole day was a struggle, but we made it. Massaged the hell out of some heads, necks, and shoulders. K messaged us (how amazing is it that in the space of ten years, Facebook has gone from being non-existent to having over a billion users. I know it’s the circles I ride in, but I’m unlikely to meet anyone who doesn’t have a Facebook account who didn’t consciously make the choice), so we met everyone at Loco Elvis for a round. It wasn’t a short round, but we were in bed by midnight, at least.
We rented a couple of cruisers and biked around Chiang Mai. We got lunch out in the university district at a road side stand (Thai Spicy Salad with Fired Pork, complete with surprise shrimp, papaya salad, fried pork slurry, and sausage). Heard a couple american business men talk about how unevolved Thai business culture is, and he was every bit the douche he sounds like. After lunch we checked out a couple shops down a cute little alley and did a little window shopping. All in all, just a fun day exploring.
Originally we had agreed to take it easier that night, but the best laid plans. In summary: we made new friends, new enemies, shut down one club, pulled some strings and got into a second club for free, danced a lot and upon returning to the guest house, woke up some poor schmuck with the courtesy to yell, “shut up, asshole!” Neither of us took too kindly to that (Kerry astutely pointed out:
But at that we called it a night.
