Thailand update #5, onwards from Chiang Mai. Today the word of the day, reflecting the last 48 hours, is patience (more on this later). So since I checked in last Ive done one more course with Kam and one course of advanced+stretches with Yan. The course with Kam was all about using your hands differently and focused on obtaining a better understanding of the Sen lines - the Thai way of mapping energy flow throughout the body. It was a nice loosely structured course to explore different ways of working the body, but I think the best thing about this course were the people in it: there was another teacher at sunshine with 15 years experience taking the course for fun, a huge (67) Russian who has been working in Thai massage for 6 years, myself and the assistant Sanatani, so there was plenty of experience to learn from and plenty of one on one time. It was also nice to network with Kam a bit more and we are hoping to collaborate when we both get back to Montreal (he lives about 15 minutes walk away from my place). Im pretty excited about having established this sort of contact with such an experienced teacher. The course with Yan was very impressive, as not only was there again a lot of experienced body workers in the class, he was able to adapt any technique for any body type with plenty of variations. Truly an inspirational teacher I would love to study under again. Im also hoping to receive a massage from him when I get back to Chiang Mai. Outside of courses there was even more play and networking with the acro yogis in the park. I can only hope that there is as good a scene for this outside Chiang Mai, as reliably there were 2-4 mats going any given afternoon, with more like 4-6 on Wednesdays and Saturdays. On a somewhat related note there was also a cool contact dance workshop hosted which piqued my interest; its been something Ive wanted to learn more about for a while and apparently the scene is quite strong in Chiang Mai. Something to revisit upon my return! Moving now to onward travel I am learning the importance of booking in advance. I took the night train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok which was relatively comfortable and cheap (this ticket I had purchased a couple weeks in advance), but once in Bangkok they only had 3rd class available for the second leg of my journey. There was also no way of making it to Ko Pha-ngan in one day, which for some reason I assumed was possible. It was nice to have the day in Bangkok as I was able to meet up with a client of mine from Montreal who happened to have just arrived in Bangkok for vacation a couple days previous. Together we checked out the weekend Chatuchak market which dwarfed the already considerably sized walking markets in Chiang Mai. It never fails to amaze me how much the economy here is based on selling stuff to tourists. Anyways, after a couple beer, a fair deal of wandering, some street food, meeting up with a friend of his, more beer, then meeting up with another friend of his for a drink I continued (with a slight stagger) onwards to my train. Third class sucks. I just need to put that out there. In comparison I would consider the grayhound spacious and comfortable; I think even my coach flight out here had more space to stretch out. Needless to say I wasnt able to sleep much and so at some early hour the next morning when my travel neighbors got out at a stop I took the opportunity to stretch out and almost immediately zonked out. I thought my stop was the end of the line you see, and that once everybody got out I would be where I wanted to be. Not so. As it turned out, I should have gotten out where my travel neighbors did and not taken the opportunity to enjoy a (still cramped) two hour catnap. Upon waking up and realizing my folly, I got off at the next stop and assessed my options: I had overshot my destination by a little over 100km so tuk tuk or taxi would be too expensive, leaving me having to get back on the train (this time in the other direction). After a three hour layover turned into a five hour layover at the rail station I was finally on my way back in the right direction! The original train ticket I bought came packaged with a bus\ferry combo to get from the train station to Ko Pha-ngan, but unfortunately by the time I arrived the last ferry from the company I booked with had already departed, giving me limited options to make it to the island. A wily motorbike taxi driver was able to help me find another way, but as can so easily be the case when they realize your options are limited, the price ended up being a little more than double to make it on a different ferry in time. So currently Im still on said ferry transiting to Ko Pha-ngan looking forward to enjoying a week and a half of beautiful island in the sun meets new years meets full moon party. In the background as I write this are a few different types of electronic music being pumped from tiny speakers and lots of beer being consumed in anticipation by a young, tanned, trendy looking bunch of mostly 20-somethings. Im not entirely sure what to expect upon arrival, but I am glad I have two friends from the Lahu already there to help me get my bearings and find the right party space. (Edit: this is where I was at the time of writing, as I post this Im enjoying the last few sips of a coffee after breakfast on a beautiful white sand beach with plenty of beautiful bodies working on tans nearby and relaxing music coming from the seaside restaurant at the resort Im staying at). At this point I will wish you all a Happy New Year and wonderful finish to the holiday season! Ill be in touch again before taking off to Cambodia around the 7th (this time perhaps planning a little more ahead).
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 04:12:28 +0000
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