Thailand my land

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Hello from Thailand!

I wake and the sound of running water leads me to the garden tea area. Butterflies swim in the air around the banana groves, orchids and roses sing in the sunshine, fishes dance in the pools and waterfall and I have a decision to make, will it be a full body or just a foot massage today?

Blissfully far from the political unrest in Bangkok, a dirty seedy city which provoked a visceral disgust on arrival. The air of lascivious desire, burnt skin, tatoos and the look of so many faces that seemed to have 'let go' of life sent me off to book my train out of there as soon as I had arrived! Sorry to all those that love this place, I just didn't.

Sunday belly dancing session chez moi!
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Chiang Mai, however, is a beautiful northern city, small enough to navigate by foot, or the occasional tuk tuk when feeling tired. I can see why previous Kings chose this as their capital. Inside the city's mote sit some 300 temples or 'Wats' as they are called. Decorated with golden spires, green and silver mirror mosaics and statues of dragons so ornate, (nearly to the point of being garish) they exude an exuberant devotion to Buddha, (a conversely simple man). We humans have such a talent for perverting religion.

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The people here are warm, smiling, peaceful and put far less pressure on you to buy/indulge/consume than their fellow countrymen in the current capital. There are far fewer of the uncomfortably matched old, fat, balding western men and pretty, tarty young Thai woman around.People seem to take each day as it comes instead of stressing about the future.

Set in the middle of my guesthouse's tranquil garden I have set up a mini media lab. Super fast internet, PICASSA 3 installed in English (please please do yourselves a favour and download this fantastic, lightweight photo editing programme free from google), and, at last, the ability to play my music and the chance to get to try to grips with my video cam....After a morning yoga stretch I sit down to work for a few hours before 'hitting town' in search of delicious fresh food, Buddhist teachings, adventure, fruit and massage.

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I arrived in Thailand just as the memorial services were ending to commemorate the life of the King's sister. A woman of intense humanity, she set up programmes that reached out to improve the lives of the poor, the imprisoned, gave recognition to tribal communities, and is generally loved and admired for her constant work in ameliorating the lives of her countrymen. Something like the fervour felt when Princess Diana died, there are pictures and flowers offered to her in every corner of every town across the land. The people here may hate their government at the moment but they have real sovereignty to their monarchs.

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I have been here for two weeks and have found a wonderful sense of peace which has given me some clarity. It seems when my head has the luxury of quiet, there are lots and lot of words brimming and I have been really enjoying writing and reading and more writing!

I also took part in another mountain hike. This was a trek far less secure and organised than those in China and Taiwan. The guide, a man used to the STEEP inclines of the Mae Takhrai national park, walked our group up about 20 minutes where we rested to take a sip of water and get a photo, easy does it, lulling us into a false sense of security because he then proceeded to march us up the bare side of a mountain for 3 hours, no joke, without break. He sped ahead of us without turning to see if we'd made the log over a river crossing or round a slippery corner with 20cm between us and a 200m drop. Oh no, it seemed he had a date in the village where we would stop for the night as the only time we were allowed a few seconds of a break was when he had a text message to attend to.

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At one of these 'breaks', I was so flustered, and hot and sweaty, (it was also the first day of my period, unleashing a hormonal dragon of fire) I limp up to him and ask if there was a race on that I was unaware of? The whole time so far, all I had seen were my feet as I hurried and clambered to keep up with his pace. We were going to be in the village all night long after all, so why the goddam hurry? He didn't seem to understand so another girl piped in with me S-L-O-W-E-R my friend! After this, I began to be able to appreciate the amazing rainforest, with wild elephants drinking at cool streams, 50 metre high rubber trees, bamboo bridges built by the tribesmen, and all the other glorious lushness of the wet hot jungle. the hard work payed off as the views from the Lahu village at the top were AMAZING. Sunset and sunrise, the great shows of the sky fill me with awe every time.

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After such a labourious walk, we welcomed offers of 'Lahu massage' from the tribal women. Members of the group piled into our dorm style bedroom in the clouds and lay under the hands of the women who found the scenario a perfect time to catch up on the gossip of the day, swop stories about their children, some of which were strapped onto their backs, and oh yes, press our legs a little now and then as if giving a massage. Paying double for half the time of in town, we couldn't grumble as the thought that our Baht were putting these kids through school so they wouldn't repeat their parents lives.

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I have a sneaking suspicion that these treks I have been doing are leading up to something big. I had no idea how wonderful it feels to scale a mountain, overcoming the challenges of wildly changing climates, natural disaster, physical exhaustion and finally surmounting the peak, that wonderful 'eureka' moment and peaceful surrender to mountain magic. As I wind my way up from south to north India, there is the possibility of volunteering and exploring Nepal with a friend who has also some trekking experience....I am thinking, although it may be well beyond me....of the Everest base camp trail. tbc.

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For now, I am now deciding whether to stay here for another week, enjoying the fact that I know where to get my water refilled for 1 baht instead of having to buy new bottles the whole time, where the best seafood salad stall is in the night market, being recognised by the local restaurant owners, and having my old roommate from China trip in a guesthouse down the road as she follows her massage course (with occasional need from her and her course mates for a willing student to practise on GET IN! : D ) or to carry on into Laos on the slow boat, then wind my way down to the southern islands which are currently submerged in rainy storms....the longer one stays in a place, the cheaper it becomes and less hassle of lugging the massive backpack around. Well, I'll have to play it by ear.

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Last night, I stumbled upon a live performance of a very funny young cartoonist who accompanied the projection of his art on the piano and provided some voice overs to a few of his sketches. The cosy hotel veranda was packed with local students lapping up his art and we all laughed along at the curious misfortunes that love leads us into, the pedicament of man getting lost in a 50%-off-this-and-that supermarket when dying to get some bog roll and go to the loo then bumping into the girl he fancies, the tender caring of a plant growing into a tree watered by the tears of love, and more cute and funny character stories. There seems to be a vibrant young cultural scene here.  Tonight I'm off to see some live Thai jazz.

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Anyhoo, that's all for now folks.

over and out, Flaneuse of Thailand.