I heart Thailand

Sunday February 14 2010

It’s Valentines day and I’m getting romantic with Thailand. Everyday that I’m here I’m falling more in love with this place. My friend Brad warned me about this this, telling me that more than one westerner had dropped anchor in Thailand only to give up his former life for a culture that doesn’t have the word for work. Before I talk about this next part, remember that I’m a tough guy who hangs out with tigers ok?
The kings palace is gorgeous, an Asian version of the secret garden. As a girl, Aiola was expected to love the gardens, as I guy I couldn’t help but appreciate it for it’s truly spectacular beauty and crisp clean mountain air. While we couldn’t actually go inside the palace, the surrounding gardens were enough to impress me. Just as I was getting picture happy, my battery died. Ironically I was cocky enough to make the comment earlier that my battery seemed to last forever. No worries, Aiola had a camera of her own. Wrong. Her battery also died just as my string of curses faded away. I have to say I admire her drive to never settle. She had our driver ask everyone and anyone who may be able to help us with our predicament. Her persistence paid off, and we were able to commission a local photographer to follow us to our next destination.
Chiang Mai has a splendid amount of Buddhist temples, but the most spectacular one is Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara Temple nestled in the mountains over-looking the city. At 700 years old, this temple holds tradition, religious significance, and beauty that can only be understood at the most basic level by a visitor like myself. 300 steps separate your arrival with the entrance of the temple. No Audio guide, no tour leader, this is a living temple. Thankfully our photographer was there not only to take pictures, but to guide us through the experience, pointing us in the right direction and making sure we followed the Buddhist traditions. Admiring the gold platted spires and ornate wood carved doors, despite the number of tourists, it was easy to get a feeling of peace in this place. A subtle wave of his hand, I moved in the direction of the photographer towards a small room off to the side where a monk was seated. Removing my sandals, I dropped to my knees like the rest of the people in the room. I kneeled in silence as we received a blessing from the monk who spoke in a language I could not understand while droplets of holy water caressed my head.
I walked out and took a flower from a small girl and walked in a procession around the center of the temple. When I finished, I placed my flower amongst the others and continued on to the side where I received an incense stick and candles. Respectfully I placed the incense in the designated spot and aligned my candle with the others casting a warm glow on the temple wall.
In another small room off to the side, another monk was giving a blessing while tying several strings together around your wrist to form a good luck bracelet. Not wanting to pass up good karma, I received my blessing along with a bracelet of my own.
We finished the day at a silk factory, which in my mind was sub par. Thai silk from what I saw was inferior to Chinese silk, much courser and lacking the quality that you can tell from just feeling it. One thing that I can say was cool was the demonstration on the lifecycle from the worm to the final product.
After another spectacular dinner, we decided to treat ourselves to a Thai massage. I have to say that I was ignorant as to what I Thai massage really was. I was expecting a tiny Thai girl struggling to really get deep enough in my muscle tissue. Holy crap was I wrong. Two middle-aged tough as nails Thai women showed up and made me their bitch for 2 hours. I have to admit I yelped once or twice when they put me in a figure four position and bent my leg in the direction that it normally doesn’t bend. After that display I’ve decided to skip wrestling camp for my future son and just send him to learn Thai massage. His opponents will be crying uncle faster than you can say full nelson.
Feeling better and worse at the same time, I paid for my self-induced torture and ended another spectacular day in Thailand.