Taking on the Call to Adventure!

Ok so this will be a long post, but I assure you a lot has happened!

So Saturday I was eating some street food and taking pictures. I was taking a picture of some merchants, and one of them covered her face. I asked if she was shy, she said no and then beckoned me to come over. I realized she was covering her face because she wasn't a merchant. We talked for a bit, and I found out she is Nepali. She eventually asked me if I like massage,and started to tell me about this woman she sees here who is a healer and how all the major massage schools keep trying to recruit her as a master teacher, but she keeps refusing because she doesn't like the big institutions. She continued to tell me all these amazing things this woman has done and then asked to see my back. I turned around and she almost immediately hit my huge knot in my right shoulder and the base of my back where I hurt it last year ( and apparently is still tender). She told me she is an accupressurist and that I had a lot of energy, and this woman can help. I agreed for this woman to take me to her the next morning.

I immediately started to analyze and assess the situation, trying to figure out if it was a scam or worse some ploy to kidnap me or rob me, but something in me really wanted to trust it.

So I went home and got ready for the Halloween party I was invited to. I found a Sui Tao ( a group taxi in the form of a truck) and told him the address. The driver started to flirt with me hardcore, asking me about if I am single, have a boyfriend, have children, like handsome men, often repeating the questions 6-15 times. I started to get pretty uncomfortable, especially when he started to touch my hand and hold on to my fingers. I started to notice we were going in the wrong direction. I called him out on it, he apparent misheard where I wanted to go ( even though I wrote it out for him). He promptly turned around thigh, and I kept my eyes peeled. I felt a little better when he picked up two more passengers, and I kept raising,y voice for him to sty focused on taking me to where I asked and insisting my friends were going to start to worry about me because I was so late. Finally we arrived at the street but I couldn't find the bar. I was sick of the driver so i just got out. I walked up and down like 4 times and couldn't find it, and apparenlt no on I ran into had heard of it. Long story short, some nice guy with an iPhone helped me out and I eventually found it. The Halloween party was lackluster. I didn't feel like spending a bunch of money on getting drunk, but everyone else was pretty wasted. I left around midnight because I was still battle jet lag and was rather impressed with myself for staying out as late as I did.

I was still pretty concerned when i went to bed about the massage situation. I decided to sleep on it though. I actually had this marvelous dream where I went to see this beautiful Chinese woman in this gorgeous garden. There were a bunch of people waiting for her, she was very magnanimous and told everyone she will see them in a moment to schedule appointments. She led me to a separate garden where she asked me to wait, and there were two baby tigers just playing, who started to lovingly play with me. When she was ready she saw me, and i woke up. I know! Pretty straight forward huh? So I woke up feeling better, and to double check I asked the lady who owns the guest house. She said no she didn't think i needed to worry, however I am not sure how clearly she understood the situation. I also scoured the Internet looking for any scams that resembled this one, but didn't find any. So I decided to bring only the money promised and nothing else, and a bike to ensure that i couldn't get in or on any vehicles that could take me farther away than I could walk back.

The woman was at our meeting place right on time, and led me to the masseuse's home, which happened to be like a block away. The home immediately put me at ease. More than half the house was the massage mat, and many anatomy and reflexology chart on the walls. The house was very modest but clean, and the woman had a very warm smile. The woman from the market stayed with me for a bit as the massage began, chatting to me and the woman and occasionally translating. She made sure i felt comfortable and safe before she left. I relaxed into the massage, and I have to admit she was great. She was so much more in tune with my body than the one i had before. The generic one i had was amazing, but I defiantly had a grit my teeth for some painful parts. This time I didn't have that once, i just tried to concentrate on relaxing deeper. She was serial firm with me, but only in the places where i could handle it. There was a softness and gentleness to her touch though very firm and deep as well. If she wasn't touching me the whole time I would have sworn she tampered with the clock to make those 2 hours go by so fast. I felt great afterwards. Throughout the day, I noticed my shoulder felt great, and when I got my heart rate up, I could feel my pulse i n my feet and legs as well, it was quite interesting.

I was going to take an afternoon massage course, but after lunch ( fresh green curry, sticky rice, Thai ice tea, fish cakes and fried banana and taro), I realized the massage school is closed on Sundays. I decided to see doi sothep instead. I knew i could get a cheaper fare if a bunch of people shared a share taxi, but I couldn't find any interested people, so I bit it and decided to go to one of the travel people around. Seemed like the going price was 500bhat. The travel place i went to told me that they had already left, but I could go just rent a taxi for like 200bhat. Perfect! I thought. I even had her write it down in Thai so I could just give it to the driver. I found a tuk tuk driver who agreed, and off we went.

I really liked tuk tuks, they are like an auto rickshaw, open air. We arrived at this beautiful wat, but I kinda had a suspicion that we were not in the right place. For one, there was no other tourists but me. All the same I walked around, and up about 300 stairs. There were many beautiful shrines and statues, and apparently these orbs that looked like crystal balls that glowed. I was slightly underwhelmed, but it was still beautiful. I went back to my driver and we headed back. I asked him how much he would charge to go Tiger Kingdom, he replied the standard reply of 300 bhat. He asked if wanted to go, I told him maybe later. He then said " go now, 100!" Out of my mouth said " sure!" he tried to change it to 200, but I held him to 100 bhat.

In a while we arrived at the Tiger Kingdom. It all happened so fast, I said yes, we were there, some women asked me which tigers I wanted to see, Large, Medium, Small or Smallest. I felt like I was ordering some exotic fast food. I chose the Small (6 months old). I was told to sit and wait, but before my butt even hit the seat I was asked if I was ready. Everyone in my group chose smallest, so I was worried I would not be able to have any pictures since i didn't want to spend an extra 300 for a " professional photographer" and I was told another tourist could take the photos. I got to the large cage/ pen, and there were 3 small tigers. One was sleeping in the sun and the other two were playing with each other. I could hear them roaring, and wow, talk about tremble in my heart. I could feel their deep roars in my chest, they were quite powerful for being only 6 months. I was then invited in...I was in a cage with 3 tigers! The trainers took me to the one who was sleeping first. I was told to pet him firmly, not softly. His fur was a little course, and i could feel his perspiration. I tried to take a picture of myself with the tiger, but the trainer took it and started to take photos, even though the signs all said the trainers wouldn't do that. I was told to rub the Tiger's belly, you like a big striped dog, and he turned over with his paws in the air. Soon the trainers led me to another one on this little table. This one was a female. I approached the tiger from the back so it didn't think I wanted to play. She was actually much softer. Then the visit started to feel a little strange. The trainers started to suggest poses for me, telling me I was very beautiful, asked me to put my head on the tiger, kiss the tigers's nose, compare my hand with her paw, and do other silly things like hold the tail and pretend to sing into it, which i refused to do. It was like a really bizarre photoshoot. I tired to spend my time and attention just in awe of these majestic creatures, but I admit they got some pretty good pictures of me. I went to the other male who was still growling. I was very hesitant to pet this one, and there were all three trainers tapping sticks. He seemed touchy and not really wanting my attention, so i went back to the female. Before I knew it, it was over. Afterwards I went to go look at the other Tigers. The big ones were huge. It was so strange, there were signs not to put fingers through the cage (duh), but other than that you could sit right next to the cage. I got a few pictures with my lens literally on the cage wire. I have really mixed feeling about doing this. There is a deep part of me that believes these are wild animals who shouldn't be caged. They were obviously very trained, and though I saw no evidence of maltreatment, the Tigers knew that a light stick hitting the floor meant to behave, and how they learned that I feel dubious of. Many of the tigers were in very small cages, and it was particularly hard to see the big ones like that, though in some fairness I think they were just temporarily there because I saw other tigers in large outdoor park like cages, and I was there at the end of the day when they were being shifted around. At the same time, it was totally a once in a lifetime experience to cuddle with some real tigers that I am appreciative for. Kinda like the primate sanctuary i worked in, though there are some good things about it, there is something that just felt wrong about these wild creatures being raised to never be able to be in the wild. I am not sure I am " glad" I did it, but I did they are really beautiful and amazing creatures.

I came home, exhausted. I find out through some digging on the Internet that I did not see doi sothep, even though i asked the driver many times, but saw a smaller version. I am really glad i got to see it, and there is always some special feeling that comes from being the only tourist around. I don't know if will still try to make it out to Doi sothep, we will see. I took a little nap, but forced myself to get up for the Sunday market I had heard so much about! I got my video camera and camera and headed out. I was a little hungry, but all the shops on my street were closed already. However as i neared the road, there was like a whole new city had popped up! I stumbled into the incredible assault of colors, sounds, smells and people all around me. Good thing i was hungry, there was so much amazing food everywhere! Everything from mango sticky rice, to dim sum, 5bhat sushi, noodles, rice, satay, to bangers and mash, and then some. I told myself to just check it out for one length and then I can take some pictures/ footage. However it soon became apparent that 1 length could go on for what seemed like forever. And then every few hundred feet it would branch out into another street! Usually when I go to Asia i love shopping for friends and myself, but for some reason this time i have not felt so inspired. I suppose it is a good thing since my suitcase is broken and i can't bring back as much as I though I would be able to. Also since I only have my backpack I am rather limited to only buying things that won't break, which limits quite a bit. There is a lot I would love to buy for my future home, cool lights, lanterns, decorations, candle holders, etc, but the idea of needed to ship and pack more things is another deterrent. So I guess my lack of interest in buying things is good. It was also almost too overwhelming to focus, there was just So much! This is also the first time I started to really wish I was traveling with someone. There was just too much food to try alone, and I wanted to share my awe with someone else.

It has been interesting traveling alone. I thought I would find people to hang out with and travel with, but I haven't been able to for some reason. The people i meet and talk to all seem to be on their way to Laos in the morning, are long timers here, or are with a big enough crowd that they aren't looking for more members. I also tend to be eating at all local places, which are way cheaper and delicious, but I mostly only see Thai people there, and the few that speak English are very nice but won't travel around with me.

Today I decided to take a massage course. I decided ( with your support and suggestion) to start out on foot massage. I went to a local school to book a class and then headed out to find the flower market. I couldn't find the flower market, but stumbled on apparently the biggest local market in Chaing Mai. Less colorful and showy than the Sunday market, but also huge. I wandered for awhile through aisle upon aisle of things I didn't recognize. I bought some wonderful mini coconut pancakes and coconut water to snack on as I got lost in the market maze.

I headed back to go take my course. It was actualy quite good for only a half day course. I learned a lot of new moves! It was actually quite instense, certian areas of my foot when massaged made me sweat, or made me feel my stomache and shoulder. Refelxology is quite amazing!

After yesterdays big splurge, I found myself a exhausted and much shorter on funds. From now on to stay in my budget won't be hard per say, but I need to be conscious, and I guess worse things have happened then going a little over budget. So the mysterious massage woman told me to come back tomorrow, but currently in my budget I only have enough to either go to Doi suthep, or get the massage. It is a dilemma, and I could take out more but it seems a shame to pay double for the service charge than the experience itself.

Ok, two observations I have been meaning to say then I swear am done. 1) Part of why I love Thai food so much is that they really love to balance sweet, salty, sour and spicy, in almost all dishes. In every local place there is at least 4 jars with fish sauce ( salty), sugar ( sweet), chili ( spicy), and some vinegar ( sour). 2) it is really neat to come to an Asian country and see all the animals so well taken care of. In India there are a ton of dogs, but they are all extremely dirty and sick looking. Here, dogs, cats, birds, roam around and all look like adorable healthy pets.

Ok so that's all for now. I can't wait to show you some pictures when I get to India. In Thailand for only 2 more days :(, but then off to India where I get to hang out with wonderful friends!