"Wishes will soon be fulfilled, support received, plans accomplished. Better not rush. Family enjoyable. Lost persons will be found. Good luck gradually approaching."
Fish Massage???
Last Sunset in Bangkok
Last Sunset in Bangkok
Last Sunset in Bangkok
Wat
Buddha
Wat Interior
Wat Buddha
Doors
Best Pad Thai Yet
No Styrofoam at Wat
Recycling
Sushi
Why are all Hari Chrishnas White???
Brass jewelry
Pro Shopper Needed?
How to be an exporter
Chiang Mai Moat
View from room
Room
More room
yet more room
huong nam
Turning on the electricity
Smell sooooooooo good!
Soi 2 in front of Smile
Soi 2 in front of Smile
Barss for sale
Wat
First full day in Chiang Mai. Decided if I can figure out a way to be a professional shopper/exporter of Thai goods, I am in heaven here. It was the Sunday market all day. And I mean all day. Long after the song to the King where the whole world stopped, stood and honored, long past the announcement the market was closing, the market is in full swing.
My first encounter was searching for dinner. The ladies working at the Smile guesthouse recommended where they had just gotten their delictable-looking dinner, the local Wat. I headed that way and was not disappointed. The Wat was lovely, gilded, and I found boxes of numbered prayers one can use. I assume those prayers go along with a donation, so I left some baht in the donation box and helped myself to the first seven, numbered prayer sheets.
I am burning incense as I write this, stuck into childen's modeling clay purchased for B 12 at the local 7-11, hoping to invoke the gradually approaching good luck. I love that lost persons will be found. Thinking on that idea, naturally I think of finding myself in this prayer. Of really meeting those around me - my family, my friends, letting them be them and just seeing that "them". Better not rush, right?
Chiang Mai old town is tight, winding, and charming. It's also filled with farang. I am the majority-ish. Which feels funny, less like an exotic adventure in some ways.
I spent an inordinate amount of time today thinking on and researching what could be next, and next, and next on the journey I'm taking. Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Japan, the list is so extensive, I have a hard time wrapping my head around how to execute it. Where first? Where last? I know I have upwards of six months possible here in Thailand and if I work the system, I can be here until August of this year.
There's no one to talk with, really, but in the last 24 hours I've had two Thai people chat me up in half English, half Thai for over 2 hours each. The first, a woman who used to work on Soi Cowboy (look it up, it's mostly prostitute-land) who has been in Chiang Mai for the last two months, has a Finish man dropping by her work to give her a rose and take her home on his motorbike. The second, Yun (as it sounds) was a very chatty and friendly Thai man who sat himself at my table before I'd had a chance to order dinner and flirted with me the whole time. It was obvious that this is what he does all day, flag down farang girls and try to get them to see elephants and tigers for a commission. We got past that fairly quickly and he proposed marriage before I finished my bowl of Tom Kha.
The best part of these encounters was that I practiced my very, very spotty Thai with both of them. A word here and there went a long ways and I found myself attempting three word sentences. "Please ice, a little." Kor nam cane noy. These little attempts encourage me to stick it out in Thailand more, maybe even take a cheap class in the language at the local Chiang Mai YMCA, as recommended by the Finnish guy on the motorbike he's still paying off at B1000 a month. Too much baht in my book for the wheels.
I've also grown accustomed to paying practically nothing for everything here. "B 229 for a really stylish shirt?!? Um, thanks but no thanks..." I walk off and do some quick math. That shirt was definitely worth the $6, but in the world of baht, the roy and thousands have changed my thinking. That's B 2000??? $66 dollars. It's just $66 dollars.
I'm projecting my return to the US to be very money oriented, me gasping at the price of... well... EVERYTHING!
The mental/emotional journey over the last 24 hours has been semi-intense. I would consider the highlight to be during a phone conversation with my mother when she hesitantly told me what was really on her heart. Can I live with less drama? Honestly, I hope so. I am seeking that here. A life where drama is the beauty around me, the adventures of travel, strange foods, learning a new language, spending all of my time with myself. Will that suffice? As yet to be seen. :)