Musings of an Idiot

Temples, Massage & Trains – Day 7

I had an uneasy sleep for some reason – most probably because of the pain and I was awake by 4.30 AM and I kind of disturbed Dan's sleep by switching on the light and then turning it off and then on again. I am sure he was pissed off at me but he was too sleepy to show it. 7.30 AM onwards I was out of the bed packing my bags and all since we had to check out of our room at 11.00 AM and leave our backpacks in John and Sylvia's room as they weren't checking out straight away and neither were they going to the temple with the rest of us. Accounting for the 2 hours massage from 8.15 AM – it wouldn't have left for much time for packing, so I decided to pack my bags straight away.

Amanda and me caught up by the reception to ask for the massage service. Originally I had planned on a 2 hour thai massage while Amanda had planned for a 1 hour foot massage but both of us eventually settled on 1 hour foot massage followed by 1 hour of oil massage since thai massage is kind of painful when it is being done and my whole body was already in a fair bit of pain. After we booked and payed for the massage the receptionist told us to go back to our rooms and that the masseuse would be with us shortly. Both of us were surprised as we were expecting that there would be separate massage rooms where it would be done and the other problem was that Dan was still sleeping in the room we shared and that would've been very inconvenient for him. So we came upon the solution that we could have our 1 hour foot massage in Amanda's room and by that time Dan would be awake and I could get my thai massage back in my room. Having decided on that both of us went back to Amanda's room waiting for the masseuse to show up any moment but 8.15 turned to 8.30 and there was still no sign of anyone showing up, so Amanda rang up the receptionist telling her that if the masseuse didn't show up soon then we would have to cancel the booking since we had other commitments from 11.00 AM. We left the door ajar so we could check that one of the masseuse's didn't accidentally go into my room and wake up Dan and as we were waiting for them, we saw Dan walk past.

We quickly told him what was happening and he said that he was fine with me having my massage in our room but then he said that I shouldn't mind him packing his bags in the room at the same time. As soon as Dan left to have breakfast the masseuses turned up and on seeing Amanda and me in the same room they talked something in thai and were smiling between themselves. I told my masseuse that it was OK to do my massage in my room now since my room mate was awake and it took a while for her to understand since she obviously didn't know English that well but soon we shifted to my room while Amanda stayed in her room to get her massage. Once we got to our room the masseuse was very curious and asked me if I was staying with my room mate then why I was in the other room with Amanda – she thought that my room mate was a girl and that I was cheating on her with Amanda. It took me a while to explain that my room mate was a guy – who was a friend and that Amanda was a friend as well and that we were originally going to do the massage in her room since Dan was asleep but now that she should give the massage in this room and not mind when my room mate returns and starts packing his bags.

So after much explanation about the situation she started giving me the massage. As my foot massage was coming to an end, Dan knocked on the door and came in. After that it was a surreal and hilarious experience as I was getting my massage while Dan was happily packing his bags on the next bed. The masseuse made sure that most of my body stayed covered in a towel so that Dan didn't feel uncomfortable but Dan couldn't care less since he was in his own world to the point that at one point he even switched on the AC in the room. I had fallen asleep during the massage and woke up because my hands felt really cold and funnily enough it was because the AC was on full blast. Both the masseuse and me requested Dan to turn off the AC – to which he obliged and promptly went back to packing his bags. The massage was good and it slightly alleviated my pain, especially since I asked the masseuse to focus on my left leg during the foot massage. Once the massage was over I had a quick shower by which time everyone else was ready and waiting to go to the temple. I kept teasing Dan that he took his sweet time packing because he wanted to perv on me getting a massage – he took a full hour to pack his bags while it took me all of 20 minutes to pack my bag from scratch. I also told Amanda how scandalous it would've been for the masseuses if we had our massage together since they thought I was with another woman.

We left our bags in John & Sylvia's room but once in the reception area John and Sylvia decided that they wanted to check out the temple as well. So all of us hired a speed cab to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara, which dates back to the 16th century. Any visit to Chiang Mai is not supposed to be complete without a visit to the temple and you can see the whole of Chiang Mai from there. We spent a fair chunk of time roaming around the temple and this one seemed to be more compact yet a lot more interesting than the temples I had visited in Thailand before this.


Once we returned to the hotel we had a bit of free time before our train trip back and we were contemplating lunch. Everyone else in the group were keen on some British/European lunch while I wasn't feeling that hungry and I was interested in trying out something from the local food stalls and Amanda felt the same way, so we parted ways from rest of the group. We first checked our emails and then went wandering in the local market and I found something I wanted to try but the stall owner was busy playing cards and didn't want to sell anything for the next half an hour, so I bought some watermelon from another stall and returned to the hotel. Soon after we picked our bags and were on our way to the train station.

We put our bags in the train and since we had about 45 minutes before the train started – all of us went stocking up on food and snacks as we wanted to avoid buying food from the train based on the earlier journey. I even tried a burger from Seven Eleven [the omnipresent department shop in Thailand] for 30 baht [about NZ$ 1.50] and it was awesome. Once the train ride started Chaiya told us that our trip would end at the train station but we had a choice to return to the original hotel and leave our bags till afternoon for no charge since the normal hotel check-in times are usually 2.00 PM. I am in 2 minds about it and I think I'll decide on the course of action tomorrow. He also gave us a card which showed us how to write our name in Thai. I've been practicing for a while and I know how to write my first name in Thai. We also pooled some tips and gave it to Chaiya since he has been such a good tour leader. The train journey has been uneventful so far with the only exception being that Natalie is working on the train again and she/he is super pleased to see Alan, Joy and Kelly.


John, Sylvia, Alan, Joy & Kelly join another intrepid journey to south Thailand straight after this trip ends while Dan catches his flight back to UK later that night and Amanda is catching a flight Hong Kong, from where she will fly to the Philippines for another short adventure before returning home to Canada. And me – I stay another 2 days in Bangkok before heading onwards to India. A journey that begins has to end and it is hard to end something when you are having fun. You form great friendships and share some wonderful experiences and moments and it is always hard to let go of good people but then again I guess that's what traveling is all about. We had a fantastic bunch of people on the trip and they are the ones who made the whole trip such a great experience.

I am kind of excited about exploring Bangkok in the next 2 days and also about giving Tuan a ring. Plus I'll have to find out if Lance is still in Bangkok and see if I can catch up with him and Tai.

Peace out for now,
Amit

Labels: Thailand, Travel

posted by Amit @ 12:08 AM