Warning: this post may have more detail on the massage than most people will be interested in but with both Liam and his girlfriend Brenda currently enrolled in a 2-yr training course for Massage Therapy in Canada, we figured they would appreciate the extra details.
Since our last post, we've had a traditional Thai massage. You can't walk down a street in the neighbourhood where we are staying in Chaing Mai (or many other cities in Thailand) without there being a Thai massage available, including people actively soliciting you as a customer. There is the foot massage, the neck/shoulders, face, hands, legs each for a .5 hr. or a full one/two hr. full body massage. There is the oil massage, the clothed and the unclothed varieties. Also at many wats (temples which are kind of like our churches but with additional structures on the grounds and often with resident monks) you can get massages and at some markets there will be many lazy-boy type chairs with people offering massages - mostly the feet in these cases.
With so much choice we decided to take some time to hopefully find the best of the best. What we read was that the massage schools are usually your safest bet for a legitimate traditional style Thai massage. Tara Callaghan, a prof at StFX, had a colleague at Chiang Mai University who had an association with the:
Thai Massage School of Chiang Mai
http://www.TMCschool.com
She recommended this school highly so we checked it out and decided to give it a try. It turned out to be outside the downtown area so we made an appointment for 2 hour massages for all three of us and arranged transportation.
We had also read that this school had a high number of non-Thais taking classes due to the high quality of the English language instruction. When we arrived the students were all leaving for the day. They were mostly farang (foreigners).
But our massage therapists turned out to be the instructors themselves. We were ushered into a lovely room with open windows on a river. There was a small candle burning and a half dozen or so mattresses on the floor with bolster pillows and little face/neck pillows like you see on massage tables in Canada or those ones people use on airplanes to support their necks. We were given a little bamboo basket with a PJ-like outfit (Courtney says they were more like hospital clothes). Anyway, they were roomy and soft. We also had a bathroom and were asked to put on the PJs and they would be back.
Three women arrived to take us through the massage all together. It was wonderful doing it this way. We had our blood pressures and pulses checked first and then they washed our feet since they would be doing so much foot work as part of the massage process.
Thai massage is one of the four disciplines of traditional Thai medicine, the others being herbalism, meditation and dietary control. It is related to oriental practices of body work such as Chinese acupuncture, Indian Ayurveda and Hatha yoga. Thai massage works on the principal of maintaining the condition and the flow of the body's vital energy through a network of chanels known as Sen, again related to the Chinese "chi" and the yoga "prana". The massage focuses on the muscoskeletal system (the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments and connective tissue) and the ways in which they inter-relate with the body as a whole. It is described as combining modern scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology with oriental medical disciplines.
The massage was carried out on the floor with the therapist joining you on the mat. They began by each saying a prayer. They use their hands, fingers, arms, feet and elbows for the massage. At one point, I was on my stomach and the therapist was sitting on my upper legs, I think. There was lots of pressure and lots of attention to feet and legs. Most of the shoulder work was done with us sitting up. We were also pulled and twisted into what I would describe as yoga-like shapes - hanging onto their wrists as they pulled in several instances.
There was no oil except when they did our faces, there was a tiny bit of something with next to no scent, although it had been warmed by the candle. They started with a bit of soothing music but left off that once they got going. It was pretty quiet except for some occasional instructions to change our positions.
Courtney and I didn't have any "strange" experiences but David said that when his therapist massaged his face, he started having "visions" - visual images that he can't recall but that he also lost all sense of time. He couldn't tell if the facial massage was 5 minutes or 20 minutes but he said he didn't fall asleep.
After the 2 hours we were left alone in the room with little cups of green tea in china cups.
The cost was 300 BHT each (about $10 each for the 2 hours).
Oh yes, and the final technical detail for Liam and Brenda. Here are our pressures/pulses pre/post.
David
Pre-Pressure: 118/72
Post-Pressure: 115/80
Pre-Pulse: 65
Post-Pulse: 63
Elaine
Pre-Pressure: 122/79
Post-Pressure: 117/75
Pre-Pulse: 70
Post-Pulse: 55
Courtney
Pre-Pressure: 119/65
Post-Pressure: 80/59
Pre-Pulse: 69
Post-Pulse: 58
There was much animated discussion of David's results in Thai between the three therapists. I don't know if they came to any conclusion as to why one of his post-pressure results went up rather than down as it did with both Courtney and I but if they did we will never know. Any ideas?
Well that's it for now. We are planning to leave Chaing Mai tomorrow to go by bus to a small town northwest of here called Pai. Will try to send another post from there.
Thanks to the guys for comments sent and details re the tsunami news in Canada. Patrick teased me for saying it was just the women who were keeping in contact, but in fact both Patrick and Michael have sent replies and also great to hear from Sharon (with her coffee in hand) and Terry Dunnigan. Also heard from Teresa Babineau earlier.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Monday, January 10, 2005
Chaing Rai & 'Roundabout
Well we ended up spending 6 nights in Chiang Rai. It was a nice little city with enough to do but not too busy. Except for one night we stayed in a place called Mae Kok Villa - villa was definitely a stretch but it was adequate and cheap (210 BHT which translates in about $7 CDN). Now before you start thinking "Wow!, imagine paying $7 dollars for a room in a villa", let me describe those accommodations.
It was a small room, probably 10' x 10'. It had one double bed with a very hard mattress. I'm not sure what's up with Thais and their idea of a bed but having seen more than one Thai taking a nap on a cement floor, including one in the hallway of a hotel, I guess they think that a matress of any kind is a luxury. We have stayed in places with a brand spanking new mattress but it is still almost as hard as sleeping on a piece of plywoood. Anyway, this villa in Chaing Rai had the typical hard mattress. On the advice of Jan/Hilda, David brought Peter's Thermarest mattress with him so he inflates that to put on his side of the bed. I don't know what's up with me but I don't seem to really mind the hard mattresses. Courtney got a mattress on the floor and her's was pretty soft so that was the sleeping arrangements. In addition, there were two small bamboo chairs and a small vanity with a mirror.
The bathroom was in a separate room. It had a cold shower and cold water in the one tap. Both the sink and the drain in the floor from the shower went directly outside on the ground. For a hot shower, you walked outside the room down a covered walkway to a separate room (5' x 5') where there was a gas-fired hot water unit. You opened the "water cock" which is a lever to let the water flow and the water went into a very large aluminum basin. You used a plastic container to scoop the warm water onto your body/head and that was your shower. It was actually very nice. You were basically outside but with some short walls to protect your privacy.
There was also a nice space outside each room where there was a little table with a nice tablecloth and a plant and a large garden to see from there. This villa was a former missionary school so I suspect that our room was one for a teacher. There were also dormitory rooms at this place available for considerably less than $7 night. There were young backpackers staying there.
We did a day trip from Chiang Rai, spending ~$50 each to drive all day in the mountains outside of Chaing Rai in the luxury of an airconditioned van with two other tourists - a young couple from Britain. We also had a driver and a man from the Lisu tribe as a guide. He spoke good English and could answer our many questions, plus he ordered us a great lunch (We will do a separate blog on the food sometime soon). Among other things that day, we visited several hill tribe villages. The people in these villages came from China and other areas outside of the borders of the current Thailand. You see many of these people (Akha, Lisu, Lahu, Humong) both in their individual villages and also in the towns and cities of northern Thailand. Some, in particular the women, still wear their traditional clothes. You see them especially in the markets selling handicrafts. One of the villages we visited was run more like a museum/historical village, kind of like Sherbrooke Village in NS - the villagers were supported by an NGO to set things up in this way. There was fee paid to the village to have us visit and as a result the villagers were not urging you to purchase handicrafts and souviners. It was interesting to read and experience a little of what life was like in a traditional environment. We also saw the local day care in this village. It's always a treat to see children. The Thai children seem well loved for the most part and spend lots of time in physical contact with their parents. Many of the hilltribe mothers are very young and still carry their babies in slings on their back.
On the same trip we went to a small town called Mae Salong. This town was in the mountains and is known for it's cherries and Oolong tea. There were many tea plantations in this area, grown as an alternative to opium which was commonly grown in the north of Thailand and the surrounding countries of Laos and Burma/Mynamar. This was an initiative of the Thai royal family who promote many rural development projects in Thailand. Mae Salong was settled by people who left China when Chaing Kai Chiek (sp?) and his army (Kumaintang) were chased out of China by the communists.
Well that's about it for Chiang Rai, except for a riverboat trip we took. We'll tell you more about this next time.
Just for the record we are currently back in Chiang Mai. Our tales of Chaing Rai are a little behind the times but we are trying to be somewhat sequential in our blogging. FYI - we are paying about $1/hr for internet access which is the same as a coffee or a bottle of beer.
Thanks for the messages from Kathy, Mary Ellen, Sue and Teresa. Interesting to realize that it's the women who are keeping up the lines of communication. David and Courtney are both doing some emails but since I'm the fastest typist, it seems that the blog falls to me. David and Courtney look over my shoulder and keep me honest and remind me when I forget things.
Love to all.....Simply MacLean
It was a small room, probably 10' x 10'. It had one double bed with a very hard mattress. I'm not sure what's up with Thais and their idea of a bed but having seen more than one Thai taking a nap on a cement floor, including one in the hallway of a hotel, I guess they think that a matress of any kind is a luxury. We have stayed in places with a brand spanking new mattress but it is still almost as hard as sleeping on a piece of plywoood. Anyway, this villa in Chaing Rai had the typical hard mattress. On the advice of Jan/Hilda, David brought Peter's Thermarest mattress with him so he inflates that to put on his side of the bed. I don't know what's up with me but I don't seem to really mind the hard mattresses. Courtney got a mattress on the floor and her's was pretty soft so that was the sleeping arrangements. In addition, there were two small bamboo chairs and a small vanity with a mirror.
The bathroom was in a separate room. It had a cold shower and cold water in the one tap. Both the sink and the drain in the floor from the shower went directly outside on the ground. For a hot shower, you walked outside the room down a covered walkway to a separate room (5' x 5') where there was a gas-fired hot water unit. You opened the "water cock" which is a lever to let the water flow and the water went into a very large aluminum basin. You used a plastic container to scoop the warm water onto your body/head and that was your shower. It was actually very nice. You were basically outside but with some short walls to protect your privacy.
There was also a nice space outside each room where there was a little table with a nice tablecloth and a plant and a large garden to see from there. This villa was a former missionary school so I suspect that our room was one for a teacher. There were also dormitory rooms at this place available for considerably less than $7 night. There were young backpackers staying there.
We did a day trip from Chiang Rai, spending ~$50 each to drive all day in the mountains outside of Chaing Rai in the luxury of an airconditioned van with two other tourists - a young couple from Britain. We also had a driver and a man from the Lisu tribe as a guide. He spoke good English and could answer our many questions, plus he ordered us a great lunch (We will do a separate blog on the food sometime soon). Among other things that day, we visited several hill tribe villages. The people in these villages came from China and other areas outside of the borders of the current Thailand. You see many of these people (Akha, Lisu, Lahu, Humong) both in their individual villages and also in the towns and cities of northern Thailand. Some, in particular the women, still wear their traditional clothes. You see them especially in the markets selling handicrafts. One of the villages we visited was run more like a museum/historical village, kind of like Sherbrooke Village in NS - the villagers were supported by an NGO to set things up in this way. There was fee paid to the village to have us visit and as a result the villagers were not urging you to purchase handicrafts and souviners. It was interesting to read and experience a little of what life was like in a traditional environment. We also saw the local day care in this village. It's always a treat to see children. The Thai children seem well loved for the most part and spend lots of time in physical contact with their parents. Many of the hilltribe mothers are very young and still carry their babies in slings on their back.
On the same trip we went to a small town called Mae Salong. This town was in the mountains and is known for it's cherries and Oolong tea. There were many tea plantations in this area, grown as an alternative to opium which was commonly grown in the north of Thailand and the surrounding countries of Laos and Burma/Mynamar. This was an initiative of the Thai royal family who promote many rural development projects in Thailand. Mae Salong was settled by people who left China when Chaing Kai Chiek (sp?) and his army (Kumaintang) were chased out of China by the communists.
Well that's about it for Chiang Rai, except for a riverboat trip we took. We'll tell you more about this next time.
Just for the record we are currently back in Chiang Mai. Our tales of Chaing Rai are a little behind the times but we are trying to be somewhat sequential in our blogging. FYI - we are paying about $1/hr for internet access which is the same as a coffee or a bottle of beer.
Thanks for the messages from Kathy, Mary Ellen, Sue and Teresa. Interesting to realize that it's the women who are keeping up the lines of communication. David and Courtney are both doing some emails but since I'm the fastest typist, it seems that the blog falls to me. David and Courtney look over my shoulder and keep me honest and remind me when I forget things.
Love to all.....Simply MacLean
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Animals in Thailand
We thought it was time to do a "subject" related post on the topic of the animals in Thailand.
Well the first is the dogs. I think we already told you that there are many dogs in Thailand. Well that perception is still strong. David was doing some yoga in the garden of the last guesthouse where we stayed and looked down to see six (6) dashounds (sp?) watching him. They all had there own little jackets with their names embroidered on them. The owners work very hard running this guesthouse - cleaning rooms, doing laundry, sweeping walkways and I'd guess a considerable portion of their income must go to taking care of all these dogs. Then there are the many dogs with T-shirts on. You will see this bulldog type of big dog with a human T-shirt on - the front legs through the legs of the dog and the waist kind of tied up around the belly of the dog. I guess people must be worried that the dogs will be cold b/c the dashounds lost their clothes during the afternoon. Oh yes, and they had mulitiple wardrobes b/c there were always extra jackets hanging out to dry.
Next is the chickens. Everyone seems to have chickens for eggs. We were walking down a busy street in Chiang Rai (pop 40,000) and there was a chicken on the sidewalk - not an unusal sight but we noticed a few extra legs under the chicken. Turns out that there were eight tiny baby chicks under the mother. They all just hung around the mom while she picked/pecked around the dirt next to the sidewalk. Also there are all these wonderful large basket affairs that people use to cover the chickens in their yards during the night and other baskets that they put the chicken in and hang from the edge of a roof. I guess this creates a safe space for the chicken to roost. And there hasn't been a night yet except the first night in Bangkok that we haven't heard a rooster crow at the break of dawn.
Then there are the geckos everywhere including in our current Chinese/Thai hotel. It was hanging around the bathroom despite the fact that we are on the third floor.
Elephants are a constant source of pleasure to see. We went on a 5 hour river trip down the Nam Mae Kok river in Chiang Rai province. During this trip we stopped for a rest at another elephant camp. It's alway fun to see them. There were giant pythons at the same place. I guess you could get your picture taken with them. Their bodies were as big around as David's thighs. I guess from a message I got from Patrick that you can eat snake in Thailand. We haven't been in a position to try that and I'm not sure that we would even if we did have a chance but you never know. You do have your choice of many bugs, slugs, worms and other tasty morsels at the food court in the night market. I haven't seen people flocking to that booth but someone must be eating them or they wouldn't be there.
Cows - we have seen white cows with humps at the back of their neck and another type of cow that looks like what I remember a yak looking like in school books. I don't know what it is in fact but I must look it up. There are also lots of lovely beige and brown cows and we've had to make our way by them when walking on the rural roads.
I guess that's about it for now - we are on our way to Burma/Mynamar via Mai Sai tomorrow. We will cross the border for the day so that we can update our Thai visas.
Well the first is the dogs. I think we already told you that there are many dogs in Thailand. Well that perception is still strong. David was doing some yoga in the garden of the last guesthouse where we stayed and looked down to see six (6) dashounds (sp?) watching him. They all had there own little jackets with their names embroidered on them. The owners work very hard running this guesthouse - cleaning rooms, doing laundry, sweeping walkways and I'd guess a considerable portion of their income must go to taking care of all these dogs. Then there are the many dogs with T-shirts on. You will see this bulldog type of big dog with a human T-shirt on - the front legs through the legs of the dog and the waist kind of tied up around the belly of the dog. I guess people must be worried that the dogs will be cold b/c the dashounds lost their clothes during the afternoon. Oh yes, and they had mulitiple wardrobes b/c there were always extra jackets hanging out to dry.
Next is the chickens. Everyone seems to have chickens for eggs. We were walking down a busy street in Chiang Rai (pop 40,000) and there was a chicken on the sidewalk - not an unusal sight but we noticed a few extra legs under the chicken. Turns out that there were eight tiny baby chicks under the mother. They all just hung around the mom while she picked/pecked around the dirt next to the sidewalk. Also there are all these wonderful large basket affairs that people use to cover the chickens in their yards during the night and other baskets that they put the chicken in and hang from the edge of a roof. I guess this creates a safe space for the chicken to roost. And there hasn't been a night yet except the first night in Bangkok that we haven't heard a rooster crow at the break of dawn.
Then there are the geckos everywhere including in our current Chinese/Thai hotel. It was hanging around the bathroom despite the fact that we are on the third floor.
Elephants are a constant source of pleasure to see. We went on a 5 hour river trip down the Nam Mae Kok river in Chiang Rai province. During this trip we stopped for a rest at another elephant camp. It's alway fun to see them. There were giant pythons at the same place. I guess you could get your picture taken with them. Their bodies were as big around as David's thighs. I guess from a message I got from Patrick that you can eat snake in Thailand. We haven't been in a position to try that and I'm not sure that we would even if we did have a chance but you never know. You do have your choice of many bugs, slugs, worms and other tasty morsels at the food court in the night market. I haven't seen people flocking to that booth but someone must be eating them or they wouldn't be there.
Cows - we have seen white cows with humps at the back of their neck and another type of cow that looks like what I remember a yak looking like in school books. I don't know what it is in fact but I must look it up. There are also lots of lovely beige and brown cows and we've had to make our way by them when walking on the rural roads.
I guess that's about it for now - we are on our way to Burma/Mynamar via Mai Sai tomorrow. We will cross the border for the day so that we can update our Thai visas.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Post Christmas & New Year
I think our last posting talked about how we spent Christmas Day with Nancy Peters in the mountains of Phu Kha. From these mountains we drove to another range and a popular Thai tourist attraction called Pu Chi Fah (1700 meters). This formation is on the border between Thailand and Laos. It is a place where people go to see the "sea of clouds". You climb to the mountain before sunrise with hundreds of others and watch as the sun comes up revealing the sea of clouds below you and showing peaks of mountains showing through the clouds. Of course, it is spectacular and lots of fun to be there with so many Thais and Chinese tourists who are taking pictures like crazy. There are also painters doing their thing.
The overnight accommodations prior to the early rising were humourous. We passed on a place that had bungalows that were quite close to the road and a little higher than we expected to pay. I didn't go in the next place we stopped but David and Courtney came away a bit horrified because there was going to be just one big bed for all five of us! We went on to the next place only to discover the same situation. It was getting dark and it didn't seem that we were going to be able to find anything but this particular kind of room. So we bit the bullet and signed in for 4 people in one bed (10' by 6') - Nancy, Courtney, Elaine and David! The driver decided to get his own room. What a riot. One big bed filling up almost all the space in the room. Very dark with one faint flourescent bulb and one red bare bulb. You sleep in a row with a blanket for each person - the blankets were all pink and cutsie - teddy bears and clouds. We just laugh and slept well except for all the times someone knocked on our door to wake us up in the wee hours thinking we were someone else. We got up at 5:30am hours to quickly get dressed to drive to the location and hike a bit to get to the top. But it was all worth it.
From there we spent 3 nights in a small town (pop 9,000) called Chiang Chong. Nancy had to go back to Chiang Mai to check on the Trent students - as it turned out they were all fine although they actually witnessed the tsunami in Krabi.
Chiang Chong is on the Mekong River and Laos is on the other side of the river. We had a room with a balcony just outside the door of our room and it overlooked the river - wonderful choice by Nancy. We spent three days there watching river life and getting some extra rest. We ate most meals in small restaurants which were also right on the river. At night we could hear the disco music in the border town on the Laos side - that's how close it was.
From there we took a local bus to Chaing Rai (pop 40,000) where we are still staying. We were here for New Years Eve. There was a wonderful parade yesterday. It was some kind of Buddhist festival. Lots of buddhas were paraded down the street, plus many groups in various traditional dress and playing traditional music and dance. Hope we got some good pictures. We hung out at the night market listening to more music and watching more dance. Headed back to our guest house and at midnight there were lots of fireworks although the Thai government has foregone official celebrations of New Years this year due to the tsumani. We also saw many floating lanterns set off into the sky at midnight. They were like yellow stars floating in the sky.
We have just been to the Hilltribe Museum here in Chiang Rai. It's very interesting to learn a little more about the many ethnic groups here in the north of Thailand. Many are nomads who travelled down from China. The Chinese influence is quite strong here in Chiang Rai.
Haven't made any definite plans for what's next but we'll keep you posted.
The overnight accommodations prior to the early rising were humourous. We passed on a place that had bungalows that were quite close to the road and a little higher than we expected to pay. I didn't go in the next place we stopped but David and Courtney came away a bit horrified because there was going to be just one big bed for all five of us! We went on to the next place only to discover the same situation. It was getting dark and it didn't seem that we were going to be able to find anything but this particular kind of room. So we bit the bullet and signed in for 4 people in one bed (10' by 6') - Nancy, Courtney, Elaine and David! The driver decided to get his own room. What a riot. One big bed filling up almost all the space in the room. Very dark with one faint flourescent bulb and one red bare bulb. You sleep in a row with a blanket for each person - the blankets were all pink and cutsie - teddy bears and clouds. We just laugh and slept well except for all the times someone knocked on our door to wake us up in the wee hours thinking we were someone else. We got up at 5:30am hours to quickly get dressed to drive to the location and hike a bit to get to the top. But it was all worth it.
From there we spent 3 nights in a small town (pop 9,000) called Chiang Chong. Nancy had to go back to Chiang Mai to check on the Trent students - as it turned out they were all fine although they actually witnessed the tsunami in Krabi.
Chiang Chong is on the Mekong River and Laos is on the other side of the river. We had a room with a balcony just outside the door of our room and it overlooked the river - wonderful choice by Nancy. We spent three days there watching river life and getting some extra rest. We ate most meals in small restaurants which were also right on the river. At night we could hear the disco music in the border town on the Laos side - that's how close it was.
From there we took a local bus to Chaing Rai (pop 40,000) where we are still staying. We were here for New Years Eve. There was a wonderful parade yesterday. It was some kind of Buddhist festival. Lots of buddhas were paraded down the street, plus many groups in various traditional dress and playing traditional music and dance. Hope we got some good pictures. We hung out at the night market listening to more music and watching more dance. Headed back to our guest house and at midnight there were lots of fireworks although the Thai government has foregone official celebrations of New Years this year due to the tsumani. We also saw many floating lanterns set off into the sky at midnight. They were like yellow stars floating in the sky.
We have just been to the Hilltribe Museum here in Chiang Rai. It's very interesting to learn a little more about the many ethnic groups here in the north of Thailand. Many are nomads who travelled down from China. The Chinese influence is quite strong here in Chiang Rai.
Haven't made any definite plans for what's next but we'll keep you posted.
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