Goodbye Chiang Mai

It was the perfect ending to what has been for the past three weeks, my perfect place. As the sun set over the hills casting dramatic and beautiful streaks of light across the sky, I was reminded of an ancient Native American tradition someone recently taught me. Looking out on the place you are about to bid farewell to, you open your arms and take a deep breath in. When you exhale you bring your hands to your heart, theoretically bringing the place into your heart. By doing so, even when you are very far away you can always come back to this place which is now inside yourself. I may have looked like a crazy person out there on the hotel pool deck overlooking the city, performing this ritual, but I didn’t care. I wanted Chiang Mai close to my heart forever, for it became a place that meant more to me than I could have ever imagined.

It is amazing that three weeks have gone by so quickly, yet confusing at the same time because it seems like it has been much longer. As I walk around the city now, I almost feel like I live here. There is an old man who drives a “bike taxi” that I’ve seen every single day for three weeks. And every single day we have smiled and waved at each other, and every single day because of him I have felt that much happier.

The bike taxi is a bicycle that has a small two wheeled carriage attached to the back where you can fit one, maybe two people. I had yet to ride in one of these, so as I passed my bike friend today I thought, “Hey, why not?!” When I approached him for a ride he looked very surprised and excited. I was his first customer in a while. Moments later there I was sitting in the little carriage, cruising down the street. Only we weren’t exactly cruising. What I had failed to notice before was that my bike friend was actually a one legged bike friend. However, this was no problem at all. He proceeded to proudly ride his bike down the street waving at everyone we passed, always to be met with a huge smile, especially from the walkers who frequently passed us. I was both amazed and deeply inspired by this man who pedaled the bike, the carriage, and myself all with power of just one leg. We only went about five blocks, but they were some of the best five blocks of my life.

Right before my heart warming bike ride I had a bike ride of a different kind. It was my favorite kind, you know, the kind with a motor on it that goes really fast! My journey to Thailand would not have been complete with out a ride on a motorcycle seeing as they are the main form of transportation here. You see entire families flying down the street on one motorbike; baby in front, father driving, another kid behind dad, mom hanging off the back holding the other two. Sometimes dad gets on the cell phone too, just to add to the chaos of the moment. I had my own dreams of flying down the road on a motorbike, not necessarily with a family of five, but on my own gazing out over the rice fields. However, I was skeptical about my ability to even make it out of the city, so I never rented one. My dream came true today when I was at my last session with Master Poo. After feeling like I had, to put it as nicely as I can, just gotten the shit kicked out of me one last time by the Master, his wife offered to give me a ride home. I went from feeling virtually dead to jumping out of my pants excited when she revved up the scooter and told me to hop on. I rolled up the Thai pants, slung my bag over my shoulder, slid the shades on, and we were off. “Do you mind taking the long way?” I asked. She looked back at me and winked, “Is there any other way?”

This was by far and away the most exhilarating of all my Thailand experiences, even more so than my death defying elephant ride. Thailand seems to be devoid of all traffic laws, turning the road into a free for all where the biggest guy always wins. The good thing is that the competition is fairly even with almost everyone on scooters. At one point we were lined up at a major intersection with 16 other scooters. I counted. Now these scooters were not all nicely lined up one behind the next like you might see at an intersection in say, Sweden. No, not in Chiang Mai. Here it was like a dog pile of scooters. “I feel like we are in a race!” I said to Karen (Poo’s wife) still loving every moment of this scooter adventure. “Yeah, well don’t get too excited, I don’t think we’re going to win” she said as our little scooter puttered struggling to get off the line.

We crossed the bridge over the beautifully brown Ping River, waifs of sewage blowing through our hair. Now I know it sounds pretty nasty, but I tell you, I could have been covered in sewage and still had the biggest smile on my face!

Once back at the hotel I took care of a few last minute things to get ready for my 6am departure tomorrow, and then I remembered one last thing I needed to take care of.

There is a girl named Nit who is the “receptionist” at a place where I frequently get massages. It was love at first sight for Nit and I. She loved my blond hair and the fact that I was from “USA!” and I loved her big smiling brown eyes. We instantly became friends. One night I walked in wearing the shirt from the Loi Kroh Massage School I’ve been attending. She clasped her hands together and jumped up and down like a four year old at her birthday party. “Loi Kroh Massage!!! I want to go! I want to go! You go? I want to go!” We talked about the school for a little while and it quickly became clear to me that this girl had a dream, and that dream was to go to the Loi Kroh Massage School. It was the look of hope in her eyes that gave me the idea to do what I did next.

Today had been my last day at the school. I excitedly received my diploma and tearfully said goodbye to my teacher, so she was a little surprised to see me running back in the door only a few hours later. I explained to her that I had a friend who really wanted to come to school, but couldn’t afford it, so I wanted to pay for her to attend their beginning course. Technically I couldn’t really afford it either, but I also knew that one night of work back in Aspen would cover the whole thing, and how great would it be to help someone achieve their dream?

My teacher Napa was a little confused on how to go about this, but she loved the idea so we devised a plan and off I went to find Nit. When I told her about it, her big smiling eyes turned into big teary smiling eyes, and then she gave me the biggest hug I have ever gotten from such a small person. We talked about it for a while, but regretfully in the end she declined my offer. She said she was working too much and could not take the time off needed to take the course. I could see the sadness in her eyes, so we came up with a new plan. I promised to come back someday and I would teach her myself, then the two of us could learn and practice together. Who knows if it will ever happen, but I have a good feeling it will.

Of all the wonderful things about Chiang Mai what I will miss most are the people. They are so full of happiness and grace, it almost seems contagious. I will never forget the wise words of my teacher Napa, a woman who simply radiates grace, “You must see the world through your heart and hands. If you do that, then the eyes always see beauty.”

Tomorrow night I will find myself in Bali ready for yet another adventure. I have no idea what to expect, though I am very intrigued as I have been told by six different people that they ”have a feeling” I will end up living in Bali………..