Landing in Chiang Mai, what a contrast stepping into the
comfort and silence of this taxi and taking a short ride to our accommodation. After
the marathon of taxi, airport, plane, airport, plane and taxi. This 10 minute
journey conjures a reflexion of life in India for the past 5 months. And wow
Thailand seems the most clean, quiet and orderly country on earth by comparison.
It’s actually very difficult to explain but I never really had any positive expectation
for India, we were going for the yoga!!! And when we examine most of the
individual parts now, we still don’t have any expectation. But all these parts
add up to something, that certain je ne sais quoi you could say! Maybe it’s just
the simplicity of it all.
Leaving Mother England all those months ago, one of the things
I looked forward to the most was the onset of the monsoon season. I had images
of torrential downpours lasting days on end but alas the rains did not come. At
least not until we were 30 minutes into a 4 and a half hour journey to the
airport and then did it come down. Visibility was reduced to a minimum and the
roads flowed like rivers. There were fender benders aplenty and ambulances
futilely attempting to make their way through the carnage that is Indian
traffic (chaos incarnate).
And now with the challenge of a daily practice overcome and
deeply ingrained, we move on from shala life, at least for now, only to be
challenged again with the routine of asana practice to be done anywhere we can
manage for the foreseeable future.
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| Home For 5 Months |
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| The Moon Over Mysore |
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| The Milkman |
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| Receiving Our Yoga Alliance Certificates |
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| Receiving Our Yoga Alliance Certificates |
I was last in Chiang Mai March 2003 and can safely say nothing
has changed at all, not even the prices. We were staying at Top Garden for
THB550 a night (£10) and although not the Ritz, what it lacked in style it made
up for with cleanliness and comfort. And to top it off the owners Victor and
Thunya were the friendliest, caring and most helpful hosts anyone could ask
for. There was a little courtyard area we could practice in. A little noisy
with the 6 am delivery traffic but reasonably sheltered and private. I
recommend this place to anyone heading this way.
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| Buddhist Temple Chiang Mai |
My biggest concern about coming to Thailand was and is,
finding decent vegan food. I.e. the kind that doesn’t just remove all the
animal protein and serve up a vacant dish devoid of nutrients and was amazed at
what we found. Taste of Heaven is a small vegetarian/vegan outlet in the old
town and what a gem it is. Pretty much ate there every day in an attempt to
make it through the menu. By far the best veg restaurant in South East Asia.
There were a great number of other restaurants to choose from but didn’t see
the point in trying. Other delights to be had were dried mango and fresh fruits
from the markets.
Perhaps one of the highlights to be had in Chiang Mai would be
to simply come for the food. But we actually came to take a 3 day course in
Traditional Thai Massage. We paid a bit extra and signed up with Art of Massage
for a 1 to 1 course. It was a lot of fun and we both feel pretty comfortable
giving each other a massage and the skill will certainly help ease some of the
tension gained from asana practice, although I think I may have broken Sherren
already.
Now on Koh Samui, things haven’t really changed here either in
10 years. Although everything is 3 times the price of Chiang Mai and almost on
par western standards. We are staying in the town of Mae Nam. It’s in the north
and is far far away from the hustle and bustle of Chaweng that is ladyboy/hooker
bars, disco’s and droves and droves of English, German and Australian lager
louts indulging in copious amounts of booze and ladyboys/hookers. So pretty
much far away from all the fun/entertaining bits. After all, there’s nothing
quite so entertaining as watching a middle aged lager lout who’s too drunk to
stand get carried back to his hotel by a ladyboy. But what it does have is a
4km stretch of beautiful coral sand beach that is virtually deserted (just what
is needed to recover from asana practice each morning).
Unfortunately the food situation on Samui is dire. It is a
polar opposite to Chiang Mai. Even if I wasn’t eating a vegetarian/vegan diet,
I would consider the food here to be among some of the worst in the world.
There is literally one menu that every restaurant on the island uses. And this
comprises of deep fried, refined carbohydrates, drowned in a sea of msg. After
5 days of it I’ve actually considered doing a water only detox for the next 6
days just to avoid eating. Thankfully the breakfast at our resort is pretty
good, providing muesli, fresh fruits and salads. We’re just bringing our own
coconut milk to the table to avoid the dairy.
So beautiful beaches and a continuing laid back approach to
life aside, we’re really looking forward to the first Australian leg of this
journey and catching up with some of life’s finest and fairest friends.
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| Angthong National Park |
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| Sherren's Doing Some Work for a Change! |
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| Dessert Island Moves |
