The last of the learning portion of my classes ended today. We practiced a two hour routine on our partner this afternoon, and tomorrow we will work for three hours each. Friday is our "test" day. No book, no instruction, just flow with a two hour treatment that we design.
I had planned to go to Ko Samui for the duration of my trip, but did not anticipate that the travel time by bus (the most affordable) and ferry would be 24 hours total. I also didn't really pay attention to my return ticket. I leave on the 31st, but at 12:40am so really I need to be at the airport on the 30th. Between all of that would leave two days of beautiful island time.
And then there are the mountains that I see everyday here and long to go into. In New York I have months of missing being in the mountains. Usually around Fall when the air changes from humid summer in the city to crisp and less dense. I crave going to altitude where I can take a full breath in and shut out the city sounds. So as I ride around Chiang Mai and wonder why I'm not wearing a mask like a third of the scooter commuters (and all of the policeman working traffic) I am having the same desire to breath in fresh air.
Between two days of beach and five more days of being in the North, I chose the latter. I'm nesting for the three weeks and once classes end I plan to take as many day trips, barring rain, into the mountains. My true desire is to cross into Burma for a few hours just to do it. I'll let you know how that goes. There is one place one can do it, it's just getting there that might be a challenge. The roads during the rainy season tend to be inaccessable.
The other trips I have planned are closer and I can get to by bike or group taxi. Saturday I'm going to Doi Suthep which is a very famous Wat (Buddhist Temple) that sits a little more than 1/2 way up the mountain that is in view from Chiang Mai. The story goes if I remember correctly that the monks let an elephant begin the journey up this mountain and where it stopped the temple would be built. On a clear night you can see the lights from the temple, and during the day you can actually see the Stuppa and Umbrella. Here's a photo of it from the website: http://www.doisuthep.com/images/z_002.JPG.
That's it for tonight. I have some other stories, but am tired. I've also been meaning to mention that this blog doesn't have a spell check which at first was like nails on a chalkboard because I'm usually more careful about grammar and spelling errors. So I apologize if that has been annoying and you were wondering why I don't check my work.
Ok. See you soon. :)
