Stats n Stuff

Whatever good feelings Chiang Mai gave for me for my life here, Pai has doubled it. I have been here for five days, and tonight brings me yet another new place to lay my head. Yesterday I met “Mama.” She is a half Thai, half Indian 60-something ex-beauty queen gone yogi. She offers yoga classes, but also “homestay,” which is basically six dollars a night to stay in one of the nine hillside bungalows on her property that overlooks all of Pai. The sun went down a couple of hours ago, and in the far distance I can see a stream of paper rice lanterns that are floating up like a helium-filled pearl necklace in the sky.

Above is a clip from my bungalow overlooking Pai at night

 The best way I can describe Pai is this : Portland, OR…Jackson,WY…..and Jamaica all mated and had a premature Asian baby. I say Portland because this place is crawling with dreadlocks and hippies (I am about 1 rasta-colored accessory away from joining them). I say Jackson because Jackson has that kind of cool vibe, and Pai is surrounded by big hills on either side that reminds me of the hills there.  I say Jamaica because the main street is loaded with dark Thai men that I keep mistaking for long-haired Rastas. Plus I am pretty sure joints are being lit up all over the place based on the slow service and overly relaxed demeanor everyone has. I say premature because this place is small. And I adore that. If there is one thing I will leave behind on this trip, it is the idea that I could one day be a city mouse. No, I will leave the charming fire-escape studio apartment, big city life to someone who enjoys it more. After being in cities (or being in transit to cities) nonstop for the past three weeks, I keep finding myself pining for a hike in the Columbia Gorge or some camping on Mt. Hood… I am obviously still working on that whole “be in the moment” thing. 

Well, in this moment, I am in my own little bungalow (the best place I have stayed by far, and one of the cheapest as well!) sitting outside on a bench typing this entry. I cannot post it as soon as I am done, as I usually do, because I do not have internet that reaches my hut. Now, anyone who has video called me since I came over here knows that my internet service is almost always shotty, semi-decent at its best. But this is the first time I have had NO internet at all in my living quarters. The past few weeks, this has been good for me, but I do also think that it has not been good for me. The internet has been my safe little sleeping bag that I get to climb into and unplug whenever I feel overwhelmed. And unplugging has sounded good at the end of every night here. I haven’t been truly living alone at all. I have been braving my days, but finding safety in my computer at night. Well, I can’t spend every night with my computer, so I am figuring out what to do with my mind and myself with nothing to entertain it. I came here to challenge myself and stop being comfortable.  As we all know by now, I have physically stepped out of my comfort zone almost every time I wake up (the travel, but also I have a sneaking suspicion that Thais fill their beds with bricks. Every time). Mentally has been a hard one for me to step out of though. Maybe once I get the physically comfortable part in check, I will feel better bending my mind around a bit.

 In the meantime, I am here at Mama’s yoga retreat for three days. Mama convinced me and another new girl here to do a detox tomorrow all day. We will be drinking only coconuts all day. That kind of sounds like my version of coconut heaven, but if we must call it a detox, okay. I had yoga with Mama and several other students today in her open-air makeshift studio. It’s beautiful. It’s clear that Mama is passionate about being a yoga woman. I don’t say yoga instructor because I am not sure if that is quite her calling in life. Class was good, two hours long and we were served an Indian meal for lunch after. Mama was also good. As in, she can twist herself into a pretzel. She is good at yoga herself, that I quite clear. She has pictures of herself doing all kinds of yoga poses on her website, (google mamyoga pai) but also her shop in town, and here in the studio. I think it’s just an Asian thing, to put up pictures of yourself and family and things you are proud of. It didn’t make my headstand any easier though. Yeah, we did a headstand in the first day of class. With beginners there! It took me 6 months of practice before I was even allowed to try one at home! I worry about teachers who do all poses with no actual instruction in safe ways to get into the pose, and no oversee to make sure people aren’t hurting themselves. To me, it’s crazy. But I did that headstand, and I look forward to yoga tomorrow.

My yoga bungalow

The view- overlooking Pai

To prepare for tomorrow’s detox, I trotted into town this afternoon to pick up a few things/pig out. I finally found the Pai market, and I think I accidentally bought two little desserts baked in coconut leaves that turned out to be something like mochi! Mochi is a favorite dessert of mine. It’s basically rice flour, coconut milk, and sugar that are baked into a chewy gummy delight. I bought them at the Asian grocery store in Portland, and actually learned how to make them myself back home. The best part of my night was discovering my little mochis. I also bought some meats-on-a-stick, bananas, mangos, an orange, and some mangosteen.

I don’t think I will have enough time to discover all the other great little things about Pai that I know are here, like renting motorbikes and going to the waterfalls and hot springs. I plan on bringing Dave here when he comes though, and that kind of stuff can be more fun with someone else anyway. I have to leave on Monday or Tuesday and make my way to Laos to apply for my visa, since my visa on entry is almost up. Which means… I have almost been here for one month.  Which seems crazy that time has already gone by that fast. But then I get to thinking of everything I have done. Let’s throw together some stats:

Number of places I have slept (Including overnight trains and busses):

1.Queens Garden Hotel first night-Bangkok                                                                                                                          2.Lub D Hostel co-Ed dorm-Bangkok                                                                                                                          

3. Lub D Hostel all-girls dorm-Bangkok

4. Overnight train BangkokàKoh Samui

5. Amazing villa of friend’s-Koh Samui

6.  Lime n Soda Beachside Bungalow-Koh Phangan

7.  Monte Vista Yoga volunteer room-Koh Phangan

8. Overnight train Koh PhanganàBangkok

9. Overnight Bus BangkokàChiang Mai

10. Julie’s Guesthouse-Chiang Mai

11. JJ Guesthouse-Chiang Mai

12. Some random family renting out a room (I was desperate, see blog post below)- Pai

13. Family Hut riverside bungalow-Pai

14.  Mama’s Homestay Yoga-Pai

15. Little Bird Hostel dorm- Chiang Mai

16. Overnight minibus Chiang Maià Vientian, Laos

17. Funky Monkey Hostel dorm- Vientian, Laos

Ok friends, that is 17 different places in 29 days (as of the day I publish this). Typing this is the first time I have done the math. Damn. Ok, so I need to give myself more slack for my reasons of restlessness, obviously.

More stats?

Times I have had to untangle my headphone cords, no matter how delicately I have put them back into my backpack? 4098367

Times I have almost said a prayer over my orange foam earplugs, out of sheer thankfulness? Probably about the same number as above.

Number of times I have washed my own laundry and let it try in the hot Thailand sun? Three! There is nothing that makes a great view feel more homey than having your underwear slung over a fence. I love it.

It's a beautiful sight...

Number of times I have had had my laundry done by the nice Thai laundry ladies? 5. Something about your underwear coming back to you smelling like flowers and folded like an envelope that probably never gets old…I’ll tell you if it does.

Number of street cats that have made me miss Sierra in the way that only a crazy cat lady can? All of them.

Number of hot showers I have taken: 6

Number of giant tropical spiders I have seen: NONE …ohgoddid I just jinx myself?

Number of books I am reading right now: Two. Rereading Eat.Pray.Love (just so I can really look like a nerdy tourist here) and a book Stacey gave me called Yoga and the path of the Urban Mystic. Loving both of them.

Number of things I can say in Thai: Three! Hello, Thank you, and Foreigner. You know, the essentials.