Day 29 – Chiang Mai – last day in Thailand
January 3, 2008
Today is our last day in Thailand – we fly out tomorrow morning at 6am for Bangkok and then on to Delhi.
We ended up starting the day out with a river boat cruise in one of the Thai long tail boats. It was relaxing. At the turn-around point we disembarked for about 30 minutes and walked through a garden that had native plants, fruits and herbs labeled. We were also served fresh fruit and juice. It was nice.
On the ride back we ended up talking to a couple visiting from Houston, TX. Their children actually were studying abroad – the father was a dual British and American citizen. We talked about politics and the education that our girls were receiving by taking this journey. They seemed to agree with our motivations and supported what we are doing. When we got back we decided to head to a food court near the night bazaar – it took a while to find it but the meal ended up being pretty good. From there we went to a Spa located in the night bazaar and got traditional Thai massages for everyone.
It was very relaxing even though some of the techniques were a little painful. A couple positions also pushed my knee into a position I could not tolerate. The lady giving me my massage was about 5 feet 2 but I had the distinct impression that she could break me in half if she decided to. She manipulated my limbs into interesting positions – found muscles I did not even know I had and used her knees, elbows, forearms as tools. At one point she was entirely on her hands and knees on my back. I felt very relaxed afterwards, lethargic and slow moving. We were served tea and biscuits. I was worried about Allysha but she enjoyed I – Aria on the other hand thought that they were trying to break her ribs – the next day she had an abdominal pain that came and went which she immediately blamed on the massage having cracked a rib – I laughed out loud.
The girls went shopping and I went back to the room to get some work done.
We packed for an international flight – arranged for the shuttle at 5:30 am – our flight for Bangkok was scheduled to depart at 8am.
I fell into a very light sleep – tossed and turned all night – thinking about the leaving Thailand and imaging what was to come.