We arrived in Chiang Mai to our hotel, which was a bit farther from central CM than we’d hoped, but beautiful, spacious rooms in a quiet outskirt of town. Nolan headed to his guesthouse in the city where he’d be picked up daily for his Thai massage course. My mother rested at the hotel, and Maureen and I headed into town to find some food and explore the Sunday Walking Market.
We met up with Nolan at his digs and found corner restaurant with a single menu item: Khao Soi. This is mouth-watering dish is specific to northern Thailand. It’s a slightly spicy yellow curry with noodles, crispy wonton strips and meat (the usual choice of chicken, pork, or prawns). I think I had it at least 5 times in my short time there! Afterwards we wandered down the street a bit and found a “spa” (one of the bajillion massage parlors in CM). Nolan and I desperately needed pedicures as our poor feet were in a sorry state after being jammed into small climbing shoes in hot weather for three weeks (you get the picture…). Maureen headed off for her first Thai massage while Nolan and I got the works. The spa we would then return to 5 times that week was called Lila Massage Therapy, and all of the women who work here are former prison inmates. The director of the prison founded and initiative to teacher inmates how to practice massage therapy so that they would have a means of providing for their families as opposed to returning to crime (many of these women have no choice due to poverty/lack of education). The women who work there were as sweet as can be and the only give-away to their prison days was Nolan’s rough massage from a heavily-tattooed woman! Of course, he loved it. For those of you who have never had a Thai massage, it’s very different from what you’re used to. It involves a lot of pressing, pushing, and stretching, and is a serious workout for the massage therapist. It can often be quite painful, but in general it’s wonderful (Shameless marketing: NOLAN PALMER-SMITH now has his Thai massage license!). Maureen was very happy with hers, however, she discovered a huge bruise on the back of her leg, probably where her girl was kneeling on her!
When we all walked outside in a serene state, the walking market had suddenly popped up out of nowhere. We wandered around oohing and ahhing at the stalls. Markets happen to be one of my favorite things about traveling, and this one was out of control. Unfortunately, I thought we had another night at the market the following week, so I didn’t seize the opportunity to stock up on presents and clothes then (sorry folks back home!). Instead we ate some more street food and wandered around until our feet were tired. Maureen and I headed back to check on mammalina and call it a night, and Nolan made his way back to get a good night’s sleep before his first day of massage school.
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