We returned to Thailand, got another visa on arrival, and took a taxi to our little hotel, B.B. Mantra. B.B. stands for budget boutique which seems like an oxymoron to me. Anyway, we were really excited to get back and as we hauled our bags into the reception area, the two girls at the desk looked at us like we were from the moon. “You have reservation” they asked. Luckily Ron had printed out the correspondence we had confirming our ten night reservation. Now they looked really worried and whispering in anxious Thai, they started making phone calls and we immediately knew something was amiss. “We no have reservation for you!” And, “We are FULL”. Uh oh... unfortunately, my friends Ricardo and Plaa had flown up that morning from Koh Samui to see us, and had checked in. My sister Nitza and brother-in-law Drew were arriving the next day to be with us. Both had rooms, but not us. Now they are telling us “No problem, you go to our sister hotel, not far”. What can we do? The town is very full and there was only one room left at the sister hotel. Actually it was a nice ten minute walk down the narrow Soi with many shops and cafes. We did have to change rooms three times in five days. The restaurant was nice with outdoor seating beneath flowering trees and the food very good as it was part of a cooking school called Kitchen Love. So all was OK except for the group of a dozen middle aged large, loud, obnoxious Aussies, who never stopped smoking and coughing. They stood on their balconies and talked to one another every morning regardless of how early it was as they smoked their first cigarettes. They took over the bar every evening with their loud talking and drinking. Then one night, they returned at 1:30 am, stood in the darkened outdoor bar, drinking their own bottles of beer and made a party while everyone else tried to sleep. The next night, they returned at 2:00am, with their street ladies, and started to party, awakening me again! I was pissed. I got up, got dressed, went out my door, leaned my head over the balcony, looked down two stories, and yelled down, “Shut the fuck up!” They were kind of shocked, got real quiet and looked up at me and said, “you could ask nicely.” I said, “ you don’t deserve nice, you have woken me two nights in a row, and you don’t care about anyone but your drunken selves. So shut up and go to your rooms!” Boy, did I feel really good, and truthfully believe there were plenty of other people in their beds silently applauding me! Things improved after that. It was really great to be back in our old hood and visiting with friends and family. The first night was the Chiang Mai Flower Festival. Abundance of orchids, street after street. Floats made of amazing flowers and fruits, and carefully woven palms. It was spectacular. We wandered around with Plaa and Ricardo amaz at the detail and craftsmanship of the floats. The next afternoon Nitza and Drew arrived and we enjoyed many hours of wandering around, eating, shopping, sipping Chang beer, and sharing my little section of town. Their godson Miles was with us as well, and he rounded out our happy group. It was hard to say good bye after two brief days. Then we moved our last five nights back to the B.B. Mantra, and all was as it should have been. Easy mornings having breakfast by the pool. Met a Thai family who roasted coffee once a week and had a few tables in their garden, serving beautiful Cappuccino’s and latte’s. I sat with the young owner and his great mother-in-law. She was 92 and had lived in this wonderful old house all her life. We happen to wander down an unfamiliar street and I glanced into a shop with no name and I saw an incredible plethora of old carvings and statues. Heaven, as I treasure every small Buddha I have ever purchased and the old ones are very difficult to find any more. I wandered in and started looking in every glass case, to the delight of the woman owner, An. She was extremely humble and felt like she really knew her stuff and asked reasonable prices, although nothing is cheap anymore. But she had some really nice old pieces. Two sweaty hours later, bargaining and cajoling and watching her look in her ledgers at the prices she had paid, we came to an agreement. I walked down the street to the money changer, walked back, helped her wrap my three small precious pieces in bubble wrap, and paid her. We were both happy. Another night after having dinner, Ron and I decided to stop in and see a nice Canadian guy who has lived in town over twenty years and has a small shop of textiles and relics, and Buddha’s and amulets. All the things I love. He had been busy every time we had walked past, and I kept putting off going in to talk with him. Asking Tom about a piece is an education, and it can be a long evening. His shop is very small, maybe ten by ten, but many fine pieces. Happily for us, he was alone, and we had him all to ourselves. A couple hours later, we had a few more beautiful, unique pieces. He was leaving the next day for a week off, so it was lucky we just happened to get there when we did. The next day was our last. We went to the post office where they help you box your goods for a small fee, and we mailed 5 kilos of our wonderful collection home. Blessing the box, I look forward to seeing it all when we return. Had a great time in town, and although hard to leave, we took off the next afternoon for Luang Prabang, Laos.
No comments:
Post a Comment