The Reprieve of Pai, Thailand

Photographer? C’est moi!

Hey y'all,

For the sake of keeping things somewhat current (and to prevent y'all from the impression that I'm doing nothing but weird, twisted, sex cult stuff - don't worry, I'll get back to that), I just spent 4 days in Pai with Kip, and I’m going to Laos with Kip and Angela today.

That Mekong river trip Kip mentioned became a 1 hour flight to have more time in a city with an ancient history, a strong influence from the French colony days when Laos was part of Indochine, and apparently a lot of Buddhist monks and temples. Should be pretty cool.

Anyway, Pai was gorgeous and very sweet, and the only thing that went wrong was that I was horribly sick on my last day and couldn't go on a tour to see the hot springs, pai canyon, maybe get an explanation of the bizarre mural I saw in the temple near the white Buddha, etc.

This is the 2nd time I've been sick since I got here. I got sick at the Tao and Tantra shitshow, but that paled in comparison to everything else that was going on there.

This last is possibly from something I ate, but it occurred to me that the viruses and yuck percolating in Thailand are completely different from the crud in the States and I have NO IMMUNITY.

Awesome!

I guess I'm building some up.

Anyway, I'll spare the ugly details except to say it started at 2 in the morning on Thursday, and my entire body was on fire all day.

I hurt everywhere and I was so bummed out, because I was scared I wouldn't be able go back to Chiang Mai yesterday and would miss the plane today. (Today in Thailand is Saturday, btw. It's so bizarre to think that today here is yesterday for y'all.)

I guess not eating anything and drinking water all day and sleeping for 2 days straight did the trick.

Except for a caffeine deprivation headache, I woke up feeling all right yesterday and was able to come back.

Pai is definitely a backpacker's destination.

It's kind of trippy in that it reminded me of Portland and Bourbon Street in New Orleans in a hippie, international backpacker kind of way.

There's tons of vegan cafes (Sabby, this place is your dream!) and bars that are completely set up to appeal to Western travelers.

But at the same time, it's also very Thai. I'm not understanding the fascination with Superman and Captain America that I saw on the road stop to Pai and then in Pai.

I asked Kip about it, and he didn't have much to say except that people like the superheroes there.

Photo also by me.

There's this odd, kitschy, childlike wonder about Pai.

For example, I took some obscure stairs from the road up to the temple site, and there were Buddha statues and whatnot, but also these joyful kid statues saying welcome.

It seemed out of place, but I guess it's a thing here. Cause I've seen them more than once.

I didn't know this, but apparently, modest dress is required at the Buddhist sites.

There are signs asking us to "Please dress politely" before entering.

I inadvertently broke that rule going into the temple where I saw the weird mural.

I hope I don't go to one of the Buddhist hells for that - but it was an innocent mistake.

Photo by me. Gruesome, huh?

Before I went up the stairs to the white Buddha, a couple of Thai women started shouting at me from their booth, where I had to rent a skirt.

I was wearing denim shorts, which is a no-no.

They were very sweet as they wrapped that skirt around me and it didn't even cost a dollar.

I said this on Facebook, but I really wish I had a knowledgeable tour guide with me.

At the reclining Buddha, many of the murals reminded me of the Hindu pantheon of gods and goddesses, and since they didn't look like hellish scenes, I wondered what the connection was.

Maybe I'll find out eventually.

Apparently, around here, the style of Buddhism is Theraveda, and sometimes even Tantric Theraveda Buddhism.

These differ from Mahayana Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism - which is another form of Tantric Buddhism, which I did not know existed until this trip.

What that lets me realize is that there is so much I don't know about the history of Buddhism, and that our Westernized, watered-down version of it probably doesn't even come close to the truth.

Travel is another form of education.

Tantra is following me everywhere, it seems. Not that I'm complaining.

Anyway, wasn't that a stroke of luck that Kip reached out via Facebook as I was enroute to Thailand?

If that's not a sign that somebody upstairs was looking out for me, I don't know what is.

His presence made it very easy to leave a situation - that although there were some gifts there - was really fucked up and triggering the hell out of me.

Kip's an interesting cat.

Running into him again brought back a lot of memories of that time in my life in SE Alaska, and truth is, I only met him once when he came through Juneau on his way to Skagway.

He's been good medicine, even if the reasons why are surprising.

Kip is a great guy and he's loved and admired by all his friends for the gifts he brings. He is not, however, somebody you can go deep with. He is not somebody you go to with your troubles or when you have things on your mind. His housemate, Angela, confirmed that.

"The thing with Kip is you can't talk to him about anything negative. That's just who he is. But he'll keep you in the present moment."

Angela's description of him as on point.

He does keep one in the present, and he is a wealth of knowledge, especially when it comes to traveling on a shoestring budget. In that, the man is a machine.

For example, he found a flight from Tel Aviv to Paphos, Greece (birthplace of Aphrodite) for $15. That is FIFTEEN dollars!

This is while planning his route back to Alaska, taking a few days in the birthplace of Aphrodite before doing an overland train trip across Europe to Paris, where "there are some great deals there," - all of this hypothetical as he's considering his options.

If I wonder about a tree or shrub, or the bright orange, climbing, flowering plant, he will research until he finds it, and then send me the link. (It was the orange trumpet vine.)

He found our fabulous mud huts, and figured out the back road, scenic walk past the long neck Karens into the bustle of touristic Pai rather than the busy road that was kind of nervewracking, and the possibility was constant that I need worry about being hit by a car or a motorbike.

When I was sick, he brought me sugary ginger tea and a packet of electrolytes. I'm pretty sure that's why I was able to kick it after another night.

There's a lot to be said about receiving the natural gifts somebody brings to the table and being thankful for that.

Kip has definitely been my travel angel since I got here. I would have been in a much worse state if I didn't have friends to go to when I left that workshop early.

Kip and company also made for a very POSITIVE start to this journey, because my trip began with them.

If I hadn't dragged my jetlagged butt into town right after getting here, it would have begun with Quixotic Sierra and that mess.

"Well, I guess it depends on how you want to spend your chi," Sierra had said when I told her I was leaving to meet Kip.

Yeah, I think that was a good use of my chi.

So here's to Kip in all his glory!

Peace,

Mana