Pai, Thailand
The Hectic Life
Well, yesterday was a busy one. I woke at a reasonable hour (noon) and had some breakfast at the place by the bus station. They've got a staggering choice of shakes there, and I once again had my strawberry lemon soda shake, which is yummy. That done, I decided to rent a scooter to visit the hot springs that I'd heard about.
On the way to the scooter place however, I was detoured by the nail painter who'd set up in the street. She had an array of colors and designs for those who wanted to get their nails painted in an artistic manner. I had my nails last done in Ko Pha Ngan, when Charley, Veg, and I had an arvo of pampering. That was in June, and my nails were now in a woeful state. I showed the girl a photo of some nails from Bangkok, which had belonged to one of the receptionists at D&D Inn. She studied the photo for a bit and then we began.
I chatted with her friend, an English guy who was in town looking after his friend's bar. As the artistic process unfolded, we discussed the hot water springs, and he recomended a place a few kilometer's from town, at a campground. Sounded good to me, though the day was uncharactistically sunny, and he advised waiting till dark.
A crowd soon formed as my nails took shape. Not so much from the novelty of a guy getting his nails done, but more from the fact that it was not a simple design and took some time. Girls who were also keen to painted their nails waited as glitter and acyrlic paint was added to mix.
Finally, they were done. One of the girls confessed that she thought initially that they were going to be a disaster but loved the final product. The artist herself was all smiles. For one thing, she told me she never got male clients and was hoping to get one, at some point. But, she also was captivated by her finished product, they looked...fabulous.
I then resumed my original plan and rented a scooter for the day. The sun was shining, so I made off for the waterfalls, thinking cold water sounded better in the bright day. It was a good plan, sadly as I approached the falls, the rain started to fall. It was a passing shower which ended by the time I reached the falls, but the clouds remained and a soak in the water seemed less appealing. The falls were nice though.
I headed back to town for some dinner and relaxed as darkness fell, before once again hopping on my bike and roaring off to find some hot water in the dark. I did, much to my surprise. The spas at the campground were lovely, they'd been described to me as looking like Roman Baths, and they did. The hot pool was large, the size of a decent swimming pool though it was only waist deep water. Benches ringed the stone walls to relax against while soaking and two islands had been built in the middle, both sporting trees and other shrubbery. Roger the Shrubber's work perhaps. Either way, it was one hell of a good place to relax. I soaked for an hour or so, before finally pulling myself from the steaming waters. I had a drink at the campsite and then drove my way home, once again dodging the dogs that litter the roads.
Well, the sun's shining again today. I had my shake again, and had a nice talk with Dad, with whom I haven't spoken in several weeks. That also came with the realization that my faithful phone, may once again be somewhat broken as we had a hard time getting our call to go through, and our texts didn't seem to reach each other at all. I've got a bit of a love/hate relationship with modern technology. And I think that's an entirely sane view.
Well, yesterday was a busy one. I woke at a reasonable hour (noon) and had some breakfast at the place by the bus station. They've got a staggering choice of shakes there, and I once again had my strawberry lemon soda shake, which is yummy. That done, I decided to rent a scooter to visit the hot springs that I'd heard about.
On the way to the scooter place however, I was detoured by the nail painter who'd set up in the street. She had an array of colors and designs for those who wanted to get their nails painted in an artistic manner. I had my nails last done in Ko Pha Ngan, when Charley, Veg, and I had an arvo of pampering. That was in June, and my nails were now in a woeful state. I showed the girl a photo of some nails from Bangkok, which had belonged to one of the receptionists at D&D Inn. She studied the photo for a bit and then we began.
I chatted with her friend, an English guy who was in town looking after his friend's bar. As the artistic process unfolded, we discussed the hot water springs, and he recomended a place a few kilometer's from town, at a campground. Sounded good to me, though the day was uncharactistically sunny, and he advised waiting till dark.
A crowd soon formed as my nails took shape. Not so much from the novelty of a guy getting his nails done, but more from the fact that it was not a simple design and took some time. Girls who were also keen to painted their nails waited as glitter and acyrlic paint was added to mix.
Finally, they were done. One of the girls confessed that she thought initially that they were going to be a disaster but loved the final product. The artist herself was all smiles. For one thing, she told me she never got male clients and was hoping to get one, at some point. But, she also was captivated by her finished product, they looked...fabulous.
I then resumed my original plan and rented a scooter for the day. The sun was shining, so I made off for the waterfalls, thinking cold water sounded better in the bright day. It was a good plan, sadly as I approached the falls, the rain started to fall. It was a passing shower which ended by the time I reached the falls, but the clouds remained and a soak in the water seemed less appealing. The falls were nice though.
I headed back to town for some dinner and relaxed as darkness fell, before once again hopping on my bike and roaring off to find some hot water in the dark. I did, much to my surprise. The spas at the campground were lovely, they'd been described to me as looking like Roman Baths, and they did. The hot pool was large, the size of a decent swimming pool though it was only waist deep water. Benches ringed the stone walls to relax against while soaking and two islands had been built in the middle, both sporting trees and other shrubbery. Roger the Shrubber's work perhaps. Either way, it was one hell of a good place to relax. I soaked for an hour or so, before finally pulling myself from the steaming waters. I had a drink at the campsite and then drove my way home, once again dodging the dogs that litter the roads.
Well, the sun's shining again today. I had my shake again, and had a nice talk with Dad, with whom I haven't spoken in several weeks. That also came with the realization that my faithful phone, may once again be somewhat broken as we had a hard time getting our call to go through, and our texts didn't seem to reach each other at all. I've got a bit of a love/hate relationship with modern technology. And I think that's an entirely sane view.
posted by Bob Stein at 12:11 AM
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