Mai, what tranquility
On Christmas Day, my friend Sarah McLean had her new house in rural Chiang Mai blessed by a group of Buddhist monks. People from across the world joined local villagers in northern Thailand for the celebration.
A masseuse slowly pours hot oil for hair treatment on a customer at Oasis Spa in Chiang Mai. Courtesy of Toby Allen |
McLean's e-mail sharing her news came as no surprise, as I had experienced the charms of Chiang Mai myself during a month-long stay there last May.
Although all of McLean's relatives live in the West, she has chosen to settle down in the East, making Thailand her beloved home.
And she is not alone. A growing community of foreigners have decided to settle down in this region of gentle folk conversant in English and comfortable with traditional Thai culture sitting alongside a multi-hued international one.
"A little stream from the mountains nearby feeds our pond and the rice fields," says McLean in her e-mail. "We never ever have a problem with insects because the ecology is so nicely balanced... Lots of fish in the pond eat the mosquito larva, lemon grass planted near the house keeps away the mosquitoes that survive the fish! We have turtles to eat the snails and trees that encourage birds which eat insects."
Delightful memories of my spa visit, bamboo rafting and shopping at the Sunday market suddenly filled me a deep longing for the days I spent in these idyllic settings last year.
Urban oasis
At the Oasis Spa, opened by Toby Allen and Pakin Ploywaen in 2003, I was thrilled to find many choices other than the traditional Thai massage, which can be too strong for first-time visitors. Hidden in a garden of well-tended trees and flowers, the decor of the traditional wooden cottages date back to the ancient Lanna Dynasty.
Amid warm, soothing music, I took an open-air shower under blossoming trees. Back in the cozy cottage, my masseuse Lek Buaraew guided me to lie face down and started applying a kind of warm oil. Under the coaxing of her magical fingers, all my aches and pains soon melted away and I drifted off into a sweet dream.
An elephant wades across the River Wong on its way to the elephant |
Like other established spas, Oasis has its own trademark treatments. The hot oil hair treatment has many special ingredients: Jasmine rice, found only in Thailand, is rich in Thiamin and Niacin; avocado oil promotes hair growth while jojoba oil, a mystical elixir called "the liquid gold of the desert", is unrivaled in its ability to moisturize and treat slit ends, damaged, tangled and dry hair.
"We believe that a spa visit should be a total emersion of the senses seeing, hearing, tasting and feeling in a pleasing ambience of tranquility to promote mental and physical well-being," said Allen, who has visited China many times and has opened a branch in Bangkok.
Eye to eye with elephants
A half-hour ride outside Chiang Mai took me to the banks of the River Wong where bamboo rafting has become popular in the past few years.
Each raft can carry three or four people. The experienced visitors can do without a local rafter, who is crucial for getting across rocky shores. We had to sit on the bamboo poles to keep balance or risk falling into the clean river throbbing with fish.
The most thrilling moment in our rafting came when a troop of elephants waded across the river. One almost bumped into our raft but its mahout managed to stop it just in time. The look in its huge eyes convinced me of elephants' great intelligence.
Sunday market
Every Sunday, a kaleidoscope of Thai culture unfolds at an open bazaar outside the Thapae Gate from late afternoon till late into the night.
The old city still has many charming ancient temples. Lines of stalls sell food, antiques, Thai silk and handicrafts, extending almost up to the main temple halls, inside which pious believers attend Buddhist ceremonies.
Women from the ethnic groups living in the nearby mountains sell wooden frogs, which sing loudly as a wooden stick strokes their backs. There are also soap flowers kept in sandalwood boxes and paintings of Buddha statues found in the 14th century ruins of Ayutthaya to the north of Bangkok.
And for tired legs, there are the wonderfully refreshing cuts of exotic fruits such as mango and papaya served with ice and sugared water.
(China Daily 01/18/2007 page19)
