The Good Times in Between the Bad

Despite our best attempts to keep our gaze lifted from our 12/04 post, our sights fell down to one of life’s most cruel and punishing foes: a kidney stone! Sleepless nights in Pai – and intense accompanying back pain – directed us back to the “comforts” of Chiang Mai. Many false diagnoses led us to “believe” that Tom was experiencing muscle spasm…something of which we could surely beat. Many agonizing nights later led us back to the ER room where Jill turned into Robo-Farang and took the upper hand with the hospital staff. Her direct and quick instructions initiated an efficient hospital experience, something of which is hard to come by in the West. Before we knew it, Tom had received imaging that would tell whether or not he had a kidney stone residing in his body. Sure enough, it had already moved into the tube, trying to expel itself. Tag named, Helga, by the Prancers, this little stone had already wreaked havic in our travel flow and stagnated us to the max. We left the hospital with peace of mind and focused our efforts the next few days on trying to flush the princess out through excessive liquid intake and more rest (boredom!!!).

But in the midst of all this anguish and excile, we did find the energy to create a couple of memorable day trips. The first was a trip to our favorite restaurant in Chiang Mai, a Meditteranean treat for the buds ran by a Chinese woman and a Spanish guy. Their exquisite food and creative flare (not to mention great drinks!!!) take us back to the comforts of home. The next was a trip to Wat Umong, an underground temple in the southwest corner of Chiang Mai. The Wat grounds provided us with a forest that included sayings from Buddhist Teachings tacked to individual trees. One such quote:

“Indulging our Senses and Drinking Salt Water are Alike: the More We Partake, the More Our Thirst Grow“.

Another day was spent east of the city in route via rented motorbike testing Tom’s balancing skills after months off of his usual two-wheeled friend. The area is known for various local craft villages such as saa paper (mulberry bark) umbrella and fan production, silk fabrication starting from the stage of the silk worm up until the beautiful textile more familiarly sold in shops, wood/silver/gold/lacquer/celadon pieces, etc…………. what a site for the eyes! Tom and Jill taking it all in with open eyes and hearts to those working so diligently day in and day out to provide the area with such unique charm. Later ending up at a local market, so alive with food stalls and more products to browse….. receiving foot massages and catching smiles and glimpses for being the ONLY farangs in sight! With a great ending to the day, we scooted back on motorbike only to end up back in the same area the next day to purchase 3 beautifully designed lamps made by a family shop….. and some saa paper umbrellas and fan to later display in our home decorated with prizes from this journey.

These aversions from our mental and physical drainings helped us to continue to see light at the end of the tunnel…