Monks, Guitars, and Cats

Last Morning at the Pagoda Inn

Stern Buddha

Free Bird Cafe

Elephant and Cat

Doing Laundry at the CM

I wrote a post card to Rick this afternoon and one of the things I mentioned was how time and experience have reversed positions. In Urbana, time is a heavy factor because experience is a repeating process of the same routines and thought patterns. But on the road, in a foreign country, time becomes insignificant in relation to the sensual experiences which flak the mind - everything is new, the only routine being no routine. I sometimes wondered why as a child a summer vacation from school would seem like a year, but when I got to be 30 years old a summer seemed much shorter. A week on the road has revealed the answer - everything was so new and fresh when I was 12, and although I had routines, there were too many things which were making their presence known for the first time to my eyes and mind. As I got older there were less and fewer things which I had not seen, and my mind compensated by dwelling within itself - time became heavy with emptiness. Throwing myself into something so bizarre and unknown this week, I became a child again, the density of an experienced mind giving way to the pleasures and terrors of the senses.

I left the Pagoda Inn this morning, having made a reservation online for a place called the CM Apartments, a few blocks down the road. I sit now in my bed at the CM, a perfect room in a way, all white, no pictures, a few pieces of furniture, a balcony (with a chain link fence covering the opening so that nobody falls over the low wall!). The CM is located on a small cobbled soi in the old part of the city, all sorts of interesting shops, stalls, massage joints, restaurants. 250m down the road is a place called the Free Bird Cafe. I stopped in this afternoon and sat in a shaded garden eating red curry soup filled with brown rice, and drinking a passion fruit lassi. A cat came wandering over and jumped on the table and kept me company as I ate and wrote postcards.

The price of the CM is expensive in relation to other places around, but this is the busy season and places are hard to get, so I shelled out 950 baht for a night, and decided I may as well stay 2 nights, so I will be here tomorrow, and maybe longer, as I feel a need to be settled somewhere, even if its only for a few nights. Meanwhile I have been sending out emails to places which accept long term stays. I have an appointment to see The Dome, if I stay a month it will cost $350, which isn't that cheap, but once again, it is because of the season. It still beats my Urbana rent of $550 plus utilities, so if I like the place I may end up staying there a month.

This morning I got up before dawn and wandered the streets with my camera. I saw orange clad monks walking with alms bowls, and just as the sun came up I passed a restaurant called Nice Kitchen. I stopped in and was the first customer, I ordered a banana pancake and a strawberry smoothie and wrote a letter to Rachel. As I was leaving the owner said "come back soon".

Before checking in at the CM this afternoon, I wandered around Chiang Mai with my full pack, and I came across a row of shops selling second hand guitars. I stopped in one store and strummed a few chords. I miss playing guitar, especially jamming the blues. If I end up staying somewhere for a month, I will plan to buy a guitar and practice while I am here, then sell it back when I leave.