Dear all,

So I was in Pai, going for a massage. A massage in Thailand is something
special. I went to a very nice lady (Inge, deep into her forties, far too
small, ugly, don't worry ;-). She was sitting on her porch, waiting for me,
when I showed up for my appointment (yeah, I know a very western thing to
make an appointment, but anyway). Two hours later she let me go. She had just
massaged anything you could think of, apart from the part Bert is thinking
of right now! Feet, legs, arms, fingers, head, face. My voice dropped three
tones out of pure and complete relaxedness. On a silk cloud I wandered
through the rest of the evening.

After that experience I decided to stay in Trat for one and a half more days.
The first day we made a 7 hour walk to another waterfall, the second day I
had a bath together with the elephant I was riding at that moment. An american tourist was so polite to grab my camera and take some pictures of me, Jill (an american
lady sitting in front of me) and the 'driver', who was doing this to us, and had a great laugh about it.

After this chilling experience I went further up north to Soppong, and then
into the jungle to the Lang River Lodge. As Gordon and Sally had promised: a
beautifull place, where I slept in a bungalow, just three meters from the
river. In the bus I met a mixed anglophonic group of guys, of which one of
them has become a member of the mailing. Welcome Josh!
In the meantime I had started reading in 'Zen en de kunst van
motoronderhoud' So, every now and then I had to share my excitement about
the book and the things it is triggering in me with someone. In Josh I found
a very valuable ear and mouth. Thanks, I really appreciated our long
conversations.
Besides reading and talking, there is this cave, next to the lodge, which
goes through the mountain for 400 meters. At one end, around dusk (when the
sun goes down) 10.000ths of birds fly into the cave to get a good night of
sleep, and a couple of hundreds of bats fly out of the cave to go hunting. A
very impressive sight (and smell, because sleeping is not the only thing
birds do at night)

After three days of chilling out I am back in a city. This time Mae Hong
Song. There is a lot of tourism here, so I'll have to check out the shops.
Then its further down, first to Chang Mai (and now into the City) , and then
via the former Capital, Sukotai, back to Bangkok airport. Unless I change my
plans that is.

Just another week or so, I hear its freezing in Holland, so really something
to look forward to (not),

see you,

reinier