Day 2 of thai massage course at Chiang Mai School of Massage TMC

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Happy New Years Eve!

In day 2 of my massage course we began with a lecture on the origins of thai massage and which sorts of people to avoid giving thai massage to (drunks, aggressive people, paralysed people, people with high blood pressure etc...) I had my blood pressure tested and it's completely normal which is great to know.

Today we practised and demonstrated the hand-knee massage and meditation, back massage in the face down position and arm and palm massage. The arm massage was the most difficult as there are so many pressure points and cautionary areas (where there are lots of veins and arteries.)

I'm enjoying talking in Spanish at break times with the three Argentinian students who came over from Buenos Aires to study Thai massage. They are lovely people.

In the evening I visited the Xmas market, and bought a delicious dragon fruit and passion fruit smoothie. I also ate corn on the cob and tried Chiang Mai spicy sausage. I roamed the streets of Chiang Mai hunting out the best food and people watching. This really is backpacker central. In fact there are barely any Thai people in this place. Lots of people come here to FIND THEMSELVES, to connect with the spiritual side of life and find their inner being whilst enjoying a completely laid back, anything goes atmosphere. There are hundreds of vegetarian bars, people wearing hippy clothes that look like they've just done the hippy trail and biked through India all the way to Thailand without washing once. Most shops are travel agencies selling everything from elephant trekking, volunteering to look after the elephants in a natural park, connecting with the elephants, trekking in the forests, tasting organic food on a farm and cooking your own, bicycle tour of Chiang Mai at night. Oh my gosh! I think for now I'll just stick to trying out different types of massage and eating different types of food. After the scuba diving experience, I've realised I'm not the adventurous type!

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