After leaving Vang Vieng, I headed to Chang Mai, where I’ve been for the past week. The city feels small and quaint, with its many back alleys, inside the moat-surrounded old town, even though there are many tourists here.

On the way here, I met a fellow traveler who told me about a cheap hostel, Kikie’s house.

I arrived early in the morning around 7am. The owner, Kikie, arrived shortly after to greet me and get me oriented to the city. I told her I was interested in learning Thai Massage, so she introduced me to Mateo, a fellow hostel guest, who was currently in a massage course and gave me info on the various schools around Chang Mai.

Schools can sometimes be hard to get into, depending on how full the class is and also the timing. Most intensive classes will start less frequently than a general one week course. Fortunately, I was able to get into my first choice for a month long intensive the very next day. So now its been one week since I’ve been in massage school and its been really great.

Last night, some of my school mates and I went out for BBQ at this place where you collect raw pieces of meat, seafood, and veggies and cook them at the table. After we headed over to a local club.

Im hoping to eventually bring the skills acquired here, back with me to where I’m from and make good use of them there.

I could definitely use some financial help with the tuition and room and board while I’m here, so if you are feeling generous, please feel free to donate at my gofundme page here.

I love being in Chang Mai. The city is lively and is about to get much livelier during Songkran,  Thursday April 13 -15, the Thai new year.