Day 17 - Tuesday, March 1 - Pai / Chiang Mai

It's great how well I know my body and it's recovery process so well after 36 years. I went to bed with a fever, the aches and pains were at their worst they were all day, and my head felt like a ton of bricks. At about 3AM, I woke up in a pool of sweat, shivering from the cold mountain air meeting said sweat, and the aches and pains GONE.

I changed clothes and went back to bed.

Woke up at about 7:30 and showered so I could return the bike, have breakfast, and catch the bus back to Chiang Mai. Pai is great and one could hang out here for weeks but I must move on. With the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and Chiang Mai, it really is a great resting place in the mountains that is a must visit on your next visit to Thailand.

Although not 100%, I'm feeling much better and know it will be a few days more until whatever alien has come to live in my body moves on to their next victim. I have a few days of transition until I hit the beaches so I'll be taking it easy.

The bus ride was 3.5 hours and I landed back at Libra with Boo Boo cheering up and down when I got off the bus. She had they key to Room 103, my room of choice, waiting for me and I threw my bags down, popped some more pills that I bought at the pharmacy in Pai (the Tinglish speaking woman behind the counter said they were like Advil although I'm not sure she knew what Advil was), took a swig of some liquid stuff (she said it was like Robitussin) and headed out to take a stroll.

Stumbled across what else, 36,000 Thai Massage houses and being that I haven't had a foot massage in over 2 days, thought it was time. I spluged, I got an hour foot massage followed by an hour Thai Massage. Although not terrible, my thoughts were correct - I don't really like Thai Massages. I much prefer a Burke Williams massage or what I think they refer to here as an "oil massage". I'll have to try one on Thursday as tomorrow I'm on a day trip up to Chiang Rai, the Golden Triangle, and to make a quick "border run" to Laos (pronounced LAO). A "border run" is what they call it when you cross the border for a minute or 2 just to come back into the country you just left. The reason for such an antic is this: when you enter Thailand without a Visa, you are automatically given a 30 day tourist visa. After the 30 days, you are fined 200 baht per day until you leave. This way, I can get a new 30 day visa when I re-enter Thailand from Laos tomorrow. If I had read a little more before coming to Thailand, I would have known this and would have gotten a 60 day visa from the Thai Embassy in the US prior to leaving. As I said earlier, each day is an adventure and a learning experience.

After leaving the massage, I walked a few blocks further and saw a travel agency that was affiliated with STA (Student Travel), the agency I bought my plane ticket through. I sat down with a very nice agent and she was able to change my return date back to LA.

RELAX P, it's just a few extra days.

I now depart Bangkok at 11:50PM on Sunday, March 27th. I have a layover in Tokyo and then arrive back in LA at 11AM, Monday, March 28th. I would have extended even longer but I have an appointment with my "tax guy" on Tuesday and I think it's going to be nearly impossible to reschedule at such a late date and am not in the mood to file an extension. As a model citizen of the US, I will come back and file my taxes on time.

I walked around a little bit more, avoided the night market as I was in no mood for their antics, and stumbled across a little "store" that I was contemplating buying some stuff at and shipping home last week but decided against it due to the shipping rates. Well, here I was back there again and this time, I caved. As she was writing me up, she said,

"just down soi (street), good doctor, you go and I wait for you, you no sleep tonight if you cough cough"

So I walked down the street to the doctors office at the recommendation of this nice lady. This doctor's office was certainly not like one I have ever been to, that's for sure. HOWEVER, he was GREAT! I walked in, gave them my name, waited among a lot of sick and dirty children and their parents and they called me about 20 minutes later. By the way, when I say "dirty", I am just as dirty as they are to set the record straight. He spent more time with me than most of my doctors in LA who then go ahead and charge my insurance company $1000. He actually seemed to care that I wasn't feeling well and what a great doctor to keep his office open until 9PM. No appointments necessary - just walk right in and be seen.

He even confirmed what my surgeon said about my hernia....he told me all about it....and then proceeded to tell me I had "bronchitis" which I pretty much knew but now it was confirmed by a doctor.

Of course, for a fleeting moment, it crossed my mind if Motion Picture (my health insurance) would reimburse me for any of this but what the hell. I have 3 more weeks here and need to make sure I get well.

After the doctor saw me, the nurse dispensed all the medication right there. There were no prescriptions, no pharmacies, and no hassle. She gave me the drugs, told me how and when to take them and gave me a bill. "560 baht", she said.

The office visit was 100 baht ($2.63) and all the medications he prescribed came to 460 baht ($12.10). So, for a whopping $14.73, I walked out with an office visit, an antibiotic, and 3 other drugs (a decongestant, a cough suppressant, and a something else) and I'm thinking of importing him to LA and making him my primary physician!!!! I wonder if he'll survive the journey in the container!?

I am now back at Libra and you are getting this blog entry earlier than usual because it's 8:45PM, and I'm heading to my room and will hopefully get a good nights rest.

P.S. Click on the link below to check out the weather in Chiang Mai:

http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/THXX0003_f.html