There were five of us in my beginner's class at Sunshine Massage School. As we went round introducing ourselves, I quickly realised that everyone else was a lot more 'spiritual' than me. They all mentioned their experiences with yoga, ashrams, meditation, healing energies, visions and so on. The closest thing I'd come to a spiritual experience recently was standing inside that bell at Doi Suthep temple. It didn't matter though, they were all extremely lovely and we all got along really well.
When it came to traditional Thai massage, I was relieved to find out that I wasn't the only complete beginner. And it didn't matter that some of us were new to it, because our teacher Dot was an absolute legend. Kind, wise, ever so slightly eccentric, extremely generous and open-hearted. She was awesome.
Dot with her new favourite DVD, Kung Fu Panda
Every morning she'd begin the day by singing a prayer, after which we'd recite another prayer together and spend a few minutes thinking about the people we love. I know that might sound a tad cheesy, but it was a great way to start the day. It filled us with positive energy, which really reflects in the massage you give. Think of it this way – would you really want a Thai massage from someone whose in a bad mood?
Positive energy...
Class started at 9am and finished at 4pm (with an hour for lunch), and over the course of ten days we learnt how to perform a full body massage. Dot would use an assistant to demonstrate how things were done, and then we'd pair up and practise. Before I started the class, I'd assumed that this meant I'd spend half the day practising massage on someone else, and the other half of the day enjoying a massage while my partner practised on me. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as relaxing as I'd hoped. Not only is Thai massage a bit of a workout for the masseur, we were all still learning about how much pressure to exert on different parts of the body when using our elbows, knees, thumbs etc. By the end of the week I was absolutely shattered and very achy. I never realised there was such a thing as too much massage!
I know it looks like I'm trying to wrench this poor girl's foot off,
but it's all part of a traditional foot massage. Honest.
My daily routine was this. Wake up at 7:15am, snooze till 7:30am, then get up and shower. Leave the hotel at 8am. If Karl was at training, I'd get some breakfast before hopping on a sangtheaw, which is a cross between a taxi and a bus. The first person on tells the driver where to go, and he might pick up other passengers along the way if they're going in the same direction. If Karl wasn't training in the morning, he'd drop me off to school on the motorbike.
Positive energy...Class started at 9am and finished at 4pm (with an hour for lunch), and over the course of ten days we learnt how to perform a full body massage. Dot would use an assistant to demonstrate how things were done, and then we'd pair up and practise. Before I started the class, I'd assumed that this meant I'd spend half the day practising massage on someone else, and the other half of the day enjoying a massage while my partner practised on me. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as relaxing as I'd hoped. Not only is Thai massage a bit of a workout for the masseur, we were all still learning about how much pressure to exert on different parts of the body when using our elbows, knees, thumbs etc. By the end of the week I was absolutely shattered and very achy. I never realised there was such a thing as too much massage!
I know it looks like I'm trying to wrench this poor girl's foot off,but it's all part of a traditional foot massage. Honest.
My daily routine was this. Wake up at 7:15am, snooze till 7:30am, then get up and shower. Leave the hotel at 8am. If Karl was at training, I'd get some breakfast before hopping on a sangtheaw, which is a cross between a taxi and a bus. The first person on tells the driver where to go, and he might pick up other passengers along the way if they're going in the same direction. If Karl wasn't training in the morning, he'd drop me off to school on the motorbike.
Sometimes I'd think back to what I was doing this time last year. Back then, I would never have guessed that this would be my life one year on. Cruising through Chiang Mai to massage school on the back of Karl's motorbike before he goes on to kickboxing training – if I hadn't been holding on, I'd have had to pinch myself.
Dot's classes ended up being about much more than just Thai massage. Every day she would bring in a different sweet, drink, potion or lotion for us to try. The most memorable has to be a bright green drink that she laughingly calls 'Chlorophyll'. I did a bit of a double take at first, as I'd mistakenly thought she'd said 'Chloroform'. Once we'd established that it was a drink she'd made from a type of grass, we agreed to have a taste – weirdly, it smelt and tasted exactly as you would expect the colour green to. We sipped it nervously at first, but Dot wasn't impressed and urged us to gulp down half a mug each, chanting “yes yes, drink quickly, get oxygen in the blood!” Mmm, green...
After lunch, before beginning the afternoon teaching session, we'd all recline with full bellies (the cafe round the corner does great food and the best watermelon shakes I've ever had) while Dot told us funny stories, share some words of wisdom, read our horoscopes or teach us to read our palms.
On our second day, Dot organised a class trip to the hot springs just outside the city where we boiled eggs in the geysers and soaked our feet in scalding sulphurous water. It's good for you apparently, even if it does leave you with pink legs for the rest of the evening. While we were soaking our feet, Dot pulled out some more goodies. Tamarind salt scrub for our feet and tumeric powder for our faces (it left my skin feeling nice and soft, and not yellow thankfully). And then a mystery white powder also for our faces, which she waited for us to apply before informing us that it was tooth powder. That explains the tingly feeling. Left my face feeling minty fresh!
On our final day we had to successfully perform a 2.5 hour full body massage, without looking at our notes. It was a lot to remember, and quite tiring, but it went well and we all passed.
Dot had very touchingly arranged a little 'graduation ceremony' for us. We were each presented with a certificate, a mini bouquet, a flower garland, a little flower broach and a bottle of massage oil. Dot sang a short blessing for each of us, while applying a gold bindi to our foreheads, before sitting us down for a group prayer and some last words of wisdom.
Getting garlanded and blessed
Getting garlanded and blessed 
Yay I passed!
Me, Dot and her little cuddly toy Cookie. She kept telling us
to smell its bum because it's chocolate scented. V weird.
to smell its bum because it's chocolate scented. V weird.
That evening we took Dot out for dinner to a great vegetarian, macrobiotic restaurant called Tianzi. The food was delicious and all super healthy, and we all completely stuffed ourselves. There was a brown rice salad (more like a casserole actually), Chinese dumplings, garlicky mushrooms, fried sweet courgettes and some amazing wasabi spinach. Really spicy, gets right up your nose. Dot told us a hilarious story about a woman she knows who had a pet cockroach that she named Joy (it died), and taught us a couple of dances (she used to be a dance teacher), and eventually the time came to say goodbye.
You can find more photos of our final exam and graduation ceremony here
Dot demonstrates some traditional Thai dancing
It was a great two weeks – I met some lovely people, and learnt something that I never thought I'd be able to do. As with Pai, if I ever get the chance to come back and do this all again, I definitely will.
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