Note: this is where we left off chronicling our adventures around Asia...Matt's Beard was getting a bit out of control so we scowled
the small island of Phi-Phi in search of a barber to give it a clipping. Finally we fond one. In front of the modest barbershop was a delightfully happy child. He was overflowing with joy as he kicked a small soccer ball back and forth with some tourists.
The lady was just finishing up with some local's hair cut so she, with a big smile, asked me to sit until she finished up. She seemed to glow with the same measure as the child playing in front.
We noticed that someone behind the barber chair was getting a massage. It wasn't your typical, everyday massage (get your mind out of the gutter). A smiling Thai man was hanging from 2 bamboo rods that hung from the ceiling parallel to the bed. He was jumping, stepping, and dancing all over the patient. Massaging them with only his feet!
He really looked authentic and there was an extremely good vibe that emanated from his smiling face. We read the testimonial book and it had only amazing reviews. So we decided that we wanted to give this native Thai healer a crack at us. Alissa was feeling as though something wasn't quite right so she was to go first.
Underneath the testimonial book was a book about the
2004 tsunami. As we waited for our beard trimming and massages, we flipped through the book and read a few of the survival stories. While reading one of the stories we realized that it was about this family.
After the 2004 tsunami struck, the husband (the smiley man giving the massages) gained consciousness and realized that the tidal wave had thrown him way far up in the canopy of some palm trees. He had no way to get down. His wife (the barber), pregnant at the time with their child (who now played in front of the store), was swept out to sea. She remembers gaining consciousness when, another Thai pulled her out of the water, tore off her Buddha pandant, then, after ripping the necklace off, threw her back in the sea. It wasn't until much later, a foreign tourist from the USA jumped in the water and brought her ashore. It was unreal what these people went through, and even more unreal was that they all survived and were just living there lives right in front of us!
After waiting about one hour finally I got my nasty, hippie beard trimmed, and Alissa got the massage.
The man stomped all over Alissa, and moved energy with his feet. He also got right on top of her and pushed on her with all his might. As he stomped, shuffled, and danced on her body, Matthew told me that he learned this kind of healing from his mother, who in turn, learned it from his grandmother. He explained in very broken, heavy accented English that it is rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The whole experience was wild to watch and even wilder to experience as Alissa's innards gurgled, rumbled, bubbled, as his feet purged Alissa of blockages. He was a bit concerned about Alissa's condition, fearing that it might get worse, he insisted that we come first thing tomorrow morning at 7:00AM just before catching the ferry for another free treatment.
These people were excessively nice and were wonderful healers. Later, as you may know, things did get much worse! To this day we are unsure weather his crazy massage made things better or just brought out the worse, either way, it was an amazing experience that we will always remember.
