Steams, random people, flat tires and rain...boy what a night!

Last night I went to check out a gym just outside of town with one of the other teachers. We had heard that is was nice and had a herbal steam room and a pool (in addition to regular workout equipment). So at about 6 we headed over on our motorbikes. The place was great and I enjoyed a nice workout and dip in the pool followed by a good steam. While in the steam room, I met an older man who was a director of another school program who knew the director of my program. He spoke a little English, but most of the conversation was in Thai. This is exactly the conversation I enjoy - he could speak a little English, so if things got confusing we could figure it out - but wanted to speak in Thai and teach me. It was great. And it was all happening in a steamroom, so him in his underwear and me in my bathing suit. Must have made for quite the sight. We talked for about 10 minutes in the steam and then carried the conversation into the gym. Just a really nice guy. Then, on top of that, when I ventured out to meet my friend we encountered a woman who struck up a conversation with us. From that conversation we now have an appointment to meet her on Sunday and she is going to take us to her orchard and to the most famous temple in Lampang. We both are interested in coming back to this gym. Such nice people we have met there.

But the story doesn't end there. As soon as we left the gym and got onto the highway, I noticed that my motorbike had a flat tire. I pulled over the check it out and low and behold it started raining. With no other option than to push the bike back into town, I set off with my friend behind me with her turn signal flashing away trying to let other motorist know we were there. We get to a service station, but all they have is compressed air, so we blow the tire up hoping that it'll last for the last kilometer into town, but it doesn't and I end up pushing the bike all the way back into town. All the while the rain is falling harder and harder and it is now dark. We are thoroughly enjoying this through, part due to the fact that we had both forgotten to bring towels and were wet before it even started raining. We finally arrive at a tire repair place that is open (after several attempts) and are able to get the tire fixed in no time. By this point we are soaked and it's about 9:30 at night. We drove the rest of the way home (about 2 minutes...yeah, I pretty much walked the whole way home), changed and grabed some dinner at the restaurant across the way. The couple who owns the restaurant were very amused by our "adventure" and were more than willing to fix us up a nice hot plate of food. All in all, not a bad night.