Where Sidewalks EndReviews of wheresidewalksend.com

This is the second Sak Yant I have done in Chiang Mai and this experience was not as good as the past one. I did not go through any 3rd party tour operator, I did the planning all in my own. I want to make that clear based on the company’s response to this review. We were transported to a very dingy home where we all had to sit outside in their kitchen area for 5 plus hours (since we had a group of 6), then it rained and flooded the area. The interaction with the Arjan was basically nothing - even when my husband told him some pretty heavy information about his life, there was no discussion. The assistant to the Arjan was on Tik Tok the whole time. Then two other people showed up with coffees and talked and were on their phones with volume up, even when the Arjan was doing the blessing. The room we were in was dirty and dark. The actual Sak Yant tattoos were good though and we video'd the blessing and then Googled translated it and it was legit, so we were happy about that. It was unfortunate that it was not as nice & meaningful as my first Sak Yant but Arjan Dej is talented.

I want to start by saying the family we met with and our guide were all amazing. The experience was beautiful and it was so nice learning and speaking with the family on their traditions and getting to see the holiday in a different way. However, my self and the friends that I booked with all felt the group size was way too big. While everyone in our group was incredible respectful, it sort of felt like watching animals in a zoo with how big we were which is something I really hate to do and find disrespectful when I’m travelling. On top of that, we didn’t actually get to do everything the tour described, for example putting together to offrenda - I know most people brought photos and things to add to the offrenda. I also personally feel like we were way over charged for this tour. The meal size was incredibly small and the amount of mezcal we drank was certainly no where near how much we paid. Unless majority of the money I paid for this tour was given to the family, it feels like I’m paying a big company to profit off of someone else’s lives and traditions. It was a great tour and very informative, but I don’t think I would be booking again as the group size made everything feel very impersonal on a holiday that should be about celebrating those closest to you.

Learned about the history of Mitla, but the day of the dead part was very short, not very informative, and in general we didn't learn much about day of the dead/how the places, activities, and traditions related to day of the dead. I was hoping to learn the latter and have a unique authentic experience. It was a good tour but truthfully felt a lot like the tours you find on viator rather than a curated experience as described.

It was not as intense as expected from a spiritual point of view. Not a lot of interaction with the ajarn. I had the feeling it was more business than spiritual exchange. The price is too high for the experience I had, in my opinion.

When I made research to do a Sak Yant in Bangkok, your organization was the most recommended and I got my expectations up because of that and all the comments I read said the support in the experience was very fulfilling which is what I was looking for. But my experience didn't meet the expectations. I had little to no discussion with the Ajarn before he proposed me a design and asked me for more money. The woman-translator that was accompagnying me didn't really helped to make me feel at ease either. I had very little explanations whatsoever. She ate chips during my tattoo which felt weird since for me it was a sacred moment... Really if it would have been my first tattoo I would have left. People were nice and I think the result is amazing and the emotional journey I had was very cool and transformative but no thanks to Where Sidewalks End really. I'm grateful for the Ajarn, I feel he was gentle and caring but the connection that was supposed to be helped by WSE was not done properly and that did tinted the whole experience. I had very small explications on the design and the words I will have tattooed on me for all my life; when a map of my tattoo was promised, when I asked I never received it just few words and thats it. Really not worth the money I put in WSE for that service. I don't regret anything and I didn't want to write a review because I felt like it would spoiled how beautiful it was for me appart of that bad companionship, lucky I was accompanied by a friend. If not I think it would have been way less smooth and I would have felt more uncomfortable. In summary, I'm happy for the tattoo, the chosen design and the work of the Ajarn. I'm really unsatisfied with the support I thought WSE would bring to the experience.

Although the idea was great, the implementation of it was poor. We booked two different experiences with them and both were disappointing, especially for the cost, as it was not cheap. (There were two of us) The mask experience did not have much instruction or history provided. We started late because two people showed up very late and we still had to walk to the studio. We would’ve loved some history and perhaps some examples for inspiration. Instead it was a mad dash for the blank masks and there weren’t enough options. In the end, they did offer some help but it would’ve been nice to see different masks that the artists had made so we could get some ideas. The face painting and the photo shoot sounded like an amazing idea. The face painting went well and the artists were local. The photographer was just okay (I am a photographer myself so direction is crucial to get amazing photographs). It then took forever to receive the photos, long after our experience especially for Day of the Dead itself. And to be honest, the editing was very simple and could’ve been done much quicker. Communication was mediocre at best, and timing was not very good. Would I book them again or recommend them? I’m honestly not sure. Nothing to rave about, but yet the experience wasn’t exactly terrible. Perhaps o wouldn’t have had as high of expectations if it weren’t for the prices I were charged.

Joined this experience to learn more about Day of the Dead in Oaxaca. It was nice to connect with other visitors and locals. The group was large (about 40 people). Only one lead/guide was not enough. Food and drinks were served. The dance exhibition needed a better venue than the sidewalk. When we made it to the Pantheon General, I expected to visit the pantheon of the family member of the lady that gave the short talk. The translation by the guide did not really cover all the beautiful things she said and the history she talked about. The effect was lost in translation, which is a shame. Overall a good experience that needs improvement. Thanks!