The best parts of Thailand. The White Temple and hiking.

It's been a pretty long time since I last wrote.

Social Media websites like Facebook seem to capture my moments through the last few months the best.

A brief summary of what I've went through, from finishing my backpacking days with Mel, to watching my senior students (M6 students) graduate, to planning the future of my life...

I've spent a month with a group of amazing individuals all seeking to graduate with a TESOL certificate, had some amazing friendships form and bonds were made, was placed in a very well known private all girls Catholic school in Bangkok, many teachers were illegally working expats, I was involved with drama, got a Thai girlfriend, got a second job teaching English to students from 4-40 years of age, and had a roommate leave early... I am happy to say I think my craziness may be coming to a settled state for now. I'm focused. I'm teaching. I'm learning. I'm happy... Where I left off:

Mel and I were at Chiang Rai. We got on a bus that was heading to the White Temple. (Wat Khao?) We were shooed off the bus on the road. It was a rather large road to cross to the white temple we saw in a distance. We booked it and ran. We went to sit for a minute across the street from the White Temple and got some coffee/tea. We take a minute to embrace the temple from afar. As the no so many people approach the entrance, we walk right on in. Unfortunately some of the White Temple was still under construction. The history of how it was made is pretty neat. I won't get into it now, but it describes why the temple is under construction now.

This temple is beautiful. Pictures don't do it justice. Pictures might actually give it "too much" justice. I feel like seeing the cracks and the "realness" in the structure makes me appreciate it even more. It's not a magical fantasy and some place that is not reachable. This place exists. This place is somewhere Mel and I physically went to.

Mel and I take a walk around, watch the fountains turn on giving the temple a softer look. We walk around the outside and make our way to the steps. The bridge was not accessible at this time. All around the temple are offerings of beer, cigarettes and liquor. The faces of these sculptures are disgustingly creative. 

Our short trip to the temple allowed us to see some other traditional wishes that Buddhists make. There are trees made of hanging wishes. I actually want to focus on that a little bit.

Think of a single place, where you have a magnitude of wishes all compiled in one spot. What are wishes? Wishes are passion. Drives. Compassionate ideas that human beings strive for, or hope for.

One single tree made of wishes hangs, with each wish supporting each other forming one global idea. Unity at its best.

We head back to the road looking for a bus back to the bus station. The road is empty. No buses, no cars, no motorbikes, no sungtaews. Where are we? .............realistically about a 15 minute drive from the bus station. Walking in this heat?.... no way. Mel and I start walking to look for more opportunities..

After about 5 minutes of "what the hell are we going to do? we have to make it back to the bus station for our ride to our bungalow", we turn around and spot a sungtaew.. We yell from a short distance "Chiang Rai Bus!". I motion to Mel in the distance to run to the sungtaew as I hop on the back and yell "2" so they know she is with me. It's crazy how little words you can use to communicate. No need to for sentences. Knowing a tad of the Thai language could help..

We make it back and wait for our ride in plenty of time, and luckily our ride shows up early.

Here goes the ride to the bungalow.

Mel and I make eye contact with this guy about my age, maybe a little older. He approaches us and just waits. We have our booking in hand and before I know it we are throwing my backpack in the bed of a truck. I quick strap on the rain gear incase it down pours on our ride. You never know! Mel and I hop in the truck. I'm exhausted. I'm about to fall asleep. I know its a long ride but I try to stay up as long as I can before dozing off. I'm losing focus as we make random left turns and take long side roads. Where are we going?

We stop. The driver look sat us and just motions "1 minute". What?... He runs out to a small house in an alley. We wait a few minutes. Mel and I look at each other and think, "We hardly spoke to this guy at the station... are we in the right car?... What is happening? Wouldn't it be a crazy story if he was picking up some illegal black market stuff..." We wait... and wait.... and wait.... I have no clue what's happening. We just laugh. We are slightly worried, but after all the travel we just don't care we are exhausted. 

Finally, he comes back with some groceries of some sort. We made another 3 minute pit stop along the way. Now we are cruising along the mountains. These mountains are not like other mountains I've seen. They have many peaks, but all with drivable terrain.... well I shouldn't say drivable... I should say "Thai drivable". hahaha.

I am falling asleep and can't hold my eyes open. As I doze, every time we see something cool, Mel shakes me, or pokes me, or shoves me into the door. I appreciate it, but I just do not care at this point. 

I didn't care until I turned around and look out the window. I'm suddenly wide awake again. Mel says, "Sorry, I just feel like you are missing a lot and I don't want you to." *Best part of a travel buddy* You have two sets of eyes, you can support each other and help each other see and do the best of things. Not missing a beat.

The views are amazing and terrifying to look down. Why look down? Oh, because we are now at an extremely steep incline on a rocky..no, BOULDER made road. Dirt and rocks and nothing on the right side of the truck as I look out my window but pure open space/air with banana leafs, bamboo, and free falls.

We are in the boondocks. The damn boondocks. The driveway to the bungalow leads to a peak on a mountain. There are 7 huts. One house. a few dogs. This is it. We hop out, are led to our room, and I can't wait to take pictures.

We are in the middle of the jungle, in the mountains. The view shows the hills rolling over each other in the rice fields into the jungle and the paths carve along the sides and into the valleys. The clouds glow above, and in the distance you can hear a small waterfall. Mel and I decide immediately that we will be doing the hike that the house owner offers. We book it with him that night. When I say "book it", this is not like any other booking we've done. What did the next day have in store for us? We will see but I'm sure its going to be amazing. We order dinner (which we have to let them know hours in advance about because it takes time to prepare up here). Curry was my choice. 

Best curry I've had.

As we eat dinner, we meet an awesome couple backpacking through. They were the only other 2 people here. The mountains were ours. We got to know them quite well for the short amount of time we had. We ate dinner, learned about how they got here, how they met, what they are doing after, music, etc... Nui, the owner told us that he was going to start a fire for us. Around the corner of the house was a pit fire.

We offer to help and Nui insists on doing it himself, "Thank you my friend, no worries my friend. I work all day, no worries my friend." He is so kind. He tell us stories about his childhood, his past, his future, where he likes to live, why he likes to live here, what he doesn't like, why travel is good, why culture is good, why cross-cultural experience is good to have. He explains that everyone is different, and come from different places. When you understand not just one but two or three or more, things make a lot more sense. You can respect everyone a lot more. He has not done much traveling himself other than in Thailand. The way he speaks is so...... simple yet modest and wise. The little english he knows, he used in very soft spoken and decisive ways.

It's amazing how in language, even when using the simplest of words, how you say them can mean so much... We can tell that tomorrow will be more than just an adventure, but we will learn about Nui and his ways.

Mel and I enjoy the sunset, the fire, our new friends, drink some beers and let ourselves soak in the countryside laying on our hammocks, and eventually falling asleep in our beds under our nets....doused in bug spray. Haha.

The next day we rise up and have an amazing breakfast. This food is incredible here for what they have to prepare/how long they have until food would go bad.

We head out on our adventure with Nui.

A whole different type of hike. We start off from the top of our mountain, down the trails through the weeds, the pickers and the banana leaves with the dogs leading the way. First up is a road we drove on to get here. We walk down a bit, pass a small village with wooden planks as walls with weaves as protection and support.

Mel and I walk with Nui into the hills, up and down in the rice. We go from ankle high grass to Neck high rice. This season is right at the end of the monsoon season, meaning all the rice is extremely high, and the trails have not been walked on yet for many months and are disappearing. We plow through for around 2-3 hours of short breaks here and there.

We find ourselves at a small flat circle area with running water. This water doesn't look amazing, but this will do for our lunch. Nui grabs a piece of fresh bamboo and chops it down for us. We wrap rice in banana leaves, stuff the bamboo trunks with these small rice packets we created, and fill it with water. We then grab another bamboo trunk and pour egg into it. We lay these in a fire, and allow them to come to a boil. The egg is finished and cooked inside the bamboo in no time.... though the rice is taking a bit longer. We also have fresh chicken barbecuing, mmm.

I take it upon myself to find dry sticks and weeds to help our fire burn. The rainy season made all the plant life very healthy and hard to burn. Nui continues to chop burning wood down while I find small shrubs to keep it going in the mean time.

This whole process of cooking lunch took around 3 hours to complete. Crazy. We dumped out the rice, and chopped open the egg bamboo, and ate the chicken.

The food was really good. Or at least it was really good after hiking for a couple hours and cooking it for a long time. I was starving. haha. anything would be good I guess.

Nui does not feel so well. He does not eat much, and has been taking frequent breaks. His stomach seems to be acting up and he keeps running to the forrest to take some pups. poops. number 2s... etc..

Poor guy is sweating and slaving over work for us!

We have to continue forward though, we are supposed to catch a boat on the river! We move forward through more rice, more jungle, more weeds and pickers and vines. My legs itch like there are a thousand bugs crawling through my hairy legs, eww. The sweat and heat is unbearable. Water consumption is at a max. My camera is burning hot.

We are crawling through the dark shadows of the jungle and getting hit by random beams of light through the gaps in the trees and brush. The trail is completely gone. Nui has no idea where the trail is, but continues to say "no worries my friend, be happy". We pop in and out from the barracks of the jungle to the heavens of rice one after another, trying to find what peak we are on, what trail to look for, and what direction to travel in. I can't imagine what is going to Nui's mind right now. "Oh boy, we are lost and I have two farangs with me." We just continue to ask him questions about his life/the area, etc.. 

After scattering the fields and black holes of shrub, we emerge out into the daylight once more...

The day is one I will remember for the rest of my entire life. Mel and I glowed in the blue sky, with the white bed pillow clouds, and the fortress high grass. I couldn't be happier about being lost, with no water, no more food, and no trails to follow. The view was impeccable. Mel wasn't feeling so good either, but this moment made us silent. Everything is worth this view, and these few minutes of pure seclusion.

After a little rest on a random hut, we pass some bamboo pipes used to smoke. (Apparently they smoke more than tobacco herrreeee haha) Illeggalllll. :P

Finally we find ourselves approaching a village. A tiny village. About 10 - 15 huts...maybe. Toilets are 4 small cement walls with a hole and it wreaks of urine. Walking a little further, we reach Nui's destination. A small break to our adventure. I take a seat on the small deck of the locals who speak absolutely no English. In fact, they hardly speak at all. Mel sits next to me. A woman is handling buckets of maggots or bugs of some sort I have no clue. She sorts through ones that are "good" then throw the rejects to the chickens to each. Little did I know that eventually down the road.. I will have eaten those bugs in my in Thailand.

They end up having hand made bags accessories....not many. Just a few to show off to the people that Nui brings through. We don't want any, but right before we leave, I motion and ask about bracelets. The woman goes inside and retrieves a small bag with just 3-4 bracelets in it. Mel and I choose matching bracelets to remember our time through the rice fields and villages. We buy them, tie them, and venture on through. Eventually after more ups and downs outside of the tree coverings, and in the brutal sun, we have found our way to Nui's friend with a boat. We hop on the long-tail and sit on the river as we speed through the valley of the mountains.

These moments are priceless. Nui has led us to amazement.

We continue to enjoy the breeze, the view, and the hot springs that we arrive to next, then head back tot he bungalow.

Amazing curry dinner, the couple, and the fire pit are occurrences of the evening once more. We are tired though, and don't stay out as late as before.

The next morning the couple leaves early in the morning. We leave in the next morning as well and head for our flight from Chiang Rai to Krabi (with a connection in Bangkok).

Nui was a very wise and small Thai man. Thank you for your hospitality, the adventure, and the kindness in your heart along our journey. (Nui actually confessed later that he was very worried that we would be mad because we got lost. We confirmed with him that we actually appreciated it, and loved the adventure.)

Upcoming: so much I don't know where to start. But I'm still going..

The Venture on..

The highest point in Thailand, The King and Queen Pagodas, Doi Suthepand getting to Chiang Rai

Mel kindly reminded me that I forgot to put in the last post, that I actually did have our room key in my pocket. I just didn't realize it because I tried to feel for it and didn't feel it on the side of my leg. I was holding all my laundry so I just didn't realize it! I'm sorry to man that we woke up who thought we needed a bag for my laundry, then realized we were locked out, at 3 am!

Back to the action:

Mel and I wake up to the smell of mildew and soggy clothes. My socks still hang wet, and my shirts are damp. The humidity isn't helping. No A/C and the fan only does so much. We get ready for the day, and make our way out to breakfast by 7:50am. We were provided breakfast from our resort, and chugged some coffee knowing that our ride would be there soon. We hang out in the lobby area, played with the kitten again, then waited... And waited... The minibus was a bit late. About 45 minutes late. That's alright though, it's not a super long day. We will be back around 5pm and the drive is at least 1.5 hours each way.

Were greeted by the tour guide who goes by Banana. He was very kind and hyper. He hops in the front if the minibus and asks all of us to introduce ourselves. First two guys are from Taiwan, next is me and Mel. After we introduce ourselves Banana asks if we are married. We both shook our heads no, and said 'brother and sister'! He laughs, the whole bus laughs, and he starts cracking up apologizing. He said you don't see siblings traveling together often, and that it's good. He laughed and apologized. It was pretty funny.

Next up was an actual newlywed couple  from Portugal. They were super super kind. Another few down and we have some from Philly/Massachusetts?, and a few other places around the world.

We are on our way to two waterfalls. The first one was just alright. It reminded me of Uganda on my safari. The waterfalls were splashing thick layers of white water through some larger rock.

Before we reached our second waterfall we head to a small village with rice fields. This is the first sight of the beautiful Thailand that takes my breath. The skies are extremely blue, white clouds above, the saturated green grass and rice up to our waists... What an amazing view. The sun beating down on us is no longer a worry, or even a thought. This is going to only get better. Were only in our first few days. We were walking through the village which has apparently just gotten electricity not too long ago. Here a few pictures to save my fingers from typing a few thousand words...

We then find our way to the second waterfall- reminds me of Jake Nate and Dan. I once again take my keychain and hold it with pride. Thanks Mel for helping me out!!!

As Mel and I look at this tall waterfall with the mist soaking our fronts, we wonder if we can get on top. Not that this view wasn't great, but it would to hurt to try right? We climb the manmade steps and pass through all the tourists to a small hidden trail that goes up the side of the waterfall. It offers a couple good lookouts to snap some pictures at. We keep going, as the ledge gets closer to our feet, and steps are becoming more difficult and steep. There are no man made steps. This is what I like.

You better believe we reached the top. Sad part is that we couldn't get close to the edge. There was an enormous roar above, tackling the boulders before the water reaches the cliff side.

This is pretty cool. We made our way to the eating area below for lunch. It was like a potluck with all the tourists. Mmm. It was good.

I ate a lot. I even ended up finished the tables next to me. We were all joking around because I'm American, and I'm just eating it all.

After some spectating, we get back in the van and head to the highest point in Thailand. Little did we know..

We are driving for a good few minutes and we hear a huge bang. It sounded like something popped or was shot. Then we see a ton of smoke come from the front of the vehicle. The strong odor of something burning fills us all with question. We all get out, the tour guide begins to call for another vehicle. It is going to be a while- so we start out hike up hill on this road to the temples.

Were loving it. All of us are saying 'damn that sucks' in our head, but mostly, were all okay with it. Mel and I actually wanted it. Were happy we got to hike.

We are all hiking up with gaps forming between us all. Stretches of foreigners walking up this long, windy, high elevated road. We pass lookouts and random interesting scenery, and get to an area where there is another vehicle waiting for us. It's another company it seems but they are helping us out. We all hop in and start heading up the hill some more.

The vehicle starts to drift backwards and can't make it up the hill. Were all laughing and thinking 'not again!'

Someone said 'oh we ate too much!!'

I yelled out that the hungry boy is sorry!

Everyone laughed and replied, 'get off the van! Get outta here! ' it was some comic relief. The van is about to make an attempt uphill again. We get a good 'running start'. It works! Were on our way once again, back on track..

We make it to the highest point of Thailand. The sad part is that it is foggy as my mind was in India. You couldn't see anything. All but the 30 feet in front of you was cloud and fog.

We walked through some cool jungly man made boardwalks with vines and greenery, which opened up to a small shop and the parking lot. Nothing special, just that we were as high as you could get! Sweet.

Next up is the King and Queen's Pagodas. These were gorgeous. We arrived to the European style garden, on the top of this mountain, with the King and Queen's Pagodas. One was under construction.

Even though there was not much room to walk around, we were able to take a good look and have some fun. We were appreciative of the view we didn't have, because of the fog, and the view we did have, because of the fog. The fog kind of isolated us, and forced us to look at what we were seeing. The pagodas and the gardens were like nothing else here I've seen in Thailand. As I am writing this well over a month since we were there, that says something. It was beautiful. The only regret I have is that I didn't see other parts of Thailand first. I've seen many gorgeous areas like this before, but in Paris, in Rome, in America, etc.... not in Thailand. In comparison, this is somewhat of a different feeling.

 (mannnn Mel! It's been more than a month since you left Bangkok... I miss you so much! I just text you saying I hope you aren't broke and struggling to pay off this super cheap vacation, because I am absolutely sucking at managing my bills right now, haha. Though, every penny was worth it. I'd do it all over again!!!! Love you Mel!!!)

There was a small shop of snacks. I was still so hungry. I was going to buy some food but then i forgot i had a bag of Doritos in my bag! YES! I take it out and WOAH! This thing blew up.

We then left the pagodas to a coffee plantation/field. This is pretttttyyy cool. Our guide told us that Starbucks actually gets some of their coffee beans from this area. He also stated that if we go up north to Chiang Rai, the coffee is better and more well known. Good thing we have our bus ride to Chiang Rai in the next day or so! There isn't much to do except look at things now, like the coffee fields in the distance, the flowers all around in the man made gardens, and then some sweet birds.

We finished our tour, and made it back to our "resort" early enough to go to a walking market that only happens on the weekend in Chiang Mai. Mel and I walked along this market with children performing on the street, dancing, singing in very poorly constructed speaker systems, playing instruments sitting in a line one behind another, pork and chicken cooking along the sides, fresh fruits being placed on sticks, and the smell of spices floating it's way around our noses. We keep walking and walking, just like in the Night Bazaar. Everything literally feels like it is in slow motion. I turn around to look for Mel and she is gone. I slowly see her emerge from the sides of the stands. We are in a slow motion scene of a movie right now. I turn around and keep walking and we do this a few more times but vice versa. We end up getting to the end of the walking market.

Chiang Mai is so organized. It seems Old City is so well placed that it helps everyone navigate the city a lot easier. The bars are all very easy to find. First ones in a bar with a pool table and some connect 4. Heck yes! I keep destroying Melanie by thinking 3-5 moves ahead. She beats me a few times back. Then a little Thai boy trying to sell flowers comes by and asks to play. I say of course, and I know this kid is going to beat me really easily. I can already see it in his eyes like "hehe watch me get you". He dives right in and beats me like it was the easiest thing he has done all day. Deciding to ditch this place, not because I was bitter about the little boy, we went to this place called Zoe in Yellow. This bar was worse than any other bad westerner bar you could find. It was like all the party animals that were cool, awkward, and just random backpackers like ourselves just ended up here to thrash in the laser beams. The ACTUAL cool part about this bar was that it was big and partially outside. There was a beer garden surrounded by bodies and other bars. It was tight, but neat. All packed in a little pocket of Chiang Mai's streets. Mel and I left, and started our walk back to our resort. We decided to not go back right away and check out some other places. We found a cool coffee shop which turns into a nice little DJ stand and lounge/bar at night. We also went to Burger King. hehe. I can't resist food when I am hungry. I feel weak. Physically. BK fixed it.

Mel and I were walking back all the way. We said screw taking a tuk tuk or sungtaew taxi/truck. We like walking. We have time. We think we know the way back. We make very few turns and then make a slight wrong one, but make a slight correct one again. We don't care where were going right now or where we end up, were just walking.

I am here, in Thailand with my sister Melanie. We are in Chiang Mai, and life is incredible. Were talking about some topic of interest for both of us, not really watching what we are walking in or around. The streets are quiet and its peaceful.

Throughout the night we were counting all the 7 Elevens we see. We realize they are everywhere here but these thing are literally across the street from each other.

We started taking pictures of every 7 Eleven we saw.

That went on for about 10 7Elevens before it got old. 

So we are still walking home and the next thing I know I'm holding my head between my hands. My head is throbbing and ringing and i feel like my head was just slammed with a cement block. Essentially, this is what actually happened. Mel and I look up and see a random corner of a cement overhang, over the sidewalk area. I literally walked straight into an overhang of a building. The placement is horrible, and you could barely see it with the poor lighting outside at 1am. Ow. This hurts so bad. We continue walking, and eventually realize we are really lost. We know were in the general location of our resort, but we have no sense of direction, and I have no sense of anything at this point after hitting my head.

We finally get to a main road and catch a tuk tuk back. I just paid a brotha' and we made it back. I need to sleep.

The next morning we made an effort to go to Doi Suthep. Though, first we had to purchase our bus tickets at the Green Bus Station line for Chiang Rai. We had to leave early the next day because we wanted to see the white temple, and we had to be at the bus to be picked up by our driver at 4pm. The bus ride is at least 3 hours long and the tickets book up fast.
We headed to the bus station in the morning, got our tickets purchased, then headed to the Doi Suthep sungtaew station. The sungtaew station was right near the Chiang Mai University. I was happy to see a campus with some more ground area. It reminded me of what I'm used to...Kutztown and college life. It made me wonder about the students that I saw, like who are they, what are they involved in, what sports do they play, what instruments do they play, what are they studying?...

Mel and I count the markers on our way up this long windy road. There are no other roads that intersect with this until we reach the bottom of the steps of Doi Suthep. We arrive at a small but packed area with shops and food stands. The climb up the steps begin, passing more food, more swords and weapons to purchase, and more shops. The steps leading up to the temple have children dressed up to attempt making money. Many approach them and take pictures, but they ask for baht immediately after. I dislike this, though the children's outfits were adorable. Maybe it would have been worth it to get a picture with them, I'm not sure. I did however, get one without anyone in it but them. :) The steps leading up to the temple are probably our favorite part of this area.

Here is yet another temple, but its a nice one! (I mean, they are all nice, but this is pretty cool with the greenery and location!)

We then had to find a bathroom fast. We exit the temple, and find a public bathroom. Woah. Lets just say we had to go up through a random building, to the fourth floor which led to being outside, and up a ramp where the toilets were located. Mel walked in and turned right back out. The stench and the cleanliness of this place are not up to part at all. It was pretty fowl, not just a different toilet. Gross.
I was able to pee at least but I had to hold my breath. Mel has to pee really bad. We then hop on another sungtaew to go down to the main road. We hop off, find a place to eat in this nice little hip part of town, which is right next to the University. We eat at a place called "The Boat". It has a bakery too. mmmmmmm. I have some awesome food with Mel, get some tasty pastries, and then take a stroll through the University.

Once were finished browsing through the school rugby games, we found our way to a mall.

We stumbled upon the famous MBK Mall in Chiang Mai. I am pretty sure (not 100%) that there are only 2 MBK malls in Thailand. This I have few words for. I like to call it the 'Disney world mall'. It had music playing that sounded like Fantasia 2000, so Mel took video of me dancing like a fairy outside next to the water fountain in sync with the music. Haha! The mall also was pretty expensive and more clean then everything else I've seen. More 'high tech' too.

(Yes, Jake I did go in and check out the sneakers! haha)

(Yes, Apple friends. I did go look at the "iPhone 6s". Haha)

Finally we made it to the restaurant we've been wanting to do for a bit. It's a meal and drinks on a boat at night, so we can see the Chiang Mai lights reflecting off the water. We floated through the river with multiple local bar lights, lanterns, sports bars (mehh....), and bridges. This was incredible and an amazing way to end Chiang Mai before we leave the next morning. I did spend a bit on the food and alcohol but it was so worth it. The only thing that made it awkward was the group of people we were eating with. Awkward looking couples, but who are we to judge?... We were brother and sister who are commonly mistaken as a couple. haha! Mel, we did Chiang Mai right. It was awesome.

We wake up, headed to the bus station, found a spot for some snacks to bring on the bus, went to the bathroom and hopped on our bus. Were good to go. 3 hour plus ride here we come! I have my music playing the whole way, as does Mel. We got free water and free cookie snacks too! Were sitting on the bus for hours. It goes over 3 hours at one point. It turns into a 3.5-4 hour bus ride. Also, because we are getting close to the border, there are police and check points everywhere. They keep checking for foreigners illegally in the country. Mostly other Asians from Laos or Cambodia. At least I assume, because Mel and I were not checked. Hmm..

We arrive at the Chiang Rai bus station, finally. We get out, strap my luggage to my back, and browse around for the way to the white temple. We need to go down a main road for around 20 minutes to reach our destination. We found a bus that would take us, but they dropped us off on the side of the highway. Turns out the side of the highway was right across the street from the white temple. Awesome. We are tired and want to get coffee first though. We have hours before we need to be at the bus station again to be picked up by our driver. It is around 12pm. We are taking our GOOD OLD time.

Next post: The White Temple, getting back to the bus station, and getting to our bungalow in the Chiang Rai rice fields/mountains. This is where an awesome adventure begins.