Quick Catching Up!

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So much for writing in here more! The past few weeks have been so busy here and I finally have a few minutes to write. Ive been trying to keep a journal also, so it gets very repetitive writing in both, but hopefully I remember to update a little more often. In my last blog I said how we had just switched rooms in our hotel, well that didn't work out too well. Sinthana was pretty much a dump-dirty, full of mold, and not very homey. Yesterday Rowan, Kara, Katelyn, and I decided to move across the street to a new hotel which is wonderful! For only $30 more a month we have an enormous room, comfortable pillows, a clean area, and finally feel like we arent living in a motel anymore, yay! I am so happy, it was really frustrating living in a place that you hate going back to, so I think this will be a great change for all of us. The only downside is that we moved away from all the other people in our hotel, but they aren't far.
There has been so much going on the past few weeks! The week days are full of class work, relaxing, and minimal amounts of homework. I am really enjoying my Thai Society and Culture class! We have been learning all about Thai customs and culture, this week we got to visit Wat Chedi Luang. This wat has the largest pagoda in Thailand, but part of it got destroyed in an earthquake in the 1700s. We also got to chat with a few monks while we were there. Thai language is still difficult, everybody laughs at us when we speak but we are slowly catching on. Cooking class is one of my favorite things during the week! It is by far the largest meal I have during the week, and its amazing to know that I cooked it on my own! Aside from cooking 3 dishes each class, we also get to try a variety of others that we dont make. The first week we make pad thai, 40 spring rolls, and fried rice and mangos for dessert, delicious! I never liked mangos before, but they mangos here are so much better than the ones at home. The second week we made Tom yam kun (hot and sour shrimp soup- the Thai specialty which was not my favorite), a Thai omelette, and Cashew chicken! This week we made my favorite meals. First we made sticky rice and bananas (kind of weird), massaman curry with chicken and rice (its a yellow curry with potatoes), and spicy pork salad (my favorite meal I have had so far!). Sadly next week is our last 2 cooking classes😞
Aside from school, the week days are usually pretty low key and are used as recovery for the weekend! This is the first weekend that I wont be going on any major trips. We went to Bangkok for 2 days a few weeks ago. Bangkok was so different from Chaing Mai and I don't feel like I need to go back again. We stayed right next to Khaosanroad, the main busy road ear the grand palace. Bangkok was hot, humid, and full of people hassling you left and right to take their taxi, buy a dress, or scam you. We took a river boat tour through all of the canals which was neat, but we ended up getting scammed becuase they never took us where they said they would. We got scamme once again by some tuk tuk drivers who took us to a GIANT standing buddha (awesome!), then proceeded to make us go to two jewelry stores and two tux/dress stores. We also got to go see the reclining buddha, which was incredible. It was enormous! The temples in Bangkok were much more ornate and elaborate than most temples in Chiang Mai. At night we got to experiences Khaosanroad, and the next day Katelyn and I went and got massages at an extremely nice spa for $10! wow!! Overall, Bangkok was alright but slightly dissapointing. I was expecting a big city type feel, but all I felt like was that it was over priced and everyone was trying to get your money. Thankfully, we caught a bus back that night and came back to Chiang Mai in the morning.
The next weekend a group of us all rented motor scooters and headed north to Chaing Dao- a very small town nestled in the mountains and jungle and is famous for its temples inside the caves. It was such an adventure riding the motorcycles for 3 hours to the mountain! Thai people drive on the other side of the road and drive crazy! But somehow I feel safer driving here than in America, I have yet to see an accident of any kind here. As we drove up the mountains, the road became covered by thick green jungle and ran along a river. It was so beautiful!! When we got to Chiang Dao we found a group of bungalows at Malee's Bugalows (look it up!). It was 5km off the main road and very secluded. The bungalows were really nice (only $15 a night for a room for 3) and it even had a pool!!! We checked in, got some dinner, and then swam in the pool for the rest of the night. The next day we got to go explore the caves. They were HUGE! They are very sacred to the buddhists and are full of buddha statues and many other religious objects. The cave was larger than either of the caves I have been to at Hume. It was mindblowing to know that we were sitting in a cave underneath a huge mountain, and that they had been there for 100s of years. There were so many bats and giant crickets all over the place, I was glad we had two tourguides with us so we had more light to stay way from the critters. After exploring the caves, we went to the monastery that is tucked away secluded in the jungle. After climbing over 700 stairs, we made it to the most breathtaking view I have seen since I got here, even better than the view from Doi Suthep! We sat on the steps of the temple for an hour overlooking all of the jungle. Hopefully you got to see picture on my facebook becuase it is too difficult to upload them on here. We were exhausted after all of the stairs, and ended our Chiang Dao journey here. I had been having really bad stomach problems for the week before and was having difficulty eating food, so the day after we got back I took a trip to the hospital. I was in and out of the hospital in an hour and it only cost $70! I don't remember what they said I had, but it was inflammation and an infection in my stomach. After 7 different pills, I am feeling much better and haven't had the problem come back since!
Last weekend we went to my new favorite place on earth, Pai. I fell in love with Pai from the moment we arrived, and I plan on going back at least two more times before I leave (once with Garrett and once after we finish our finals!). Pai is about a 3 hour drive from Chiang Mai and is a little farm town/hippie town in a valley nestled in the mountains. We rented motorscooters once we got there and all 14 of us stayed at our friend Shaun's house. We met Shaun on the train back from Bangkok, and him and his friend Ti have a bungalow that they rent rooms to travelers. They were so hospitable and kind to us the entire time we were there. They took us to their favorite bar, Yellow Sun, on Friday when we got there. It was full of reggae music and psychedelic paintings covering all the walls. Saturday Shaun took us out to breakfast, then gave us an all day tour of Pai. On our drive to the waterfall it started POURING!! Within 3 minutes I looked like I had just jumped out of a shower, but it was the most fun drive I have had on the motorscooter yet. The waterfall was similar to the rock waterfalls at Hume, except much steeper and more slippery because of the rain. After watching everybody else climb up, I finally got the courage to climb to the top and try out the water slide! It was so exhilarating!! I went down it 3 or 4 times and I can't wait to go back and do it again! Next we went to another waterfall that was set in between two large cliffs, so it seems like it was in a roofless cave almost. We swam down the river to where the falls was in all of our clothes (sneakers included), then spent a while swimming in the water. On the tour we also got to see the bridge built by the Chinese during WWII, a beautiful sunset from a wat on top of a mountain, and go to "Jungle Bar" which is a bunch of little huts that backpackers go and stay at. It was so neat to be able to meet a bunch of backpackers that have been living there for months, they made me want to do more traveling after this! Walking through the main part of town I felt right at home. Arts and craft sellers lined the street, but nobody hassled you to buy anything. They were simply happy to talk to anybody who passed by and were so friendly. Everybody here is so friendly and laid back, it is such a nice change from America and getting upset over little insignificant things or the unfriendliness of some people. It was so sad leaving Pai, but I cannot wait to go back. I wish I could have stayed there for a month or two because I felt like I fit right in.
This weekend I think Rowan, Katelyn, and I are just going to take the scooter around Chiang Mai and go see things we haven't been to yet. Next weekend we are taking a week long trip to the islands (Koh Phi Phi, Koh Samui, and Koh Phagnon). I can't wait to see the beach part of Thailand😊 I have so much to look forward too! After the islands trip, we have a 3 day trek to the hill tribe villages with our class where we get to stay with the tribes and do a bamboo raft and elephant ride! The next weekend we are going to the Golden Triangle with the economics class, which is where the borders of Burma, Thailand, and Laos meet. On this trip we will get to visit Chaing Rai (north Thailand) and also get to go to Laos (and get another stamp in my passport). A few days after we get back, Garrett gets to Thailand!! While he is here we are going to Chiang Mai, Pai, and the islands (Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, and Koh Lanta). The last few weekends we had a meditation retreat, and I would also like to go tubing in Vang Vieng (Laos) and go to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Miss everyone at home lots!

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