Vacation of a Lifetime

Well so much has happened that it is hard to believe it has only been a few days. Time has a new value up here in the mountains. Each day brings new adventures and yet time itself only matters when it comes to meals. But let me start at least close to where I left off and see where I end up lol.

Okay, well Saturday we went to Chiang Rai for internet and to pick up our fellow teachers that were coming in. Turns out, they could not get a bus and had to come the following evening. But after my last post we went to the White Temple. It is beautiful and yet has a grim message. Hands coming out of the round as you would imagine hands reaching for something to pull them out of hell. The no smoking devil was a really cool statue. The entire thing sparked, awed and had a point. I really loved it. I had to wear a wrap around cover because I was wearing shorts, but that was fine.

We did not have much time after the temple so we just went back to the bust station to catch our back-of-the-truck-with-the-luggage ride back to our hotel. There was less luggage this time so we laid out with our backs and heads resting on sheets of plastic and mosquito netting. I was having to remind myself not to go to sleep or I was going to be tossed out when we hit the mountains. Going up the mountains in the back of the truck was actually quite nice. Brace with your feet on the hatch and one hand on the side and all is well. It was fun.

So we arrive and have dinner. We swear we are going to stay up for the bonfire and inevitably fall asleep beforehand. (To be clear, you place your dinner order at 7 when the kitchen opens and then we all finish with dinner at 10 or 10:30 so we aren't wimps).

Now, the next day is a day I doubt I will ever forget. We went on a day trek through the mountains. Most of the way was narrow red clay mud trails overhangs that were quite intimidating. We had a guide and let me pause for a minute to talk about this man.

This man's name is Noi and he is a skinny short man who can carry three times his weight and has the greatest sense of humor AND speaks very good English. By far he is my favorite person I have met. He spent ten years working wherever he could find work and then ten years establishing the hotel we are staying in. He works every day without rest, making repairs, cooking, cleaning, giving guided tours and teaching crossbow lessons (yeah, that is totally true). He is eager for knowledge and says many wise things. From this man I could learn a lot.

But back to the story. So we start our trek. Down, down, down the mountain. Our steps mirror his and at times we take the tiniest of steps up and down inclines to keep from falling. He asks us many questions about ourselves and America and tells us many facts about the area and his original village. Did you know there are over 50 types of banana trees but only four of them are edible? And there are over 150 species of bamboo that grow in these jungles. Just in case you did not know ;)

So we trek, trek, trek. Noi says things like, "It would not be trekking if there was not mud" and "You stay here long you lose much weight." I amazed myself at not freaking out as we are hugging red clay cliffs with drop offs into jungle, rock and rivers. I balanced across bamboo makeshift bridges between two paths (one bamboo rod per foot). I learned how to slide/skate through mud without falling over (treat it like roller blading and NEVER lean backwards). We travel up rocks and across fields. The rice fields were awesome. The corn fields were pretty cool but the leaves do really like to slap you in the face. The views were astounding though you had to be careful. To look at the view you must stop walking. Lesson number 1 I learned lol. We trekked for three hours and in those first three hours, each of us (except our guide) took a tumble. No, I was not the first one to fall even thought I know that is what you were thinking. These paths were downright dangerous! And you had to take a chance: step where the person in front of you stepped because it is better than the surrounding foot options or choose your own because once three people step in the same spot it gets too unstable or muddy.

There were even times when I found myself jumping across decent sized crevices without thinking first. I remember thinking: well sometimes you just have to jump. But finally we made it to a Chinese tribal village. Now, I was adamant that people are not attractions and I will not participate in such, but we just walked through the village and had lunch on a lady's porch. They let us clean up with a bucket of water. Apparently we looked pretty bad with red clay smattered and smeared up our legs on our butts and our backs and leaves, dirt, bugs and everything under the sun on our faces and arms. And before all of this I never understood what it means to sweat. I would wipe away sweat with my shirt and more was there to replace it immediately. So we looked pretty dirty lol. Now, we did not clean up fully because it was only lunch and we had much more to go.

So finally, we sit down on her raised porch and she brings out a large bowl of rice and some bamboo our guide had picked an hour before while we were trekking. I should not say picked though. He used a machete. We stuffed the bamboo with uncooked rice and then they cooked the bamboo over a fire. Our guide used extra bamboo to make cups for us which I am totally going to try and smuggle back to the U.S. somehow. When the bamboo was cool they opened it for us and there was sticky rice made in bamboo juices. So we had Chinese tea in bamboo cups that was actually living and growing an hour before, eating sticky rice made in a way I have never seen and then the lady brings out grilled over a fire chicken. That grilled chicken was amazing and even though I could see some hair still It I could not taste it. And it was tied between two sticks so everything could be eaten by hand. We rested a while and talked to our guide more about his childhood and we watched all the animals and children playing and milling about the village.

Finally it came time to continue our journey. And there were times where I totally felt like I was in that scene from the Lord of the Rings where they are walking in a line on the top of a mountain. That epic airial shot. Yep. And then came my weekly, 'let's see what scares the living bejeezus of me and come face-to-face with it.' This time it was a swinging rope bridge over a very large river. There were sections where the handlebars were missing and/or the floorboards were missing. I could see a good four inches of the nails holding the floorboards down, which totally left me thinking how much nail was actually holding this bridge together. Now the kicker of the story: right before it was a sign in Thai and English. "BEWARE use less weight. Bridge in need of repair by government." So at first my guide and two of my fellow teachers walk on the bridge. One of them looks back at me after ten steps and gives me the "Omg this is totally not safe and super swingy and dangerous" face. Then they get to the middle of the bridge and urge me to come out. I am honestly surprised I did it. I am not sure if I did it just to prove that I could or so I could say that I actually went on it but either way, I did it. Yes, it swayed. Yes certain boards bucked and tipped as you stepped on them. Yes, there were times when the handrail was totally a false sense of security so I let go. When I was halfway across, a motorcycle starts driving on it from the other end. Yes, this totally happened. Here is my thought process for you:

"No. No way. This is really happening isn't this? The are totally going to break this bridge in half and if I hang on to my side I am going to get smashed up against these jagged huge rocks and that is going to hurt. Oh well, I know the bridge can hold all of our weight now. Oh wait. Are you seriously about to pass me? If you touch me there is going to be a fury like no other unleashed upon the world. Oh okay. We are good now."

After the motorcycle passed I continued to the middle of the bridge, paused for a minute to see the view and then immediately turned back around and got off of that bridge. The rest soon followed and then we got onto a longtail boat on the river. It was really relaxing, though it sat really low on the water. And going down the small rapids on a longtail boat was an experience lol. Down the river a ways we got off the boat and there waiting for us were the hot springs.

The hot springs were really nice and relaxing. We finally felt clean. Now I know what you are thinking. I was ridiculously hot all day and then I up and go to a hot spring. It was still really nice. I only stayed in for about 20 minutes because it was a little hot but it really was lovely. Afterwards we decided that we would rather wait an hour for the truck rather than walk the two hours back and we even found Gatorade hiding in a stand by the hot springs. Exactly what we needed. We finally got back to our cabin, took showers and had naps before dinner. Then at dinner time our fellow teachers showed up! Company! We all ate dinner and then sat up talking about our schools and Thailand lives, giving advice and ideas and making each other laugh.

Now we are finally at today. We were going to go to the waterfall but....everyone ended up having a lazy day and I got to weave. Yep. Me. Weaving. The same lady from the Chinese village showed me how to weave from 9 to 5 today. I wove myself a belt and it is beautiful! Noi kept coming by to check on me because the Chinese lady and I were only communicating in Thai. At one point he smiles at me and asks if I have a boyfriend. Apparently now that I know how to weave I can marry (it is Thai custom, though they marry at 15). Funny, Noi, funny. At this moment it is almost dinner time and tomorrow morning we have to head
back. We are not sure if we can get a bus ticket home because it is a long holiday weekends and many buses were full, but there is nothing we can do about it now but try our best to get home tomorrow. I am not super worried if I am not at school Wednesday because it is midterms week for my students so every day I will just sit at my desk from 7 to 5. But I will try my best to get home. We will just have to see now won't we? Lol.