Chiang Dao

This week I went to visit a temple in the forest outside Chiang Mai, Wat UMong. It was neat because it was in a forest but also the way the temple was set up. The temple was a series of tunnels leading to different Buddha shrines. It was partially creepy because it was dark and we didn't know which way we were going, but also very cool!

 

Buddha at the end of a tunnel at Wat UMong

I was also able to go to the city of Chiang Dao this weekend. We took a 90 min. bus ride there. The bus was a school bus turned mass transit bus, but it was fun! When we got there the bus dropped us off in the middle of a small town. We wanted to see the caves there, but didn't know how to get to them. After a ten minute game of me playing charades with some locals, we got a taxi to the caves.

First we explored the outside of the caves, which included a Buddhist grave yard, a giant gold Buddha statue and pond! Then we went into the caves. We payed a 40 baht electricity fee to get in and another 25 for a tour guide. The tour guide led us into the caves with one lamp, which was our only light source because the caves did not have any lights running through them. The caves were huge with giant stalagmites and stalactites! Along the way the tour guide would point to one and tell us that it looked like an elephant, a bird or some animal.. and usually it did!

The caves were slippery to get through and we had to crawl through three "doors" to continue into different caves. These doors were small openings and I literally had to get on my hand and knees to get through them. I don't know if I would have gotten through if I was much bigger! They were so small! We had a great time in the caves and took a bus back to Chiang Mai!

The beginning of the cave

The guide told us it was a picture frame so we took a picture of course!

Just crawling through on all fours!

This past week has been a lot of fun hanging out in Chiang Mai. I am still getting used to the weather but this week has been different. It has been getting really foggy all day and night and it seemed off. Maybe it was smog? So a group of us asked our teacher about why the smog had gotten so bad lately. He told us the air wasn’t polluted with smog, but with smoke. There is a thick layer of smoke in the air caused by the farmers outside Chiang Mai, who still practice slash and burn farming. And apparently it is going to get worse. Sometimes it’s not so bad, but other times you can see it and smell it!

smokey morning in Chiang Mai

I also went to see a Thai movie this week called It Get’s Better. It had English subtitles and was really good, and sad. Before the movie we had to stand while they played a song and slideshow about the Thai King. They also do this at the market at 6pm. They play the song over the loud speakers and everyone just stops what they are doing and stands during the song. The first time we were at the market and this happened we had no idea why everyone had stopped moving but figured it out.

I also went to the “big” mall in Chiang Mai. It is really nice and has a lot of stores. We went shopping there because we thought we were more likely to find clothes that fit us there than at the markets. The clothes at the markets are for Thai girls. For that reason nothing could ever fit me. It is all too small and too short!

On Saturday we had a field trip to a Hmong Hill tribe village. We toured where they live and how they farm. It was interesting to see their houses and farms in the mountains. 

Hmong Village

Flower garden at the Hmong Village

Chiang Mai Weekend

This past weekend I had plans to go to Bangkok, but I ended staying in Chiang Mai instead. This week had been busy with booking flights and getting travel arrangements in order for upcoming trips! Me and two of my friends here are planning a trip to New Delhi, India in March. We just booked our flights and now are getting into the details. The hardest part of planning so far has been getting my India Visa... I literally had to run around for it!

I am also starting to plan a trip to Vietnam as well! I want to see so many things while I am here! Will I miss a lot of class? Actually only a few classes, because I am planning around classes that have been cancelled ahead of time, or days I don't have class!

This weekend has been relaxing, hanging out with friends and visiting markets! I hope to have more fun news next week!

Sukhothai

This past week has been really busy with school. But this weekend I had some free time and went on a trip! A group of six of us went to Sukhothai. Sukhothai is the old capitol of Thailand and is in ruins. It is in between Chiang Mai and Bangkok.  We took the 5 hour bus ride there Saturday morning. Once we got there we spent the day exploring New Sukhothai. We discovered that there is nothing to explore, so we hung out and had a fun time at our room.

The next day we headed to the historical park in Old Sokhothai where all the ruins are. It was extremely hot with high humidity; we were sweaty within five minutes. But it was totally worth it! We walked around the park for several hours seeing many ruins.  The ruins are a UNESCO world heritage site and are from the 13^th century.  My favorite by far was a giant Buddha statue. The statue’s hand was as big as me!  I had a lot of fun on this weekend trip and it was also good to get a feel for traveling outside of Chiang Mai since we want to take trips farther away soon. 

Karen Hill Tribe Trip

These past three days have been incredible! I went on a trekking tour through the mountains and the Karen Hill Tribes. We left Saturday morning and immediately went to a beautiful waterfall. Of course we got in and swam in the water, although it was freezing! Then we hiked for about 4 hours and it was no joke.  We went straight up hill for the first hour, and then up and down for a bit. By the last half, me and two other girls had broken off into our own “fast paced for girls” group. We ended running full force down the mountain for at least 45 minutes. It was so steep and it was better if we just did not stop. We got to the village and a lot of the group was already there. We were so confused, because they had definitely not passed us.  Little did we know we had run straight pass the short cut! But it was so much fun anyways and the views were amazing!
 

Hiking day 1!

We stayed with a Karen Hill Tribe village in a hut with mosquito nets. There is no electricity in the village so we had a campfire! We started the next day with another hike, but it wasn’t nearly as hard as the day before. When we got to the next village we had the chance to ride on elephants! It was so exciting to sit on the back of an elephant for nearly an hour and a half. The elephant I was riding was clearly hungry and uprooted a banana tree and countless other branches along the way for a snack.  Later we made bamboo rafts that we rode on the last day. Again we had a bonfire and roasted rice inside bamboo.  The children from the village performed songs for us and then taught them to us. One of my favorites is one they sing about skewering a chicken up the butt and roasting it!

the first village we stayed at

making dinner

Elephant riding

On the last day we got up early and took the bamboo rafts we made (although the guides may have had to redo some parts we messed up) and rafted down the river. We went through gorgeous scenery and stopped at other villages along the way. After about three hours of rafting the trip was over! This weekend was one of the best experiences I have had in a long time. It was so rewarding to see how happy the Karen people were even with the circumstances they live in. They truly make the best of what they have. Also, this was a great bonding experience for the group that went! We ran down mountains, stepped ankle deep in water buffalo poop and ate bark off trees together!

Bamboo rafting!

Muay Thai Boxing

The past couple days have been relaxing here in Chiang Mai. I have been spending my mornings at school, some afternoons at the pool and my nights at different markets. There are huge markets all over town and even if you go to the same one twice or more, you will never have the same experience.

Yummy fish waffles at a market!

Girls night out!

On Wednesday night we went to Muay Thai boxing, which is huge in Thailand. It was down in a sketchy part of the city, but I was with a lot of friends so I felt safe. It was cool to watch and the boxers are really tough. The Thai people there were getting really into it!

Muay Thai Boxing

Meditation Retreat

I made it! I am finally back from the six days of meditation. This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life! I went on the meditation retreat as part of a class. Being that I am still getting adjusted to life in Thailand, this was a big jump. The center was not at all like I imagined, but it was still very neat. We slept in the nun quarters, which were individual cabins. We only got a wooden board to sleep on with blankets and a bathroom. It took me three days to figure out how to use my toilet! It got extremely cold there at night and was very uncomfortable. 

View from near where we ate

The first day we were given one pair of white clothes each, which we wore the whole time.  The nun helping us lost my clothes afterwards and there was a large language barrier in communicating with her. We also didn’t shower for 6 days… gross! At 4:30 am we woke up to gongs and drums, then breakfast, meditation, lunch and more meditation. We were not allowed to eat after noon, just meditating and no talking! A monk who spoke English taught us, he was extremely nice and helpful. 

Me and the monk who taught us on day six!

The rules and the environment was the easiest thing to get used to, it was the meditation that was hard. We did vipassana meditation, which unlike tranquility meditation. In vipassana meditation you try to be mindful and not happy or concentrated. You basically narrate to yourself everything going on to you at that moment. It’s more complicated but I won’t go into the details. We meditated for 3 hours at a time. This was hard to sit and do, but also was painful. Legs falling asleep and back pain took a toll on me. But I am happy that I got through it and can say this is something I have experienced. Never again will I have the chance to live amongst monks and nuns! 

View of the lake nearby