te amo Chiang Rai

Sunday afternoon. ahhhh. So nice! Paul and I are in the internet cafe. I bought 13 hours worh of internet time (100 baht). Hopefully I wont lose my user ID and password this time like I did last time. Even though 100 baht is only $3.30 in US dollars....I shouldnt have lost my paper. Anyway, the rest of our group went to Chiang Mai this weekend. They left on Friday (around 2 pm) and are getting back some time today. It has been so nice to have some alone time. It gets crazy sometimes when you are constatly around the same 16 people. I think we get a new member to our group today. Apparently she is from India. Last night Paul, Puya, and I caught a sawng toah from the "cook your own meat buffet" place on the corner of our street and went to the Chiang Rai walking street, which is basically like the night bizarre, but goes on longer. They have everything there. We had already eaten and wished we hadn't when we stumbled upon the "food street" full of vendors selling anything you can imagine. Sweets, smoothies, squid, and even crickets! I took video footage of the LIVE crickets in a big glass tub that they scoop out and fry right in front of your face then serve to you. Been there...done that. We ate crickets and cockroaches last week at the night bizarre. I am in the internet cafe trying to find out information about Laos. Puya and I want to go to Luang Prubang, Loas next weekend. Sounds amazing from the research I have done so far! It's a little french town. Nestled between the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers, Luang Prabang is one of the most charming and sophisticated cities in Southeast Asia. Streets are lined with French bistros, fancy restaurants, and expensive shops. It is quite the contrast of Northwest Laos it appears.

The city was formerly the capital of a the kingdom of Luang Prabang. It was the royal capital of the Kingdom of Laos until the communist takeover in 1975. Luang Prabang historically housed the Royal Family, has stunning temples, colonial mansions, and a distinct French influence.

We have to figure out the cost/logistics of the trip. Trying todecide wether to bus the ride or take a slow boat ( 2 day trip). We'll finalize everything tonight I hope.

Yester day Paul, Puya and I went hiking to a waterfall. It was called Khun Korn Waterfall. Our favorite driver, Karl, piked us up at the P- house at 9 am promptly, and we headed off. The drive up there was absolutely gorgeous. Khun Korn waterfall is approximately 27 kilometers from Chiangrai municipality. The scenery was so pretty as we drove rolling hills covered with green growth.

The 1 kilometer drive into the park area curves around up and down inclines. There was only one other car in the parking lot where we parked. The fragrance of the forest was so fresh and earthy because it had just rained. This wasn't any manicured, crisp looking garden but, as one expects, we walked through an isolated park surrounding the waterfall.

We walked up and down narrow pathways, sometimes at the edge of the river, and other times away from the rapids. Caterpillars crawled on the damp earth strewn with fallen leaves, and an ancient tree root provided the natural edge of a small waterfall tumbling down boulders. There was parade of ant/beedle looking insects that went on for a quarter of a mile it seemed like. All following the one in front of them in a orderly fashion. So intriguing! We passed a tree which was wrapped in a buddhist monk's orange robe. Paul says that means the tree has been blessed by the monk. There were isolated areas of bamboo like you wouldnt believe. I made the comparison to the game I played as a child, the one where you have a bunch of sticks poking through holes and you have to remove one stick at a time and try not to let the ball come down. Pictures could not preserve the prestine image that this bamboo provided. It was truly amazing!

WHen we got to the waterfall we decided to take "adam and eve leave" photos. You know...the photos where it looks like you are only being covered by leaves. We found the BIGGEST leaves you can imagine along the trail. Perfect for our "leaf outfits". We were really "one with nature", Puya, Paul, and I. The water felt amazing. The mist from the falls cascaded outward about 100 feet. It was so powerful and magestic looking. We swam under the fall and behind the rocks. What an incredible sensation! Puya accidently lost one of her flip flops and Paul ran down stream to try and fetch it. Although he was unable to find her blue and yellow berkley flip flop (ones she had purchased at the night bizarre to coordinate with her Berkley university school colors) he did in fact find a Thai CROCK! I say a "Thai" crock because they are made out of crock material but are in the shape of a furry wolf like animal. People wear them all around here. I have never seen them in the US. Paul saved the day! We love Paul! Such a good kid! SO instead of having to wrap up her foot in leaves or a towel (which she had planned to do), Puya was able to just wear her crock that Paul found her.

We got back to the house at around noon and I took a nap. I woke up a couple of hours later and Paul and I went to go get some lunch. He was craving curry and I didnt mind the sound of that either. It was raining pretty hard. We walked down the street until he settled on a chicken and rice place and I found somewhere that served green curry. It was delicious. Then we went to our favorite smoothie place and ordered a "strawberry, orange, pineapple" and a "lemon rasberry" smoothie and sat and talked about religion and relationships for a good hour and a half it seemed like. Paul has a good head on his shoulders. He also has a lot of faith. Something I need to work on. I was feeling somewhat overwelmed so I told Paul i was going to skip the internet cafe and go "meditate and pray". We had just watched, "EAT,PRAY, LOVE" the night before and I was hoping to have a little bit of a Liz Gilbert experience like she did in the beginning of her book. I hadn't prayed in a while so I thought I should. I am confused about some things in my life. I am confused about my relationship and what to do but I am trying not to worry. I am trying to just let everything happen as it should. Not that I beleive I should be completely passive and not "work for something" and be proactive- but there is no sense in worrying. I feel right now that when I get back from travleing- I should be home in Virginia for at least a semester. That is what I feel right now is best for me in my heart. I cannot say what is best for anyone else in their life. They need to follow their own hearts. But that is how I feel.

Puya commented that there really is no peffect "time table" in relationships. Ideally, there would be but it's ok to not know what to do at every moment. What's another semester going to hurt? I thought it would be detramental to our relationship but those were my words, not his.

Anyway, I went back to the house and just sat alone. It has been a good long while since I sat in silence, and alone. I offered up my feelings in prayer and just listened. I have been getting better at just sitting and listening since i have been in Thailand. When I first got here it was so difficult for me to sit still and not be actively doing something productive 24/7. With time, patience, life lessons, and controlled thinking, I have been able to practice the "art of doing nothing" as Liz Gilbert puts it so perfectly in her book.