Day Three

     Day three started early... Not that we really had much planned or any reason for it too, i just woke up before the sun and couldn't fall back asleep. I was too excited about things i guess. I got up made coffee at the guesthouse and went for a walk down the beach. The tide was out or at least mostly out and going out the rest of the day. The bay that the bungalows we were staying in was as picturesque as you could imagine it. A tree a few meters out from the shoreline, an island almost in the middle and then far off the coast were dozens upon dozens of decent to small sized islands just dotting along for as far as the morning haze would let you see. By the time i got back to the guesthouse people were up and about, I made another cup of coffee and met my friends for a swim and some sun bathing. Saturday was designated a relaxing day, swimming, coffee and nothing more. Not till later on
when we would leave but I'll get to that shortly. We made our way
out across the low tide to the furthest sand bar we could walk too
without getting wet. Laid out our towels and made for the water. It
was early but the sun had already started beating down on us, so
close to the equator it gets hot and fast. We spent the morning floating
around in 2 feet or clear blue water, sifting chunks of coral and small
shells through our hands, not acare in the world other than making
jokes at how pruned our fingers and toes had gotten.
 



    After what seemed like hours upon hours we made our way back to our towels, our guesthouse for more coffee and eventually our bungalows to start packing up. Laura and james had avoid all of the flooding in Bangkok but their friends weren't so lucky. Most of them stayed thinking it would be so bad and had in turn spent the last three plus weeks stuck in their apartments. They had been fine, just trapped and ready to get out. James got in touch with them and we decided we were going to meet them in Chaing Mai, the secound largest city in Thailand and almost as far north as you could go. We boarded a scooter, a boat, a taxi and eventually a plane to make the hour and a half trip north (nearly 24 hours if you go by bus). We got to Chaing Mai, caught a taxi to the hostel their friends were at and thus started a whole new day.
     Britts are crazy! We decided it would be good for me to see the city so we set out at nearly 11pm to make our way around it. From cool little dive bars, to moped biker bars and everything in between. Needless to say, it turned out to be one of the longest nights I've had in a while. We topped it all off by watching the sunrise before going to bed.








     DAY FOUR: Started 3 whole hours later when james and I woke up and decided we wanted breakfast. After rallying the crowd we made our way to a wonderful little breakfast place across the mote and let me take a step back and describe where we are. We are now in Chaing Mai, the second largest city in Thailand. The "old city" is surrounded by a mote and with in the old city are hundreds if not thousands of old and new temples. it amazing and so beautiful. The City is crowded and bustling and there is always so much going on. After breakfast we all kinda parted ways, Laura James and I went out to see some sights while the rest of the crew who had been there before went back to the hostel to relax and watch tv (lame). We saw so many cool buildings and even though it a massive city we bumped into people James and Laura knew left and right. We met back up at the hostel later that evening and prepared for the night that was to come. It's Sunday and in Chaing Mai there is a Sunday night walking street. Basically anyone who's anyone or has anything they want to sell is at Walking Street trying to sell it. We wondered past thousands of vendors, singers, food stalls, fortune tellers and so much more. There was more art than i could imagine and all the temples on walking street opened up their gardens to become massive acres and acres of food courts. We gorged ourselves on every possible kind of local vendor food, from Sea food Balls to Kabobs. While looking at handmade watches i some how lost laura and james and spent the next three or four hours just wandering around the market area by myself, looking at all sorts of stuff. I was completely alone and yet surrounded by people and not a worry cross my mind. I knew where i was, i knew how to figure out how to get "home" despite my situation i was still in complete bliss. After a few hours of wandering up and down streets lined with vendors and trying more food than i would care to admit i made my way back to the hostel to find the Britts watching tv. One of them phoned James for me to let them know i was fine and a bit later they showed up back at the hostel ready to hear about how we got lost.

    We reconvened and set back out to find a "rasta bar" their friend worked at. A beautiful building only a mile or less away painted with all sorts of colors and warm and welcoming if i could ever say that about a bar. Their friend had been a te4acher with them and gone through the same training program the same time they did. She's now working for another organization but still teaching and still just as in Love with Thailand as everyone else i've met who is here. This place has a weird way of making you feel like you belong here. Everyone is so friendly and inviting and it will truly be hard to leave here, even knowing that i'm going on to something else that's new and by all rights, probably just as awesome!

    DAY FIVE: Consisted of a lot more walking, an amazing breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt and coffee and a semi-guided tour of what seems like a million Wats. Buddha statues one after another in various positions all lined with burning incense, candles and flowers. This place is amazing. There is no challenging that. We spent most of the day walking around again just looking at stuff and taking pictures. I cant even begin to tell you how many pictures i have, i dont honestly know what to do with them all. If i put them on here they would just take up pages. For now i'm uploading them to google+ and eventually FB i suppose.

     It's still amazing to me, the more of the world you see the smaller it gets.