WaterFALLs, Buddhist Monks, and Motorbikes

During our three hour layover in Bangkok, we grabbed some lunch (Emma and I shared a delicious pizza and a not so good salad) and then when we were able to check in, sent our bags to the plane and went to our gate. While we were half doing work and half worrying if the Levine’s would make it, we mentally prepared ourselves for our next adventure.

The Chiang Mai airport was a nice little airport with two baggage carousals and a couple of little restaurants and shops. We collected our bags and hopped in two taxi’s between the eight of us. When we got to our hotel, which is called the Riverview Lodge, we settled in and found both Chiang Mai and the Riverview to be very nice. We then went out to dinner at a charming place called the Riverside (if you didn’t get it all ready, we are near a river). It was very good. While some of us went back to the hotel for a night time swim, my mom, my dad, Wendy, and I went to Chiang Mai’s famous night bazaar. There were beautiful things there. There was Thai silk, beautiful jewelry, delicious food, spectacular clothes, and amazing bags and shoes. At 10:30 we headed back to the hotel because we were all getting tired and I really had to pee. We all slept pretty well (except for my mom, but then again, she never sleeps well) and we headed to the famous temple in Chiang Mai which is called Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoraihara. It was beautiful. When you first get there, there is a bunch of little carts with jewelry on them. There are also 300 steps that you have to climb up. When we got to the top we bought our tickets and went inside. Inside there is a golden bell that you must ring an odd number of times. I rang it 13 times. We saw some Buddhist statues and rosewood trees and then we went into the real temple. It was pure gold. The first thing that we did was put wax in a bowl for the day you were born. For instance- I was born on Saturday so I put three spoons full of wax in the Saturday bowl. The next thing we did was go to the fortune telling section. You shake a cup of sticks until one and only one comes out. Each one has a number, and you take the piece of paper of the number that you got. My first one- number ten- told me that I was unlucky, so our guide told me to do it again. The next one was better. It was number eight. It says:

The 8th number tells that you are lucky in everything. Be careful in your speaking and acting. Immune from illness.

I was much happier with that one. After that, we went into the Monk’s sanctuary and he blessed us with luck. He put a bracelet on each one of us but because they cannot touch or make eye contact with women, he just dropped the bracelet on us to tie ourselves. It was a cool experience.

For the rest of our time in Chiang Mai, we hung out around the pool and we saw the different markets. After Chiang Mai, the eight of us headed up to Pai, which was about a three hour drive from the Riverview in Chiang Mai. In our bus we met two Israelis the are going to the same Passover Seder that we are going to in Laos. We made plans to get there the same way in the same car.

We got there around lunch time so we had lunch and then we went out to town. We organized our travel arrangements and then we rented motorbikes. We zoomed around the city, me with my dad, and Emma with my mom, until it was time for dinner. We ate at little Thai restaurant called Baan Benjarong and then Casey, the son of one of Ed’s patients who lives in Pai took us to see his girlfriend’s family dance in their beautiful outfits. After that, we went back to our hotel and we went to sleep.

The next day was a pretty crazy day. We decided to take our motorbikes to a waterfall. When we got there, I decided that I wanted to go and explore the rocks around the waterfall. I had noticed just then that the good luck bracelet that a monk gave me had fallen off and right after that, I slipped and I fell down about 30 feet, slipping and sliding on the rocks of the water fall. It was the scariest moment of my life. I thought that I was going to die. When I was falling, I was thinking of my friend Sarah who told me that she fell down a waterfall without getting one cut. That wasn’t the case with me. When I got to the bottom, I couldn’t see out of my right eye. Ed, who is a doctor, came down to help me and he told me that I would most likely need stitches (I can see now). We found our way out of the pool and we got back on our motor bikes and headed down to the Pai Hospital. They took me immediately in to the ER and we explained what happened. They stitched me up (eight in total) and Ed reassured us that they were doing a great job. We found a good Mexican Place and we ate there and then we watched a movie. After dinner (cheeseburgers) we went back to the hotel. That was one crazy day. (We did get Mexican food AND cheeseburgers though.)

The next day we rode on elephants. They took us through a trail with my mom and I on one, Emma, Jessica, and Wendy on another one, and Ed and Corey on the last one. My elephant’s name was Mai. We got to sit on a chair because I am not allowed to get my eye wet. The other two elephants went into the water and started knocking the other people off. The elephants sat down, causing all of them to flip and flop every which way. My mom and I watched and took video from above. When we were finished with the elephants, we met up with my dad, who had gone into town to change our plans because my parents didn’t think that two days on a boat would be such a good thing due to my water-fall. He arranged a car to take us back to Chiang Mai, made reservations to fly to Laos and he apologized to the Israeli girls, who were very understanding. We ate our lunch and then we headed back to Chiang Mai. We went to an ophthalmologist in Chiang Mai and they told me that I was 100% O.K., which was a relief. He gave me some ointment to put on my cut. We were all very relieved about that. After that we went out to lunch and then I got a haircut. After a while of doing some work, we went out to a pleasant Indian/Thai restaurant called Whole Earth for dinner and then we all got massages. Emma and I got foot massages, my dad got an oil massage, and my mom got a traditional Thai massage. We were all very happy after that. It was a good day of pampering for me=)!