Life is good

This is my eighth day in Thailand and the more days I spend here, the more I fall in love with this culture. There are so many contrasts in Thailand, but they're all beautiful and somehow fit right into this crazy unpredictable place.

Healthy breakfast

I am laying down in bed right now because there is a pretty serious rain storm outside and the hammock is completely wet. Also the electricity just went out so I figured I'll do some writing until my battery dies. So let's go back to where I left off... Yesterday, I had a proper breakfast for the first time in Thailand; eggs, bacon, toast and a delicious iced coffee. It felt strange eating regular food because I got so used to the crazy unknown combinations of food. Ordinary has become foreign. So after my breakfast, I woke up Alfredo, and we rented a motorcycle for the day and took it out to the country, to see some waterfalls and temples on the way. After a few wrong turns, we finally reached the waterfall and let me tell you, it was well worth it! Beautiful and functional; it had cascading levels where each 'floor' became a refreshing whirlpool for people to sit around in. There were also a couple spots where you could slide down from one level to the next through little slippery spaces. Looked like fun, the locals were doing as well as some brave tourists. But since I am very accident prone, I decided to skip that adventure and just sunbathe on one of the rock formations while the bottom half of my body was submerged under water, keeping me nice and cool, while still getting a tan :)
A couple hours into being there, we started hearing thunder rolling in from far away and some dark clouds slowly gathering above us. So we packed up quickly and headed back since getting stuck in a rainstorm on a motorcycle would be a bit dangerous as well as no fun.

At the waterfalls

So we got rained on a bit but by the time we got back, it seemed like the storm had passed. But little did we know, that the few raindrops earlier, were just a prelude to a whole aria of angry thunder and flooding rain. Once it started though, it didn't last long at all. Once the rain stopped we headed out to get some dinner and ended up chilling out at one of the sit down restaurants which was delicious and inexpensive. It was a very relaxed evening. Although a group of crazy British people. Next door tried to convince us to head out to bars as we were walking by them but we didn't give into their temptations. Drinking is so expensive in Asia, I can't believe it. It cost as much to get a cocktail as one night's accommodation does. Everyone drinks beer here I guess but luckily I don't, so I have no need or desire to drink. I'd rather spend that money on something else, like all of the delicious treats that are available on the street. So that evening was finished off with session number two of Home Alone, part two. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, that morning I saw a gecko! It was about two feet in length and is whole body was a bright orange color and his head was bright blue! So cool :)
So this morning we ended up riding out to another waterfall around here and this one was really awesome because no one else was there so it was nice to not bump into tourist all the time. We hiked out to the top of the trail around the waterfall and hung out there for a bit. Then on the way down we found a spot to go swimming under the waterfall. Groovy! Although the morning didn't look too promising, a little before midday, the sun came out and it was all of the sudden, a perfect afternoon. After that waterfall, we headed back into town to get some gas, food and sunscreen. I burnt my nose yesterday, so I didn't want to make it worse today.

Market delicacies :)

We decided to go to another waterfall which was said to be very impressive, but not as popular because it was a little further out of town and involved an hour and a half hike through the jungle. We accepted the challenge and headed out. The problem with trying to find places in Thailand is that directions isn't their strongest point. The directions for this particular waterfall stated to drive 6km past a resort and the after passing a stream, park up and follow the trail. The problem with the part about 'the streams' was that there were many of them and there really was no trail. So after riding around for a while, we decided to cut our losses and head to the waterfall with the cascading hills since we knew that one would be a good place to cool down in the afternoon heat. On the way there we stopped for some Pad Tai, at a place which was basically someone's front yard; adorned with beautiful, flowers, their whole family sitting and talking about us in Thai and the prerequisite long legged roosters and chickens running around. The food was delicious and cheaper than what we would get in town. So we finally made it to the waterfall and spent almost four hours there, just sunbathing and swimming. I ended up slipping on one of the rocks and falling hitting my head and elbow on the way down. No worries though, I am ok, just have some bumps and bruises. I'm pretty sure I got by spider too on my foot because unlike the rest of the million bites on my skin, this one has a distinct bite mark and instead of itching a lot, it hurts a little when touched. I'll keep an eye in it but I think it'll be ok.

A beautiful tree on the way to the waterfalls

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the local women trying to get us to buy weed, cocaine and or opium from them. I guess the latter is the local specialty around these parts of Thailand. On the way out, I saw a group of tourist guys accepting their offer and waiting for the merchandise, whatever it was. As we were riding away though, we saw a police officer riding towards the parking lot. I sure hope those guys didn't get caught and arrested, for their own sake...
The day ended with another rain storm. This time, a stronger one, since shortly after it started, the electricity went out. I didn't mind though. The air cooled off until it was nice and comfortable. And I drifted off to sleep...