Night on the Town

In the morning I skyped with Mom and Grandpa. It's been awhile since we've connected and talked for more than a few minutes. I was so glad to see them. It is so hard to be away from them.

After we talked I decided I'd head out before I was to meet Dong Gun. I first went to a bookstore and browsed there for a few things. I wandered outside a little, but it was so cold! I had a brisk walk along Cheonggyecheon (my favorite stream) before crossing City Hall and looking for a Starbucks to sit in and warm up. I sat in the Starbucks and enjoyed people watching until it was time to meet Dong Gun. He said he wanted to have dinner right away, so I changed the location of our meeting spot and walked from City Hall to Insadong. 

We met in the subway station and I took him to a traditional Korean restaurant that Katie had shown me. After dinner we took a stroll around Insadong and looked for a makgoli jip, but didn't find anything. We wandered back towards Jongno area and Dong Gun said we were on our own Camino del Santo Domingo. Finally we found a place for makgoli and also got kimchi cheon (pancake, for lack of better word) as a side. It was fun talking over makgoli and he showed me a video clip of when he was on TV in Peru! He's had a very interesting life and traveled quite a bit.

Next we went to noraebang, a singing room. Koreans love karaoke and they're all pretty good singers. I was a bit hesitant at first to go just 2 people (normally big groups go) but I remembered that Jeong Kwan and I had fun when we went in Gimhae just the two of us so I said we could try. For 1 hour and 5,000W we sang a bunch of songs, but it was hard because he didn't know many American pop songs and I definitely can't sing any Korean ones. We did try one Korean song I knew, but it was by a young female artist so he joked that he was going to change into a girl to sing the song. 

After singing, we decided to walk around a little bit more and search for something else to eat. It was not too late at night and I was surprised how empty the downtown area was. It was also one of the only times I've been downtown that late at night so it was really nice. I mean, I've been there in the evenings, but it felt a little bit different since it was quieter. We wandered towards City Hall and were headed towards Namdaemun, but I realized there wouldn't be much in that area. I suggested turning towards Myeongdong so we headed that way and found a cafe. We had tea and talked a little bit more before going to the subway station to find the subways had all stopped running. We got taxis to take us in our separate directions.

City Hall

Shaking the Makgoli

Makgoli and kimchi cheon. Staples from my Inje Days

Noraebang

Cheonggyecheon with lanterns

Out and Home

After work I headed downtown to do some shopping and other errands. I stopped in Insadong to look for some traditional gifts for the friends in Vietnam I will see and thank them for hosting me for a night. I went to a bibimbap restaurant and got take-out to have dinner at home.

I returned home and really enjoyed the bibimbap! I ate dinner with some episodes of Doctor Who and relaxed in.

Yummy bibimbap

Daddy-o's 60th

Today would have been Dad's 60th birthday. It's hard to imagine him at 60 now. I still think about him every day and miss him so much.

All this talk about leaving Korea...last night I had another dream about leaving Korea. That's 2 in 3 weeks! I'd better just put it out of my head and focus on the present and enjoy each moment.

I enjoyed seeing my 4th graders today too. They are so cute and all want to try English. I wish they could keep that excitement and courage as they got older.

After work I headed home to go for my biweekly run. I was feeling a bit tired so I did a rather slow run this time. It was colder today and I think that had something to do with it. The extra layers (compared to Monday) made me feel heavier too.

Since it was Daddy-o's birthday, I decided to make some of the ravioli to honor him. My Mom made a cherry pie back home and I wished I could have had some of that! Instead I baked a few of my cookies. I think any dessert would do, as my Dad loved all sweets.

Middle of the Week!

Work wasn't too bad. I forgot about how sweet my 4th graders are, but I was surprised to see how much bigger some of them looked in just one month! I talked about my travels a little bit with my 4th grade COT.

After work I stopped at the post office and then headed downtown. I can't really say I explored, but I did wander around a little bit before stopping at a kimbap shop to get dinner. I keep thinking about how it's almost February and half of February I won't even be in Korea...and that means it's almost only 6 months left here in Korea! It seems surreal to think about my time ending here. Part of me is thrilled at returning to the US and being back in the comfort of home with friends and family there, but part of me is sad thinking about this chapter ending, and knowing I {most likely} will never have an experience like this again-to live in Korea. Anyway, all that to say I wasn't sure what to eat for dinner, but thought about what foods I would really miss and kimbap was on top of the list. I also got hoddeok (the sweet fried stuffed pancake) as a nice treat.

Class was okay. I really don't know how much gets through to me, but like I said, at least I'm getting some Korean once a week. I keep telling myself I should be speaking more and trying more. This teacher doesn't give us a specific break, but we usually finish a few minutes early instead. I like this more and I was able to get home a little bit earlier than normal.

Another catch up day

First day back teaching after a few weeks "off". The kiddos weren't too bad. And my 6th class was cancelled because the school has changed the schedule and there are only 5 hours in the day now for the rest of the year. We had to reschedule that class for Thursday.

After work I returned home and organized my photos and did some other little tasks around the house. I ran to Emart and the vegetable store to get some groceries and made dinner. I watched more Doctor Who with my dinner and just enjoyed being back at home.

Catch up Day

Well, the good thing about having to go back to work was being able to ease into it. We subject teachers didn't have any classes and it was only a half day for the whole school anyway. At lunchtime, the group of subject teachers went out to lunch at a restaurant nearby. One of the male subject teachers paid for everyone's lunch which was so generous! We all had a kind of spicy pork stir fry with a bibimbap, steamed egg and a soybean soup on the side. Ahhh...it was so good to be eating Korean food again!

We returned to school and I did more lesson planning, but the time was cut short because we had a staff meeting at 4. The meeting wasn't long and we got out of work 20 minutes early. I headed home and decided it was time to get back into running after my vacation. I suited up (but it wasn't too cold today!) and went for my 4 miler. I was surprised that my time wasn't much different than normal.

When I returned home I made some dinner, unpacked, did laundry and cleaned. All that good stuff that had been waiting for me for the past 9 days! My room was a disaster area, so it took the whole evening cleaning the place up. I also watched some Doctor Who, which was sooo nice.

Yummy Korean lunch

Return to Seoul

I had an early, early morning. My alarm woke me at 4:30 and I was out the door a little bit before 5, surprisingly ahead of schedule. (Luckily I had packed my glasses so that saved me some time!) I met the taxi I had "ordered" the evening before from the hotel and we were off to the airport. There was no traffic (seeing as it was 5 am on a Sunday...) and we arrived at the airport after about 20 minutes, while it had taken us about an hour the afternoon before. I had given myself a cushion thinking there might be at least some kind of hold up, but since there was none, I arrived way ahead of schedule and figured I could have slept a little bit more.

I checked in and went through security with no hitch. Then it was just waiting for my flight. I found my seat and then was asked by the older Korean couple if I could swap seats with them because their friend was sitting directly in front of me. At first I hesitated; my bag was directly above me and as we were going to be taking off soon all the compartments were closed. It seemed like it would be a hassle moving my bag, but then the man said he'd move my bag for me. For the whole 6 hour flight I was in and out of sleep. At one point I did wake up and the ajuma covered me with her jacket which was nice.

We landed and I took off for home, unhappy with the cold and rainy weather that greeted me in Seoul. About an hour after leaving the airport I arrived at home. I had a package waiting for me-a belated Christmas gift! My friend Brian sent me a Doctor Who (one of my favorite TV shows) themed scarf and hat. He also sent me files for all of newer shows! What a great gift and welcome home.

I cleaned up and unpacked a little bit before heading to Hapjeong to meet Dong Gun. I decided after eating Thai food for the past 9 days I really wanted Korean food! I picked jjimdak, not thinking about how it's chicken with noodles (which I love) and that I've been eating noodles all week! It was delicious nonetheless and the kimchi on the side definitely helped remind me I was eating Korean food. We had a good time talking at dinner and decided to get something to drink after dinner. We walked to Hongdae and went to Xylophone, the place we went for my birthday. Both of us talked about where our travels have taken us and what places we really enjoyed. He talked about his experience learning English and that his first foreign teacher in college sparked his interest and desire. He commended me for teaching elementary students and said that I was inspiring young kids in ways that I might not even know. That was really nice. We also joked that I should be Dong Gun's tour guide since he's new to Seoul and doesn't know it well and made plans to meet again on the weekend so I can tour him around.

My Christmas package!

Dong Gun and me in the subway

Off to Bangkok

This morning wasn't too hectic as our flight wasn't until noon. I sat out on the balcony for a little bit taking in the sun and warmth. Then we went to breakfast and checked out. Our taxi arrived a few minutes late and it was off to the airport.

Our flight was a little bit delayed but it wasn't a big problem. I was surprised that we were served a light snack, and even more surprised to see it was a small hot dog pretzel from Auntie Anne's! After having my snack I napped on the 1 hour and 15 minute flight to Bangkok.

We arrived in DMK Airport and found the taxi stand and got a taxi to take us to the hotel. It was kind of annoying because the driver didn't take our exact address, just the general area/street and only when we got closer he asked to see the address and realized he had overshot it and had to backtrack. Oh Mee and I settled into our room and then went to the lobby to meet her work friend, Hiro. He was there with his fiance, his brother and his brother's girlfriend, a Thai woman. Hiro's brother Tak has been living in Thailand for 5 years now. Hiro and Melissa were visiting and it worked out well that we could meet up with them.

Our first stop was Siam Paradigm shopping mall. This was a massive high end mall. First we went to the grocery store in the basement which was also very nice. We wandered through there and it was nice to see what things Thai people would buy for groceries and what things cost. Then we went up a few floors to check out the cars. Yes, there were cars in this mall. And not just cars, SPORTS cars. There were Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins among a few others. Then the ironic thing is next to the Lamborghini store was an H&M, just a regular run of the mill clothing store. We got a snack in the mall-a famous choux cream puff. It was pretty delicious.

Bake a wish for cream puffs

In the cool bathrooms

Next, we made our way via the MRT (rail system) to 21 Terminal, another shopping mall. Here is where we had our dinner. There was a restaurant called MIX that had won best restaurant via Trip Advisor. While Tak and his girlfriend had never been to this one, they had been to a different branch near where he worked and recommended it. We ordered a few things off the menu to share and waited as the dishes came out one by one. Tak and his girlfriend were kind of disappointed with the food and they said it wasn't as good as the other location and apologized. The rest of us all said it was pretty good! We finished eating and Oh Mee had another friend coming to meet up with us. His name is James and he's also a Korean adoptee on vacation. He joined us at the restaurant and we chatted there a little bit before all of us going to get a drink. It was interesting to talk to yet another adoptee and listen to his views and opinions on adoption.

Back at the hotel, I got a message from an old acquaintance. His name is Dong Gun and I met him in 2012. He lived in Peru for a year and recently returned to Korea and got a job in Seoul (his hometown is Daegu). He asked if I was free tomorrow evening. I agreed and we made plans to meet for dinner!

The Viewpoint and Relaxed Day

This morning we had a relaxed and unscheduled uninstructed time. Which was great! We went to breakfast at the hotel, figured out some stuff for Bangkok and decided what to do for the day. We picked going to the Viewpoint, which was a spot we could see the 3 main beaches of Phuket from. It looked to be about a 3 mile walk and it took us about an hour to do. The only bad thing was it was along a road with not a lot of shade and we got a bit of sun on our walk. When we finally reached the top, it was worth the walk for the view. It was a little bit hazy and hard to see the 3rd beach, but it was still really great! We sat and enjoyed the view for an hour or so before heading back down and looking for lunch. On our walk down we saw a snake in the road!

You can see the 3 beaches of Phuket

Enjoying the view

For lunch we found a Thai place and I ordered noodles again. We got mango sticky rice for dessert. After returning to the hotel, Oh Mee decided she'd sit by the pool and I went back to the beach on my own. I stayed for about 2 hours before returning so we could get dinner and see the sunset. We walked along the beach and kept an eye out for a restaurant, but as it turned out there weren't really any restaurants right along the beach. Instead we sat right on the beach until the sunset (was pretty beautiful, but some haze and clouds) and then went to look for a restaurant. I picked a salad for dinner to try and get a little bit more veggie intake for the trip. After dinner we sat and just enjoyed being outside. A little bit later we ordered our last mango rice dessert. A little bit later still and there was some entertainment from the little bar next door/attached to the restaurant we were at. There were a few young boys that did a flame throwing show-they had sticks on fire and threw them up into the air and did tricks with them. It wasn't anything I'd pay money to see, but still fun and fun to see the kids enjoying themselves.

Nice sunset

Kids playing with fire sticks

We walked back to our hotel along the beach. Some of the waves were huge! I was sad to be leaving the beach for sure. Back at the hotel we packed up our stuff in preparation for our mid-morning departure.

Two Seas Tour Day

Another early early morning for me! I booked a tour to see Phnag Bay. The tour left at 7am so I was to be picked up at 6 from my hotel. The night before I asked the front desk if I could have a breakfast packed for me since I was missing the breakfast. I got up, got ready and headed down actually about 5-10 minutes ahead of schedule. The person there to pick me up was also there so we left early. We drove about 15 minutes and stopped to get a pair of friends before driving more. We then met up with a van full of people and continued on to the dock, another 30 minutes or so. Finally we arrived and got on the boat and waited for a few more people to arrive. In total we were 16 I believe.

Philippe, the owner of the tour program spoke a bit about what we were going to see and do for the day. We also had some snacks and juice on board as well. First we went to go through a cave and into a lagoon. It was really beautiful to see all of the rock formations. We got into some sea kayaks and were kayaked around. Unfortunately, there was one staff member who was sick and supposed to be my boatman so instead Philippe rowed me around. It wasn't a huge problem except he was taking pictures for the whole day and all of my pictures are me turned around or looking over my shoulder while others have nice photos of the whole boat. He was also distracted a bit operating both as tour guide for the whole group, rowing my boat and trying to be the attentive boatman like the other couples all had. I still really enjoyed my time though. Anyway, it was pretty awesome to get to the lagoon-we saw a few monkeys there. We arrived and the tide was already coming in and the water rising. We were able to see how quickly the water rose as we were in the lagoon. When we left the lagoon to go through the cave we had to duck or lay down in the boats to clear the rocks hanging down!

Here bright and early!

Kayaking!

In the lagoon

On the boat

We got back on the big boat again and went to another spot to go on the kayaks and look at more formations. Here we were already seeing big groups being boated around. Back on the big boat again and off to James Bond Island, where the filmed 2 minutes of "The Man with the Golden Gun". There were many, many tourists there taking photos. We got a few good ones and took off after about 20 minutes. There was also a cool giant leaning rock.

Needle rock

Sea Eagles

Next we were served lunch on board which was pretty good. The staff was all very attentive and would clear things away without you even asking. The last stop was a "private" beach. It was actually part of a National Park, but there was no one else there so we had the beach to ourselves. I laid in the sun for a little bit and then went into the water. It was so nice-not too hot, not too cold. There were also little fish swimming around in the water. Then it was back on the boat and time to head home. I fell asleep in the van on the ride back to my hotel-it was an early and busy day! I arrived at the hotel and met Oh Mee by the pool. We sat outside and looked up places to have dinner or what to do for the evening.

At the private beach!

Back in the room I cleaned up before we went to dinner. We picked a place we found on Trip Advisor and walked there. It wasn't too far; we both thought it was going to be further away based on the map we saw. It was also the opposite direction of what we had explored the previous night and there were more shops and restaurants. The food was decent but they didn't have mango rice. We had considered going to find a restaurant we could get some, but decided we'd tried the fried bananas for dessert instead. Those were pretty good and we also got a bottle of chocolate syrup and honey to drizzle over the fried bananas.

Then we walked to the beach and saw the ending of the sunset. We continued exploring that area a little bit and then headed back towards our hotel. Along the way we stumbled upon a restaurant/bar that had a giant wave maker to simulate surfing! I got a mango juice and we sat and watched people learning to surf. It was pretty cool. We had a nice stroll along the beach on our way back to the hotel.

Phuket!

When my alarm went off at 4 this morning I didn't want it to be true. We got ready, grabbed our bags and checked out. The red taxi bus was waiting for us, which was a relief. We arrived at the airport in no time at all. First we stood in line for Air Asia ticket counter, only to find out it was the international check-in, not the domestic one. So we went to domestic check-in and realized our flight was at 6:20 and not 6AM so we could have slept for TWENTY MORE MINUTES. Ah well, all is fine. The security took Oh Mee's dry shampoo because it was over 100ml and she was pretty bummed about that. We finally boarded our plane and were off to Phuket. It was nice because we got to see the sunrise on the flight. I ended up falling asleep and slept for most of the 2 hour flight.

We got off the plane and had to take a little shuttle bus to the terminal. Then we went out to figure out how to get from the airport to our hotel. We ended up taking a van with some other people-it was about 200Bhat, but was kind of a bum deal because they had us stop at a tour office and tried to sell us packaged tours. There was a lot of traffic as well and it took over an hour to get to our place.

We arrived at Sugar Marina Hotel-Surf and checked in. Our room was still being cleaned but they said we could leave our bags at the office. We were getting ready to leave our stuff and head out to explore when the front desk told me our room was ready! So we went upstairs and got to settle in. The room was so cool! I loved the decorating inside.

Our cool room!

After getting ready, we headed to check out the beach and look for lunch first. We saw some carts and settled on fried rice and pad thai for lunch. The man cooking the food on a wok out of a cart set on his motorbike was pretty impressive. After we ate, Oh Mee and I both agreed a tip was in order for the man. Then we went to sit on the beach for a little bit. Oh Mee doesn't like the sun and after a little bit her patch of shade was running out. I noticed she seemed ready to go, so I told her we could pack up and head on to the next thing though I could have stayed longer. I loved being in the sun and warm. The water was a beautiful blue-green and the sand was white. There were many people on the beach-it was interesting to hear all of the languages being spoken, and there is a large Russian prominence there.

Kata Beach

We returned to the hotel only for me to realize that I had lost the room key somehow. I had to pay a small fee to get a new one and then we cleaned up before searching for dinner. First we walked around the area looking at different restaurants and in some of the shops. There wasn't a whole lot to see. We picked a Thai place and the food came so quickly we were a bit concerned. Oh Mee thought her food tasted a bit funny and we both commented that it would be ironic if we got food poisoning from a "nice" restaurant rather than from street food cooked on a motorbike (SPOILER: We didn't get sick at all). The worst part was the view-when we sat down we saw on the little side street there was a man with a baby elephant doing the street begging. It was so sad to see the elephant especially after what we had learned at the park. They said that elephants feel a lot through their feet so with all the pounding and vibrations of cars, motorbikes and tuk tuks, it's sensory overload for the elephants. I wanted to tell all the people not to give any money and not take any pictures with the baby. We had picked this restaurant because they had the beloved mango sticky rice, but decided since the food wasn't all that great we wouldn't give any more money or try not good tasting dessert. Instead we walked across the street to another place that also had had mango rice on the menu. It was pretty good.

Mmm...mango sticky rice!

Elephant Nature Park

We had an early morning rise as we were off to the Elephant Nature Park. After breakfast we waited to be picked up and boarded a van with about 8 other people. On the way to the park, they showed a video about proper etiquette in the park and then a short documentary filmed by some travelers and their experience in the sanctuary. We drove for about an hour and stopped for a bathroom and rest break before continuing on about 20 minutes to the park.

The first thing we did was feed the elephants some watermelons. That was a lot of fun! Then we took a short walk and saw a few other elephants on the grounds. We returned from the walk and had a vegetarian buffet lunch. There was some more down time and then they showed a video about some of the abuse other elephants in Thailand undergo becoming show animals or rides. (Watching the video was option and Oh Mee and I decided to skip it) Instead, we sat outside and watched the elephants wander around and wade through the river. Then it was on to bathing the elephants! This was a lot of fun, but it was a little awkward because there were 10 people trying to 'wash' one elephant, basically throwing buckets of water on it from both sides resulting in getting water thrown at you from the opposite side. We fed the elephants more (they eat so much!) and just had some time to take pictures with the elephants and be quite near them. Finally, we were served a snack and told there was one more feeding of the elephants before going home. Overall it was a good experience-I'm glad that we were able to do this and experience the elephants in a way that was non-obtrusive for them, but the day did kind of drag out and I think there was a lot of wasted and down time. I'm glad a place like this exists for the elephants; there were a few elephants that were victims from stepping on landmines and others that were used illegally for logging. Some were "street begging" elephants and it was quite sad to think of their difficult pasts.

Hey there!

So cool!

Oh Mee and me with some elephants

I passed out on the ride back and we arrived at our resort before I knew it. Oh Mee and I changed and then went to the city area to look for dinner. We stopped in a hotel to ask their concierge for a suggestion and were directed to Lemongrass Resto. There was a bit of a wait, but we figured that was a good sign. We finally were sat and studying the menu when I assume the manager came and asked us what we would like. We asked for a recommendation and he went through most of the menu pointing out different dishes. He gave us a little bit more time to think and we ended up picking a stir-fried dish and noodles. While we were waiting for our food we asked him if he knew somewhere to get Mango Sticky Rice. Oh Mee's mission was to find this dessert and when she said the name I didn't think it sounded that good-sweet rice? Nah, I won't like it. Anyway, the manager told us there was a place nearby and then said he could take us there right now. Oh Mee said, "yea let's go!" jokingly and he said, "Ok!" and he walked out the door. She followed after him (I stayed and watched our stuff) and he took her to a little food cart just down the street. Our food arrived and it was pretty good. Then we went to get the sticky rice. It was sooo good! I'm totally hooked now and missing the taste already. After eating our dessert we walked back and passed Lemongrass again. We asked the manager if there was a bakery around to get something for breakfast. He told us about a place and said it was so delicious, but it was closed for the day. Instead, he directed us to a grocery store on the other side of the river which was kind of him.

Dinner!

Lemongrass restaurant

We walked to the grocery store, which was also on the way back towards our place and got a few things to munch on in the morning. I moved into Oh Mee's room from my room since our flight to Phuket is AT 6am.

Cooking class and reunited with Oh Mee

Today was my Thai cooking class. I was picked up and joined a group of about 9 other people. First we all picked the dishes that we wanted to cook. That gave our instructor an idea of how many ingredients of what she needed to buy. While she collected the ingredients her friend explained about different vegetables to us in the market. Then it was off to the cooking studio to begin our work!

Explaining different vegetables

First up was our stir-fry dish. I picked pad thai and it wasn't too difficult to make. I hope that I can make it some day on my own, but it's always easier with the instructor there and most everything already part-way prepared and set for you! After the "fried" dish, we made our appetizer. I picked spring rolls. This too was easy to make; a lot easier than I thought. I also now know how to roll up a wrap! We made two of them and fried them. Yum. After that we made curry from scratch, starting with all the seasonings for a fresh powder. Then we made a soup and came back to finish making the curry. It was a busy cooking day, but fun. It was also nice because we didn't have to do the dishes!

Pad Thai

Our "babies"

Making our own paste for the curry

Cooking class!

Soup and curry

I asked to be dropped off at a different location, instead of being taken to my resort. I wanted to have some time to explore a little bit more before meeting Oh Mee. I walked around a little and then decided I should try and get some wifi so I could confirm and get updates from Oh Mee. I figured Starbucks would have wifi so I went to Starbucks and ordered a drink only to find out the wifi wasn't free there! I had my drink and then went in search of wifi elsewhere. I couldn't find any, so I sat in the big square and waited for Oh Mee in hopes that we would meet easily. After waiting a little bit, I saw her walking down the street and was quite relieved to see her! We returned to Starbucks and she ordered a drink. There we caught up and talked about her tour program. Next we walked to a market area near where she had stayed the week before. We got dinner and then headed back to our hotel.

I liked the quote "Can't get lost if you don't care where you are"

Stir Fry

Reunited with Oh Mee!

Doi Inthanon Tour

I woke up early to get breakfast and be picked up for my tour of Doi Inthanon. I was the only female in the group-there were two pairs of guy friends and a dad and son. Everyone kind of stuck to themselves for most of the tour so I didn't get to know anyone.

I hadn't planned on it, but I ended up falling asleep for most of the 1 1/2 hour ride. The first stop was a waterfall in the national park. It was pretty impressive. Next was another waterfall, equally beautiful and a lot less people. Then we stopped at a little village that made cloth and coffee. Next we went to a Hmong market-most of the things they were selling was dried fruit. We had some time to look around there and then went to lunch. After lunch we went on to the highest mountain in Thailand. It was actually a bit of a letdown. There was no view from this peak and I didn't realize we were there and had seen it. It was also quite cool up there, so I was glad I had decided to grab my hoodie at the last minute before I was picked up for the tour. I would have been freezing without it. We left the mountain and went down a little bit to see 2 big temples. These offered a much better view (though it was kind of misty and hazy) and some beautiful gardens. Then it was back to Chiang Mai. Again, I fell asleep on the ride. When I was dropped off I took a little bit of time to regroup before walking into town, which took me about 20-30 minutes.

First waterfall

In a village

Sign for the waterfall

Another waterfall

Goods for sale in the Hmong Market

National Park

Underwhelming-the tallest point in Thailand

The temple

 I found the Sunday Night Market and wandered the giant area closed off devoted to the market. I enjoyed eating 5 or 6 different foods from street stalls and taking in all the sights and sounds. I tried fried spring rolls, some sweet potato dough balls, mushroom wrapped bacon, egg tart, noodles, and roti. I ate my little heart out and everything was wonderful and cheap!

Some cool buildings on my walk

One of my favorites! Some kind of sweet potato fried dough

Bacon wrapped mushrooms

So many noodles!

I wandered around and then made my way back home. I chatted a little bit with my roommate, but unfortunately never caught her name. She is going to be teaching English in Thailand for a year; she is from South Africa.