**All photos were taken by Nik.

Fifteen hours later, and I am still in awe of watching 10,000+ lanterns float through the sky.  I suspect that I will still be in awe of this moment 15 years from now.  In fact, I think I might look at these photos every single day for the rest of my life.  And the most amazing part is that not only did 10,000+ lanterns float through the sky; 10,000+ people launched them into the sky, and Nik and I were among them!

The Buddhist tradition states that when you release a lantern, Kome Loy, into the sky, you are releasing your misgivings and are to make a wish.  This cleansing ritual makes it difficult to think of anything but how beautiful our lives are as we watched everyone’s wish float toward the heavens.

My wish is to celebrate Loy Krathong with my entire family through the act of releasing Kome Loy into the sky!

I also took a short video of the main release that Nik put to music.  You can watch a high quality version here on YouTube.  It is amazing!!!!

Nik also posted a lot of photos from our day of beauty: Fire in the Sky

The Floating Lantern Ceremony is part of Northern Thailand’s Loy Krathong Festival, also known as Yee Peng, and is held at the Buddhist Meditation Center, Tudong Ka Sathaan Lanna, behind the Mae Jo Agricultural University in San Sai District, Chiang Mai.

I often have expectations of how I think a certain day or trip should go, and our recent adventure was no different.  Nik and I have been planning a trip to Doi Inthanon National Park to go camping.  We do not have camping gear, but I had done a little research and found that they rent tents and blankets at the Park Headquarters.  They also provide free fire wood and have several restaurants throughout the park to eat at.  Perfect!  Nik and I could make the 1 1/2 hour drive in the morning, rent and pitch our tent in the afternoon, then have the rest of the day to see the highest peak in Thailand and sit around a campfire.  The trip would be very inexpensive (500 baht max) and simple.  Here was our chance to reconnect with nature and leave our cushy amenities behind!

Well, as with most expectations, mine weren’t met.  We didn’t leave Chiang Mai until 12:30, so we had to find lunch half way to our destination.  This was difficult because there weren’t many towns, and we didn’t see any street side vendors.  We finally went through a small town, and I had to convince Nik to make a U-turn to go to a small soup shop.

When we made it to the park, we were slapped with a 400 baht/person plus 20 baht/bike entry fee.  I guess I missed that in my research, so there goes my cheap getaway.

Storm Clouds*

At the time, the weather was beautiful, but we could see storm clouds rolling in.  We decided that we should go on to the top to get the best views, and as we reached the top, the clouds met us there.  We could see to the north, but not to the south.  Ugh!

The Highest Spot in Thailand*

We left the summit after some dilly-dallying around 4pm, and if the park headquarters was anything like the ones in America, they would be shutting down in about 30 minutes.  The clock was ticking.  We made it to the headquarters and they were still there, but they don’t rent tents.  The man at the information desk was very apologetic and told us that there were some bungalows just around the corner.  I was insistent on the tents, so he made a call and found out that someone had tents in a town called Ban Mae Klang Luang.  On our way to the village, the sun was setting, and a nice yellow glow was cast over the rice fields.  To me, this meant it was going to be dark soon, and we still didn’t have a tent or fire, so we better hurry up.  To Nik, this meant we had to stop and take photos.  We stopped.  But that view wasn’t perfect.   We stopped again.  Daylight’s fading….we need to set up camp!!!  Nik finally got his shot.

The Shot: Rice Fields at Sunset

We made the turn toward the village, and saw a small snack stand with 5 or 6 locals sitting around drinking beer and smoking cigarettes.  This must be it because there wasn’t much more.  We stopped and asked about tents.  I’m not sure anyone understood our question, but they pointed to another building 100 meters away that looked like the rec-lodge at summer camp.  This was promising, but no one was there.  We looked around for a minute and noticed that there were also bungalows.  The bungalows were simple, but they were at sitting between the base of Nik’s rice field and a large stream.  Slightly defeated, we agreed that a bungalow could be nice.

Eventually one of the locals came over to offer assistance.  He obviously didn’t own or work at the place, so he made a call on his cell phone.  I assume he was calling the owner, but no one answered.  Then a silver pick-up truck pulled in next to us with 5 men in the back.  One of them with a green t-shirt wrapped around his head seemed to be a friend of the original guy, and he started acting as the interpreter.  They were both laughing a lot and didn’t act like they knew what they were talking about.  The first guy went up to the desk at the rec-lodge and found a book.  He looked in it, then the guy in the truck said, “500 Baht for bungalow.”  I’m guessing the book was nothing more than a guest book, so I don’t know where the 500 baht came from.  Nik and I talked a little by ourselves, but 500 baht was more than I was willing to pay after the 820 baht hit at the entrance. So we asked, What about tents? He looked in the book again, then they talked and laughed back and forth a little more, and the guy in the truck said “250 Baht for tent.”   At this point I felt like I was being had.  It seemed like these were just two random guys trying to get us to give them money, so we walked away.  As we got back to the main road I asked Nik, “Did I really just make us turn down a comfortable bed in a quaint bungalow at the base of the most beautiful rice field in Thailand because it was $15/night???”  Nik said, “Yep, you did.”  But he backed me on the sketchiness of the situation.

Defeated, we went back to the park headquarters and checked into a bungalow there, which was 600 baht/night and didn’t have anything close to the atmosphere.  Ugh!!!  What a day.

Eco-Lodging & Cafeteria

But it wasn’t over.  We still had to eat dinner, and I still had hopes of being one with nature.  One way we could do both of these would be to go to the fresh produce market that we passed earlier, then we have a nice picnic in the park.  Sounds good, right?  As I suggested this, Nik informed me that we didn’t have any gas.  Neither of us remembered how far away it was, but we decided to risk it.  We’ll walk.  We were tired and hungry, but fresh produce would be worth it.  Luckily, we didn’t have to walk very far!!!  Horray, maybe this day wasn’t a complete failure.  But wait.  The market stalls are there, but there’s no market.  It was closed.  Back to the park headquarters to have dinner at the soulless cafeteria that is probably going to rip us off even more.

The cafeteria wasn’t that bad.  We both had Pad Siew for 30 baht each, but we weren’t any closer to nature.  We bought a few sweets at the little convenient store, went back to the bungalow, and sat on the porch and read while listening to frogs and crickets.  Me and nature….I guess.

The Porch*

I’m not exactly sure why, but we went on a walk.  It was pitch black outside, and it took our eyes a while to get used to it.  We found a stream, then we saw something glowing in the field on the other side.  It looked like a long white illuminated tunnel, and that’s exactly what it was.  Most of the farms near us were flower farms, and these white tunnels were made of translucent white plastic stretched over bamboo arches with compact florescent bulbs hanging from each arch.  During the day, they weren’t that spectacular, but at night, they looked like enormous glowing silk worms crawling through the valley.  We walked around for about an hour trying to get a good view so that we could take a photo.  We never found the right shot, but the adventure was worth it.  I even took us hiking up a drainage ditch!  Finally, me and nature!!

Flower Farm: Day | Night*

We had a satisfying night’s sleep, and woke up this morning with a new take on life.  We had no expectations, and just rolled with it.  We filled up the tank before visiting most of the park’s waterfalls, and had lunch on a bamboo platform floating in the water!  After lunch it rained and rained and rained, but as I have mentioned before, escaping the rain has created some of the best moments on our trip.  Our lunch host offered us a dry seat in her kitchen, and we happily obliged.  Then we made our way up to a hillside picnic shelter where Nik read “The World according to Garp” and I read “Invisible Cities”.  The rain calmed down and we headed home.  It was  a long ride, and we were exhausted. It was very nice to finally take the hot shower I had been anticipating the entire trip home!!!  Wait…I thought I was done with expectations?

Gas Pump

Sirithan Waterfall*

Mae Klang Waterfall*

Wachirathan Waterfall

Dining Companions

Dining Room with a View*

Nik’s Blog: Trip to Doi Inthanon National Park, Thailand

*These photos were taken by Nik.

Huay Tung Tao Reservoir

Today Nik and I took a short 30 minute drive to Huay Tung Tao Reservoir. The Thai’s call it “Chiang Mai’s Freshwater Lake”, which is a more accurate description because I don’t think the water is directly pumped into the city water system.

The lake and its surrounding land was donated by the Royal Family as a tourist destination and boasts activities such as paintball, paddle boats, fishing, ATV rentals, camping, picnic areas and a swimming area.  There are also several small concession stand/restaurants on the eastern edge of the lake.  Each restaurant has 20-30 small dining huts along the water which will accommodate 2-4 people as well as larger dining areas for bigger groups.  The atmosphere is very casual and laid back, especially today because the lake was mostly abandoned, except for a few fishermen and a handful of groups dining.

I have read that they are planning on “sprucing up” the area, which I think is a mistake.  There are plans to build a spa, an up-scale restaurant and even an internet cafe.  They don’t have enough parks in Chiang Mai, please don’t ruin this one with over develpment.

Map & Road

The beautiful lake....and they have toilets!! They also rent innertubes to float on.

Dining Hut #1 comes with entertainment.

The food was decent when paired with cold beer. (yes, we drank beer with ice...Nik assured me that that's what the Thai's do)

Umbrellas

Sprite Bottle Bouy and the Toilet built around a tree

If you ever visit Chiang Mai, I definitely recommend a day at the Reservoir.  The admission is 20Baht/person, and is completely worth it.  In fact, I think we are going to go back this weekend.  Hopefully it will be busier and we will enjoy some quality people watching!!

The suburbs where they install the shower head before the ceiling.

On the road to the Reservoir, we passed by a new suburban development. Nik and I are always sad to see these new homes because they are so similar to the American suburbs. But it is also sad because there are so many abandoned buildings in Thailand. In fact, many neighborhoods like this one never get completed because the money runs out. I hope this one succeeds, but I am doubtful.

Our motorbike journey began around 10:30am Wednesday morning with a full tank of gas, 1 change of clothes each, our cameras and a bottle of water.  We were headed to Pai, a small tourist town in northern Thailand.

Nik had done some research and knew that the trip would be about 130km if we took the basic route.  He also noticed that there was a “shortcut” that could shave off a few kilometers.  Since he was driving, I was in the navigation seat, and I was informed about the shortcut as we were driving down highway 107 past the a road that he thought might be it.  I consulted the map, and the road we were passing could indeed take us to Pai.  I would call it more of an “alternate route” rather than a “shortcut”, but that’s just semantics.

We decide to turn off, and about 30 minutes later, I start to question where we were.  All the signs were in Thai characters, and there wasn’t a single highway number to be found.  Some of the tourist landmarks looked like they could be what I saw on the map, but I wasn’t certain.  I ask Nik to stop so I could show him where I think we are, and he says, “That’s not the shortcut I was talking about. The shortcut I was talking about is way up here.”  He points to a little bitty road that basically cuts the corner off the main road that is a good 30km north of the “shortcut” I took us to.

Rather than backtrack, we go forward, and all of the navigation is left to me.  Translation: If we screw up, it’s my fault!!  We finally see signs confirming that we are on the road I thought, now we are just looking for the next turn near a town called Mae Khao which should take us into Khun Khan National Park.  Well, we never see Mae Khao, but we do see Khun Khan NP, so we turn right.  Then we run into this sign.

Well, nothing on that sign corresponds with anything on my map, so we opt for the bigger road, which is left.  The National Park is beautiful.  We find a couple good spots to stop and take in the view.  At several points we were driving along the ridge line and all we could see was mountains to our left and to our right.  Absolutely stunning!!

A few times along the way, the road turned from basic asphalt to pavers.  We both thought this was interesting and couldn’t imagine lugging all of those heavy stone pavers up the mountains.  Then I decided that they were used for traction, because it does rain a lot and they were always on steeply sloped areas.

As we neared the exit to the Khun Khan National Park, the road quality started to deteriorate.  There were heavily potholed areas every once in a while.  Then the basic asphalt road transitioned to solid packed dirt.  We thought it was kind-of cool that we had to drive along a short dirt section.  It qualified us to be true adventurers!  Then the dirt road started to erode.  Then the eroded dirt road turned into muddy eroded dirt road. Then the muddy eroded dirt road turned into muddy eroded dirt road on a steep hill.  We still thought it was cool.  We fishtailed a few times without falling, and Nik was officially my hero.

After an hour of constant bobbing and weaving, it wasn’t cool anymore.  Nik’s entire body had to be exhausted. (I was tired too, but all I was doing was holding on)  I still wasn’t certain we were where I thought we were, and as far as I could tell, we weren’t passing any of the towns I thought we should be.  In fact, we weren’t passing ANY towns.

Finally after another hour, we passed through a small village and decided we should stop and ask someone.  We spoke to a kind Thai man about our age that didn’t read or speak English, so he couldn’t tell us where we were on our map.  Nik asked if we were going in the direction of Pai, and he nodded yes.  Then we asked him what town we were in.  He told us, but we couldn’t find it on our map.  So we started pronouncing the cities we thought we might be in, and he kept shaking his head and pointing behind him, over the mountains, not in the direction we had come from or where we were going.  Then finally, we noticed a small blue line on our map that was west of the road we thought we were on.  We tried one more time, and said “Khun Mae Tala?”, and his face lit up and he started pointing down at the ground!!  We finally knew were we were.  We were on a rural mountain road that stretched between Pang Ma-o and Wat Chan.  We weren’t exactly sure where or how we had missed our turn.  It must have been at that crazy sign.

At 3:00pm (5 hours into our 4 hour journey), we were only half-way to Pai.  By our estimation we still had 2/3 of the dirt road journey ahead of us until we reached Wat Chan.  We couldn’t turn back, so we went on.  More bobbing and weaving.

To add to the excitement, it started to rain.  We found shelter just off the road to rest and let the storm pass.  We knew that more rain was making the road worse, so we just prayed that we didn’t get stuck in the middle of no where.  The sky cleared, and we were on our way again.  By 5:00 we still weren’t to Wat Chan, and we were starting to run out of gas.  By 6:30pm we still weren’t there, and that’s when we happened upon this little village.

We found a makeshift gas station and filled up.  Nik asked the villager how far to Wat Chan?  10km.  Thank goodness!!!  If he is right, driving at 10km/hr, we should be able to make it to paved roads in about an hour.  We should be driving on paved roads just before the sunset turns to pitch black darkness!

Our friendly villager was right. 10km later, we arrived at Wat Chan right as the last bit of daylight went away. And this darkness was the darkest dark of night you’ve ever seen.  No street lights.  No houses with lights on in the distance.  No moon.  Just mountain roads with the occasional motorbike or car.  While Nik focused on avoiding potholes and making the curves and shifting gears as we went up and down the mountains,  I was cowspotting.  This was necessary because cows would randomly be sleeping in the middle of the road.

We finally arrived in Pai around 10:00pm, 10 1/2 hours after we left.  The drive was amazing.  We saw some of the most incredible views and the most terrible roads.  We never panicked.  We never lost our tempers.  We gave each other a huge hug when it was done, happy to be alive and not on the motorbike!

Thursday we spent the day wandering around Pai by foot.  Friday morning, we hit the road again at 10:30am, but we took the basic route this time.  We drove through several rain storms, and had to stop 8 or 10 times along the way to let the heavier rain pass.  We were happy to be on paved roads, and got an amazing satisfaction out of driving in the rain.  There was nothing between us and nature.  It was like being a little kid jumping in puddles.  Too bad we didn’t have our rain boots on!!!

Nik’s blog: Epic journey to Pai

This is the first time that Nik and I have truly told the same story in our blogs, and it’s pretty interesting to see how we explain the exact same events.  His also has more photos of Pai because my camera batery died early on.

27 years ago my parents brought me into the world, and I promise you that they never expected me to spend any of my birthdays in Thailand!!  I wish that I could celebrate every new year of life with my entire family, throwing a big birthday cake, ice cream and presents party like my niece Reagan had recently. But I suppose we all grow out of that phase where everyone wants to watch us eat cake and open presents (much less give us presents!!). Instead I have found myself making birthday wishes for new experiences.  I like to go places and see things with the people I love.  This time, I wanted to go somewhere I had never been before.  So that’s what we did.  Nik took me on a trip away from the city, and we rode our motorbike to see places we had never seen before.

Our transportation

The route: 200km (125mi) Hwy 107N, Hwy 1260E, Hwy 1001N, Hwy1150W, Hwy 107S.

On Thursday morning, we left Chiang Mai around 10:30 with the intention of driving towards Phrao to find accommodation by nightfall.  We knew it was about 100km, but we had no clue what the roads would offer.  For all we knew, they might be dirt or gravel the entire way…so we gave ourselves plenty of time. It turned out that the roads were nicely paved 2-lane highways.  There were a few places that went over and through the mountains, but we were in valleys for the most part.  The roads were gentle and fun to drive on.  Perfect for our first big outing.

Also, the weather cooperated handsomely.  The outside temperature was probably 75-80ºF, partly sunny and dry!!!  No rain the entire drive, even though we saw several storm clouds in the distance.

Leaving Chiang Mai...at that gate, the adventure begins!!

we kept left

I tried to photo this woman who was riding with at least 6 huge bags of vegetables, but I was too slow. Luckily I was able to catch the back of her motorbike with a couple typical roadside buildings.

ultra green rice fields

Nik eating corn.

I love blue skies!!

Beautiful white gate marking a temple which was out of sight.

We reached Phrao just before lunch time, and found a pleasant restaurant on the corner where we could watch the activity of the daily market across the street.  We had fried rice while the owner nicely spoke to us in Thai.  Nik understood a few things, but I didn’t understand anything so I just smiled and nodded.

Our lunch spot.

After lunch we had iced coffees near an irrigation ditch which happened to be across from a longanberry orchard. I wish we could have had longanberry desert!

Since it took us just a couple hours to reach Phrao, we decided to finish the loop and try to make it home by sunset.  The first part of the drive home was similar to the trip there, beautiful mountains and farmland for as far as the eye could see.

Hay bail stacks near the rice fields. Photo by Nik.

Corn fields and rice fields and banana trees and lime orchards!!

Those are storm clouds...pretty ominous, huh?!

Then there were more blue skies!

Then about 40km outside of the city, we got on the busy Highway 107 that travels between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.  Driving was more stressful, our butts hurt, the scenery wasn’t nearly as nice, and it looked like rain.

Dinner menu.

Luckily, we made it back just in time to sit down for dinner at the outdoor market under an umbrella as the sky dropped.  The rain was fast and hard, so when we finished eating 30 minutes later it was clear and dry for our short ride home.

It is hard to find birthday cake in Thailand.  They don’t have bakeries on every corner, and the bakeries don’t sell cakes.  So we were pleasantly surprised when the French couple that lives on our floor had slipped a note under our door asking us to join the for dessert that evening.  They knew of a great ice cream parlor, iberry, about 5 minutes away on Nimanhemin Road, so off we went to have ice cream!!  Unfortunately I didn’t take my camera.  Iberry is a great little dessert shop owned by a famous Thai artist.  The interior atmosphere was creative and trendy.  There were great sculptures and light fixtures made out of everyday thai objects that I will have to go back and photograph.  In addition to the great space, they had great ice cream, but they also had CAKE!!!!!  Nik and I both ordered a slice while our friends did the ice cream/cake combo.  I wish I had thought of that!  We chatted for an hour or so before I became so sleepy that I could hardly keep my eyes open.  It was time for my day to be finished.

Birthday 2008 is one for the record books.  I was able to talk to my family on Skype, see places I had never seen before and eat birthday cake with new friends.  I am a lucky girl.

Nik’s blog: Day Tripping, Toe Jams, Confused Pizza Boy