Living on a Prayer

Today is Day 13 of 26, I believe. Or 14, I forget. Either way, our trip is roughly half way complete. Though it feels like an eternity since we first set foot in JFK almost two weeks ago, I can't believe it actually has been that long already. I think we all are becoming at least mildly homesick -- whatup to all of our lovely mothers, fathers, siblings, significant others, relatives, and dear friends -- you are all missed very much and thought of/spoken of often. But not enough to leave just yet!

Let me begin by making a few addendums to Ben's post... The life insurance (provided by AIG...) was actually 200,000 baht, not 6000. By 'pouring rain', Ben means that it rained lightly for maybe a third of the trek. Considering how stifling the sun was when it wasn't raining, it was generally welcomed by us all. Shiloh IS the cutest puppie alive, and I miss him dearly. I also don't know how Ben failed to mention that, aside from my performance the night of our return, the nearest to death experience we have had so far occured during our white water adventure. We were split into two rafts - Anthony and I in one with a guide, and Ben and Vas in another with theirs. At this one rapid, mine and Anthony's boat got stuck between two rocks in the middle of the rushing water and literally bent in half, with me hanging on to the edge of the raft. Just as I was ready to jump and say my prayers, our guide was able to get the thing loose. EXTREME.

Okay, I'll pick up from there. Our night out with M and Pipe that night was absolutely legendary. I blame Pipe entirely for my complete intoxication. Thankfully, the other guys were well enough to take care of me. We went to Roots, Rock, Reggae, a live music bar off the beaten path just near our hostel that happened to be a local favorite and a staple among the Peak Adventure employees. Amazing time and great experience overall.

Yesterday was largely a bust to be honest. We had planned to go to Doi Suthep National Park, home to Wat Doi Suthep, roughly 16km outside of Chiang Mai. Disappointed from arriving after closing time the day before, I woke up before everyone else and walked down the street to the Chiang Mai Womens' Prison, where I received a 30-minute Thai foot massage from an inmate for 100 baht, or roughly $3, including a 33% tip (she deserved it - my feet were nasty after three days of all that hiking, rafting, and rappelling). All of the proceeds go toward supporting the inmates once they are released.

After that, I did return to find the guys eating breakfast at our wonderful MD Guesthouse. That place is sorely missed. After checking out, we took a 'red truck' up the mountain to Wat Doi Suthep. When I tell you that was the windiest road I have ever been on, I am by no means exaggerating. It seemed like forever before we reached the top, and I'm fairly certain that each of us was on the verge of vomitting. It took me two hours to fully recover. The temple itself was nothing special - similar to all the rest we've seen - but it did have an interesting 360-some-odd step staircase which was kinda cool, and a spectacular view of Chiang Mai and the surrounding valley. Sorry, no time for pics now. We'll get some up when we get to Ratavy's tomorrow in Phnom Penh. After that, we wasted 30 minutes of our live by heading further up the mountain to some palace whose name isn't worth even looking up right now. There were some lame gardens, some unexciting buildings, and a dry water reservoir, but that's about it.

After that, we headed back to the MD House, grabbed some food, and played a bunch of spades until it was time to catch our overnight bus back to Bangkok. The bus itself was amazing - fully reclining seats, double decker, massaging chairs, free food and drinks, pillows, blankets, etc., but none of us slept very much as the Thai movie and music they played sporadically was so loud, and we stopped twice to have our passports checked and once for a 30-minute rest stop... In fact, all of the others are still in bed. I need to go wake them so we can catch the 2:00pm showing of Transformers at the Paragon in Siam Square. It's supposed to be a cinematic adventure - each person gets their own lazy boy or something. I dunno, Vas has been raving about it for days. Tomorrow we head to the airport for our quick flight to Cambodia. Can't wait!

Laaater,
Kyle