We got back from homestay Friday afternoon and after a short rest, we had dinner and quickly got dressed to attend a special temple service. Apparently, Friday was a holiday. Known as Visakha Bucha, it is the day commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. We were fortunate to be able to go to at the Wat Phra Kaew. It is the temple that once housed the original Emerald Buddha (now in a Wat in Bangkok). However, a replica of the original Buddha was commissioned in 1990 and now sits in its place. The new Buddha is known as the Chiang Rai Jade Buddha.
There we met a kind, old British ex-pat, named Peter,who happens to be a English professor at Chiang Rai University. He and his Thai wife are Buddhists that attend classes at that temple regulary and he apparently is in with the Abbet (sp?) or head monk. He sat next to us and explained what was happening during and after the service. Mainly, we listened to a lot of chanting, which is quite soothing and did alot of bowing. Its a killer on your knees, but totally worth it. After the main service, we took the flowers, lit the incense and candles we brought along and walked around the temple three times, then we placed the placed the incense in the urn and the flowers and candle on the tables an offering. Before we left, Peter arranged for us to meet the exalted Abbet, which was an honor considering how busy he was that day. The Abbett let us take his picture, asked us where we were from and then gave us a blessing. It was definitely a warm and fuzzy moment.
On Saturday, the village kids came to the foundation to play games with the volunteers and learn how to grow mushrooms (the edible kind), so I joined in on that until the Thai donuts I had that morning for breakfast got to me. I know I"m not supposed to eat them, but once again, there was nothing else to eat. For lunch, I just went into the kitchen and made myself some eggs. I don't think the cooks appreciated that, but I was sick of eating morning glory with nothing but salt for seasoning on them. (They are still struggling with understanding what the gluten free diet entails.)
Later that afternoon, I got to get out of dodge a little early, so I headed to the main bus station and caught the last bus to Chiang Mai to see my friends, Justin and Lynsday for the last time. This past week was the last week of volunteer service of Justin and Lyndsay and with them leaving on Friday morning and me being on homestay, I missed saying goodbye to them. Besides, I needed to get away. I arrived in Chiang Mai late Saturday night and we got to spend a couple hours catching up. Then we woke up super early Sunday morning to do the Flight of the Gibbons. The Flight of the Gibbons is the zipline tour. We were driven to this beautiful forest about 45 minutes from downtown, where we met a couple of tour guides, who incidentally, worked at Mirror Foundation. After some chitchat about the people we knew in common, we got strapped into our gear, given basic instructions and were taken to the first of 10 platforms. The first step off the platform is the scariest, but then it's a breeze. Except for when the our guides, Mau Mau and Yo, started shaking the lines while we were barreling towards the tree. A couple times I bounced off the tree because I had picked up so much speed. For some reason, Mau Mau thought that was very funny. We also had the opportunity to repel down three of the platforms, as well as shoot right into a net. Afterwards, they took us to a nearby waterfall. Actually, it was a series of 7 connecting waterfalls. Then after the hike, they served us an herbal tea and a cold towel as we relaxed for a few minutes. We then had a great yellow curry with chicken and potatoes for lunch before they dropped us off at our hotel again.
That night, we tried to have dinner at a local restaurant that caters to Farang, called the Riverside. Lyndsay and I have been craving baked potatoes with all the fixings since the beginning of time, so when we saw it on the menu, we ordered it immediately. Now, I think its qite difficult to screw up a baked potatoe, but somehow they managed to do it. The potatoe itself was a tad bit off. I couldn't tell if it was over or undercooked, but it wasn't soft, soft. It didn't have butter on it and the bacon was that freeze dried, precooked, paper thin crap you can buy at Costco. But really, I think what really soured it for us was the waitresses. There were four of them just hovering around our table staring at us. We think it was because we were one of the few customers in the joint and they were trying to provide us quick service, but in the end, we just felt like we didn't want to stay there any longer so we headed to the night bazaar for cheaper food and some bargain hunting.
I'm sure you have an idea of what a night bazaar is, right? Picture kiosks of handicrafts, luggage, knockoff clothings and bags, shoes, and everything else you can think of lining both sides of the main strip. Many of the kiosks sell the same thing, so you really have to be patient and just work your way down. However, because it's low tourist season, it's prime time for some major wheeling and dealing. Walking away seems to be the key signal to the vendor that he's going to lose a sale, so he will generally drop the price. Also, going later at night seems to be beneficial since most vendors are ready to cut deals just to make any kind of sale before they shut down for the night. Its a hoot. I have to admit, we did get a case of the guilts a couple times, since the products were already so cheap by American/Canadian standards and we were asking them to knock the price down even more, but hey, I didn't set up this system. Besides, I know they made their money back on some of the other poor saps who didn't bother to bargain. For example, this one guy tried to sell me a bag for 950 baht. But Lyndsay had bought a similar, though larger bag, for 350 baht somewhere else. Ya, wasn't feeling so bad for that guy after she told me that. Another time, I was looking at a new carryon and the guy went from 2200 to 1500. But I said I would think about it. When I came back, the dude tried to sell it to me for 2600. Lame. There was also a guy who tried to tell me his fake Oakleys were the real deal. Come on now, I told him I got real Oakleys and what he was selling wasn't them. So then he told me he could get them for me tomorrow. Right...They will say just about anything to make a sale. Too funny!
After the shopping frenzy, I had built up an appetite and needed to eat again. (OMG! I'm eating sooo much here. I'm turning into a big fat pig. Ok, not really, since my clothes still fit, but I do eat more than I had in the States.) The food around the night bazaar is pretty much the same as the 'yellow tables' in Chiang Rai. Basically, there are food stalls set up around a square and tables in the middle. They tables are yellow. Don't ask me why. Anyway, you can get just about any kind of food for a really cheap price. Last night, I ended up getting lemon chicken and rice and it cost me 40 baht, which is about $1.20 US. It's usually a single serving, which wasn't quite enough for me (told ya I was a big fat pig), so I went and got some yellow curry and another bowl of rice. Justin and Lyndsay, who had told me to get the curry, failed to mention my mouth would be engulfed in flames, so I ended up giving most of it to them to finish. Lesson learned: always ask about the heat factor and take into consideration that peoples tolerance may differ from your own. Sean and Charlotte, a couple of volunteers who took the bus with me from Chiang Mai, met us at the tables later. Sean had this awesome dish made up of an omelette and oysters. I think I may need to try that next time.
Well, that was the end of night. We headed back and went to bed. This morning, I saw Justin and Lyndsay for the last time. It's strange how I've spent every single day over the last 3.5 weeks and now I won't ever see them again. It's very sad....Hopefully, we will keep in touch. They were such great people to hang out with. I'm really going to miss them.
Now, I'm heading back on the 1st class bus (yes, the one that cost 30 baht more than the crappy bus I was on the first time) to Chiang Rai. Most of the original crew I had arrived with has now left and a new batch will be here next week. Sigh.
Tomorrow starts week 5. Can you believe it? I feel like I've lived here forever. Still need to work out what I'm going to do at the end of my 6 weeks. But also need to wrap up some projects at the foundation. Trying to generate some cashflow for the volunteer supply fund and will be working on helping overhaul the eBannok (hilltribe handicrafts sold online) business. Good times...
