day 14: beach bums

i woke up around 8 a.m. with a great nights rest behind me.  i stretched out under the down comforter and pressed my limbs against the silk sheets until i realized that i was alone in the bed.  when i walked outside, this is what i found:

we spent the entire day at the beach.  it was a quiet beach with a lovely view of an island.  we each had a book, a towel, some water and some great restaurants within walking distance.  it was a great day to relax, pray and enjoy each other's company.

we ended the day with a beautiful dinner of pad thai and green curry, and, of course, a full body couples' massage.

day 13: the estate

day 13

after spending the last four days in a mountain town, we headed more south to the beaches of phuket, thailand to relax and get some sun.

we arrived at the resort to be greeted with fresh juice and snacks.  they drove us in a golf cart to our private villa.  we opened the giant rustic wooded door that we thought would lead us into the bedroom.  instead, this door opened up to a private swimming pool, a tiny bamboo hut with a table and chairs, an outdoor shower and a lounging bed.  we walked on and through another door that led inside to a giant king-sized bed with a canopy streaming down all four sides, a raised ceiling that had a chandelier hanging down from the highest point, a lounging corner with a giant cushion dressed with pillows, a coffee table and a mini bar.  our bathroom was larger than our actual apartment in korea.  it had a giant shower with a shower head that rained from the ceiling, an extra deep bath tub that lay on a rock island and giant windows with a sliding-glass door that led back out to the pool.

night 12: our last night in chiang mai

after bungy jumping, we decided to spend our last night in chiang mai just relaxing.  we enjoyed a walk around the city which is enclosed by a canal that runs in a perfect square.  we also decided that we deserved another massage, ate another $1 meal of green chicken curry and pad thai, and then headed to a pool bar with live music.

we were very impressed with each musician at this bar.  when we first arrived we heard a solo artist perform classics, and after him a band took stage and invited the crowd to request any song they wanted.  to our amazement this band was able to perform each request; knowing all the key changes, guitar riffs and lyrics.  near the end of the night i decided to throw a challege at the band and requested some jay-z.  i wrote my request on a slip of paper and walked it up to the stage, flashed it to the lead singer and he just laughed and said that he was sorry but they were singing the last song.  i must say, it is one of my only regrets of the trip: waiting so long to request.

we stayed at the pool bar and joined in on a pool tournament with a few friends that went bungy jumping with us.  it was a great end to chiang mai.

day 12: thrill-seeking tourists

day 12

ryan: what do you want to do today?

me: i don't know.  maybe go rock climbing.

ryan: yeah, but if it rains, we will have to stop and it won't be worth it.

me: aw crap, you're right.  um, bungy-jumping?

ryan:  yeah?!

me: yeah! (squeel)

in the picture below, the guy is asking me if i have ever done this before.  and my reaction is "no" with the following face.

my jump:

ryan's jump:

now we are addicted and craving another jump.

day 11: jungle flying

day 11

we took a 1.5 hour drive up into the mountains.  as we were driving, there were times when it felt like the truck was going to tip backwards because the climb was so steep, but once we got to the top the view was amazing.  at the top is where we climbed into trees, hooked ourselves in a harness, placed our hair caps on our heads, and strapped on our helmets.  we zip-lined from treetop to treetop, walked across wooden bridges that were nearly 100 yards from the ground, and zip-lined straight down from the treetop to the ground. 

during this free-fall, the workers played a funny joke on ryan by telling him to unhook one of his straps, (which is what we were suppose to do), but as soon as ryan unhooked they yelled, "no no!", to scare him.  they did it to me too.

day 10: elephant trekking

day 10

we woke up, had our usual breakfast and then waited on the front porch of our b&b for our ride to pick us up.  when the truck pulled up, we hopped inside and joined 7 other guys from the UK.  we all squeezed into the back of the truck and headed on our way to the mountains for an all day adventure of elephant trekking, hiking, waterfall swimming, and white water rafting.

first was the elephant trekking.  it was a 45 minute trek through the jungle.  the elephants carried us through a ravine and up alongside a narrow trail on a mountain.  afterwards we were all served lunch and then headed out for hiking.

the hike was probably the best hike i have ever done.  it was a two hour hike on a narrow path that ran alongside a raging river.  we were given hiking sticks at the beginning of the hike.  at first i thought that it was a cute idea, but then i realized that we would need those sticks in order to save our lives.

the water was abnormally high due to monsoon season.  at several different times on our hike we had to cross the river by balancing on a small log that had been thrown from one side to the other.  we had to climb over boulders, weave in and out of tree roots that had been uprooted and blocking the trail, and jump from rock to slippery rock that was in the river and part of the trail.  it rained for the whole duration of our hike, so the trail was really muddy and rarely visible.  my walking stick saved me from sliding in the mud and down the cliff into the river.  eventually the hike led us to a gigantic waterfall.


below is a picture of one of the log contraptions we had to balance on to cross the river.

after our hike we headed to another part of the same river to go white water rafting.  this was probably my favorite part.  we had fun group on our raft and we raced the other rafts down the river.

later that night we met up with all the same guys that went on the adventure with us.  we went to a reggae bar and hung out and eventually danced the night away.