Finale.

       This will probably be my last post as I leave in two days to head home. I am still in Pai and have been loving every minute of it. I have not explored much of Thailand so it is not a very accredited statement, but Pai is my favorite place so far. I wish I could put pictures up right now, but a brief explanation will have to do. I rented a motorbike on Friday and went to find Mae Yen waterfall. I wasn't sure I was going the right way, but I asked a local and she said yes so I went on. I got to the end of the road and started hiking on the trail. The falls were supposed to be about an hour and a half walk. My hiking went on for two hours before I called it quits and turned around. It was a beautiful hike, but not the right way to Mae Yen waterfall. I rode my motorbike through the rain to the nearby hot springs, hottest hot springs ever. There were different levels, but still so hot. I stayed here for about 3 hours and met some cool people then headed back into Pai. No one has been out doing much at night as it was Buddha day or something for the 2 and 3 so there is no selling alcohol so everyone was nestled up in their rooms or something. Yesterday (Friday) I went to go check out another waterfall. This time, however, I decided to take a pedal bike. When it came to the big decision of road bike or mountain bike, I chose the cheaper road bike. By cheaper I mean 20 baht cheaper which is less than a dollar... If you are ever in a foreign country and have such a predicament- go with the mountain bike. Mae Paeng waterfall is about 7 K out of Pai. I started off on my wonderful bike and ran into nothing but uphill the entire way. Some of the hills were so steep that it was actually impossible for the road bike to go up. On my way, 3 foreign boys rode past on their motorbikes and mooned me. So funny. Even better was I then saw them once I got to the falls and we all just laughed. The falls were great. My favorite spot. It was a two-tiered waterfall and you could slide down the rocks on the first tier like a slide! So much fun. The climb up after sliding down was the tricky part. I got some good God time in on top of the falls and then a guy from Israel showed up so began talking to him. Soon after, three more guys from Israel showed up. Apparently everyone from Israel goes to Thailand because it is cheap. We slid down the rocks a few more times and after about 3 hours of being there I went for the ride back down. So much easier and quicker than the ride up. Last night everyone was back out on the town and I went down to watch a live band play. They were good and very entertaining. I think I may take some dance classes from the lead singer. The bass guitarist was pretty sweet too as he sat there playing while smoking a joint. Pai is like the Boulder of Colorado. Today I rented another motorbike and took a loop that goes through the mountains and back. This loop includes Pai Canyon and Pembok waterfall. First I went to Pembok. It was very pretty and also very fun. I got there and hiked up around on the trails until they ended then went back down and ate my mango for lunch. I again got to have some time with God and then I went to take a dip under the falls. A guy from England had just gotten there so we both swam up to under the fall. After that, I left and went to Pai Canyon. It is really not much of a canyon, more like a ridge... I guess the canyon is beneath the ridge, but the ridge is the big attraction. It is a pretty red dirt ridge about 3 feet wide that goes on and you can walk all across. It is very cool and crazy because it just drops off on either side. After the canyon I headed to the Chinese village and view point near there. I was not all to impressed with either so I didn't stay long. I am not sure what I will do tomorrow. I think I will try to go to the other two waterfalls nearby and then I catch the bus back to Chiang Mai around 4 p.m. I don't know what to do on Tuesday. Chiang Mai has little to offer that I would spend money on so maybe this will be a rest day. That is the nice thing about Pai, everything I have done (other than renting bikes and hot springs) is free so it is much cheaper than excursions that cost $100. I fly out that night at 11:50 p.m and take forever to get home. I have like 7 hour layovers in both Seoul and L.A.. Bummer.
          I was unsure about this solo travel thing and not sure I would enjoy it, but I have. God knew just what I needed and has given me a lot of time in the past few days to enjoy His presence and His creation. He has brought in several cool people to fulfill my need to socialize and interact with others while also giving me a lot of time with Him I did not know I so badly desired to have. He has given me the perfect amount of adventure and exploring and also rest. Praise God that He knows my needs and desires far better than myself. I will post a few pictures up in my next post when I am at home!

K