Weekend with Caryn and Mike

Hiking to the hilltribes
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I booked a flight on "Nok Air" for $125 round trip to Chiang Mai to visit my cousin Caryn and her husband Mike who are living in Chiang Mai and working with Campus Crusade for Christ. I had never really met Caryn, because she has always lived far away. I knew that I would love her when I met her, though, and I was right.

On Friday we ate at an Indian restaurant and went to the Night Bazaar in downtown Chiang Mai. The shopping is so much better than anything in Bangkok that I've seen- cheap and very unique. I got a lot of gifts for people, and some nice things for myself.

Chiang Mai is definitely more of my kind of place than Bangkok

Caryn on the elephant's neck.
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On Satruday morning, we woke up early and got in a van with some other foreigners to go on a tour. We began with hiking about a half hour to visit the Hmong hilltribe. I'd read a book about the Hmong for my class a couple years ago, so it was crazy to actually go and be amidst them. Then we went on an elephant ride.

It was really nice and relaxing to move through the forest on an elephant. Caryn and I's guide was the crazy one of the bunch, and he had us take turns getting out of the seat on the elephant's back to ride on its neck. That is not a stable position until you're used to it, let me tell you. We ate lunch and hiked to a Karen hilltribe. Then we went and played around in a beautiful waterfall. It

Caryn, Mike and Ginger.
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was darn cold, but I grabbed Caryn's hand and we ran in (to the smaller one- I think the big one would have knocked me over). Then when we were nice and soggy, we went on a bamboo river rafting ride. Neither of us took our cameras, but the rafts are basically 20 foot long bamboo poles lashed together to be about 5 feet wide, and the guide uses another bamboo pole to help us down the river and avoid hazards. It turns out it was a good thing that I didn't take my camera, because I denintely fell into the water when we were going over a rough spot. It stunned me for a minute because it was so cold, but there is no stopping a river raft, so I hurled myself onto the back of it.

Caryn at the waterfall.
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We went back to Caryn's house (which is absolutely beautiful) and got showered and ate some good pizza (my first American food while here). We headed to the night bazaar and did some more shopping and got amazing foot/ leg massages for approximately $2 US.

On Sunday, Mike came home so I got to meet him finally. WE all dawdled until we finally put Ginger (their golden retriever) into the back of the truck and headed outside Chiang Mai. We went to a rock climbing spot and watched people climb, took some pictures, hiked with Ginger, and found some caves to climb around in. All in all, it was a beautiful day.

A Hmong man.
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Basically, I had an amazing weekend because of Caryn and Mike's generosity and kindness. If I had planned out a perfect weekend for myself, that would be about what would be in it. Chiang Mai is definitely more of my kind of place than Bangkok- the mountain skyline, smaller feel, cooler weather... I really want to stay there. I began looking at Chiang Mai University for grad school yesterday :)