By Far The Most Incredible Adventure I've been on in my Life!

To be honest everyone I can't do justice of this one in the words that I express in this blog but I will certainly do my best. The adventure that I was on last Saturday was the single most exhilarating and powerful outdoor thing I have ever done. I was introduced to a place that sets up a variety of outing experiences that has something for everyone (and believe me there are many of these outfits but I was drawn to this one....there are no accidents). I decided to take a one day trek which was absolutely amazing and met a incredible Thai woman who was our guide. She is extremely knowledgeable and passionate at what she does. Her smile and kindness added to this very nurturing and intense lifetime experience.

We started on the road about 8am leaving just across from where I am living at the moment in a nice 4x4 vehicle (many of the other outfits have outdated vehicles that makes for a miserable ride), great touch! All the time we were on the road she provided us with all kinds of information about the areas and answered our questions. It was really cool too because I gave her my camera and she did a wonderful job at capturing many of the images. Thank You my friend!!!!

Our first stop was at an Elephant farm where we had the opportunity to ride in baskets on the elephant with a Mahoot (actually next week I am taking a one day course in Mahoot training which I will share with you at that time). The ride was just under an hour where we rode in the thick brush and ending by riding through a river bed, how cool. I bought a few bags of bananas to feed the elephant for 40 baht and that was not enough. Elephants can really put it away! My Mahoot was a wonderful Thai woman who answered all my questions and if you look into it you probably won't hear too much about women doing this. There was a young boy who was the mahoot for the couple that was with us. He was such a cute kid!

Afterwards we headed to a Karen Tribe Village. I was really moved by these people. They were making beautiful works and our beautiful guide communicated with them and explained many things to us. I felt privileged to have been in their presence. At one point we came to one of the homes where there was a beautiful baby with his grandfather, very special stuff. We walked down where people were working near the rice fields. A wonderful lady allowed me to take a photo of her. While we were walking around our guide explained many of the local plants and some of the uses for them especially the healing aspects.

We then went to Maewang Waterfall where I went for a swim. It was cool to swim in some of the power of the fall. Walking along the bamboo was a little scary because it was not wide and being a big fella it was not easy but my guide was great at getting me through it.

The next stop was the Bamboo River Rafting where we went down a river on bamboo that is tied together with shreds of bamboo. I really liked it and had fun helping the guy who was taking us down with the flow of the river and even hit a few rapids.

At the staging area our guide and driver picked us up and drove us to a local area where we had a delicious dish of worms. Boy, they sure was tasty!!! Just kidding, I couldn't tell you because I did not indulge. I did egg on people though. There were some people close by from Poland so I walked over there getting them to try the worms taking photos. Actually I was able to convince them to try it, am I a salesman or what? Most of them actually did eat some. We did have a wonderful meal of veggies, curry dish, of course rice and fresh fruit for dessert. Our beautiful guide really made sure I was well taken care of. I say this because the seats that they had would not accommodate me so she went in and got something comfortable for me to sit on. I was really moved of how attentive this sweet lady was and looked out for me on the whole trip.

The feature of the trip was heading up to the peak of the highest mountain in Thailand, Doi Inthanon. We saw another waterfall just off the road along the way. What a breathtaking ride. We stopped at The Great Holy Relics Pagoda of Nabhamethanidol - Nabhapolbhumisiri. All I can say about this part is WOW! The most amazing site that I have ever seen. We hung out there for a while checking out both sides for the King and Queen. Again I really enjoyed connecting with some Thai people. It has really been easy for me to start talking with them and most speak some English and even when they didn't we shared a smile and took photos together.

We continued the ride to the peak where we had the chance to walk around at the top of the summit. Incredible!!!! The sun was just about ready to set, I have not seen a more beautiful sight in my life. As we were heading back down to the vehicle there was a couple of gentlemen that was enjoying a glass of wine who was with another tour group and of course like many times I struck up a conversation with them. They said if you join our tour we give you wine with the trip and I said but they wouldn't have this special Thai women as our guide. I would not trade her in for any other. However they did share a glass with me to take anyways. One guy also spoke some French so I shared a few words and laughs with him as I walked on with my small group. As we continued to walk just to the right someone notice a trail by the name of Aang-Ka (Michael trail....how about that?).

Made it to the vehicle just as it turned dark. We were heading back when at the last minute our fantastic guide had the driver to pull close to the giant waterfall. We could not really see it well and certainly could not take the photos. She was so apologetic but I told her no need because for me just to be in the presence of this MAGNIFICENT Waterfall was extremely intense. Matter of fact I stopped to do a few moments of Qi-Gong really taking it in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we were back on the road. Our guide was so sweet that before we got back into Chiang Mai they pulled over and she went into a shop and bought us sandwiches. You really can tell that she has such a big heart and I find her to be such a very special person. I am very happy to have met her. After we got back to the guesthouse just over 12 hours later we shared wonderful conversation which just top it off for me.