Goodbye Thailand, Hello reality

So I'm back in Austin after a few days of relaxation with the parents. The last few days in Thailand were incredible though. The jungle trek up into the mountains was unbelievably beautiful. Before we left, we stopped to visit the shaman in the Lisu village. We had a translator there, so we could ask him questions and vice versa. It was really interesting. Part of tradition with the Lisu people is to drink a cup of tea to welcome and then a shot of corn whiskey for good luck upon departure. Mind you this is 8:30 in the morning, but in respect of their culture, we did it. It's not the most pleasant thing to drink before we set off on our 2-day hike. The last picture is the whole group I traveled with, and in the background is Burma.





The hike itself was pretty challenging, especially with the massive amount of rain we had that made the trails slippery, but we managed. The view from way up there was absolutely breathtaking. Along the way, we found a rolly polly that was about 5x the size of any I've seen here. I wanted everyone to appreciate it, so I carried it in my hand the rest of the way. Everyone couldn't believe how huge it was.



Once we got back to Chiang Mai, we had a free day to explore the city. I visited the Silk Village and brought back some amazing gifts for the parents and myself. The next afternoon, we boarded an overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. That was really fun. I'd never ridden in one before, but you can surprisingly sleep really well on it. The rock of the train just puts you straight to sleep. Once in Bangkok, we had only a few hours before our departing flight. We went to the Grand Palace where we saw the Emerald Buddha but weren't allowed to take pictures. The picture below is of the Grand Palace from a large long tail boat on a canal. Then we went to the Reclining Buddha. I wish a picture could capture the enormity of this structure. It was truly unforgettable. After that, we went to the airport and said farewell to Thailand.





I had a bit of jet lag once I got back, but I'm really glad I had a few days to recover. It's hard explaining my trip to everyone, even with pictures. It's an experience that I will never forget, and I don't believe anyone can understand what it's like until they have visited Thailand. I would recommend it to anyone. Truly, it was an amazing country. I miss it dearly, but it is nice to see everyone again. I'm not looking forward to starting summer school on Monday, but that's what I have to do.

Love you all.