Highs, Lows, Joys
Highs: alone time in the woods, great business opportunities, lantern festival
Lows: heavy work week, feeling homesick - or at least missing the familiar
Joys: massages, coworking space, cool mornings
The Details
Saturday morning started slowly as Alex continued his nearly decade-long tradition of watching V for Vendetta in the morning (which was the evening of November 5 in the States). I ran for our coffee and breakfast at Volks Bagel. We headed out for a bike tour of Old Town in the afternoon and stopped by some new and familiar temples. It was so fun weaving through back alleyways and visiting more local markets. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and sweetly ordered a tuk-tuk for us so we could get to our dinner reservation on time.
I had planned a birthday dinner with the group at Lemontree, a restaurant serving up traditional northern Thai dishes. Everyone loved the chance to celebrate Alex, and we continued the evening to our “surprise”, a speakeasy I found just around the corner from our apartments - The Continental. The bar is themed around John Wick, which I did not even know until someone put it together. The drinks were incredible and the vibe was just perfect to have more time to talk and connect before heading to Zoe in Yellow for the night.
We braved an early morning start for a full-day tour entitled “Splish Splash”. The day started off at a temple that was packed with people. We had unexpectedly visited on a day when the temple was having a fundraising event with a senior monk. We got to witness traditional songs, dance, and the monk being carried and throwing money. Miao shared that this was a special and unique experience that she hasn’t even had the chance to see. We wrapped up our time at the temple and headed to Bua Tong Waterfall, or “sticky waterfall”. This is a waterfall that people can climb on because it is made of limestone. We had so much fun climbing up twice, laying in the water, and enjoying the sights. We headed straight to LAKE in Sri Lana National Park where we took a 15-minute ferry boat to a floating house. At the floating house, we had lunch, took a nap, and enjoyed the views. I went kayaking and went down the water slide, too!
The following week, I had the opportunity to participate in a few of Thailand’s Lantern Festival celebrations. It was the first festival since before covid lockdowns, so it was much anticipated by locals and foreigners alike. Read more here.
I wrapped up my week with a short hike in Doi Suthep. It was so nice to get out of the city and into nature. I needed the time to myself to think and process everything. My late start began with breakfast at Flour Flour Loaf, which is only 15 minutes from the main trailhead. I used Gaia GPS to stay on track and enjoyed every minute of being covered by trees, surrounded by ferns, and having the trail mostly to myself. I continued my day at a cat cafe and Alex and I ended the week with cocktails and jazz at North Gate Jazz Co-Op.
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