Day 24: Last Day

The day, my final day, dawned bright and too early and too soon. I knew I wanted to have an awesome last day, but I had no idea what to do. Unfortunately, we had to check out of the hostile by 1 pm, so most of my morning was spent packing and tracking down the little odds and ends I've collected since I've been here.

Mid-way through packing, Hong invited us to come visit him at the lake and Katie Gall and I took him up on the offer. We hailed a sung tao (with the creepiest gypsy-driver ever) and it took him like, a solid hour to get us there, which was ridiculous. But as soon as we got there, it was awesome! The lake was tucked up in the mountains and just so ridiculously picturesque.

our driver played the beegees for us

Katie was a fan

For lunch, we tried 'dancing shrimp', which means we ate live shrimp... Katie actually ate live shrimp alongside her well-cooked shrimp.

We rode back on Hong's motorbike, which was so much fun! Our sung tao ride had taken almost an hour to get to where we were going, but it only took like 20 mins on the bike!

After our lake adventure, we showered in a friend's room (since we were already checked out) then Katie and I went to Walking Street with Noi and Gig.

We ate lots of good food and ended up eating a northern noodle dish as our 'last meal.'

Katie Gall, Gig, Me, and Noi

After Walking Street, we all gathered our stuff and had to shout a quick goodbye as we left Uniserv. Noi and Gig rode behind us for a bit on our way to the airport and generally, I was a mess. I am so terrible with goodbyes, but I really, genuinely feel like these people aren't out of my life. I will absolutely return to Chiang Mai if not soon, then eventually and I cannot wait to see all of my friends again. 

Day 23: more of the same

A bunch of us went out to lunch as a final chance to get lunch with Summer and Nate- we went to this out of the way place that had American and Thai food, but of course, we all got Thai food. 

num plao

green chicken curry

green chicken curry and rice and Annette's spicy pork salad in the background

After lunch, we all split up, and I decided I wanted to visit Wat Chiang Mun, which is the oldest temple in Chiang Mai (and a lot of Northern Thailand). Everyone else was templed out, so I went with my friend Beebe. Wat Chiang Mun was really cool because of its age, but also because it was like a complex with three different  temples and a building for monks to stay in. It was really cool seeing the difference between these temples and the 'newer' ones that I've had a chance to see in other parts of my visit.

First wat:

Second wat:

Place where monks were staying:

Third temple:

Beebe riding on the back of the Sung Tao on our way back

After the Wat, I went and hung out with Tukkatoon, Nut, and Jed and went to and English-speaking class for a bit. On our way back from that, we came across a restaurant called "Chiang Mai Beach" which was apt because the floor was sand! Ben, Hong, Rylan, Jessica, Meagan, and I enjoyed 'playing on the beach' for a little bit.

And then we came across a rotee stand...

And when we got back to Uniserv, there were cuddles.

-Haley