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So, we left pai, hopped on the bus in the early hours and went round he windy highway 1095 again. Back in chiang Mai we decided the same guest house was the simple, safe and easy option. The rest of the day was quiet and we prepared all our information for getting to our next part of the adventure. However, we did do one thing that day, we visited wat Suan dok and attended 'monk chat' where someone can chat to the monks for a few hours to learn about their lives. This was a truly fascinating experience and one we will not forget, we learnt about Buddhism, the Buddha and monks. The monks we spoke to we're studying humanities and English at this university in chiang Mai. We learnt about what it meant to be a monk and what their goal was and all the rules they had to follow. They had 227 rules.. 5 of which if they broke, they would no longer be monks. After that we felt worn out, so headed back to our favorite coffeehouse by our hotel and had some dinner :) we are getting fond of papaya salad but this place had none! So we were a bit disappointed :p.
In the morning we said our goodbyes to chiang Mai, then headed to the bus station and boarded our bus to Mae sot. 6 hours later and we were here.. Now, we had no other reason to come here except for the orphanage.. The reason for there being so many orphanages and refugee camps here is due to the proximity to the Burmese border.. And with the problems in Burma there are many people coming over to thailand or sending heir children over for safety.. We instantly felt out of place, as two of possibly 5 other westerners that we saw today. Walking through the Burmese/Thai markets it felt so different to anywhere else we had been.. People were saying hello to us, some staring at us and some smiling. We are not sure whether we like it here.. But tomorrow we move onto the orphanage in Mae Tao, then we won't have any Internet or phone access for 5 days so there's going to be a dead spot on this blog, but hopefully we will have some lovely stories to tell once we are back in civilization again in bangkok!!
Hope all is well with everyone at home, wish us luck!
- comments
Jomel Fred,Thank you for presenting to our Medford Rotary club on Tuesday. Your protnesatien was inspiring and reminded me of how lucky we are in this country. We take our security and comforts for granted. Keep up the good work, and I'll see what support I can drum up for you here locally. Do you just prefer cash, or can our club organize a boot or clothing drive? Can we ship to Thailand or is customs or theft too big of an obstacle?Alan Kelly, MD