Dear Friends & Family,
The internet wasn't working yesterday, so now I have lots of stories to tell. Perhaps I should break it down into 2 letters, so it's not so long.
Story #1 has a moral to it. I'll start with the moral...don't go running ahead of your family in the heart of the jungles of Thailand if you don't know where the bridge is.......
The day started beautifully with a delicious breakfast made by Ponlea at My Dream. The plan was to walk 3K to a hotsprings, then go into Chiang Rai for some shopping. I had seen Nan draw the map to the springs...you walked about 1K to a wooden suspension bridge that crossed the Mae Kok, and then walked about another 2-3K to the hot springs where you could soak and get massages. Well, thinking this sounded like a great time for exercise, I strapped on my MP3 and told Ryan I would run ahead and meet the group there. BAD IDEA. As it turns out, the bridge is not visable from the road, and Nan had to walk the group there to find it. They inquired with the guard at the bridge to see if a tourist had gone running by-so they learned right away that I was lost-while it took me a little longer to figure it out.
So, in the meantime, I'm running through the village thinking to myself "What a lovely run this is!" Before long the road to the village meets up with the paved road that leads into Chiang Rai. Of course, Chiang Rai is a good 30K away. So, I'm running, I'm running...and I'm not seeing a bridge. Judging by how many songs have played on my MP3 I know I've gone farther than I should have for the bridge. A smart woman at this point would have turned around. Not me! Let's keep going all alone, and without money, on a stange road in a foreign country, near the Burmese boarder! I'm running, I'm running...now I'm walking...I come to a few scattered homes. "Do you speak English?" They nod. "I'm looking for the bridge to the hot springs." They nod. I try to sign. "Bridge. Over water. Hot Springs? This way?" I point forward, they point forward. I keep going. I come across another little home. Same thing. I keep going. I can't describe how lost I am. I am in the jungle! With a home or two here and there. Now I am getting quite scared. I worry that a tiger is going to leap out and kill me. Or a python. Or a pig. I know that I am in big trouble with my Papa by this point, and I have guilt that I'm ruining the day for my whole family who must be worried at this point. I'm saying little prayers in my head but feel I need heavens help more, so I kneel down on the side of the road and ask Heavenly Father to please help me not be killed by an animal, and to somehow find my family. Then I continue on, singing primary songs outloud to myself. First up 'Faith is knowing the sun will rise..." followed by "Heavenly Father, are you really there?" Those didn't seem upbeat enough, so there was a round of "There is sunshine in my soul today." Of course I only know one verse of that, so then I had to make up some of my own lyrics that went something like this, "I am lost in the middle of Thailand. And I don't know the language. I have no idea where I am...and I am really scared!" Finally I come to the Karen village. I Wai people as I pass, hoping someone will say Hello in response, giving me a clue that they might speak English. No such luck. I make it through the village and keep going. At the top of the next hill is a building with a sign that says in English "Police Security." I'm thinking this might be my lucky day, when a scary dog runs out of there and comes up to me barking. (I don't like dogs!) The policeman calls him back, and I ask if he speaks English, "Yes. A little." I tell him I'm trying to find the hot springs and the bridge. He doesn't know what I'm talking about. I ask about the Elephant Camp, because I know from Nan's map, that the Elephant Camp was about 4 or 5K from the hot springs. He points back the way I've come! Help me!!! So I thank him and turn back. As I'm going down the hill, a man goes by on a moped (the main sourse of travel here) and looks back at me. Something on my face must have shown that I was not where I wanted to be. He stops and asks (in Thai) if I need help. He spoke very little english, but he understood when I said I was staying with Nan at My Dream. I asked if he knew where the Elephant Camp was. He said to get on his bike. I told him I didn't have any money. No problem. So I get on the back of his bike and he drives me back to the village and down to the elephant camp. Then he translates for me as I say my family is at the hot springs and they have my money. My husband has baht. He finds me a driver who will take me by longtail boat for 200baht. Sure. They could have asked 1000. So I get on board with my driver, Kow, and we are off. We ride up the Mae Kok looking for my family. We stop at three different hot springs. Who knew there was more than one? I'm running around at each place asking if anyone has seen 9 Americans. No. We make it all the way back to My Dream. Turns out the Kow is Nan's Brother-in-law or cousin-in-law. Nan says he had been looking for me on his moped, but in the other direction. He tells me where my family is, and we get back on the river to go looking for them. They were at the 2nd place we had stopped, but apparently my 9 Americans didn't translate well. As I'm coming across the field I here my Dad call me. I'm scared. This could get ugly. I try to be brave and strong, which I'd been trying to be for the last 2 hours. Mom and Dad are together, they hug me, but say "There better be some tears or you're in trouble!" I try to just laugh it off, "Oh Mai Pen Rai!" Thai for "No worries! Things happen!" They don't like that response. I apologize. They tell me how worried everyone was. Mom comes with me to pay Kow. Dad made me pay him 400baht. My sisters come running up. "Jo we were so worried!" They joke that Ryan said it was hard for him to relax during his massage, worrying about me. :) They were all about to load into the truck to head for Chiang Rai. Ryan was going to wait for 30 minutes to see if I showed up, and then head back to My Dream to wait for me there. I made it just in time. I told them my story in the truck on our way into town. I'm a good storyteller and got lots of laughs. Stacey said she would have been bawling if it happened to her.
We did some shopping in Chaing Rai for the hill tribes. We had all brought our duffles, but wanted to get some clothes as well. After about an hour of shopping we headed to the river to get home by boat. The exhaust from the truck had bothered us coming into town, but the boat ride was so cold! Anywho, we are on the dock when my earlier predicament hits me and I start crying. Ryan looks at me shocked, "Jo, whats wrong?" "I was really scared!" I put my head on his shoulders and sob. Dad sees me and starts laughing "Talk about delayed reaction!" So, all's well that ends well, I guess. But I have been banned from going anywhere by myself for the rest of the trip. Ryan wouldn't even let me walk down a different isle then him in Chaing Rai.
Okay....next story in next letter.....