We stopped for lunch at a beautiful country home, which we later found out is a resort, too. (P'Nuan thought that it was the home of a wealthy yellow shirt politician because there were pictures of the Royal Family everywhere!) The home was all wood and was beautifully decorated with Thai wood carvings, tables, chairs, etc. We were the only ones there. The breeze was warm, not hot or humid. The sun was shining. Purple mountains, blue skies, and country extended as far as the eye could see. It was quiet. I really felt like I was on a vacation! It was just so peaceful. Nicki mentioned that, even though we weren't at the ocean, the swaying of the Cassava plants' leaves in the breeze rippled a bit like waves. She's right! Just beautiful and serene.
Fun fact: We were at the "Emerald Triangle!" (The border of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia)...so cool!
From lunch, we drove another half hour until we finally made it to the National Park. We went to a special waterfall called "Huai Luang." It. Was. Spectacular. The pictures look like they're straight out of a rainforest or Jungle Book, but in real life it was simply jaw dropping. After snapping a few pictures, we all took the long walk down tons of steps until we reached the bottom. There was sand, almost like a beach, and you could go swimming in the water! Only Thais were there- Nicki and I were the only two farang. (We were approached by 2 drunk Thai soldiers who wouldn't leave us alone ha). There were also tons of fish in the water that gave you a "fish pedicure,"and despite wearing our bathing suits and being excited to swim, the two of us actually spent 2 hours standing in the water having the waterfall fish nip at our feet. Gross (but funny) story: I had a scab near my knee, and one fish ate it off! It really hurt! Then it started bleeding a little bit, and all of these other fish flocked to it. Yesterday we learned that those little pedicure fish are actually carnivores. If someone was really hurt and bleeding, they would be like mini piranhas!
I always love going to the beach/ lake/ bodies of water in different places around the world, because I love observing how all people enjoy playing in the water. Ahh the connectedness of the human race!
On the drive home, we saw a rainbow! It was beautiful, and the perfect cap to the day. We also stopped at a local street stand selling dragon fruit, and each bought one kilo of dragon fruit for 25 baht (4 fruits for less than $1). Also, just as we left it started raining! Perfect timing. We took some really cool photos while driving of these dark, stormy rain clouds over white clouds (I've never seen this). We couldn't eat at the Trung Sri Muang nightmarket because it was raining, but we had a delicious Sukhi dinner at P'Nuan's house. It was so incredibly generous of P'Nuan to drive us 2 hours each way to see this waterfall, and to treat us the whole day. So generous I feel so much grenjai! (Indebtedness) It was just the best 2 days with Nicki! I am so glad that she was able to make it this weekend!
ALSO, as we were hanging out at my apartment for a few minutes before heading over to P'Nuan's for our Sukhi dinner, I opened my screen door and an ENORMOUS Huntsman Spider darted into my apartment and froze. Nicki and I both stared at it, before I turned around to grab my camera to take a selfie with it. When I turned around, it was gone. FML. Nicki screamed hahaha. I just stood there. Then we started searching for it- she afraid that it went into her suitcase, I afraid that I would have a giant spider crawl on my face that night. Luckily, I found it right away tucked by my screen (pretty scared looking). With a tupperware container, I was able to shoe it outside again. No, I did not get that picture I wanted, but I am okay with that. If you really want to see how big this spider was, you can google "Huntsman Spider."
Nicki and I are going to Penang, Malaysia together in November. She is running a half marathon there, and I going to cheer her on :) Can't wait for more adventures!
Nicki and I at lunch
P'Nuan being cute
Our view from the house
I love these whimsical elephant stools!
The view from lunch: Cassava plants gently swaying
in the warm breeze, blue skies, and purple mountains.
Coconuts!
Our young waiter did not know how to use a camera
(kind of cute looking back on it now, but what a bad pic!)
P'Wendy (front) is holding a classic Thai "receipt bowl."
This picture from the car does not come close to doing
justice. It was such a BEAUTIFUL view and day!
P'Wendy and P'Nuan: Two peas in a pod :)
The tiniest gas station I've ever seen: One pump!
Walking to the lookout point for Huai Luang Waterfall
There it is!!! It looks so jungle-y!
Nicki, Me, P'Nuan
No this is not Ithaca, New York
Yes it reminds me of my good old college campus!
(There are tiny dots in the pic at the bottom...people!)
A very steep walk down, where you need to hold onto
a shaky ramp. It doesn't make you feel good when you
see one of the metal legs secured by a tree stub!
Nicki and me!
SO PRETTY
Playing in the lagoons of waterfalls
is one of my favorite interests :)
There was even a sandy "beach" area.
Yay!
Double yay!
Cheesy James Bond pic
Smiling pretty
P'Wendy, Me, Nicki, P'Nuan
Jumping for joy (I mean, life is pretty good :)!)
selfie
Feeling no pain
Look where we are!
Heart (We're so Thai haha)
P'Nuan and her bestie, P'Wendy
Me and Nicki: The pants are off!
Ahh, nature.
This beautiful butterfly was resting near the shore.
These people climbed so close to the waterfall.
I took this picture so that you could see all of the
carnivorous fish swimming near people's ankles.
So serene- like out of a movie!
The walk back up haha
Proof that we were there!
Unbelievable rain clouds over an otherwise bright sky
on the car ride home from the National Park.
I still can't get over how brightly green rice crops can be.
We each bought one kilo of dragon fruit for a snack
later on from this local fruit farm stand.
Beautiful sky
Nicki spotted a rainbow!
Me with the rainbow!
(In Thai culture it's considered bad luck to point
at a rainbow...your finger will fall off!)
Sun beams over the rice paddies
One of these clouds looked rainbow on the drive, here
they all look white. It was a rainbow colored cloud I promise!
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