Recharging my batteries

It's funny how life always gives you what you need, even if you don't know you need it. I loved Chiang Mai, it was a wonderful city filled with things to do and people to see and food to eat and things to buy (to stuff into my already bursting backpack). However, by Monday I was feeling like I needed to leave. I wasn't quite sure why but when I arrived in Chiang Dao, I understood. I'm a country girl. I grew up in a town of 2 or 3 thousand people and the largest city I've lived in was maybe 100,000 people. For the last three and a half months, I've spent all of my time in cities. When I reached Chiang Dao, I realized how much I had missed nature and natural beauty. I spent almost three lovely days at Malee's Nature Lover's bungalow, enjoying walks through the forest, hiking up to the monastery and remembering what it feels like to wake up to the sound of the rain on a tin roof. I realized I had also been missing Idaho- my family has a cabin in northern Idaho and my parents are there now. Chiang Dao is so much like our little spot that I almost couldn't believe it. There's no lake, but wildflowers, birds, butterflies and trees aplenty and I had a hammock right outside of my room.

The monastery was built into the limestone mountain and has 510 steps from the base to the top. They had words of wisdom posted at various points on the way up in both Thai and English. My favorite, and the one that currently defines me is "There is a chance to get refreshed, once you are tired. But there's not chance to relive your life, once you are dead." I take that to mean live life to the fullest. I plan to do just that!