inconsistent news from southeast asia

Day 21, we finalyl made it to Wat Doi Suthep. Up, up, and up the long winding, nauseating road in the back of a truck, then some 300 stairs up to the temple.

A very big imperssive one, at that, with a great view of Chiang Mai and the surrounding areas. There were also tons of bells here and the biggest gong i've ever seen. The sign said i could only hit it gently... .. it was pretty impressive, nonetheless. No, not just the gong, all of it.

In the evening, we went out to a nice restaurant (though, as usual, the prices didn't reflect this) where i had chiang mai sausage fried rice and i think it was the best thing i've eaten yet.

Day 22 was Monthathan Falls, about halfway up the hill that leads to doisuthep. It was 3:30 by the time we caught a ride up to the park and there was a 100B fee at the gate, but i think it was worthwhile.

After getting through the gate we got to hike in solitude up the 3km road leading to the falls, listening to the disconcerting sounds of the jungle. (horror movies have taught us that that sustained high string sound means something is gonna happen, right? I think there's SOMETHINg... in the woods.)

Lots of easy pictures here so i'll only post a couple.

Day 23 and the nagging sore throat finally made its threats real. Woke up really sick, and with us planning on taking the four hour bus ride to Pai.

The 3rd class bus was something. It could not have been more cramped, but then we kept picking up more people along the way. My seat, already tiny was rapidly annexed by those crouching in the aisles. And my sickness left me very little good humour with which to deal with it. Four hours isn't very long, at least, and we arrived in this tiny, dusty town soon enough (pop. 3000).

It's really beautiful here and it's a great relief to really be out in the country. The town is at the base of quite a few mountains, but the light hasn't co-operated at all since we got here. Maybe this gives some idea (there's been a lot of flooding around here too.)

Today is Day 24 and i've been nursing my sickness. I think i might be getting better, but the really painful sore throat is persisting an awful lot. Bleh. Had a wonderful breakfast of croissant with scrambled eggs and mushrooms and tomatoes - i think that was the highlight of the day. We tried to find a nearby water fall but couldn't.

Hopefully i'll be better enough tomorrow for us to rent a scooter and see the sights, have some adventures. Hope everyone's doing well on the other side of the planet.