This is Ben outside our guesthouse. We stayed here for two nights, trekked for two nights and slept here after the trek for two nights. Basically a bed and breakfast with 30 rooms or so it was clean with great air conditioning (a must during the day only) and a lovely riverside restaurant. The restaurant served a complete American breakfast for $3.50 per person and dinner never ran more than $13.00 for all of us, including the large beer we split.
On our trekking near Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son and Pai and hilltribe villages in between, we met some lovely Americans. All from California, all with a unique story and several that made me tear up. People are people everythwere you go and they carry their stories of grief and joy and resiliency just like the rest of us. I felt so lucky to have learned from them: Connie, Tammi, Brenda and Bob. Our driver and chef of Thai cooking, Pytoon, is with us.
Also, I've added a picture of Ben and the Elephant. Poon Yang. He spent a day in Mahout Training (with Jam Ras as his head Mahout) and was on the elephant for hours. His favourite part was bathing/swimming with the elephant!! This was an expensive day- 3500 bhat (nearly 125 US and Ben was the only rider, but it included lunch and Dennis and I got to tag along as special behind-the-scenes guests. Of course there are many observations which I will get to over the course of a few weeks.
We are all safe and happy and navigating this country with relative ease. We find that a smile and our attempts at Thank You and Hello are often what we need to get help and a firm no, thank you in Thai and a shake of the head is what we use to keep the inevitable offers for tours at bay.
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