This morning Superman decided to try a Thai breakfast (the hotel has 4 choices). Below is Littlest’s reaction to the smell of the fish chili paste. Not gonna lie, I nearly lost my breakfast when I smelled it. Superman talked to the hotel workers and they don’t even like it!
Church was a short 15 minute drive from our hotel… Only when we got to the address we couldn’t find it! The whole block was just a line of warehouses that looked pretty run down. We turned around while I checked the address again and NixiRay spotted a sign on a building that looked like maybe a church sign. Thai highways are set up with places every kilometer or so where you can do U-turns to go the other way, but there’s no way to turn across the highway…. So, we were a minute late when we finally got parked and inside. We walked in just as the opening hymn started. A sweet Thai lady grabbed us English hymnbooks. We were the only ones singing English.
An American lady was in the row in front of us (we found out that she is from Logan Utah and owns several factories in Thailand that make Rainy fishing flies). She was sitting next to a Chinese woman and told us that it was the first time the husband and son were passing the sacrament. The mom was beaming and so happy.
After the sacrament the branch president asked a missionary to come translate for us. Elder Johansen (from St George Utah) did a great job! Another Elder translated for the Chinese family (into English too). I think there were 8 Elders in the branch. Made us so happy to see all these hard working diligent young men serving here. After church we told them about our 2 missionaries ❤️
We got invited to stay for the second hour and food after church (why don’t we do this in Utah?) -the branch was very friendly and welcoming. We thanked them but figured translating Elders, Relief Society, Young Women’s and Primary would be a little much. We are so glad we found church and could participate and feel the spirit.
We drove to Sri Lanna National Park -we had to sign in, but for some unknown reason the security guards told us it was “flee today” (free). We grabbed some lunch at a little restaurant by the parking lot. The fruit smoothies are always so yummy! We tried some new noodle dishes and Thai omelets over rice. Signs here are so funny- there are mis-spellings everywhere.
We changed into swimwear & crocs/sandals and checked out the famous “Sticky Waterfall” (Bua Thong Waterfall). This natural waterfall is so calcium dense that over the years it has deposited cement-like pathways under the flow of the water. They aren’t slippery at all though!
We walked down flights and flights of wooden stairs to get to the very bottom (& learned that we should have left our towels, sunscreen, etc. at the top). There are several routes to the top– we chose one that looked a little more kid-friendly. Littlest girl was suddenly really nervous to try it, but as soon as she took a few steps up the waterfall she loved it!
The water was a comfortable temperature and crystal clear. It was so fun to climb up the waterfall tiers. Some of the steeper sections have ropes to hold and use to climb.
It took 25-30 minutes from the bottom to the top because we had to wait for people ahead of us sometimes. It was such a unique fun thing to do, we immediately went down the stairs again and climbed up through the water a second time! (Miss A collected our stuff from the bottom and hiked back up the stairs because the climb was making her nervous about her knee… Probably was about the same as climbing all those stairs!)
After we dried off we drove to Chiang Dao Cave Temple (plan to arrive by 4pm at the latest- it closes at 5pm!). There’s an entrance fee for this one ($50 Baht per person). The entrance to the cave is up a covered staircase and then you descend into the cave which has natural dirt and rock floors. There are shrines, statues & carvings scattered throughout.
The entrance fee lets you take a self-guided tour along the electric-lit pathway to a “Do Not Enter” cavern. There is a large Buddha shrine at the end and we saw a monk there collecting the donation money that had been left on the statues.
We hired a native guide ($200 Baht for the group plus a tip at the end) to take us on a lantern tour of another passageway. This part took us into dark caverns and very tight tunnels. At times the single lantern was not enough light, especially for Superman at the back of our group going through tiny passageways with very low ceilings.
There were lots of interesting rock formations and a few shrines in this tunnel.
There were also giant cave spiders and lots of cave crickets. Always a little frightening to see.
Even more frightening was the giant spider (seriously 6 inches across) and web I nearly walked into in the parking lot by the stone Chedi. Soooooo glad I saw it in time!!
One surprising thing about Buddhist Temples is that anyone can hit the gongs and ring the bells. It’s so satisfying to hit the gongs!
We drove back to Chiang Mai and went to the Sunday Walking Street market. They close down a few blocks and let vendors set up booths all over the place. Super fun to walk around and everything is super cheap.
We tried some authentic Thai desserts (first picture above)- Passan custard with corn in a banana leaf, purple potato pudding, something red we have no idea what it was… Some were better than others. Haha. Last two pictures are everyone sharing a mango smoothie at the same time.
Miss A has had “Eat Octopus” on her bucket list for a long time. Last year in Puerto Rico we kept looking for it for her to try and never found any. Today was her lucky day. We found rice and seaweed balls with bites of octopus in them for $30 Baht. She was so excited. Haha.
Everyone except Littlest girl tried a bite. I’ll be honest… It’s not great. Haha. Miss A thought it was okay and ate a few pieces. The rest of us got through one and called it a day. We told her she’ll probably serve her mission in Japan.
A lot of public bathrooms in Thailand, especially at events, cost $10 Baht to use… And there’s still no toilet paper. Pro-traveling tip is that most of the Temples have a free bathroom. So tonight as we walked through the market we found a temple and went to use the facilities… And encountered our first squatty potties.
Littlest girl said “this is absolutely a fun experience.” NixiRay said “why would anyone want to feel like they’re camping?” We all got a good laugh about it and are so grateful for American bathrooms (although we do have to say that the absolute worst bathroom we have EVER used was in Oregon at Tamolitch Blue Springs. The stuff of nightmares I’m telling you.)
After some fun shopping and people watching we called it a night. Highly recommend the Sunday Walking Street in Chiang Mai as a fun thing to do if you’re ever in town!
A little worried about Spud– he broke out in a rash on his neck and cheeks this afternoon… And by tonight he has a rash down his arms and torso as well. He has no known allergies…. Thankfully we brought childrens benadryl and anti-itch cream with us from the States (pro-tip: always travel with your own little pharmacy/first-aid kit, especially when leaving the country. It is a lifesaver when everything is foreign or you need something in the middle of the night.) We are trying to figure out if he’s allergic to new sunscreen, shellfish (pad Thai uses fish sauce and dried powdered shrimp usually), bean sprouts (he reacted with a rash a few years ago after picking beans in the garden but didn’t this last year), something in the water at Sticky Falls, or ???
