Finding peace in Pai

Sunday July 5th- I am playing catch up!

Sawadee!
I have been trying not to spend as much time on the Internet and focusing on enjoying my time here in Thailand therefor my blogging has already begun to slack. But I will catch you all up now!
This morning began with meeting my friends from Chiang Mai and venturing on motorbikes to the hot springs. What a way to begin a peaceful day in Pai, Thailand. We soaked in the mineral bath, while having great conversation about life, recovery, and much more. I really enjoy listening to others speak, partially because of their accent but also because the stories of finding recovery all have a similar sound. To hear others struggle from all over the world and see them finding surrender in a foreign country gives me hope. We headed back to town, and mind you the views on the way to and from the hot springs were absolutely stunning. Fields, farms, mountains, villages. I had a huge grin on my face the entire ride. We had breakfast at a "healthy foods" cafe. Also called Good Life, discussed Kombucha, Wheatgrass, the importance of nutrition and more. I felt so at home with these guys (most of you know how obsessed with nutrition I can be). We sat criss cross at a wooden table, and chatted the morning away, no rush, no hurry, just being. After breakfast a few of us enjoyed a massage that was excellent. 200B for 1 hour (9$) and I almost fell asleep. I will definitely be having more of those. I said goodbye to the guys, with the hopes I am able to meet back up with them in Chiang Mai. Some possible opportunities were discussed at one point that I will put out in the atmosphere for the universe to play with :). Something one of the guys shared with me often, that I needed very much so is to remember to stay in the moment. All I have is this moment right now. Its subtle reminders like this that I know creator is with me, I forget to stay in the moment often. And here someone could see that, could hear that and just reminded me all I have is right now. When I stay in the moment I let go of worry, I have faith, I can just be. I ended up renting a cycle after they left and rode around town for a bit, I stopped at a cafe to ask a local if I was crazy for wanting to ride my bike to a waterfall on the map. He said "Yeah you crazy." It was then that I met two girls who happened to be from the Seattle/ Portland area. What are the chances!! They had just arrived in Pai. I sat and had a coconut and some papaya salad while we conversed about our travels. (The salad was amazing!!) We decided to get a taxi to take us to the waterfall and the big white Buddha on the hill. As we rode in the taxi I grew grateful I did not try to ride my bike alone for it was rather far once we got to the outskirts of town. An excellent way to view where the locals live and see the huts and farms. I observed these huts at a lot of farms and asked our driver what they were for. He said Garlic, Pai is famous for their garlic. It is so interesting and humbling to witness the hardworking families and see the farms that fund their daily lives. I mean everything is out of a farm here or hand made. We made it to the water fall that doubled as rock slide. Escaping the heat and finding adventure we hiked the rocks and played on the slide. It was so surreal with the view of the jungle, meeting many others from foreign countries and sliding down waterfalls. After enjoying the sun, the view, the water and the other travelers we headed to the big white Buddha. You can see this temple from all over Pai up on the hillside. We hiked many many stairs to get here. Breathtaking. This Buddha is giant. Peaceful. Overlooking the town. We could see the rain beginning all around us. The clouds melting over the town eventually making its way to where we stood. It poured. Hard, loud, and alot. We danced at the Buddha in the rain, it was like my soul was being cleansed in that moment. A shower from the universe in a sacred place. There was no escaping, we had no choice but to embrace the rain. I was dancing, and spinning, and sliding about, taking in every moment, breathing, laughing, with arms wide open. My heart was happy, my soul, my mind, my body. That was an experience I will never forget. Especially on the way down. We realized the rain was not going anywhere so we decided to head down the steps. It was then that I ate it hard. The steps became very slippery, and once you slip there is absolutely nothing to grip on to to stop the sliding. Like slipping on ice, down two sets of stairs. Phone, camera, purse and all went flying. OUCH! It hurt pretty damn bad, took my breathe away. I am not sure the significance in eating shit in front of a giant Buddha, I assume some bad karma along the way was just released and I am okay with that. Once I stopped sliding down steps and sat up, I laughed. I couldnt help but laugh my ass off, I cant imagine what that looked like to the girls but I know all hurting aside it must have looked rather hilarious. What else could I do cry? That wouldnt solve it, all it really did was hurt and amuse anyone who got the opportunity to watch! haha.
By the time we got back to town we were drenched, I got my bike I had rented and began riding aimlesly around the town, I was having a ball. I had a giant smile on my face and the rain was pouring hard and I was soaked and loving every minute of it. It was warm, reminded me of home, and I was free to play in the rain. One of my most favorite things to do. If my grandma Sharon read this she would vouch! People were watching me ride and im sure thinking I was nuts as they all attempted to escape the torrential downpour. But I didnt care, I picked up some coconut veggie soup and headed back to my room eventually. I was in love with Pai.

View from the Wat Praeng waterfalls

Big White Buddha

It is July 7th here for those of you that read this today, I am getting ready to meet a friend I made from Lithuania to take a 12k bike ride to another waterfall! I will blog about my birthday here in Thailand tonight hopefully!

Kap un Kah.

Love,
Alicia