chiang mmmmmmmai!

Coming back to thailand feels like coming back home.  We are so comfortable here and happy to be back to things we know - like beng bengs, broad beans, and bahts!  Our first day here didnt start off so great.  We were still recovering from the craziness that is laos and we had to take it easy.  We decided to do a trek for some much needed exercise and a little cultural experience.  It started off with some activities like a trip to a butterfly/orchid farm followed by the most dangerous snake show we have ever seen!  The man made us hold a cobra, put a snake on emilys head, and threw snakes into the crowd.  It was quite an experience.  The trekking was a bit difficult, either we were going straight up or straight down.  The land was very dry and unsteady making this simple task a wee bit difficult.  We got to relax and refuel with some delicious food though and spent a night sleeping under the stars.  Our group unfortunately was a bit of a dud.  We were with 5 germans who all knew each other and one israeli who worked for the secret service so needless to say he wasn't so chatty.  We made the most of it though and enjoyed riding some extremely well trained elephants.  We are happy to inform you they didn't use any form of discipline and could control the elephants with just vocal commands.
Back in the city, after a much needed shower (not that showering in the river was much different than what we are used to) we explored the night market here which is HUGE.  A little overwhelming and we managed to get separated but despite the size of the place we managed to run into people we know, including our friend Mark who we met at the sketchy laos border crossing.
The next night, armed with a list of questions, we hit up the monk chat at a nearby temple.  It was very informative and eye opening to hear them talk about their life and religion.  Very different from the life we lead.  Following the chat we were invited to learn how to meditate for an hour and a half.  It was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do.  We learned how to meditate sitting, laying, and walking.  One lesson was good enough for us to know that we are not cut out to be buddhist monks.  'Walking, walking, walking, we thought, followed by 'sweating, sweating, sweating, itching, itching, itching, hungry, hungry, hungry, boring, boring, boring'.  We had to acknowledge and repeat everything we felt three times (in case you didn't catch on).  Altogether though we are glad we went.  
Today we head to Pai! We have heard to very good things about it and we are looking forward to see what it has in store.