Chiang Rai Thailand

We finally made it to Thailand after 30+ hours of traveling. And WOW was it worth it. This place is so so beautiful! the people are amazing and incredibly nice and friendly. We have been volunteering in northern Thailand in a town called chiang rai for the past 2 weeks. We are up in the mountains with the hilltribe villiages, working with an organization called Mirror Art Group. THey are a non profit organization that help the hill tribe people of Thailand, teaching them english, helping with childcare, citizenship work, selling thier product and much more! so far the experience has been great! and something i will never forget. we have only been here a little over 15 days but i have already learned so much! last week we got to go on a 3 day 2 night homestay to 2 villiages. We got to stay in thier homes and they cooked for us, breakfast and dinner, it was SO good! some of the best food i have had here! everything was so fresh and yummy :) their homes are made of bamboo and straw, they have sqaut toilets and bucket showers. they grow all thier own food, harvest thier own rice. they make everything they have from what is around them. they were incredibly nice and welcoming. thier home was so cozy and clean, it was one of my favorite weekends here so far! we also got to go on an elephant ride!!! o. my. heck! those things are so so big! i was surprised at how gentle they were, riding them was a little bumpy but i loved it!

I have taken tons of pictures but i cant upload any yet, soo pictures are coming soon!

overall aside from the strange bugs, food..., (rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner) the extreme humidity and heat, hard beds and cold showers, strange smells and no english.....

I am loving thailand!!! :)