Here's wishing Sheena, Shermaine and Aaron a HAPPY 2ND BAPTISM BIRTHDAY!

Anyways, we're safely back from today's trip!

Last night's girls-night-out was fun, we had a time of answering questions, praying for one another and movie-ing. We only had 2 hours of sleep, and got up at 5am to leave for Mae Sai (Burma a.k.a. Myanmar). When we left Payap at 6am, the sun was already out. Those who went were - Sheena, Shermaine, Evan, Robert, Jason, Marvin and Jason's parents (Cindy and Hal Miller). Our 4-hour long journey began and it was freezing cold at the back of Robert's truck. We had 2 toilet breaks in between and finally got to Mae Sai at about 10 plus. Oh why did we have to go to Mae Sai? Because the 3 of us had our passport stamps valid till May 22, so we had to go into Mae Sai to get them extended. Anyways, while all of us were in Mae Sai, Marvin had to wait for us outside since he's on tourist visa. Jason's parents went in with us out of fun. We had to pay US$10 to get in.

Mae Sai resembled Cambodia, coz once you enter, the kids will surround you and get you to buy their stuff. We looked around and bought quite a bit of stuff. Left Mae Sai at 11.30am and we found Marvin waiting for us at the truck. Lunch was at this noodles stall, then we made our way to Chiangrai for elephant rides. The journey to Chiangrai was crazy! It rained super super super heavily for a while, then it became scorchingly hot. The people seated at the back had to pull the blinds down when it rained, and the wind blew so strongly, it was llike war-time for them. It took us about an hour to reach the elephant-riding place which was situated at a hill tribe. We looked around the hill tribe and saw humongous snakes resting in cages. The 3 of us touched the leathery skins of the snakes - another once-in-19-years-experience!

Then the elephant ride started. A bench was placed on top of each elephant and usually it can only sit 2 people. But since we had odd numbers, they allowed the 3 of us to sit on one elephant, Cindy and Hal on the other, Jason and Marvin on another. Robert didn't sit since he already sat 15 to 20 times. The elephant ride lasted about 2 hours, and it's not the kind of ride when the elephant just walks on the road. It's more of elephant hiking. We went through forests, hills, slopes, across streams of water, etc. We gave the elephants nicknames too! Ours was called 'Poor elephant' coz it had to take the weight of 3 of us, and the elephant trainer, plus it was the smallest size of the 3. Cindy and Hal's was called 'Coward' coz it freaked out at the sight of a herd of cows. It literally ran away from the cows! Then the last elephant was called 'Happy' coz it seemed the happiest among the 3.

The ride was super bumpy and super scary. The 3 of us had to squeeze into a bench and it was alright when the elephant went up-hill. BUT each time the elephants went down-hill, it felt as if we were going to fall off anytime. We just kept bumping and bumping, Sheena and Shermaine who took turns to sit in the middle were the scariest since there wasn't any support and they could only grab the back of the bench. We'll probably develop muscles on our arms from this one ride - grabbing for dear life. The other 2 elephant trainers 'abandoned' their elephants leaving Cindy, Hal, Jason and Marvin alone on their elephants. Jason decided he'd become a trainer, so he sat at the head while Marvin was left alone on the bench. Overall, we enjoyed the ride, a new experience for us.

The ride back to Chiangmai was horrendous. Again, it rained super heavily and the weather changed totally right after it rained. We stopped only once this time so that we could get back to Chiangmai earlier. By the time we got back, it was already 7.45pm. Had our dinner at Night Bazaar, followed by 2 hours of full-body massage. Yeah, it's our 4th massage already, but it's these massages that keep us active everyday. Today's massage was very interactive. A total of 8 of us in a room, and the masseues kept speaking with Jason and Marvin in Thai. All of us enjoyed the massage, since we had a long day of travelling.

Ok that's it for today. We are very thankful that even as one-month interns, we get to travel to different places and being able to experience so many different things! Anyways, we're going to this super pretty waterfall tomorrow morning with a lot of people - the 5 interns, Robert, Cox Family, Miller Family, 4 new students from English Class and some Thais from the zone!

I know I owe you guys heaps of photos!

Will get them up when I'm back in Singapore, promise!

:))

P.s. Throughout the journey, I chose the right times to sit at the back of the truck, so I did not experience war-times!