Escape! pt. 1

The river, running through the gorge

Prehistoric rock art. It is of an Elephant's behind. They weren't very sophisticated back then, I guess.

The gorge!

Upstream, by the place we camped

Downstream!

A giant pagoda on the highest mountain in Thailand, Doi Inthanon

Waiting

The view just past where I am sitting, waiting

Sitting on the concrete barrier, at the top of a dropoff

In Thailand, this is not considered tacky.

Haley, and a big old tree

A perfect sign for us!

A soldier, praying to the remains of a dead king.

One of the many many beautiful scenes we drove by

Wild Poinsettias and Mexican Sunflowers

As we drive through town

Here is a random picture of Landon Meyer, one of the staff kids at Sunshine Orchards. I posted this because he authorized it, and I didn't think that would ever happen again. You gotta take advantage of the moment, you know.

So, apparently, I'm not allowed to type before the pictures.
Ok. 

This is what happened. Friday morning, I came to eat breakfast, and Mrs. Steck was all aflutter.
"We could go camping this weekend!!! We could go here, and there, and do this! and that! -"
After a few hurried minutes of conversation and planning, the game plan arose to the surface.

"Pack your clothes! We're leaving right after classes!"

But Hannah protested, "I can't leave that soon! I have to pack after classes!"
I couldn't have left that soon either.

So they conceded to leave after lunch. As it was, we left a couple of hours after we planned to, because that's the way things happened.

We packed into the Steck's Station Wagon and headed off campus, armed with food, a few extra clothes, sleeping mats, hammocks, and a really good story book.

As it happens:
Hannah is sitting here as I write, reading over my shoulder, obsessively flattering me. It's probably because she is soaking her feet in Epsom Salts. They must be really making her happy. She doesn't agree....she says she's just tired, among other things.

ahem!

Anyway, so we drove along the river for quite a ways, then broke away and went straight up into the mountains. For three hours straight, I had my window all the way down, and was hanging outside with my camera, shooting away.
I'm unsure of my ability to describe what an incredibly beautiful, exciting time it was.
I could sit here and just meditate....but that wouldn't benefit any of you.

So I will attempt the impossible.

It was awesome. We drove over, around, and through many, many mountains. I think there must have been at least fifty hairpin turns, most of which were as tight as a car could turn. A bus could not have taken those roads. Plus, most of the inclines were so steep we had to crawl up them in first gear. I would look out the window and imagine carrying on a conversation with someone walking alongside the car, we were going so slow.
"I think I could run this fast!" I commented one time.

"You would have to be running about 20 kph!" replied Mr. Steck.

Oh, ok. I guess I would need a horse.

Oh, by the way, sorry for any of you who found this blog referred on another blog, and were expecting it to have really nicely composed, perfectly uplifting content. Unfortunately, I'm rather busy, living my life...you know. I think most of the people who post a lot on social networks don't actually have much a life offline. Plus, my computer died, so I've been technologicially limited.

Anyway, so we drove several hours away into Mae Sariang, and got a hotel.
We got to sleep on real beds, and take hot showers. Need I say more?  It was blissful.
I felt a little bit guilty, though, because I knew the students at the school would be sleeping on concrete and taking baths in the cold creek water.

Actually, though, when I finally crashed on the bed after talking to my mom, I realized that I was going to have to get used to sleeping on a soft surface. I considered taking my blanket to sleep on the tiled floor, but fell asleep before I got too motivated.

The next morning, we watched my sister give her senior speech at Ouachita Hills for Friday night Vespers. I kept doing double takes, and trying not to get too emotional. I can't believe how grown up, how self-possessed, how confident she is. She's almost eighteen!!
The thought almost stops my heart from beating. Where is time going? I was just eighteen!

So after we ate breakfast, we got back into the car and drove for another few hours to the highest mountain in Thailand, called Doi Inthanon. The temperature different at 8,000 ft. was quite nice, but the thin air did make walking up hill while singing very difficult. We ate lunch there, and walked on a few different boardwalks in the forest.
Going back down, Hannah Steck and I suited up and rode on the back of the station wagon, standing on the bumper and hanging onto the metal basket on top of the car. We laughed, considering how we would never be allowed to do such a thing in America.
"Here in Thailand, the value of life is much lower." she shouted over the wind.
I peered down at the road sailing by and wondered what my best option was if the brakes went out.

We stopped partway down the mountain to read a book and wait for sundown so that we could go and buy enough diesel to get to our campsite for the night.
As we sat on a concrete barrier, looking out at the hazy vista of blue mountain ranges, a few middle-aged Asian fellows came by with their phones.

"Please, can we take pictures with you?"

We couldn't really run away, since the road was right behind us, and there was a drop-off right in front. Most of the girls turned their faces away, but I figured if they wanted pictures with me, I might as well make the best of it. Every guy that came up for a selfie with me got a very silly-looking American girl in their photo. That way when they try to show their friends, the "beautiful" American they befriended, they won't have much to show for it. Haha!

So we went somewhere else to read our book.

When sundown came, we drove down to get diesel. After that, we drove for a few hours through twisty mountain roads, listening to beautiful music, looking out at the moon. Haley and I were in the back, squished in with the food and luggage. I think I figured out every possible way to sit in a 2'x2' space. Thankfully, I'm about the opposite of claustrophobic.

Eventually, we got to a campground, and I sacked out on the ground with my sleeping mat. After a few restless hours, I woke up to discover that I was being attacked by biting ants. It took me a few minutes of laying there swatting ants off my face to realize that I was going to have to move. Hannah Steck was already up, and getting ready to move into the car. She helped me with her flashlight find some trees to put my hammock in, and then we went back to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I was amazed to find myself beside a rapidly flowing river! The sun was pouring through the jungle trees and making everything glow. The birds were singing above the white noise of the water, and it was so peaceful that I imagined how sweet heaven will be.

That morning, we walked downriver to a big gorge, and then hiked a loop in the mountains, looking at evidences of prehistoric humans. I wasn't super impressed by the rock paintings, or the miniature grave site, but the views of the surrounding mountains were incredible.

After the gorge, we drove another few hours down a really rough road to the Salawin River.
Mrs. Steck wanted to go on a river boat ride there, so we endured the road. Just before we got to the river, we drove through a little village perched on the side of the hill, beside the road. After riding down the river with a shifty Burmese boat driver, we knew that we needed to leave for home soon in order to be back for school the next day. He cheated us out of our money, but we didn't have time to fight with him, so we just left.
On the way back, as the sun went down, we all opened our windows and sat on the windowsills, hanging on to the metal basket on the top of the car. It made the rough road more interesting, for sure. The villagers laughed at us as we passed, and we waved happily.

Then sun was down as we came out of the mountains and sped along between moonlit fields of rice.
The sky was a navy blue backdrop for a mounting mass of glowing white clouds ahead of us. Stars glittered high above, and the cool wind blew through our hair. It was almost magical enough to make us forget the bugs that were stinging our faces.

Just before we got into town, Mr. Steck suggested we sit back down inside the car, and it was a good idea, because the rain soon began to fall.
That night, the drive home seemed to take forever, until I fell asleep. Then, we got home almost instantly.
It was 10:30 pm when we stumbled down the hill from the Steck's house and climbed the stairs into our hut.

It was a whirlwind of a weekend. I'm so glad we went. The next day was market day in Mae Salid, so there were no vocational classes in the afternoon. Yay! No violin students!
The rest of the week has flown by since then.

Unfortunately, since my computer is dead and it has all the rest of the pictures from the weekend, you won't be seeing them for a while. Escape! pt. 2 will be a long time coming.

Only a month or so until I'm back in the States! I'm just starting to get where I don't really want to leave anymore. I want to go home, but I know I'm going to miss this place terribly. The students keep asking me if I'm coming back, and all I can do is shrug my shoulders, and admit that I wish I could.
Thara Eh K'Nyaw says that if God wants me back, $1,000 for a plane ticket won't be any problem.
I know he's right, so I'm content to wait until God gives me the next game plan.

More later! Much, much more. My mind is overflowing with things I want to write about.
I'll write them down so I don't forget.