My Favorite Weekend So Far

…even though there have only been two. This one takes the cake. We headed to Khoa Luang National Park and were in search of a resort we had heard about. So it begins….

We were dropped off in a small small village in with not clue as to which way to go

Village welcoming committee

Good thing there were signs to guide us…not. We just started walking and got lost a few times but

I didn’t mind

Pit stop on our journey to feed some fish…and get some ice cream

Four miles later we refueled at a restaurant/bar next to the river

RIGHT next to the river

After lunch we continued on our way up the jungle mountain … But after a grueling hike up the mountain our search for a “resort” did not end as we had hoped. The higher we hiked and the farther from civilization we got, the more we believed the Thai have a different definition of the word “resort”. We came across several empty, hut type structures with nothing in them but a toilet.  I wasn’t exactly picturing a swimming pool and cocktail resort but this wasn’t what I had in mind either. So we headed back down the mountain. The setting sun was not on our team and the bugs don’t mess around up there. We found a place stay across from where we had lunch and owned by the same person….

Meet Tet (the man with the plan in the middle) Look closer at his shirt…. Really close… Yea. That says Mackinaw, MI. How crazy is that?

One of the most generous and accommodating people I have ever encountered. He made us dinner, fixed up our rooms, went to the market in the morning so he could make us breakfast, and told us he was going to take us to the waterfall we were hearing so much about. “Number one beautiful” he was telling us. With Tet as our guide we hiked back up the mountain, did a little rock climbing and wall scaling (it’s amazing we all did it without a scratch) and we made it!

I was not disappointed. And special thanks to my impressive friend Lauren who did all that with her camera so we could have some pictures.

After our waterfall adventure Tet continued to be as helpful as ever and drive us back into the big city where we all needed to catch our buses. And he wouldn’t except our money for part of the weekend. Of course we insisted and sneaked into his bag, but come on! how incredibly giving he was.

And that is the story of how I had the most brilliant weekend with some fantastic people.

I sure do love this place.