From the islands to the rice patties

We are now in the most beautiful place of all... we left the islands to catch a train north to Chiang Mai. The ride was beautiful and a great preview of the country side, unfortunately we skipped a big part but I love where we ended up. Chiang Mai is a smaller version of Bangkok, and the night Bazaar was a whirlwind, we bartered and bought like it was Christmas...well in fact it will be when we get home! We just stayed a night in the city and caught a bus north to a jewel, Chiang Dao. Nestled beneath limestone cliffs covered in dense jungle, our stay at the Chiang Dao rainbow was a blessing. Surrounded by rice fields we reminisced of our Puna's house and growing up. We borrowed the landlord motorbike and headed to the hills to explore an amazing cave that was filled of Buddhas, bats and spiders. It was very big and the formations resembled local themes; "crouching tiger", "baby elephant", "lotus blossom". The best part of Chiang Dao was our adventure through the winding back roads of the farmlands, chili pepper fields, banana plantations, cucumber lattice, sweet potato patches. We had a night show of lightning and fireflies and fell asleep to thunder and downpour. Beautiful is hardly a description of this place. Today we took a string of buses through the hillsides to Fang and then Chiang Rai, where we will sleep tonight. Tomorrow we will attempt the infamous trek to the hillside tribes, where we hope to have a special interaction. Tish is researching our crossing to Laos as I type, so next is a raft down the Mekong.... till then, a Hui ho, or chanja dit dor na