June 29,

We both woke up around 6:00 but I was able to go back to sleep. HEE-HEE!! We both got up around 0700, got around and packed. Around 8:00 we went out on our porch to have our Javas. One of the workers – or the owner – brought our included breakfast to our little bungalow. That was very nice. She brought us rice porridge with small meatballs, ginger, carrots, and mushrooms. She also brought some warm croissants. It was so tasty and hit the spot on a cool morning. If you lived up here in this cool Mountain area, I could see how this would be a very good breakfast. We ate, and just sat, listening to the birds and the babbling brook. This was a great start to any day for me! We then loaded up the car and we got out and about by 0910.

Our first destination – Siriphum Waterfall – was very close. We were heading there, and actually had a glorious view of the waterfall from a distance. It is huge, as it cascaded down a rock face of the mountainside. By 0915, we arrived at the parking area – we never passed a ticket/entry booth. This surprised us! We set out on the trail of paving stones. Most of the pavers had moss on them. This also surprised us! But we were the only ones there… Maybe this area is not touristic that much?? Questions! We certainly never saw anybody else. The path then wound over a bridge that crossed the rapid-flowing Hoi River that this waterfall feeds. (This is not the same river near Inthanon Lao Ju House where we stayed last night.) Anyway from the bridge we could not see the waterfall. So we went on up the pavered trail.Then the trail turned into a dirt trail with a little bit of scrambling involved. We arrived at an open spot and could see just a small part of the waterfall – maybe this was why this waterfall was not touristed? I stopped here but Jeff decided to go a bit more off-roading. This proved to be a mistake… on his part however! He was at a better vantage point but he tried to take a different way back to me. He stepped and slid minimally with his right knee twisting a bit. Jeff never fell! But he did injure that knee enough that he favored it. Thankfully he was able to walk out with me.

We arrived at the car. I got out some Ibuprofen for Jeff, and we moved on to our second spot, the Wachirathan Waterfall. And, OH MY!! This is where the tourists come! There were many tourists and the vans they came in. We parked and could see why. It was easy access to a great viewing spot. The second waterfall was full volume and was spread out over – at least – a 90° span of our vision. It was impressive!! Jeff’s knee was starting to stiffen up a little. But thankfully there wasn’t any hiking involved here.We did our selfie pictures and loaded back up in our yards and took off.

Our third and last destination was Mae Klang Waterfall. When we arrived here, we were again the only ones visiting. There was a very flat walkway to get back to the waterfall’s viewing. The waterfall was again breathtaking and powerful as all three have been due to it being the rainy season here in Thailand. But I am partial to waterfalls… one of the displays God created for us to embrace Him! As we were leaving here we noticed a couple of fishermen wading in the swift rushing stream that later becomes the Ping River. I would not be doing that. One misstep and you would be shooting downstream!

Now we loaded up in the Yaris. We went to a main road into Chiang Mai. We arrived in the big city in northern Thailand, around 1300. We had lunch in mind first. We went to some old stomping grounds: Rote Yiam Beef Noodle! It was as delicious as we remembered!!

When we finished we went to Bangkok Hospital, Chiang Mai. We came, specifically for me to go here and get my 2-week follow-up x-ray of my right hand. We arrived at the front desk and showed them the paperwork from the Chiang Rai Bangkok Hospital, and they walked us to the orthopedic area.We showed my paperwork at the desk here and they got me in to see the orthopedic doctor within 20 minutes. The doctor asked how I was doing. I said good and I explained about the need for the follow-up X-ray/appointment from Chiang Rai Hospital. He then asked if we had a copy of the first X-ray but we did not and never had it. The doctor then sent me to get x-rays done. We were led by staff to the Imaging Department. Within 10 minutes, my X-rays were completed. We then walked back to the orthopedic area, and waited about another 20-30 minutes and saw the doctor a second time. He showed us the X-ray. My bone has fused together but it’s not a 100% union. The doctor then took off the Ace Wrap and the soft cast, looked my hand over and poked around on my hand to see if I was having any pain. He explained that if I didn’t have any pain I would be fine but if I have pain I would need to have surgery and have pins placed. He also said that I would need to wear the soft cast for another 4 to 6 weeks. Then he and the nurse cleaned my hand… this was the first time my hand has been cleaned for 2 weeks! I was elated!!! Now he redressed my hand with the cast and a new Ace Wrap. With that we were done except for paying. We went to the cashier. The total cost for the doctor visit, X-rays, and two Ace wraps was 2,880 THB, which is $88.51.

We got out of the hospital around 1430 and headed to Lampang Province. We arrived just after 4:00. We checked into our new little bungalow called Pimpisa Garden. We unloaded our stuff and then went to the Sunday Night Market just down the street. We got our supper of three kinds of sausages; a great salad of lettuce, kidney beans, barley, corn, sweet potato, apple and some other things I don’t remember; Two waffles – one with corn, another with coconut; and a bag of fresh cut pineapple. I don’t remember how much everything cost but it wasn’t very much. We took our goods back to our place and ate on our little porch overlooking our personal flower garden with many fluttering butterflies keeping us entertained. It was a great way to end the day.