June 23,

I awoke at 0308 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep till after 0430…I don't know why sometimes it just happens🤷🏻‍♀️. I finally woke up for good at 0730.Jeff said he woke up at 6:00 which is really good for him. Anyway, we got up and about and started packing. We talked with my sister via WhatsApp video. We had a little trouble with our internet connection so we had to cut the conversation short.

At 0900, we went to breakfast. We were the only ones in the hotel restaurant. But somebody must have just left because one table still had remnants of another breakfast. Our breakfast was included. We hadn't known what to expect, but seeing those leftovers… it was Thai food. We were served enough food, for at least four grown adults! It was way too much to say in the least. We were served a broth type Soup, a traditional Congee which is like a porridge made of broken rice – it also had great mushrooms, a plain Omelette, a dish Stir-fried Cabbage and carrots, a plate of deep fried bits – maybe Pork(?), a plate of Stir-fried Spaghetti pasta with small bits of veggies for color, and lastly too deep fried pieces of bread that were shaped like croissants but had a texture like a donut with a glaze for dipping. Whew!! We managed a dent in the amount of food but there was a lot left over.

When we finished we went back up to our room, finished our packing and then talked with Jeff's sister and her husband. Then Jeff loaded up our Yaris and we headed out around noon.The morning has been very cloudy and rainy as it was much of the night last night. We had rain off and on on our way to our destination which was only 27 miles away. We found that hilarious! But that's just the way it worked out. I'm glad we stayed in Ban Rak Thai Village. I did not mention yesterday but that town actually started from Chinese immigrants who fled China during the Communist takeover in 1949. All of the buildings had a Chinese flare to their roof lines and just their architecture in general.

We did first try to drive to the Border of Burma and Thailand but the road was rough and sketchy. We got probably a tenth of a mile away. There was no “official crossing” at that border area. That surprised us. Anyway, once back on the road – it was pretty easy going. The rice paddies that we had seen being planted the day before were thoroughly and completely planted, amazing.

Our first stop was at Wat Mok Champae, in Mok Champae Village, which is the next village. There were some nice Temple buildings here and a white stupa, but most everything was kind of closed up. The coolest thing about this Wat was one way into the complex as you come into the village. A bamboo bridge over rice paddies from the main road. We had gone into the Wat through the town entrance. I definitely couldn't have done that bamboo bridge. It was more elevated. We got a picture of it then moved on.

We arrived in Mae Hong Son just after 1300. We went directly up to the main temple, Wat Phai Doi, overlooking the city. We had gone here 14 years ago, with one exception… we drove the car all the way to the top instead of climbing the steps up. We are 14 years older!! There are two Stupas here. The first and largest Stupa was built in 1860; with the second, smaller Stupa being built in 1874. Both are said to house remains of Buddhist monks. I had a very vague sense of recollection of this Wat but Jeff remembered it quite well. There is another Wat just behind and higher up. It has a Buddha statue… I remembered that and Jeff did not. So I guess it kind of evens out. From up here the views of the town are extraordinary. While we were touring up here the sun came out and it was gorgeous.

Now we left, going into the town and went to our hotel, Ngamta. We’re here for four nights, got checked in and went to our room – discovering it was not the one that we had booked. So Jeff went back to the check in desk. He got it straightened, but they were trying to make him pay more. He showed the lady our confirmation booking info. She backed down. Sometimes these things set stuff off on the wrong foot. Hopefully it won’t cause later issues.

We unloaded and started to go out but it was raining so we waited it out. When it did stop, we were able to go out and walked around the cute little lake here. Jeff remembered some of the shops around the lake but he couldn't quite place where we stayed before. The town is sleepy and seems smaller than we both remembered. We went back to our room and hung out for a couple more hours then we went out for supper. We chose Fine Day Cafe. I had Creamy Parmesan Pasta with a Salmon Steak; Jeff had a Local Sausage Plate. We both enjoyed my dish better. We paid 520 THB, which is $15.84. Then we checked out the local supermarket and 7-Eleven and went back to our place. We did go back out for sunset and walked around the lake one more time. The fountain was going… it was a lovely stroll and had cooled down from the rain. We had even shared a chocolate ice cream cup. It was a nice way to end our first day in Mae Hong Son.