December 17th - Mountain Roads to Pai

We are up and headed to the breakfast buffet. 

There are many choices from fruit and homemade yogurt 

To made-to-order eggs

Fried tofu, Chinese donuts, and sticky rice with banana and beans

This lady made the yogurt and the delicious orange marmalade and toasted the bread for you. 

Lobster claw or false bird of paradise outside our bungalow. 

The claws store water for birds and insects. 

Before we left the resort this young man showed us how to make the leaf flowers and fish. 

We are loading up to head to Pai. 

Pai, one of the most famous of all mountain towns in Thailand, is our destination today, but before we get there we need to negotiate several hundred bends and some of the steepest roads on the trip. 

Our first stop is a peanut roasting facility. 

It takes 45 minutes to roast the peanuts with the salt. They don’t have a timer, they just know. 

Back on the road with mountains on all sides. 

Stopping to refuel 

This little guy wanted to drive the Tuk Tuk 

And then did not want to get out 

More huge avocados. 

The viewpoint 

Mountains of Myanmar (Burma)

Golden wonder tree or yellow flame

If you prefer a wild wee, go to the side of the building 😳

Twisting vines

Our guides through the park and caves

They uncovered teak coffins when the water level dropped so much 

Beauty berry

He said they were good to eat and ate one so Juniper tried it and spit it out 

The vines curl and curl around each other and hold up the trees. 

Swinging bridge to be crossed on our way back. 

Bronwyn whacked her head 

Precarious walkway

Feeding the fish 

Entering the cave 

Pumping the lantern 

This was so rickety and I felt very insecure 

They see many different animals in the formations, and believe some bring good luck or other good things. 

Called the waterfall 

Kevin opted out of today’s activities due to the steps and his knee. 

Walking on rocks. 

Bats in the belfry and much guano.

Popcorn

Teeth

This is supposed to be a monkey but I never could see it. 

We’re not scrabbling through tiny potholes, rather enjoying a raft along the river that runs through the caves themselves at this point. 

Raft captains

Fish swarming around the raft. Could touch them but they have barbs that sense for food. 

 

The bamboo rafts had little stools to sit on 

Hmmm, not sure about this stairway 

They dam up the river so the rafts can float through the cave. 

Gathering the bat guano. 

Bat guano mining is common globally, especially in  East Asian countries (including Thailand). Guano mining can be very lucrative: the guano produced by a large cave-dwelling population of bats might be worth several million THB dollars each year. Bat guano is a very rich fertilizer, primarily due to its high nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus content. In Thailand, guano produced by the microbat Tadarida plicata, the wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat, is favored for its rich organic content. It is the most abundant bat in Thailand, lives in 17 caves across the country, and is insectivorous. Exposure to bats, bat guano, and bat excreta through bat consumption puts people at risk of direct contact with bat-borne viruses. 

The bags weigh about 65 lbs each. Notice how it is attached to her forehead. 

And then another on her neck. I bet she really needs to come see you Dr. Kellie. 

Bags and bags 

Water tap

Stairs and a door to ???

Hill glory bower

The young flower is used for food and the stem is used to shower and help with aches and pains 

Juniper walking with the guide 

Common wireweed 

A beetle has been introduced as a biological control agent to control the invasive plant 

Jack in the bush, also invasive and considered a weed. 

Limestone hills 

Cave entrance

Hardy gloxinia

Slatted bridge walk

You can see Juniper doesn’t much care for it. 

Of course Yuth was bouncing his way across which didn’t help 😁

I don’t think Lisa cared much for it either

Bamboo sticky rice 

It was really good

We passed this school where the students were out sweeping and scrubbing the fence. 

Look how clean it is!

We stopped for lunch after exploring the huge cave system with the local guides. Roasted garlic chicken with rice 

Stir-fried roasted chili paste with beef - very spicy 

Lychee 

Bulldogs in a sidecar 

More agriculture

Poinsettia 

They’re huge plants here 

More Mountain Views

The leaf flower Juniper made is unraveling 

Looks like a rosebud with leaves now 

No easy farming here 

Clouds as we drive on towards Pai. 

Almost there 

By late afternoon we drop down into the valley where Pai sits but not before a couple of awesome pit stops – and arrive at our laid back resort, the base for the next couple of nights. 

Our bungalow

There’s a small bed in the window. 

And a very large shower. We took a wander around the property. 

There are a couple of cows right outside our door. 

Our bungalow

A nice lap pool 

But very old and broken walkway to the pool. 

This yellow iris is the plant that is used to make the leaf roses and fish soap holder 

Bougainvillea 

Caricature plant or white adulsa 

Combined with coconut water it reduces swelling

Yellow Ixora 

Dinnerplate aralea 

Juniper posing on the outside concrete bench

Giving me the look

Peregrina 

Staghorn fern

A few sunset pictures 

Juniper loved the phone. I’m pretty sure it’s the first one we’ve had in a room since we left. 

We went to the night market 

Yuth on the left and Lisa on the right 

Clockvine 

By Thine All Sufficient Merit

Merit: the quality of being particularly good or worthy, especially to deserve praise or reward

There’s a famous quote that says, “The very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again with the expectation of a different result.” So many times in my life, I can look at repetitive patterns that never got me closer to the end goal, but because they were comfortable or the norm, I was willing to keep trying, over and over again. Insanity!

Enter Jesus. In Him, God offered a new beginning. He is the way for closing the gap between God and humanity. Obedience, kindness, compassion—all wrapped up in the form of a man. He stepped out of heaven to do the one thing that none of us could ever do: offer the ultimate sacrifice that would open the doorway to forgiveness for all sin—past, present, and future.

The sacrifice of earthly things was never enough, an endless cycle. Hebrews 10:11 says, “Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.” Jesus Christ is all that can take away our sin, not the faith of those who have gone before us, not the faith of those in our family, or the faith of the world’s greatest preachers.

None of these things are bad; they may have even helped us grow exponentially in our faith, but they can only take us so far. We have to be willing to keep growing and keep learning. The only practical thing that we can bring to the table is obedience. Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.” In other words, back to the definition of merit, we are not worthy, we don't deserve it. It is strictly God's gift to us. He is sufficient!