Hi Gram,
I woke up in paradise again, and no amount of pinching myself told me otherwise. Today was an early day with lots of things planned, so we got up early and had breakfast at 6am. After another satisfying meal, we all loaded up in a few busses and began our adventure.

The first stop was a terraced rice field with plenty of opportunities for instagram photos. Since we got there early, it wasn’t too packed with tourists yet and the views were astounding. We walked along a path looking for the perfect spot for a photo, and we kept walking. Down a couple of stairs, then a short path to a couple more stairs, then a bunch more stairs, then a small climb down to some more stairs. We’re this far down, maybe if we just went down a little further, we could cross the stream then climb up the other side? There’s a cool landing over there where we could spread out for a good group photo! Across the water and up some stairs, then step past some mud, pull ourselves up a few rocks, watch out for that rock that wiggles a little. Up some more stairs, now everybody walk along the edge of the rice field and turn around. Look! It’s a drone, ready to take our picture! Now wave! Make a silly face! Okay, one more picture, then the video as a the drone fades away, and…. scene! That’s a wrap, everyone. Now we just have to navigate that same route down then back up and try to keep our feet dry.

The next thing we knew, everyone was reassembled on the other side, back where we started. We chatted about the trek, commented on the scenery, and assembled for a few pictures in the swings and instagram sets. Taking turns, we all got a new profile pic either by ourselves or with a few friends before Amy rounded us up like stray kittens and got us back to the bus.

Our next stop was the water temple. Now, there are two things that I’m not interested in – being wet or participating in any kind of religious ceremony. The chance to receive a water blessing at a temple, which includes having water poured on the head, was not my cup of tea. I also, however, am not the type to yuck someone else’s yum. Just because I’m not interested doesn’t mean it’s wrong for someone else, so I opted to just hang back and relax while most of the group changed into their bathing suits and sarongs. I wasn’t the only one, so a small group of us gathered on the steps and talked about all the other wonderful things we’d experienced in the past few days. It was great chatting and lounging about, enjoying some people watching. Groups were led through the beginning of the ceremony, entered into the temple, then emerged looking peaceful, if a little damp. After a few more group photos, the bus was re-boarded and headed to our next destination.

We arrived in a village that we’d heard about the day before, where they had revived their tradition of weaving during the pandemic. One of the village leaders led them to transform their community during the pandemic. Now, they display their customs, dances, and traditions to visitors, and operate a market to sell some of the produce that they farm and crafts produced locally.

They welcomed us with a delicious lunch spread and fresh coconuts, told us all about their community, then performed a traditional dance. They invited us to come dance with them, then we took turns taking pictures with the dancers. They even let us practice balancing stacks of fruit on our heads!

After lunch, we broke into smaller groups that were led through the village to see and learn more about the local homes and traditions. The guide for my group told us about his experience farming the land while he pointed out interesting details about the buildings and temples around us. We took turns walking through the hot sun and standing in the shade of a tree or building, drinking water and fanning ourselves the whole time. Our tour wrapped up back at the center of the village, and soon we were bopping down the road back to our hotel.

After a brief rest and shower, it was off again to more activity, heading to a local Thai restaurant for dinner and cocktails. I would tell you how beautiful the setting was, or how great the food looked and tasted, maybe how much I enjoyed the company I was keeping but at this point, I’m beginning to sound like a broken record.

We wrapped up dinner quickly so we could make it over to the theater next door for a traditional Kecak dance. I had seen a couple of these dances in the past few weeks, but this one was over the top! The chants and song were louder and more emphatic, the dancers jumped higher and expressed themselves more, and the fireballs were larger and launched higher across the stage, creating quite a show! The audience cheered were really drawn in, a great performance. We all gathered around the performers for more photos, mingled a little trying to decide what to do next, then slowly trickled out to the street.

I ended up in a small group that decided to check out the rooftop bar at Merlin’s nearby. We walked into a storefront that took us back to the days of Merlin and magic, with potions, books and shelves full of intricacies. A young woman in a magician’s robe came over and told us the story of the books and globes, asked to take our shoes, then had us each open a book to read our fortune from whatever page we randomly opened to. Once we all had our fortunes, she pulled a book from the shelf, pulled a level aside, and pushed the bookcase to reveal an entirely different bar hidden behind! She escorted us into this secret lair, then seated us on floor cushions around a couple of small tables. A couple rounds of drinks and lots of laughter later, the memory dividends were overflowing for all of us. We paid our bill and were escorted through a back door where we were reunited with our shoes and shown a secret exit. Exhausted, we all headed back to the hotel to sleep and prepare ourselves for another fun day.