Lesson from the can't get lost university

You can't get lost, if you don't care where you are going.

We did the longest trek yet with our bags today, after we packed and checked out of our dumb hotel we walked into town with our huge bags. The walk was about 40 minutes as usual, except we were carrying and extra 30 pounds each, warriors I tell ya! We had some pineapple for breakfast but by the time we got to Old town it was noon and we were starving as always. We are definitely creatures of habit, or I guess we just really like what we like because we had lunch at Juicy 4 U again which won't be the last time either. With our bags we just went straight into the restaurant, even though our new hostel is literally just next door, we couldn't bare to wait until after we checked in, so we sat down and had yet another amazing meal. Sophia never ceases to amaze us, her and her family own this restaurant where they all work in symphony with constant big smiles on their faces, she also told us that her mom and dad have been vegan their whole life which to me is so inspiring. 

Nice little tag... Lol

Once we were done we checked into our room next door, settled in then went for a long walk. So far Chiang Mai has been amazing, we for sure see ourselves being able to easily stay here for a while but I guess it will depend on what the others will want to do too. Jay (Vee's bro), Mar, Ross (English dude we met in Penang:)) and Mar's friend Lucille from Manchester will all be here in a few days which is going to be wicked! There is so much to do in Chiang Mai and around it, I believe that we are also planning to visit some neighbouring cities like Chiang Rai and Pai which all seem awesome and are highly recommended. It seems that since our lives mainly revolve around food this is probably a main reason why we love it here because it has been the most veggie friendly place yet.

Anyway a bit off topic, I was chatting with my mom today and realized that we've been gone for something like 37 days, it almost seems surreal that it's been over a month because it certainly doesn't feel like it (as cheesy as it sounds, I guess time really does fly when you're having fun). We still don't really have a clue how much longer we will be abroad but the more days that pass the harder it seems to be to think about coming home. The only problem here is the fact that we miss our friends and family (lesbi-bros foreva...yeah I went there!) but at the same time we've been waiting for this trip of a lifetime for what felt like a lifetime. This leaves us in a tough situation, but I figured it all out today! So I decided that us being out here is a blessing In disguise for all our friends and family, because if we stay here long enough they will end up coming to visit or join us, so basically everyone wins.

700 year old Buddhist temple.

Alright so after our super long walk, of course we got hungry again and Vee was craving a soup she had yesterday so we went back to J4U for dinner. After dinner we decided to go on a search for somewhere where all 6 of us will be able to stay once everyone gets here. No such luck but while walking down random streets we stumbled upon this massive temple that beat all the other ones we've seen yet. Thankfully some guy was able to talk to us about the temple, he told us that it's 700 years old which is why no one but the caretakers can go inside and that along with a temple in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia there emerald Buddha stayed there. There was a path all around the temple so we walked it and ended up discovering probably the coolest thing I've seen yet. There's a Buddhist university here where you can study Buddhism along with other subjects and it's all free, the only money involved is the fact that you can donate money. This whole thing definitely caught my attention and we are going to go back when it's open tomorrow, this stuff is super interesting to me. 

After our discoveries we grabbed a fresh smoothie then went back to the hostel, now were chilling and bedtime soon, peace out!

A bientot,

Janelle Brine