I think the trick, while traveling around the world for the next nine months, is going to be creating temporary homes wherever we go.

For the first couple of days we were constantly on the move – two nights here, two nights there – and it was exhausting. We didn’t feel like we could find our place anywhere.
This week, though, we’ve been in one place – beautiful Chiang Dao, for five nights and six days, and really made a little home of it. It’s been so wonderful to get to know the area, and the people, and to have a sense of familiarity about our surroundings.
I’m really quite sad to leave.

Even more than the familiarity, though, this week has been full to bursting with incredible experiences. We’ve explored the monastery down the road (it was amazing), hiked through the forest (it was very muddy and steep!), discovered the inner workings of the Chiang Dao caves, cooked our own Thai red coconut curries and, this morning, rode an elephant through the Thai forest, followed by a bamboo ride down the river.
WOW.

I feel, especially today, but all week, really, like the luckiest girl in the world. The sun has been shining every day (despite it being the rainy season), we’ve eaten such good food, met some lovely people, and really got a sense of what Thailand is really like. Chiang Dao is such a special part of the country, it’s away from the hustle and bustle, and away from people trying to sell you things and crowds of tourists everywhere you look. When we’ve walked through the forest, we’ve been the only ones there. Riding the elephant this morning, we didn’t see a foreigner for hours. It’s been simply wonderful.

Being in one place has also made it easier for me to assess my blood sugar control, and I’m pleased to say it’s doing well. Slightly high when I over-compensate for the amount of exercise I’m doing, but I’d rather it was slightly high than risk going low when I’m out in the wilderness, or experiencing something amazing and then have to feel that horrible disorientated feeling. The one thing I’ve really noticed that’s different about how we’re travelling now and how we’d be travelling if I weren’t diabetic, is that we have to plan meals ahead a lot of the time. Before I would have been quite happy to set out for the day not knowing where we’ll be at mealtimes, but now I have to be quite specific about when I’ll be able to get food, and if it’s the right kind of food.

Still, if that’s the worst of my worries, I’m not complaining at all!!

(If you’d like to see what I mean when I say we’ve been having some incredible experiences, please check out our 30 to 40 second videos of The Best Moment of the Day, here: http://bit.ly/FIlv9 )

Koi Pond at entrance leading up to Chang Dao caves

Hua Lamphong Railway station

Absolutely in heaven!

We left the craziness of Bangkok behind, and took the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, which was totally fun. We were in a second-class sleeper, which meant that after an hour or two on the train, an attendant came around and turned our chairs into beds (bunk beds – Mark was on top because I was afraid I’d fall out!) complete with fresh sheets, blankets and pillows. And curtains that you could pull across the front of your bed so that you had your own private compartment. So cool! We woke to the most incredible views of forest and fields of rice with small villages along the way, and we knew… We’d hit the North.

Row of convenient Tuk Tuk taxis

The North of Thailand, it must be said, is incredibly beautiful. Only, most tourists get off the train in Chiang Mai and miss out on the real wilderness. Not us! We’d been told a secret (by the wonderful Vanoodle – check out her blog here) about a little place called Chiang Dao Nest, a short taxi ride and an hour and a half bus ride from Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second city.

What an amazing place! The bus ride hinted that it was going to be beautiful, with sweeping views out over the mountains and forests, but when we actually arrived here at Chiang Dao Nest (our home for the next 5 nights) we were blown away. The bungalows are set in the midst of a lush tropical garden, and they’re made entirely from bamboo (with wooden floors) and home to an enormous bed. Stunning. There’s a great pool with views of the mountain all around, and a gourmet restaurant on the premises (ooh la la!)

Buddha sculptures inside Chang Dao Caves

This morning we walked about 15 minutes down the road to the famous Chiang Dao Caves, which totally blew us away. We had no idea what to expect… We had just heard that the caves were pretty cool. They were incredible! A series of interlinked caves high off the ground, in the middle of the mountain I suppose, with amazing stalactites and stalagmites, and a walking path lit up to a reclining Buddha statue. For a small fee we could hire a guide who took us through the back route, with some hair-raising climbing through small tunnels and even smaller holes, to these enormous caverns… Mind-blowing, I’m telling you! There were loads of rocks that looked like other things, too – an elephant, a papaya, a lion, and it was so dark (the guide’s oil lamp was the only light) that it felt as if we were virgin explorers seeing the caves for the first time. Wow.

Tomorrow we’re going to the temple 10 minutes down the road (the other way), which sounds pretty amazing too.

So all in all, we’re feeling a lot more settled and more traveler-savvy. We even have the rest of our time in Thailand sorted out, which is rather exciting!
That said, food has been a bit tricky, I must say. We don’t quite have the budget to eat at the gourmet restaurant three times a day, so we’ve been stocking up on food to eat for breakfast and lunch. Only, most of the supermarkets (obviously) only sell Thai food, and they’re not much for snacking-without-cooking. So most of the portable snacks we could find (for the train and for lunches these days) are either highly processed white breadstuffs, or biscuits. Not ideal!
Still, there is loads of fruit for sale (I bought a kilogram of Thai lychees for about R2.50 today!) and for our one cooked meal a day we’re eating lots of veggies. I seem to be striking it lucky with the insulin to exercise ratio – we’re still walking around a lot but I think I’ve figured out how much less insulin to take to balance out the exercise.

And so far – one week in – I haven’t had a bad health day, or a bad diabetes day! Hooray!

More on heaven-on-earth soon, I promise.