Hey readers! This week found me continuing my exploration of Northern Thailand and having lots of touristy fun along the way. I’ve been traveling with someone I met in Hawaii, and it has definitely inversed my typical work/travel balance (which typically leans much more heavily on work!) Having a travel buddy has a lot of benefits and I’m having a lot of fun with it at the moment, but as you may have noticed from a lighter-than-usual posting schedule this week, I’m totally behind on work!

The week kicked off in Pai, from where we took a two day rafting trip to Mae Hong Son. It was, among other things, the first time I can recall sleeping in the jungle under nothing more than a mosquito net and the longest I’ve been away from Internet since November of 2011!

Unfortunately Mae Hong Son met us with a nasty bout of food poisoning, but we were able to soak up a bit of the city’s bucolic atmosphere and Burmese-style temples first. For the weekend, we booked it back to Chiang Mai to hang out with friends and take a Thai cooking class. As always, I can’t wait to share all of this with you in more in-depth posts later!

I’m traveling at a slightly more rapid pace than I typically prefer, all in order to get to the Philippines before my Thai visa runs out. I’m going to miss Northern Thailand though — I found a lot of happiness here.

Onto the photos!

Photo A

This tea on my last morning in Pai was most certainly the prettiest I’ve ever had.

Photo B

The camp in the middle of the jungle on my rafting trip through the Thai jungle.

Photo C

Stunning hillside temple in Mae Hong Son. I was fascinated by the Burmese influence on the temples in this border city.

Photo D

These temples on the lake were the reason Mae Hong Son had been on my travel to-do list for so long.

Photo E

I loved my Chiang Mai cooking class! In the morning we went to the very colorful market.

Photo F

I managed not to burn the place down!

Which photo is your favorite? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!