New Adventures...: Bike rides, Wine Vineyard, and Mae Sai :)

So I have been trying to make it a routine to take my bike out for an hour after lesson planning just to explore my little town. Stumbled upon some hot springs and saw a huge geyser during sunset...I still cannot believe this is my life and this is where I live. I love Thailand!

obligatory selfie - proof I was there

is this real life?

happy girl

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So this is how the wine vineyard happened. Winter has arrived here in Thailand and one cold winter night (Wednesday) I was getting ready to leave my house on my bike (wearing pants and multiple layers on top because it was winter...which means in the low 20s - celsius) and I decide instead of riding my bike to the market to get some food I wanted to go down my street to get papaya salad because I knew they made it spicy and well spicy food would warm me up. And YES I am aware I am pathetic, but I've been in Thailand now two months so deal with my ridiculousness :) So I saunter on down to the restaurant and order my spicy papaya salad and am just sitting there by myself on my phone trying to look less like a loner when someone says "hey you!" I ignore it because I don't know anyone in the restaurant so I keep staring at my phone and I hear it again "hey you!" so I look up and this guy is like "yes you! where are you from?" "America, you?" "Germany, but I live in Thailand now. Want to come sit at my table?" So I go over and we start talking and I find out he's from Germany and has been here over five years. Lives outside of Mae Chan so rarely comes into town. Was refreshing to speak English, my town is really small so I only can communicate with a few people. Thai is on my list to learn, but currently focusing on lesson planning and settling in. He's drinking Chang (beer) and offers me a glass and I oblige since well, I just agreed. He asked if I liked the beer here and I said I was tired of it and I don't care for whiskey and that's all they drink, but that I really miss wine since that's normally what I drink in California. That's when he said "I own a vineyard" I told him we were going to be best friends! He studied grapes in Germany and moved here and worked on vineyards in the south and then one night he was in a bar and happened to meet the owner's son and the son owned the vineyard in my little town and asked him if he could grow grapes and he said yes and had to prove it and so the owner just gave him the vineyard! I couldn't believe my luck/life. My friends agree, only this would happen to me on a Wednesday night. So after we have been chatting for awhile he invites me to the vineyard to have some wine. I again say sure why not as long as he would bring me back to my house after since I had to teach the next day and he promised. Sorry mom, you probably don't want to hear this! Anyhow, we drive to Mae Chan Winery (check out the website! it's beautiful!) and we have the entire place to ourselves! He grabs a bottle of Chardonnay and we just have a night of talking about wine and Thailand and the culture. He's 27, has a Thai wife and a 1 year old. So glad I made a new friend and he said if I bring friends up that we can have a discount at the Chiang Rai Resort and the wine tastings are free when you stay at the resort nearby. Needless to say, my friends and I will be frequenting this winery quite often! So here are the pics, it was in the evening so can't see much, but it's beautiful and you can see Laos and Burma forests from the tasting room!

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Teacher meeting :) They're all so sweet! Kru Dao <3

(kru = teacher)

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Mae Sai

So I have some friends in Mae Sai so decided to take a little trip to visit and see their town and hang out with friends. Ah what a trip! Mae Sai is basically the golden triangle. We were going to go there last night, but one of our motorbikes got a flat and it took awhile to fix so we decided to get dinner and beer with friends instead and see the market. So the market is AT the border! Still blew my mind, so crazy. The food was sooooo good at the restaurant we went too and the company was the best part. I love my friends :)

view from my friend's place in Mae Sai

motorbike love

I love everything about this picture

selfie shame - again

AMAZING FISH! Was kind of like sweet/sour sauce - heaven in your mouth basically

Tanner is a silly one!

roomie love! reunited at last! we have issues

so much love in this photo

So we went to a tea plantation today to have lunch and this was the view from the entrance. you just walk along this path and there's a restaurant that overlooks a little pond. I can't believe this is my life!