Day 12

Woke up pretty early because we had to pack all of our stuff and trek back down the mountain. Well not all the way down, but at least 13 km... nothing like 35km that we did on the way up. We said goodbye to the Lahu tribe, and just as we were about to leave they called us back and gave us a small ceremonie. We all had to kneel on our knees and put our hands out. They came around with water and washed our hands and then they all came around and put a piece of string around our wrist. Each one connected and they said a few words as they did it. The bracelette that they each contributed was the Lahu good luck breacele. You are never suppose to ask for one, and you can never buy one, it has to be given to you for doing something they appreciate for which they can wish you good luck on your life. It was a great moment for all of us. It may not be the prettiest in the world, but it means more to me then any other I'll ever own.

We then started on our journey down the mountain. took us about 2 hours before we got to a small village where we all got on a bunch of elephants and rode them down the rest of the way. Not gonna lie, it was scary, specially our elephant because he had an attitude problem. Which would be why I chose him, gotta have spunk right.

Got to the bottom of the mountain and walked through another village. Say this giant snake so a couple of us picked it up and took pictures with it. Surghai said it would be fine, but it could have killed us all. Finally the truck truck came to pick us up and we headed back to Chain Rai to hang out at an orphanage called River of Live. It was a Christian Orphanage. Not a place I wanted to go or would chose to go, but it ended up being a good experince. I have my thoughts about the way its run, but it seems to be doing ok.

When we got to the orphanage we all had the longest shower of our life. Probably one of the best I've ever had. We all went to bed pretty early, because it was the first time in a week that we had an actual bed and we wanted to enjoy every minute of it.