Justin Peretz

My Dad and I were walking to the night bazaar and we heard these monks chanting. It sounds so cool in the distance to hear the chanting, and the Buddhist temples are beautiful. There are so many of them here. We were able to stand on a bench and take this photo. I wish I could share the sounds and the bells with you.   

The Sunday night market goes for so many blocks I lost track. It’s the biggest market in Chiang Mai and you can buy just about anything! I got a lot of cool stuff, including a couple of things that you blow into that sounds like a real bird. They had cotton candy that they made right in front of you, people playing music, lots of food vendors, and people making hats. I got some stuff for my friends at the market. It’s really about 100 x bigger than the Steamboat farmers market and I’m not kidding. There are a l0t of Buddhist temples where people make special offerings. They looked really pretty at sundown.

As a sign of good luck, the hill people carve a new wood sculpture every new year. Their village new year’s celebration lasts four days, and it’s a big celebration. I took this picture of their latest carving (they are all over the village), but I need some help in naming it. There’s a cheesy prize for winning this contest. My cousin Michael won the first contest. Who will win this one?

When we went into the hill people’s village, the woman put one of their tribe hats on me. I think it was pretty cool. I couldn’t buy it, but don’t you think I’d be a smash hit at the Steamboat 4th of July parade? Yes, I’m such a goof!

When we were walking though the jungle on the way to the waterfall, we came across this spider. It was HUGE! And the web around it was really big, too. At the halfway point, there was a family that lived in this hut just by the river, and they let us rest in the shade for awhile since it was an hour each way. They had these cool slingshots that you could use for free. They were so nice to us. I tried it, and was kinda good, but the dad of their family could hit a target 40 yards away every single time! He tried like 2o x and nailed it every time. He said they hunt for birds that way. Way cool!

Wow, what a day! Today, my Dad took me on a one-day trek out of Chiang Mai. Our first stop was a trek on elephants through the jungle. I bought some bananas to feed my elephant. Then, we went on a hike to this awesome waterfall. At the end of the trail, we could swim in a natural pool under the waterfall. The water was so warm! After that, we went white water rafting and it was my first time doing that. The rapids were really running, but again, the water was warm! I almost didn’t go because it looked too wild, and two girl backpackers with us bailed out of the trip, but my Dad helped me find the guts to do it. It was crazy fun! 100 x better than Disneyland’s roaring rapids. Then, we went to a hill village with people they call “the mountain people” but it’s not like Steamboat at all. Then, we drove back to Chiang Mai and went to the Sunday night market and bought all sorts of neat stuff to bring home for my friends. I am so tired now, but this was THE BEST DAY EVER!

My Dad says B & B stands for a Bed & Breakfast, but I know the truth. It stands for Bugs & Butterflies! We are looking for lots of Atlas Moths (the biggest in the world) for a friend of my Dad’s. We found some (the big ones that look like butterflies). I’m holding one in the picture. But I really like the bats. They look really cool. So help me out, gang. What do you think B & B should stand for?

Today we switched hotels and moved into the old city. We have a cool pool and the Sunday market, the biggest in Chiang Mai, is almost right outside our front door. Tomorrow we are going on a trek that includes elephant riding, white water rafting and a trip to a butterfly farm. This is picture we took. I guess I shouldn’t drink a lot of soda! LOL! See the live fish in the background? It’s not for show, it’s for eating! Thanks to everyone who is reading my blog!

Well, today I got up enough (fish) guts and got a fish pedicure. It tickled so much at first, but I finally put both feet in. The only reason I did this was a certain someone put in the comments “did you get one?”  Aidan, this one’s for you!