the calm between the storms.

In between Christmas and heading back to a couple months stateside, we were looking for a little piece of calm. Really, just in the midst of our day to day we look for that!  And so we went camping for a couple days earlier this week!

Thailand has a number of national parks, and at least for this visit, it was free for us to camp! We also have been collecting some camping gear that we’ve found on sale, including a $10 tent and $10 camping stove. And so off we went. Being cold season here, the weather was absolutely perfect–chilly enough at night to love our double sleeping bag and wear sweatshirts, and never too hot during the day.

It was right up in the mountains, just about an hour from our house. There were stunning views in every direction.

Our little spot was tucked up perfectly in the trees.

With all of it’s flaws, our car is perfect for us and very, very perfect for camping adventures.

We read a lot. We have been reading Pride & Prejudice aloud together for many months and managed to finally finish! Stephen also finished the entire Hobbit & Lord of the Rings series. I am still making my way through Come Be My Light, a collection of Mother Teresa’s personal writings and letters, but absolutely loving it. It has been a refreshing read.

We headed off on a hike one day, and wound our way through the jungle. In addition to spotting a monkey in the trees, we discovered that there is a caged bear in the national park, not a great distance from where we were sleeping. It was an odd thing to have in a national park, but he was big and interesting to look at I guess. We did discover that his door had holes large enough to allow my whole arm through, and likely his arm and or nose; so it might not be the safest. We tested this while he was lazily on the other side of the enclosure, if you were curious.

The hike was advertising the largest Krabak tree in Thailand. While large–16.1 meters around and over 50 meters high–it was kind of unimpressive. But the hike was nice!

I was far more impressed by the less giant Krabak tree that had fallen across the trail and through half of the jungle. Whoa.

It was pretty lovely. We are hoping this is a regular adventure plan for us to rest away from our house (since our house sometimes isn’t very restful) and explore more of Thailand’s national parks!