Takes my breath away

The past week we have been in a town called Hua Hin visiting one of the professors that I work with in China. Hua Hin is the biggest town I have been to while traveling in Thailand. It's more of city with main roads, bars, restaurants and hotels. We rented a motorbike for the entire time we are here and yesterday Jimmy, Kim and his girlfriend Maggie and myself hopped on our motorbikes for an incredible day. The trip started with an hour and a half motorbike ride on the main roads to the farm roads where we rode past fields of palm trees and cows with rolling mountains in the distance. We passed a salt farm where instead of crops there were big pools of ocean water sitting in square fields. At the end of the road, we came upon the ocean and at the base of the ocean we climbed up and down one mountain until we came to a clearing of pine trees growing in sand next to the beach. We ate lunch on the sand and then continued to another mountain and climbed up and over rocks. Towards the top a small cave appeared that was incredible. We walked down the stone steps through one cave that led to an even bigger cave where it was open to the sky. Sun was shining down into the cave from a big opening in the ceiling and trees an greens were growing on the ground. Again we walked through this cave over rocks and through a dark passage into the biggest cave I have ever seen. The opening into the cave and standing there was like looking upon a football field that is completely enclosed by rock on all sides except the ceiling that is open to the sky. There is a Buddhist temple inside the cave where the monks come to pray. The beauty of the cave was incredible, beyond any words I could ever write. The cave must have been at least 300 feet deep with trees and greenery growing up from the center. It was such a peaceful experience and nothing could have prepared me for what I saw that day. I kept thinking how amazing it must have been when the Buddhist monks discovered this cave a couple hundred years ago and what a perfect place it was to pray. People had stacked little stones on top of one another on the floor of the cave as a sign for good luck. This place is an image that I hope will stay with me for my entire life. Here are some pics that don't do the justice that this cave deserves...