All Rise for the Sunrise

I will wake you up early

With my heavy heartbeat.

You will say, Can’t we just sleep in, and I will say,

No, trust me. You don’t want to miss a thing.

(Love Poems #137, Sarah Kay)

Dawn. Sunrise. Mornings. Early mornings.

They sound so dreary. I know. I mean we will never run out of them as long as you live. What is so special about it?

I wouldn’t have known what is so special about it until I experienced a few times. During the New Year Holiday, I went into a roadtrip with my closest friend with some other 30 people.

We visited the Chiang Rai province of Thailand and climbed up the famous Phu Chi Fa ( also known Phu Chee Fah). It is a mountain and a national forest park. Tourists visit it during the dawn to catch a glimpse of the “sea of mist”.

It sounded so beautiful in my ears that I was so eager to witness it firsthand. Despite the fact that we went to bed late that night, I was able to wake up at 3.30 am just in time to leave for Phu Chi Fah. It almost took us two hours and half to get there. We arrived almost 6 am that we thought we will miss the most interesting part of the whole idea of waking up super early.

The moment we got down from the van, the coldest weather sent shivers to our skin and bones. I am not exaggerating because it was really cold. I was wearing three layers of jackets and I can’t help but still shiver. I couldn’t even use my hands but good thing I did bring the mittens we bought from Chiangmai.

We needed to go up higher and our vans were not suitable for the ride up so we needed to take those passenger-pick-up trucks worth 30 baht per person. It was extremely chilly because it was an open ride. We were trying to squeeze ourselves together as to keep warm. It must have been about 3oC or 4oC. I couldn’t be certain because if your nose and cheek were painfully freezing because of the cold, you wouldn’t have any thoughts of checking the temperature really.

Once we arrived to the drop off place, we needed to hike up for about 700 meters more. It was a holiday so there were so many people . I had this touristy feeling and it was amusing how everyone was trying to cope up with the cold. It was really cold because some people were carrying thick quilts to keep themselves warm. I was glad I didn’t do that though, although I admit I was planning on doing just that. LOL.

The moment we arrived up there, I said to myself, so this was what I was missing all those mornings I didn’t wake up early to see the sunrise. It was so beautiful and nostalgic. It was so romantic and calm. It gave such a wondrous serene feeling to my soul that I wanted to stop that moment.( I am being poetic there but truthfully I was dying to go back to the hotel because I was so hungry.)

I am so gratified to say that some of the most beautiful mornings I had were shared with people that I love. Just like this sunrise and sea-mist watching, I got to enjoy it with my closest friend, best travel buddy and my soul sister. It doesn’t really matter how many times you have seen the same view over and over again. What really matters is who you saw it with, If you did see it with people you love, that same view just becomes different, If it was beautiful then it just becomes more beautiful when you get to see it with people special to you. I can’t actually wait to catch sunrise with the man I love though. ( me being a hopeless romantic)

Words are just not enough to describe such a beautiful sight so here are some of the photos I took on that day. Next time, someone wakes you up to see the sunrise, please do get up because I swear you don’t really wanna miss it. –x-

#sunrise #mornings #lovedones #roadtrip #dawn