Beautiful Thailand

We just got home last night from 11 days in Thailand. Why is it I plan such busy trips? Honestly, we saw almost every part of Thailand - because the airfare on Air Asia is soooo cheap domestically. Anyways, we had a great trip. We visited Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Chang Dao.

We almost missed our trip - I missed the small print that says to please bring the credit card you book your tickets with to the airport. And, as I don't like to carry around extra credit cards, I naturally left that card at home. Thankfully, the cc company answered their phone finally, and the payment got verified. We tried out Qatar Airlines this time - not sure it will be my first choice again.

We had prearranged to have a friend of a friend of a friend pick us up at the airport and take us to their Bed & Breakfast outside of Bangkok. On the way we stopped for an authentic Thai dinner, then crashed for the night in their authentic Bangkok neighborhood home.

The next morning we set out with Nut to see Bangkok. To visit a wat (temple) you must have your legs covered, so we wore long skirts and jeans even though it was quite warm and humid. We visited the Grand Palace (more like a temple), then rode a tuk-tuk to Wat Pho (huge reclining gold Buddha). We had a delicious lunch in a nice Thai restaurant - complete with white table cloths and singing women. Thais can count to 6 and did so every time we passed by, then commented "Big family! Happy family!" After lunch we went to the Jim Thompson factory outlet (I bought cotton material) and MBK - a market-style shopping mall (indoors and air conditioned!) Rat (the lady of the house) arranged massages for us (Chris,Macey, Katelin, and me), and Rat watched the little ones while we got our 1 hour massages for $10 each including tip! We went to China Town and ate street food for dinner - noodles, durian (famous stinky fruit - okay but has the texture of snot), and mangos with sticky rice.

Bangkok

Reclining Buddha

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Money is put in to bring good luck (given to the temple). Not optional, according to the tour guide, so we did it so not to offend anyone. The kids thought it was fun, but wondered about taking the money with them instead!

Adding gold leaves to the statue brings good luck

Riding in a tuk-tuk, so named because of the sound the motor makes

The 2nd day Nut took us to bright and early about 1 hour out of Bangkok to the train market - local foods set up around the train track. When the whistle blows, they have 1 minute to move all their food away from the track. After the train goes by, they move it back. No one spoke a word of English. I now know why Asians take so many pictures when visiting the USA - our foods must be just as weird to them as their foods are to us! Next  - the floating markets. We rode our own long boat, complete with coconut drinks, down the long canals built hundreds of years ago by the Chinese. Instead of roads, they built canals, and homes, schools, and markets sprang up along the water. When you see something you like, you ask the driver to stop so you can bargain with the shop owner - some are floating and some are on the water's edge. We ate a noodle lunch on the boat for about $1 each. On the way back into Bangkok we stopped at the Benjarong factory where they hand paint china. It used to be only for the Royal family, but now they can also sell it. We watched them painting the china and bought some pieces for ourselves. Next - teak handicraft factory where we saw massive carvings and beautiful teak furniture. Then, the Teak Palace where the royal family lived in the early 1900s. Apparently, each Rama (king) got a new palace. Rama 9 is ruling now, and Nut could tell us which Rama did what! One Chinese tour guide at the Palace was having a hard time keeping the interest of his audience - they were staring at us instead. He finally asked us in English if we were from France! I told him Dubai and it didn't faze him one bit! I heard "Dubai" in his speech for the next few minutes. Lastly, we ran through a National Handicraft Museum where everything was made of gold (dragons, ships, beds), Benjarong china, and pictures made with silk embroidery. We almost did run - we were tired of museums and we were trying to keep ahead of the Chinese tourists. Nut got us to the airport just in time for our flight to Phuket where a van was waiting to take us to our villa on Kalim beach. The cook had prepared a delicious Thai dinner and watermelon juice for us, and we fell into bed.

In our boat at the Floating Markets

The next morning Nang, the cook and housekeeper, made French toast and fruit for breakfast. We had a day for relaxing! We swam in the pool and collected shells on our own beach. We ate something wonderful for lunch. The kids played on the rocks as the tide went out. Nang made watermelon and banana shakes (the boys aren't fond of watermelon!). It was really hot in the afternoon, so the kids had to sit and watch TV - they thought they were in heaven. In the evening, we went into town in a tuk tuk, stopped at a tailors to be measured for dresses, a skirt, and a suit, ate ice cream at Swenson's in Jungeceylon (a shopping mall of sorts), then returned home for a wonderful meal prepared for us, complete with sticky rice and mangos.

The fourth morning we got up and went to the marina for a boat trip to Phi Phi (p p) island, monkey island, snorkeling, swimming, etc. It was fun, but the beaches were so crowded with tourists that the fish were scarce. When we got back to the marina, the others that rode in our van weren't back yet, and we had to wait almost 1 hour for them. Of course, no one spoke English to explain this to us, but as they refused to take us home until these people showed up, we figured out what was going on. It was very disconcerting to be "left" and not know what was going on. But we made it home, swam in the pool, ate some dinner, went into town for a fitting at the tailor's, went to the fruit market, and finally went to bed.

The fifth morning we got up early to bet the heat and went to Hanuman's zip line. It was a 3 hour blast! Nang went with us to watch Jolee and Julia. We went 3 km through the jungle on 28 platforms, the longest line was 400 meters. Definitely a new and very fun experience. Thais eat a lot (small meals), so the zip line place had a home cooked thai meal for us with fresh fruit. They also gave us T-shirts. That afternoon we relaxed in our villa, swam, the kids played on the rocks. After dinner we went into town for some more ice cream and tailor fittings.

Chris and the kids having the dead skin on their feet eaten by tiny fish (note that Jennifer is not present - well, someone had to stay out to take a picture!)

Matthew (right) couldn't keep his feet still!

The last day in Phuket we went to a beach north of our villa and played in the Andaman sea and sand and drank smoothies. Chris and the 4 oldest kids had their feet cleaned by dead skin-eating fish! In the afternoon, the van took us to the airport to fly to Chiang Mai. There, Ya (a friend of Rat's sister) picked us up with her driver, took us to dinner, then to the Doi Kham Resort for the night. It was sorta like a tree house but not actually in a tree. There were 3 huge bedrooms, but we only needed 2 of them - one with a king bed and one with two queens. The grounds were beautiful with wooden walk ways, grass areas and flowers, tall trees and 7 houses of different sizes. We were a little unsure of it when we booked online, but it turned out a lot better than we expected.

Elephants getting their morning bath

Elephant painting the picture we ended up buying

Matthew, Chris and Jolee riding an elephant

Timothy and Katelin

Macey and Jennifer (holding tight to Julia!)

Our first morning in Chiang Mai started too early for the breakfast at the resort (7am) so we had a banana and a coffee at the Maesa Elephant camp. We watched the elephant show, feed the elephants, and bought a picture one of the elephants painted in the show. Then we rode elephants around the camp site and jungle for about an hour. The movements on top of the elephant proved to be too much for Julia, and up came her bananas! Next, we stopped at some little monkey school show - I think they stole the baby monkeys from the forest - not too impressed. Next, the Tiger Kingdom - not sure where they got the tigers, but it seems like they were tied to some conservatory, or so they said. Katelin and Macey went in to see the baby tiger cubs while Chris and Timothy went to see some larger tigers. The others and I feed the fish in the pond. The next stop was a butterfly garden and orchid farm - they grow without dirt, hanging suspended on a bar getting their water out of the humid air. Next, we took a Mae Ping river cruise in a long boat to a "farmer's" house where they had little bits of different crops and livestock that they raise in Thailand. We had a delicious lunch - noodles in a red curry and coconut milk soup and either chicken or pork, with little dishes of vegetables and sauces you could add if you wanted. We also tried lemon grass, ginger, tamarind, and one other juice. And, of course, there was the fruit plate! After the cruise back, we went to the Chiang Mai zoo. We only had a little over one hour before they closed, so we started at the pandas - parents and a cub. The zoo was huge and spread out - you have to take a trolley between the exhibits. We didn't realize this, so our driver drove us up and down the hills between the exhibits so we could see as much as possible. The pygmy monkeys were the smallest monkeys I have ever seen. Katelin saw her favorite - white tigers. Next was a arts and crafts market that takes place in a different location every night. I was impressed with the quality of the crafts, and Macey got a drum to add to her collection. We also ate ice cream (75 cents for 2 scoops) and dinner from street vendors. There were lots of things to try, but we skipped the fried insects!

Timothy hugging a tiger!

Katelin and Macey playing with the cubs

Orchid farm

Panda family at Chiang Mai Zoo

Lady selling wonderful satays at the Night Street Market - about 6 for $1US

Ginger for sale, in case you need protection from bad spirits (at the cave)

Alex arrived after breakfast the next morning to take us to the Tree House Resort in Chang Dao. A village family has a tree house they rent out along with excursions. Alex with OrientXplorer arranges it for people like us who don't speak Thai. First stop on the way was a cave and its obligatory temple. The cave was dark, so a lady with a gas lantern led the way and told us all about the hermit that discovered the cave and what all the rocks represented (such as the dead mother elephants whose front two legs were eaten by something). Alex translated all this for us. We drove a little further north to our tree house, and the family had lunch ready for us. The host family (Lung Suk and his family) doesn't speak English, so Alex was our go-between. The tree house was a little more rustic than I expected. We had 3 of the 4 rooms over-looking the jungle and gurgling creek - complete with mattresses on the floor and mosquito netting. There were indoor toilets and cold showers. After lunch we took a trek through the jungle on the sides of the mountain to a beautiful waterfall, stopping at the local village school to pass out lollipops and art supplies. The kids board at the school because their villages are too far away to go home every day. Jolee loved giving the kids candy! At the waterfall, Chris and the kids swam in the freezing water. Julia fell asleep in my backpack baby carrier and Jolee fell asleep on Chris's shoulders. Chris slid and scraped his leg up when Jolee shifted on his shoulders. Other than that, we made it back in one piece with sore muscles! It was dinner time by the time we got back to the tree house. After dinner, Chris and I had an herbal sauna treatment - we sat in a homemade sauna and rubbed coffee grounds on our skin! Once was enough! It was difficult to sleep that night because we are not used to the noise - the river, the insects, the birds, the village chief giving the news over a loud speaker. It got chilly at night, but warmed up by mid-morning, but not so much to make the hiking too hot. Wonderful weather, really.

One of our bedrooms at the tree house

The doorway is to the room above

Giving lollipops to the village school children

The 2nd day at the tree house started with pancakes and a hike to another waterfall, with a lunch of chicken basil and rice wrapped in banana leaves (naturally waterproof!) on the rocks. After relaxing in the tree house in the afternoon, we trekked down to the local tea plantation. They grow green and black tea (depending on when it is harvested) to sell at the market. They also ferment it and chew it like tobacco or gum. Didn't taste like anything I'd make a habit of! Back at the tree house we had a cooking lesson as the cook prepared our supper. After supper, we all had massages out on the porch. The wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, cousin, and 2 ladies from the village all wanted to massage Jolee! Apparently the government offers classes in massage therapy, so everyone knows how to massage. One of the ancient temples even had directions with pictures of how to massage different areas of the body - an old practice in Thailand.

Matthew enjoying the hike - with a stick in both hands!

A rather cold shower

A beautiful vista - the trees with wide leaves are wild banana trees

Timothy the Daredevil

Who will fall in this time?

Macey and our host Lung Suk

Yummy lunch on the rocks above the water fall

Julia's ride - even sound alseep!

Village tea plantation

Our last morning at the tree house we left after breakfast.  First, we visited a silk factory to learn about silk making. We bought some scarves, ties, headbands, and such at very good prices. Next, we went to the umbrella factory where all the umbrellas are made by hand, from the wooden shaft to the painted top. Last stop before the airport was the hot springs and mineral bath. We ate lunch first, then swam in the bath with some local school kids. The hot springs were so hot we boiled eggs in a basket! Alex dropped us off at the airport to fly back to Bangkok. Nut picked us up and took us to dinner at an Esan Thai restaurant (food from the north east part of Thailand including sukyoki). On the way, we had to stop on the highway for a while so the royal family could pass by on the road ahead of us. We stopped on the way to the B&B for sticky rice with custard and mangos, banana something, and some other Thai desserts - last chance!

Katelin - really!

Princess Jolee

Macey at the Umbrella factory, with Julia

Hot Mineral Springs

Mineral Bath

Early the next morning Rat made us sticky rice and mangos for breakfast before we left for the airport! We are going to miss those yummy mangos! 6.5 hours to Doha, 2 hour layover, 1 hour to Dubai, 20 minutes in a taxi and we are home! What a trip! Now I can rest! We have the weekend still before the week starts.

And how did I remember all of this? I didn't, but Macey is a prolific writer, so I am refreshing my memory with her journal that she wrote in faithfully every day! And how do I have time to blog it? Well, when we were gone, the utility company dug a ditch down our road in front of our garage where our cars are parked - so we are stuck at home! They were supposed to come this morning with a ramp to get the cars out, but it's Friday - enough said, maybe tomorrow, probably not.

Fourteen by Plane, Train, and Taxi

We had been planning this trip for almost one year. Plunketts were going to Scotland for one week and invited us to join them. Why not go to London while we're at it? Then some friends moved to Ireland. "Come see us, too!" So our trip bloomed, and bloomed, and bloomed! And, as we did not have any winter clothing or outerwear, or snow boots, or hats, or gloves ... I think our credit card bloomed, too! And, we decided to try out backpacks instead of suitcases. So, 8 backpacks later, and lots of packing, we finally left in a taxi (actually, 2 taxis - the highlight of the trip for Jolee for some reason!) early one December morning to the Dubai airport to hop a plane for an 8 hour flight to London Heathrow Airport. It is amazing how short an 8 hour plane ride is when you are used to 17 hours in a plane to the USA.

Grand Plaza Serviced Apartments - London

We arrived in London and managed to find the train to take us close to the hotel. We walked down crowded London streets towards the hotel in the cold drizzle - Chris in short sleeves and Julia refusing to wear a hat and trying to pull off the coat (she'd never worn either before!). We got lots of appalled stares - was it the 6 children or the lack of appropriate clothing? We meet up with the Plunketts and found some pizza for the growling bellies. Bed, several of them snug in a TINY hotel apartment, sure felt good that night!

 On the top deck of the Double Decker bus

London is an interesting place to spend a few days. With all the people crammed together and the Tube running under the city, it is like a beehive on top of an anthill! We had purchased a visitor's unlimited train and tube pass for the UK, so getting around the town was easy. We also rode, to everyones' delight, on top of a double decker bus!

London Eye over the Thames

Inside the Eye

The Eye of London and the Tower of London were my favorite places. The Eye has an awesome view of all of London. We had a car to ourselves so plenty of room for walk around and view London, the Thames river, Big Ben, etc.  The wheel is in constant motion, so you have to get on and off quickly, but for 30 minutes we soared up and over and back down the British skies. The Tower of London is full of history, and a joking tour guide told us ALL about it. Lots to see, but the cold and damp were getting to us by the end of the day. We had spent that morning waiting in the drizzle for the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham palace who decided the wet weather canceled the need to change the guards formally! We ate some wonderful fish and chips and bangers and mash with tea for dinner.

Buckingham Palace

Timothy at the Tower of London

Uzzells @ the London Bridge

We also saw Westminster Abby, more because we passed by it than because we really wanted to see it. It was not at all like I expected. I thought it was a big open cathedral. It is more like a crowded tomb with monuments of lots of ancient famous people - honoring the person more than the God. Quite disappointing, but interesting because it has survived so many centuries, wars, royal families, etc. We also went, along with most of London, to the famous seven-story department store Harrods. It definitely has one of everything! We bought some chocolates and looked for Father Christmas, but he was sold out!

Waiting with our luggage at the train station

On the fourth morning we hopped a train to Aviemore, Scotland - another 8 hour jaunt. We did this purposefully to see the country side. Nice green fields with hedges as fences, quaint stone cottages that looked cold. As we got into Scotland there was a little snow on the ground. The train dropped us and our backpacks off in the dark station and we found a taxi - as in ONE. So he made several trips to the lodge for us! I think he was glad to do it as it is not the local custom to tip but Americans tend to. The next morning we hiked back into town (on foot) for groceries and had the taxi take us back to the lodge, half of us at a time, again.

                                                 Hiking is so much fun on a nice winter day!

                                                      

                                    Chris, Jolee catching snokeflakes, Matthew collecting sticks

We crossed this creek a few times on our hike

My favorite day was the next - we hiked some trails on a preserve called Rothiemurchus near the lodge, stopped at the cafe for a soup (Cullen Skink - like seafood chowder) and sandwich and scone lunch, then headed out again to find the castle in the middle of the loch. However, I forgot that the sun goes down at 4pm, and the trail was long. Then it started raining, then sleeting, then snowing quarter-sized snowflakes. But we had to finish! So we kept going. However, we were disappointed as the castle looked like a big rock from our side of the loch. We took a picture, then ran into the visitor center thinking they could call a taxi for us (we were right off a road). There was a very nice restroom in the visitor center, some nice pictures, interesting pamphlets, but no employee. We were a bit disappointed but decided, short of spending the night there, we had better hurry back down the trail to the lodge as fast as we could in the snow before it got dark! Julia was riding in a backpack (a real one, not one meant for a baby - but it worked!). Timothy, we learned, is really good at reading maps and found us a short cut that dropped us off right at the lodge. I have never been so excited to see a hotel before! I was really getting worried there for a while - mainly that the kids would get tired, start crying, lag behind or want us to carry them. Jolee cheerfully talked the WHOLE time, Matthew stopped to pick up EVERY stick just as he had been doing all day, Timothy was always a quarter of a mile ahead of us (or it seemed so!). Anyways, I dropped down on a sofa in the lobby as soon as I stripped off my drenched coat and ordered a coffee!

                                                      There is a castle out there - really!

The next day we went up the mountain to the ski resort. I sat in the "lodge" (a restaurant of sorts with very little climate-control) with the kids who couldn't or wouldn't ski. The mountain was beautiful in its own way - there was a lake at the bottom - but there wasn't a tree to be seen! After the lifts closed, we waited and waited in the cold wind for the last bus. We packed in like sardines - people, skis, poles. Unfortunately, the car ahead of us went into the ditch and we had to wait for it to be pulled out - I guess the tow truck was blocking the road - it was too crowded to stand up and see what was going on. Julia let everyone know that she was there and didn't want to be! Cole was the only one who wanted to go skiing again the next day.

                                     Katelin enjoying some hot chocolate after a hard day skiing!

Cairngorm Ski Resort - lake at the bottom

We took the train the next day to Inverness - about 1.5 hours away. Again, pretty countryside towns, some wild deer, men in caps with dogs checking on the sheep. We walked around Inverness, looked at Loch Ness but saw no monster, ate lunch at Ash (steak pie with sticky toffee pudding for dessert!), toured a kilt-making factory, and took the train back to Aviemore. The last day in Aviemore was spent washing clothes (in a TINY washer/dryer unit) and repacking backpacks.

 

                                                          Loch Ness - no monster seen!

 We got up before dawn on Friday, having already arranged for the taxis to pick us up at the hotel, and headed to the train station. We beat even the station master there! We got on the first train to Edinburgh (still dark) and had plenty of time upon arrival to get lost trying to find the hotel. We dumped, literally, all the luggage in one hotel room and walked through old, narrow streets towards the Edinburgh Castle. We had booked a Christmas lunch there months before, and the kids enjoyed the bang and the toys in the Christmas crackers. The Scottish food was different but good - interesting that tea and coffee are served AFTER dessert, definitely not with your meal or dessert! We spent the whole day at the castle - so much to see - swords, kilts, guns, Jacobites, a prison, jewels, Red Cross, cannons. Tired, we walked towards town looking for a place to grab a bite and ended up, somehow - out of desperation I think, at the Mark & Spenser's cafe (department store). On the way back to the hotel we walked through the winter street festival, and the kids rode the swings and carousel, we got pretzels, chocolate-covered marsh mellows, and a stollen (YUM).

Christmas lunch at the Edinburgh Castle - the kids enjoyed the Christmas crackers with toys and paper    crowns inside

Edinburgh Castle

    Saturday morning we headed to the Edinburgh airport to fly to Ireland. The SMALL plane landed in Shannon, and Ruben and Lori Cortez (Chase, Mason, and Madelynn) picked us up and drove us to their home in Galway. The next morning we drove to Limerick for a special meeting. While we didn't know anyone else there, several people there knew people we knew elsewhere! It was nice to feel the Spirit of God in another country and to be the visitor for a change! Monday was St. Stephen's Day in Ireland (the day after Christmas), so most shops were closed, but we toured the cobbled town of Galway anyways. It is right on the Atlantic with beautiful ocean views and lots of inlets. The land across from the Cortez's house actually floods every day when the tide comes in. I guess the horses there are used to it! It also rains every day of the year - no wonder it is so green! That night Ruben made his famous enchiladas for dinner.

Cliffs of Moher - watch your step!

Quaint little town of Galway (west coast of Ireland)

Tuesday we drove south to the Cliffs of Moher where you have to watch your step - the trail is just a few yards from the edge of the cliff! The part we stayed on had a wall for safety, but the trails on the other side were quite frightening to watch as people walked against the wind to the edge of the cliff! The story is that several go over every year. That night the neighbor girls came over to babysit, and we ate at a Spanish tapas restaurant - nice adult company!

By now, the kids were tiring out, and they picked up a tummy bug! One by one they took over a bathroom - some for a few hours, some all night. We left Wednesday morning for the airport with plastic bags! Miraculously, we made it home with no incidences. We had an 8 hour layover in London but managed to move our tickets to the next flight out (1 hour). We arrived back in Dubai in the early morning hours and went to bed. A great trip - we covered 3 countries in 2 weeks and enjoyed family, friends and good food!

Ruben and Lori Cortez, Mason, Chase and Madelynn

Sand, Sand, and more Sand

We went on our first picnic in the desert! A few minutes out of town, down a dirt (sand, actually) road. Thank goodness for 4wheel drive! Our friends set up camp, got out the quad bikes (ATVs), and lit the barbie (BBQ grill - they're Aussies!). After an afternoon of brushing sand off of little people, digging quad bikes out of the sand (really, you can NOT go up a hill of sand slowly!), laughing as dads thought they could out-do the kids, and finally realizing that there was no point in trying to keep the sand out of your shoes, hair, underware, etc, we grilled burgers and hot dogs as the sun set in the west. A wonderful end to the weekend.