Whim: September 2011

Getting out of here for the summer is on the top of every expat's mind. However we stuck around (except for the three weeks in Thailand). Yeah a little bit crazy, at least that is how we have been here at the compound. No one around but us. So to keep positive my blog will focus on mainly the fun trip to Thailand, and what a trip!!

We Jumped all over the Country, starting out in Bangkok. After landing we grabbed a mini bus to Hua Hin to meet up with Gilian, Amy, Trevor, and Talia. They had been in Cambodia all month and came up to meet us for a week. What a treat to see them, like seeing family. Rory joked about going to visit "Talia land" (instead of Thailand). Talia and Rory bacame best friends in first grade, they promised to come back to Thailand when they grow up. The funnest moment was dancing in the rain with a baby elephant named Soncran. I never knew I could love kissing a slimy cold wet elephant trunk. We even went back for seconds the next day and she just lit up when she saw us, what a smart baby. She danced and talked for us, she even painted us a picture. Later we found a fun hotel that had a cave for us to stay in, we battled a gargantuous spider who had big beautiful eyes but she won. Oh well I guess it was her house anyway. Gilian spoted a huge alligator lizard thingy staying under our cave, I think she almost had a heart attack but found it so exciting that she really kept her cool, I was quite impressed. A couple days here was just what the kids needed: bugs, animals, kayaks, ziplines, rope bridges.

After the Sterns left, me a the girls found some cave Temples to hike up to. After climbing about 500 steps and then around in a bat cave for a couple hours, we relaxed in front of the monks quarters. Looking at wild squirrel monkey things eating rice and dipping our fingers into the ponds for the fish to nibble. Poi was our guide, she was the niece of the hotel owner. She was so sweet and showed us all around her town, the girls just loved her to bits. She couldn't have been more than 20 years old.

Back to Bangkok again to meet up with Rich and Pyper. We had a few days before they got there so we went to the Grand Palace and Wat Arun (my favorite). The girls hiked super steep steps to the top and gazed out over the city. What a beautiful view, and the Temple itself was coated with tiny mosaaic tiles. After we picked up dad and the babe we ventured toward Phuket. Took us a couple days, we saw the floating market on the way and grabbed some messages too. One place we found along the way was a little western guesthouse right on a river, the girls loved walking around on the bridges and walkways.

Phuket was as expected (we'd planned to go to Ko Samui but travel just didn't work out) touristy. Although still fun because it wasn't too busy of a time of year. The beach was amazing. As tradition, I spent the mornings out watching the sunrise and snorkeling. One morning City joined me (5:00am) relaxing and bonding. This trip I had spent a lot of time keeping a scrap journal, its fun to keep flyers and maps to remember places and things.

We found some waterfalls and butterfly gardens, there was a cool collection of huge insects. Then we saw a fun stage show about the legends of the island with lots of animals and fire.

On the 4th of August we flew to Chiang Mai. Its a smaller city than Bangkok, a trendy college town. We spent a lot of time wandering around and going to night bazaars. People were very crafty and artistic here, we found some fun souveneres. One day we went rock climbing, even Pyper. We took turns with her while the rest of us climbed. Rory and City took right to it, very natural. Rich was a trouper and climbed too. I think this was one of my favorite days, although we did get rained out. We later hooked up woth some more friends, the Rollins from our home town too. They are working with Engineers without Borders, bringing college students to help out a small town up north. The goal is to install and facilitate a clean water system in Piang Luang. They kindly let our family tag along. There is a school that they installed a clean water system in last year. The school let me come teach some art and the girls had so much fun helping me and making friends. They were like celebrities always surrounded by kids, playing new games, eating a strange lunch, and even reading stories. Rory was embarrassed when they asked her to read to them and City to sing for them, but the Thai kids want to learn english so much. They were always asking the girls questions just to hear them speak english to them. and Lynn Rollins was there to teach them, she did a great job. I hope to go back again, it would be a fun for our family to have. On our third day we went back down to Chiang mai and then grabbed a train back to Bangkok. The girls have never been on a train, they had a blast making forts on the bunk beds and stairing out the windows. What an adventure for us all.