Category: Thailand

On our last weekend in Thailand, we headed to Doi Inthanon. We did a hike near the peak to see some views, and then hiked with a Karen guide to a series of waterfalls.

We loved our guide. He only spoke a few words of English but taught the kids how to make different bird noises by blowing on grasses and carved hair pins out of bamboo for Logan as we walked.

We owe thanks to Alex for planning our trip to Phuket. We were going to skip the beach in Thailand, which would have been a mistake. Thanks, Alex!

The highlight was the boat trip to small islands off the coast of Phuket.

We discovered that Alex and Pete’s kids would be happy to dig holes for hours.

The boat stopped in a beautiful cove so we could swim. Gorgeous view, but there were tiny, unidentified animals in the water that would bite or sting.

We visited Koh Panyee, a Muslim floating village. It is famous for a group of kids who learned to play soccer despite the obvious difficulty of not having land to play on. Ben saw a video about the kids at his middle school.  If you are bored, you can hear their story at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tluVnjKuJxc (it is worth the 5 minutes)

Ethan and Logan on the kid’s soccer pitch. Note that if the ball goes out of bounds, a kid has to jump in the water to fetch it.

At our next stop, we waded through a cave to reach the inner part of the island.

Back in December, when we were still in Thailand, we went to Mae Sa Waterfall with Alix, Pete, and family (Matthew is taking the photo, and Liza is hiding).

It is a series of waterfalls, but not sticky like the ones we climbed a few days prior.

I was enjoying Logan’s hug; Ethan never wants to be left out, so he attacked us. This happens daily.

On our way back to Chiang Mai, we stopped at Wat Pa Dara Phirom.

Yes, you can turn elephant poo into paper. Apparently, elephants eat a lot of fiber, and much of it comes out intact. I don’t think this is going to save the rain forest, but it was an entertaining way to spend a few hours.

First, they let us hold elephant poo. Ben looks like most of us would feel when handed elephant poo.

My child, of course, thought it was just another photo op.

They boiled it.

Then dyed it.

Then spread it onto screens. Logan was happy to have a demonstration but was eventually coaxed into participation.

Liza likes squishy poo.

Logan, using the final product to make a notebook.

(This post is a bit late, which may be apparent since we are no longer in Thailand. It happened at the end of December during our vacation with Alix, Pete, and family).

There are many options to see elephants in Thailand. Before choosing where to go, the kids and I read articles about why we should not ride elephants and about abuse of them in Thailand. We decided to visit a small Karen village associated with the “most ethical” elephant park near Chiang Mai.

We arrived at the village via a muddy dirt road. It was exciting (read, happy we didn’t slide into a tree).

We were able to see the elephants up close, feed them, and walk with them. We fully appreciate that the elephants don’t actually need our help to eat or to walk.

The lunch was a vegetarian buffet with an excellent khao soi (my favorite northern Thai soup). Ethan tried to entertain the kids after we finished eating. He may be missing the stage.

Logan… preferring to play with cats.

The guides told us one of the elephants had been rescued from a circus, for this reason, he already knew some tricks. In the photo below, the elephant is “kissing” Ethan. Ben also received a “kiss.” Everyone else declined.

Some were brave enough to “help” the elephants take their mud bath. It appeared the elephants knew how to put mud on their bodies without assistance, but the kids all had fun.

The photo above is Alix heading off with the kids to swim in the river with the elephants. I hear it was a blast. But the path was muddy, and our kids are finally old enough that we can send them off to swim with elephants and not worry. Matthew and I enjoyed 5 minutes of peace.

We left Chiang Mai last Thursday, and I was sad. I will miss fencing class, the food, the warm weather and the wonderfully eclectic people who kept me entertained.

I still have lots of pictures to post from Thailand… and Cambodia… and Laos. We just arrived in Vietnam and are settling in. We love the view from our house, but right now it is shaking from the karaoke outside. Really, not an exaggeration.

Continuing our vacation in Chiang Mai with the Mitchells, we headed to Muang On Caves. When we arrived, the lights in the cave were not working. We took the few remaining flashlights and headed inside to explore.

We thought our experience might be even better without the lights since exploring in the dark was fun. But I changed my mind when the lights came back on and I saw what we had been missing.

We then hiked up to the viewpoint on the hill above the cave. Our effort was rewarded with the view of, well, fog.

The fog started to clear as we headed back down.

We then headed to San Kamphaeng Hot Springs where we soaked for a while before the Mitchell kids cooked us eggs in a hot spring.

Enjoying the eggs.

Bua Thong Waterfalls are located about an hour outside of Chiang Mai. The scenery is gorgeous, but more importantly, the waterfalls are sticky. Why would one want their waterfall to be sticky? Well, if you always wanted to feel like Spider-Man, this is the place to go. You can climb/run up the falls using your hands and feet thanks to a grippy mineral deposit that coats the rocks.

Christmas morning was not elaborate this year. Our tree was tiny, we put the candy in a pile since we didn’t have stockings, and presents were sparse.

But on Christmas afternoon an awesome present arrived… the Mitchells came to visit! We stopped work and school and started what turned out to be an action-packed vacation.

Our first stop was Huay Tung Tao Lake where we enjoyed lunch in one of the huts on the lake.

Then the kids took turns on the zip line.

The next day we took a hike up to Wat Phalad, our favorite Wat near Chiang Mai.

On Saturday we ran a 5K for Justice. Ethan is close to the front on the left, and you might be able to find the rest of us behind him.

We watched group after group of locals posing for photos. Above, Matthew, Ethan and Logan do their best to strike some of the most popular poses.

There were over ten justice categories for which you could choose to run. We ran for LQBTIQ rights.

Ethan finished first overall in the 5K race.

A few weeks ago we hiked up Doi Suthep,  the mountain that we see from our living room window. The trail first passes through Wat Sakithaka, a Buddhist temple that is surrounded by the forest.

At the top of the mountain sits Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. The hike up was 4 miles with a 2300ft climb, but the Wat was overcrowded with tourist so we didn’t linger.

We stopped by a little waterfall on the hike back down the mountain.

We met up with the Chiang Mai hiking club a few weeks ago for their weekly hike. There were about 25 hikers from at least 7 countries.

They reported a distance of 8.5 miles, elevation gain of 2165 ft, and elevation loss of 3362 ft. Obviously, it wasn’t a loop.

We hiked up and down three peaks with some very steep ascents and descents. In some sections we needed to use the long grass to help pull us up or lower us down (using the grass like ropes to walk down backwards). After the first ascent using the grass, I discovered that I had blood all over my hands and shirt. Turns out… the grass cuts.

Above is the third peak we climbed. The kids and I went up the steep rocky looking face, although the path was good and it did not seem perilous. Matthew ended up with a different group that took a longer route around, avoiding the sharp drop offs.

Each peak had a different statue.

On Friday the kids and I headed to Wat Suan Dok to learn about Buddhism and meditation. There are many meditation retreats in Thailand, most lasting from 10 days to a month. Since none of us want to meditate for days (or perhaps at all), we opted for the one day course for beginners.

Wat Suan Dok

Phra KK taught us about Buddhism in general, and answered questions about living as a monk in Thailand.

He showed us the multiple ways to put on the Thai monk robe. It differs according to activity, and the Thai method is much more complicated than in Laos.

Our day at the Wat happened to be on the day of a large “monk competition”. Monks from all over Thailand came to compete in many categories. We met a 12 year old monk who won his public speaking contest, and seemed appropriately terrified to talk to a room full of adult foreigners.

This appeared to be a sculpting competition. I asked the kids if they thought it was okay to take pictures as I didn’t want to interrupt their sculpting to ask. As I turned to take the photos, a monk ripped out a camera and snapped a photo of Ethan and Logan. Apparently, pale foreign children are as interesting to them as they are to us.

We didn’t actually meditate that long. Phra KK talked a lot about meditating twice a day to calm our “monkey mind”. We meditated about 4 times and the longest was for just over 20 minutes. Many of the sessions were dynamic meditation (moving your hand slowly in patterns and focusing on the movements). It was interesting, but it doesn’t look like the kids (or I) will be picking it up as a regular practice.

A few weeks ago we walked up to Huai Kaeo Waterfall.

This is the view of Chiang Mai from the top of the falls. Our condo is located directly behind the closet tall building in the photo. We are on the  13th and 14th floors so we have a good view of the surrounding mountains.

Scenes from the walk back to our condo

The last two photos are from the grounds of Chiang Mai University. It is a great place for walks or runs as it has much less traffic.

We are staying in Chiang Mai for three months, so I signed the kids up for lots of activities. The kids and I have Muay Thai three mornings a week from 6:30am to 9:30am.

We always have a run prior to training for Muay Thai. Most mornings we run at a lake about 10 minutes out of town. If we show up on a Wednesday, we run part of the way up a mountain to a temple.

Above is our Muay Thai group on the day of our temple run (the trainers brought a camera to post on facebook). The Muay Thai group changes from day to day; it is mostly Europeans with a few Americans and SE Asians.

After our run, we generally go back to the outdoor gym and work with the trainers. This day (for unknown reasons) we did some drills in a parking lot below the temple. This would have been okay if the trainers had mentioned that this was the plan. They did not, so we were all dying of thirst since no one brought water.

The kids go to a fencing club twice a week for two or three hours.

Ethan lunges.

Logan getting ready for a bout.

They also take voice lessons once a week. Since we also venture out to restaurants or food stalls twice a day, we have little time left over for “school”. At least I covered P.E. on this leg of our journey.

Logan started bringing her ipod for the Muay Thai lake runs. These are her photos.

Ethan, Logan and I had our first Muay Thai training session today. You may be wondering why I would sign us up for such a violent sport. I am not sure I have a good answer, but we all had a great time.

First we ran around the lake pictured above. I thought we were going to the the lake right around the corner from the gym, however, it turned out to be the lake that is ten minutes out of town via a fast, busy road / highway. By the time I realized this, we were already sitting in the back of a pick up truck heading out. Logan beamed with joy as we flew down the road. I attempted to calculate the probability of a crash. On the way back to the gym, I threw the previous occupant out of the cab and put all of us in it.

We then attempted to learn to punch, kick, elbow and knee someone. Logan said (with a huge smile), “I never knew it wound be so fun to punch and kick a man!”

Although many of the trainees train twice a day for six days a week, we will probably just do three mornings a week. Ethan wanted to return this afternoon, but it is hot in the afternoon and I need to give my ankles / shins a rest.

(Note to those that worry… we don’t have to actually fight anyone… ever. We punch, kick etc the trainers while they hold pads, but we don’t have to get in the ring and have other punch us. All the other trainees are very fit, 20 year old males, so I don’t think we would have much of a chance. )

We arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand yesterday. We have the usual difficulties of a new place: slower internet than was promised, “desk” that is a short table, and no office chair. We generally solve these issues with a bit of time, so no major worries.

On the positive side,  we are in food heaven. And even better, the food here is cheap. Last night we ate out for under $6… total… the whole family… including the bottles of water. Lunch, which we bought just outside our condo building, was again… less than $6. Tonight we splurged because I decided to go to a Vietnamese restaurant; we spent $10.

I would post pictures of all the tasty food we ate, but every meal I gobbled it down before I thought to take a picture.

Addendum:  Matthew read my post and sent me photos of his food. He has enough patience to take photos prior to eating.

Beef Pho, Fried pork noodle