Northern Thailand Part 2- Chiang Mai

The last 4 days we spent in Chiang Mai starting the relaxation and tourist part of their trip. We hired a van from Mae Sot and said goodbye to Dang, Sarah, La, and Waen Monday morning. Suphan drove back with us and left us at our hotel, the Ayatana Hamlet and Spa. It was so nice, when you walked in it smelled like fresh jasmine! We didn't rest when we got there. Instead we thought it might be the perfect time to pick out which of these cats we wanted to adopt! Just kidding, no humans were injured during the photographing of these big kitties at the Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai, and I got to see Mikey again who doubled in size since my visit there last March. After petting the tigers and visiting the cubs we decided to go to the night bazaar and walk around. We ended the evening by taking a song taeow back to our hotel.

January 12th we hired the same guy that took us to the Tiger Kingdom to take us on a day tour again. We started out at the Maetaman elephant camp. Dad promised several people that he would ride on an elephant. So after the show (complete with Elephants painting and playing soccer), we fed the elephants and then Dad was off. After the elephant excursion, we went to Baan Tong Luang-Eco cultural village. Here they got to go shopping for hill tribe handicrafts and they got to meet some nice ladies from the Long-neck Karen hill tribes. Our last stop on the tour was to the Orchid and butterfly farm for a late lunch and some shopping. That evening Dad and I went back to the night bazaar to take pictures, where he bought a pair of bright orange fisherman pants, and we even found a Christian tailor for Dad to get some new shirts made!

January 13th We spent the morning on a city and temples tour of Chiang Mai , we ate lunch and then stopped at this exotic Thai convenience store for snacks :),and spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool. Our last evening in Chiang Mai we went to the Chiang Mai cultural center for a Northern style dinner (On the floor!) and dance performances. Not only did we see traditional Thai dancing, but hill tribe dances also! After we picked up Dad's shirts we took a tuk-tuk back to the apartment and packed to head to BKK the next day.

Northern Thailand Part 1- Mae Sot & Pakham Mai

Believe it or not, this post only spans 3 days, but a lot happened. Really my guests were troopers. I was exhausted already, but they are still going strong. January 8th was pretty much just a travel day. By evening we were at the Pohn Thep hotel in Mae Sot near the Burma border in Tak province. We went to eat at a restaurant owned by a Canadian retired guy and we spent the evening together putting strings on the cross-necklace, crafts Marti brought along. Working as a team we were done in no time and all prepared for the next day. January 9th, we were all up bright and early for breakfast together at the Jok restaurant across the street from our hotel. Jok is basically a rice porridge, and I think it is delicious! Dad was already setting the mood for the day with teasing P Dang. Here's a video of what that looks like.
Next we went to the morning market to buy fresh fruits.

It's not what most people think of. Half the fun is getting past the eels, pig heads, frogs, shrimp pastes and spices in order to get there. Eventually Mr. Henry from the Mae La refugee camp arrived to escort us into the camp. Dad, Sarah, Dang, La, Waen and I made up the team. When we arrived 40 minutes later we had to hike up the mountain to the school our foundation helps support. A group of strong young guys hauled all of our stuff to the school with such ease it made me feel like a wimp just carrying my back pack. Waiting for us at the school were over a hundred children and their teachers. This was the first time I got to organize the program for the morning, so I was pretty excited. We played games, sang songs, listened to my Dad tell the story of David the great King and Goliath, and Jesus. This was the last cross left to give out that my Mom made.When our little program was finished, we went outside and saw the kids perform a Karen welcome dance. It was incredible. Here's a little taste.
After our time in the camp was over, we went back to Mae Sot and picked up the rest of our team after a noodle lunch. We then went to Baan Glau and met with the Hmong pastor there. He brought his two little girls to the church, so I hung out and talked to them, and my Dad gave them candy-works in every culture as an icebreaker! Pastor took us to his brother's home, so we could pray for him and his wife. The two of them were in a bad car accident and he was home recovering after surgery. That evening we went to the garden restaurant and the Thai-Burma border.

January 10th, on the car ride to Pakham Mai, our group put together over 100 pinwheels. We had an assembly line going, so we got it done by the time we were at the Hmong village. As we pulled up to the church, everyone was standing outside waiting for us. I was totally pumped. This is by far my favourite place to visit. Ning and his family are so nice and hospitable, I often feel I could live there. We started church right away. Pastor Suphan led the service and then he and Dang translated for my Dad who they asked to preach. Right afterwards we set up for our children's day program, this time led by P La and Waen. The children all recited the children's day phrase given to them each year by the prime minister. This year it was, "Think creatively, learn diligently, uphold morality." The rest of us helped with the crafts and games, Sarah and I helped lead the songs,
the Brueggemans gave out prizes, Dad taught them about David and Goliath, and in the end we passed out coats for the children to wear during the cool season. Before we knew it, everyone had their snacks and we were ready for a late lunch at Ning's house. I'm sure I mentioned this multiple times already, but I LOVE Hmong food. It's so delicious! The spicy salsa, I could eat all by myself! The key I told my parents is to take only a little rice at first, because they make you eat, and eat and eat, and if you don't have a second bowl of rice they'll feel like you don't like the food. They rest of the afternoon we spent relaxing. We went to the nearby waterfalls to take pictures, (oh Jim!)then we went to the Internet cafe, ate dinner at the Canadian restaurant, and called it a night. Our weekend in Mae Sot was over already!

In the Beginning

I didn't schedule much for the first couple days of my guests' trip because I figured they might want to take it easy and do things as they came up. Jet lag gets even the best of them! My parents got their luggage at 3am I guess. This morning we met at the TK Palace and headed to Bang Na so they could visit the daycare where Sarah works at. It was the first project of CWEFT that they were able to see. Right away, when we pulled up, my Mom literally squealed to see several of the kids peeking their heads out the front door. From that moment on, I think they were all on cloud nine. I knew that getting them away from here might possibly include kicking and screaming! The children greeted them and sang several songs that they have learned. Afterwards, the guests got to introduce themselves and Marti brought along a craft to make with them. Everyone joined in, and helped get the stickers off of jewels meant to represent the blessings from God. Jim and my Dad made friends with the kids. Having men volunteer and visit is a big deal for these kids, so they were soon a favourite. After craft time was over we went for a visit through the Bang Na slum with P Maew, and Sarah. Dad acquired a new buddy too - P Lek who asked if he would adopt her! So sweet! Sad for my parents and the Brueggemans, we had to leave. P Dang took them out for lunch at the first restaurant I ever ate at in Thailand -Kow Mu Dang. They got to eat in this garage style hot spot, packed with people on metal stools, drinking water out of tin cups and eating one of the best Thai dishes in BKK. Afterwards my Dad tried his hand at buying street food- this time grilled bananas, and then we all packed up and headed for LISA. My home congregation in Ohio donated communion ware to be used by one of the churches, so the Brueggemans and my parents were able to present them to Pastor Sompong. We then ended up staying the rest of the afternoon, as Mom and Marti went upstairs to listen to the lectures and Dad, Jim and I talked with Dr. Harms and some of the sem guys. That was pretty much the end of our day, except getting their bags to my apartment and repacking them. We had another early start the next day.

They Finally Made it!!

I have been expecting my parents and the Brueggemans oh for about 4 months officially, and now after all of that waiting-they made it! Late, but nevertheless, they are here. Their plane got delayed flying into Korea. A snow storm or something, and the last I heard was that they would be staying in Korea instead of coming straight to Thailand. I had no way of communicating with them, and the airlines had no idea, so I just went home and slept after hanging out again with the sem guys. At 3:30 in the morning, some lady calls me. I was more surprised that I could function talking in Thai at that point, and then I heard my Dad in the background! The lady gave Dad the phone and the first thing he says is, "Betsy Darling, where are you? We thought you'd be waiting at the gate!!" So I rushed over there, even though in reality it felt like forever because it decided to start raining on the way. I had no idea where to find them, so I'm like running through the airport, up and down the escalators, when I see Jim, who says, "I can't find your Dad!" We hugged and then found Dad on a different level, but no Mom and Marti. He tells me that they are downstairs trying to find a way out of some place! Talk about crazy and bizarre! This is when they started using the phrase "like herdin cats" (which would prove to be very true the rest of the trip). So I see Mom and Marti from upstairs and run downstairs to greet them. It was one of those tear-jerker movie reunions, but we were ok with that! Finally, we all got together in the same place and piled into 2 taxis then headed to the TK Palace. They were already serving breakfast, so everyone decided to go for that instead of going to bed right away. They were pretty well tired (except my Dad). We agreed that noon would be a good time to meet again and said adieu. Mom and I were going to try to nap, while Dad went exploring. The more I thought about that though, the less I slept. So it was shower time and then find Dad time. He was busy making friends with all the hotel staff when we decided to go on a little adventure. His luggage was delayed in arriving to Thailand, so instead of him meeting people in his white undershirt, we went to Big C (aka K Mart Thailand) which wasn't open so instead had to go to Starbucks (woe is me:). My Dad was literally bouncing off the walls. When we found him a shirt we went to hang out at the place with a large majority of menfolk-LISA. They were convieniently on break, so Dad had a chance to chat it up with folks before we went to meet Mom and the Brueggemans for lunch. They got Thai food for lunch and seemed to like it! That's good considering there is two more weeks of it! The afternoon I planned for them to take it slow, so we stayed very close to the hotel and visited people. They met the CWEFT office staff where I work, P Dang, P La and P Yoong. Then we all carpooled to LISA again and the rest of them met Dr. Harms, the sem guys, and Pastor Sompong. Across the way, we went to CGM center we're we ended up with a convention of Lutherans. It started with my parents, the Brueggeman's and I chatting with Robin. Then they met Joe and Ar, followed by Pastor Taweep and a handful of ESL students who were in and out. We were then joined by the seminarians, Pastor Sompong, Dr. Harms and Dr. Kettner. We all got stuck there too as it started to downpour; most unusual for this time of year. It was already late afternoon so we headed back to the TK Palace, where my Dad was just going to "rest" for awhile because he wasn't tired or jet-lagged! Mom, the Brueggeman's and I drank coffee/tea while he "rested." Then I was engaged for the rest of the evening with the guys from LCC. Our previous attempts to get to the top of the State Tower, didn't leave us discouraged, so we were going to go again, this time dressed with the appropriate clothing and shoes. When we finally made it to the top, it wasn't what I expected; it was even better. As you walk outside, it looks as if you could walk right off the edge of the building, but instead it drops into a cascading staircase that looks like it was designed for movie premiers. There is a garden restaurant and also a bar that juts out with almost 360 degree views of the city. Sarah joined our little party and when we were done with our expensivo drinks, the night was still young so we went back to Molly Malones for another pint. We didn't stay out too late because I had a busy day ahead with my parents. And that concluded day 1 on Herding Cats!

The Sem Guys

I have never gone from strangers to old friends in as fast a time as I did this week. Sunday in church we had 7 new visitors. One was Joel from Vietnam. He wanted to visit our church and got to spend the day with me. The other 6 visitors were from the LCC seminary in Edmonton Canada. 5 Seminarians (Darren Dressler, Mike Montague, Steve Bartlette, James Prophet and Tim Schneider and their professor Dr. Kettner.) They are in Thailand and Cambodia for the next few weeks to train local leaders as part of a class they are taking.

Well, at church, the guys got to talking with Joel and everyone decided to go to the Chatuchak weekend market. Dr. Harms was going too, and so I got to go along and help be tour guide with Dr. Harms. That afternoon and evening pretty much set the trend for the next several days. When the classes in the afternoon were over, I got to take the guys exploring. We did a surprising amount of shopping, including a camera for James. Here I am, the tour guide! One day we ended up in China town where we met Sarah and ate noodles at a little street vendor stand. Really yummy. We then walked to the State tower, passing by shark fin restaurants, roti stands and a Chinese temple. The tower was farther than the few blocks it looked like on the map, and in the end we couldn't go to the restaurant on the top because we weren't dressed according to the dress code. Instead we went to Molly Malone's which we frequented again the next night after we made it up to the State tower. Other adventures included Siam Paragon, and MBK as well as Stories and the Green Terrace. Regardless where we went, we still had a great time, and it was wonderful having such great guests! After this week in Thailand, they are off to Cambodia for another week of teaching.