A Great Adventure - Day 10

Tuesday, November 25

And Unisom helped me sleep until 8:15 today.  Good for the sleep but a little bit of a slow down as we planned to leave for Ayutthaya at 9:30.  Khun Tar was going to drive us today and stay with us until he dropped us off at the train station.  Yep, we were taking a sleeper train to Chiang Mai later in the evening.  So get going.  We weren't planning to take all of our luggage with us, just one bag and some back packs. 

Kevin had made cinnamon rolls for Candace's birthday a week ago and there were enough leftovers that we were able to enjoy the tasty treat for breakfast.  Candace and the girls then pulled together a picnic lunch for us to take with us for the day.  And we were off around 10:15 am.  A little later than we had planned.  I sat in the smaller space of the back to allow my long-legged daughters a little more room.

It was wonderful to have Khun Tar negotiating the traffic for us.  It might not have been quite as crazy as Manila but it was its own kind of crazy.  Our first stop when arriving in Ayutthaya was at the train station to buy tickets.  Unfortunately, the train was sold out.  The attendants suggested that we try back in a half hour when the reservation deadline passed.  If people hadn't paid by then, their reservation was forfeited.

Khun Tar dropped us off at the first Wat Phra Mahthat (temple) that was now in ruins.  It was pretty cool to imagine what the grounds and building had looked like hundreds of years ago.  From TripAdvisor.com:

Built just to the east of the spectacular ruins of the capital of the Ayutthaya kingdom, a Siamese power destroyed by Burmese invasion in the 18th century, Ayutthaya is a modern Thai city studded with archeological wonders. Headless Buddhas and crumbling but still-beautiful reliquary towers and wats give evidence of the majesty of the civilization that was once centered here.

It was so interesting.  I was amazed as I walked through the ruins that they weren't fenced off somehow to protect them.  You could walk in and around, even climb some stairs.  We tried to stay in the shade as much as possible because the heat was pretty intense, but spent at least an hour.  Chris left with Khun Tar around noon and successfully returned with train tickets.  We looked around at some of the vendors and Kristen and I both bought shorts with an elephant print.  We actually changed in to them hoping that the flowy fabric would be a little cooler.  Amy got two cute purses.

Our next stop was Ayutthaya Historical Park.  We had lunch in a shady area looking over the ruins of Wat Phra Si Sanphet and the Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit.

Wat Mongkhon Bophit is an 'active' temple compound, and throughout the day many people visit and worship the Buddha image. 
 

Interestingly it lies adjacent to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, and therefore both the ruins of Wat Phra Si Sanphet and the more contemporary Wat Mongkhon Bophit can be visited the same morning or afternoon.

The main feature at Wat Mongkhon Bophit is the large bronze (gilded) Buddha image, named Phra Mongkhon Bophit, which is close to 17 meters high (when including the 4.5 meters high base).  

from http://www.ayutthaya2020.com 

As we were eating lunch, Kristen nonchalantly mentions, "Hey, there's an elephant."  We thought she was joking until I turned around and saw not one but two elephant giving rides to tourists.  

We returned our lunch stuff to the van and started our tour.  For our girls, if you have seen the ruins of one Wat, you've pretty much seen them all.  I thought it was pretty interesting.  The temple had been refurbished after a fire and it looked as though its main structure was similar to that of the ruins.  So I thought you could probably imagine all of these brick structures plastered in gleaming white hundreds of years ago with the gold leaf and ornamentation and get an accurate picture of the magnificence of these temples. 

Our next stop was the Ayothaya Floating Market. It closed at 5 pm so we chose to make the stop before our final visit to the last ruin site. The girls had fun shopping, bargaining, and checking out all of the fish.  Misha found a classy messenger bag here that was just perfect for her style.  We saw more elephants, tigers, and...goats.  We stopped for ice cream treats.

Phra Chedi Chaimongkol was our final stop for the evening before having Khun Tar drop us at the train station.  The sun was beginning to set.  Besides the ruins here, it also boasted a huge reclining buddha.

The yellow draping the Buddhas was in preparation for the King's birthday on December 5th, but the Buddhas are also clothed or draped to keep them from getting cold.

We had Khun Tar drop us off a little early at the train station so that he could start on his way home.  We surely appreciated the generosity of Kevin in letting us use his driver for the day.  It meant that Kevin had to drive himself to work and that Khun Tar worked longer than his normal schedule.  It was such nice treat to have Khun Tar drive us and do all of the navigating.  Since he was already familiar with the area, we were able to maximize our time in Ayutthaya.  In now way were we able to see all of that there was to see.  Definitely a place you spend a couple of days.  (Maybe not with kids though.)

We planned to eat on the train, and proceeded to wait in the heat of the evening.  I found a huge floor fan and spent much of my time standing in front of it.  Ever concerned with safety and security, I kept a sharp eye on my girls as well as our luggage.  Chris and Amy set off in search of a pharmacy looking for hydrocortisone cream.  She and Misha both had rashes all over their backs.  Chris had to employ Google Translate in order to find the pharmacy but they returned to the train station successful in their search.  I had to laugh at Amy's hair here, just a little bit crazy.

The train ended up being a half hour late.  We were looking forward to a little air conditioned comfort.  As the train neared, one of the conductors lined us up along the tracks according to where our train car might stop.  We were in car number 10.  The train was only making a two-minute stop, so we had to be ready with all of our luggage to climb quickly on.  The first step was quite a stretch!

Chris had booked two top bunks and three bottom bunks for us.  Amy and Kristen got to sleep in the top bunk.  As Mom, I pulled rank on not having to climb up to a bed.  Our beds were already made up for us as we entered the train and we quickly deposited our luggage on our beds.  It was dark already and as the car started to accelerate, there wasn't a whole lot to see.  Lest you be worried about the security of sleeping with only a curtain between you and the walkway, the train had visible security guards on board.  I kept my backpack and one small suitcase in my bunk with me, just for good measure.

We headed off to the dining car.  Amy was in the lead and couldn't figure out how to get the door to exit the car to open.  An attendant finally reached up and pushed a button for her.  But that's not before we got a lovely view of the "sketchy" toilets.  One toilet was a traditional squatter toilet.  The other was flushed by using a hose next to the seat to spray it down and flush it.  You had to wipe the water off the seat before sitting down because some people did a rather vigorous job of spraying.  We could do it for a night for sure.  Not lovely.

Dinner was another interesting affair.  Ewww. Yuk.  I don't think the girls and I ate more than our rice.  I ordered something tofu and this tofu was nothing like I have ever tasted or seen.  It was rubbery, and well, I think it was tofu.  And guess what we had for breakfast?  Power bars.  We weren't sure we would have enough time between getting in and our scheduled pick up for our zip line tour.  Another groaner meal for sure.

After getting everyone settled, we tethered off the internet on Chris' phone for awhile and had a little downtime before drifting off to sleep.  I didn't take the Unisom because I wanted to be alert enough if necessary.  I slept, but there was a lot of waking throughout the night.

Thankful Day 25 - Yodeling

My dad sings in the shower.  In fact, he will often yodel.  Anytime I hear yodeling, I think of him and am grateful he's my dad.

Thankful Day 24 - Exercise

I am so thankful for exercise.  Not necessarily in the middle of a minute of squats or burpees, but I am grateful that it helps my body work as well as it does.  I am grateful to feel the soreness of stiff muscles that have been worked, because...well, I have muscles that can work!  Over the past year of building a house, my exercise was without much intense effort.  I did it, but I hated exercising in the dingy rental basement.  Turns out I didn't push myself too hard.  It feels good to get back to intense effort.

A Great Adventure - Day 9

Monday, November 24

Our first full day in Thailand.  Kevin took the day off to spend with us.  His kids however were off to school by 7 am.  They were so quiet in getting ready for school that we didn't hear a single peep from them, or maybe it was the Unisom working.  Each room in their lovely house had its own A/C and because of the expense of electricity, it was only turned on if the room was in use.  Thus, when I walked out of our bedroom, the heat of the hallway washed over me.  I was glad to walk in to the kitchen to greet Kristen who was helping Candace stir oatmeal for breakfast.  Oatmeal along with toppings of raisins, walnuts, green apples, and sugar.  Ahh, my beloved oatmeal.  And it was so much better than a power bar.  My girls were happy to partake.

We were off to Ko Kret (an island in the Chao Phraya River, 20 km north of Bangkok, Thailand) for the day for a bike ride around this small island.  We wanted to visit the island early in the day when it would be a little cooler.  That would be a cool 90 degrees as opposed to 100.  We were lucky that in the Philippines and Thailand we were blessed with hotter than normal temperatures.  Yay us!  You could look perfectly wonderful before leaving the house and the moment you stepped outside the front door the heat and humidity assailed you.  Sweat might be rolling down your back within minutes and your clothes sticking to you uncomfortably.

We packed up our water and drove toward Ko Kret where Kevin parked his car.  We waited for the ferry.  It was a short ferry ride from one side of the river to the other.  It was a good first look at Thai life.  As we exited the ferry, we found the bike rental.  They were fabulously lovely wobbly bikes.  I think Kristen was a little nervous trying to manuever her bike along a narrow pathway that was often edged with the river on one side and a drop off on the other side.  I'm sure she was nervous because I had moments where I thought for sure I was going to land in the river myself!

We took a little detour down a path to visit a pottery maker.  He wasn't in his work space, but a little old lady was happy to show us around and sell my girls some pottery.  I was impressed to learn that both Kevin and Candace are conversant in Thai.  It was nice to have them interpret for us and communicate with people.

After riding for awhile, we happily returned our bikes to the rental place.  I was disappointed to see that the lid had worked its way off my water bottle and all of my water had leaked out.  Fortunately Chris was willing to share.  We walked back along our bike path toward a small market of shops.  The girls found some cool wooden elephants and two fans.  They were quite necessary on a day like today.  Amy thought these little shoes were so cute.

A first of many Buddhas.

We returned via ferry to Pakkret Pier and stopped at the market for lunch fixings.  Candace picked up some veggies, fruit, and bread at a small market.  With one last stop to the pineapple seller, we were on our way.  The pineapple was slivered and on sticks.  It was so wonderfully yummy.  All but Kristen were happy to partake.  Silly girl. 

We had lunch and then the girls were happy to make use of Kevin and Candace's pool.  Chris wasn't sure if he had allergies or a cold and had taken Benadryl earlier in the day.  He stretched out on the couch after lunch and slept for a couple of hours.

It wasn't too long before Jonathon arrived home from school.  He played in the pool for awhile before getting started on his homework.  Jeremy and Joseph were the next to arrive home and happily headed for the pool.  Ashley had after-school activities and didn't arrive home until 3:30.  She had about an hour before her 4:30 pm dance class.  Even Kevin dove in to the pool with the kids to play for a bit.  And Chris slept on.  I thought Misha's curly eyebrow was pretty cute.

Finally, around 4:00 pm I woke Chris up.  Candace and Ashley headed to Ashley's dance class, Kristen stayed at the house to play with cousins, and the rest of us took a tour around Nichada Thani.  Really the tour was to let Amy and Misha have a chance to drive the golf cart, on the opposite side of the road no less.  Amy was a pretty good driver, Misha needs a little more confidence and instruction.  We checked out the grocery store, the swimming pool, and the lake.  Kevin drove his scooter while Chris, Amy, Misha, and I followed in the golf cart.  I thought it humorous to note the clothing choice for these two brothers, and Kevin's posing.

We returned to find that Kevin and Candace's house help Khun Jah (Coon Ja) had dinner almost ready for us.  (Khun is a term of respect).  She had also done all of our laundry for us.  So grateful for her.  We enjoyed a meal together (made also by Khun Jah) once Candace and Ashley returned from dance class and then helped to clear dinner dishes.

We were all looking forward to inexpensive massages.  Amy, Misha, Chris, Kevin, and I were happy to enjoy this activity.  Amy opted for the full body massage while the rest of us chose the foot massage.  I have rather sensitive legs and had to tell my massage lady a number of times to be softer.  If it wasn't that, it was me wincing in pain that indicated that her pressure was too deep.  Don't know why my legs are so sensitive, but they are.  Amy kind of enjoyed her massage but was a little surprised that her butt was included.  That made her rather uncomfortable.  

We had hoped to find the "rotee" guy on the corner after our massages, but he wasn't around when we exited from our massages.  Rotee is supposed to be some yummy crepe creation not to be missed.  We would try to catch him another night.  Instead, we stopped at 7-11 for slurpees and such.  7-11 is rather popular in Asia--much more popular than in the United States.  The kids were more than happy to oblige when we tucked them in at 9 pm.  Unisom was my "happy ending" for the day.

Thankful Day 23 - Work

I am thankful for work.  I am thankful my parents taught me how to work.  I am pretty sure I disliked it then as much as my children do now.  I am thankful after a long day of work to be able to look over an accomplishment and feel satisfaction for a job well done.

A Great Adventure - Day 8

Sunday, November 23

I slept in.  Till 3:45 am that is.  Someone's alarm in the room next to us went off and they kept hitting the snooze button every 7 minutes.  Ugh.  I was awake and chatted a bit with my dad and sister online.  We were all up around 7:30 am to get ready for church at 9 am.  We wanted to leave for church around 8:30 am so that we could catch a jeepney and arrive on time.  We had hoped that today would be a non-power bar breakfast.  In fact we had told the girls that we would have breakfast at the hotel.  Chris and the girls went downstairs to get a table and the restaurant was full.  Boo.  The girls returned upstairs with the bad news only to have Chris come back a couple of minutes later to say that they were setting up another table to accommodate us.  We went back downstairs.  And we sat and waited and waited and no one came.  By this point, we were beginning to run out of time.  A couple more minutes later we had to get up from the table and return to our room for another power bar breakfast.  Let's be clear, the power bars were getting old for all of us, but at least we had a food option.

We left the coolness of our room dressed for our Sunday meetings and stepped out in to the sauna we called The Philippines.  So hot.  So humid.  So bad for curly hair.  We were able to arrive a couple of minutes early for church and were greeted by many of Chris' friends from his mission and those we had met on our previous visit.

Most of Sacrament meeting was in Tagalog and Chris interpreted a little for us.  The theme of the meeting focused on self-reliance as this seems to be a big push in the country.  Most families live day to day.  We stayed throughout the entire three-hour block.  Amy and Misha had a much more pleasant time as they had made connections with friends.  Chris spent the last hour of church talking with the new bishop and Bro. Lazatin (the Bishop when we had visited a year and a half ago).  They discussed the remaining amount of money from what we had brought on our last visit.  It was to be dispersed to those in need.

Normita had coordinated a van and driver for us through the rest of day to take us to the airport later in the evening.  Though it was much spendier than taking a bus, she was worried about us going to the bus depot in Manila and then to the airport.  The driver picked us up after church.  He dropped Normita and the kids off to change and then later meet us at their old house.  We returned to our hotel, packed up our stuff, and checked out.  

The Lazatins had invited to dinner, and we were happy to join them.  They then treated us to more cake.  Mmmmm.

We stopped at the De Ocera's to spend our last little bit of time with them.  Lazatins dropped by as well.  Somehow our conversation turned to using the CR (comfort room or bathroom) and having to pay to use it, often having to announce to the attendant whether you were paying 3 pesos to pee or 5 pesos to poop.  Lazatins were hilarious.  The whoopee cushions that we brought worked well into the conversation as "farters", and the kids had a lot of fun sneaking up behind us and letting them rip.  Rip might be the key word as the whoopie cushions tended to blow out in more than one direction!  Good thing only one of Kristen's rolls of duct tape had been confiscated!

All too soon, it was time to go.  We took pictures and there were hugs all around.  Our driver, a former bishop, had us on our way to Manila in no time.  Unfortunately, he informed us that we had kept the van in to another shift.  It was an expensive ride to the airport.  We stopped for a short pit stop at an outlet mall along the way--another lovely bathroom.

It took about an hour and a half through the countryside and then the loveliness of Manila before we reached the airport.  Once there, we were quick to pass through our first security point, and that was just to get in to the airport.  We found our check-in counter and proceeded to wait for a long time to even reach the counter.  Then it was an even longer wait.  So inefficient and slow.  I wasn't in the best mood so it was a good thing that I stood away from the counter.  Finally we were on our way and had the great opportunity of paying our exit fee to leave the country.  From there we went through Immigration and Security.  Chris had access to the lounge but there wasn't much room and we wouldn't be able to join him inside.  They did however allow him to bring sodas out to us as we waited in the hallway.  

We waited and snacked until our 8:20 pm boarding call at gate B12.  Misha and I sat in a row together, Amy and Kristen sat in the the row behind us, while Christopher sat close by.  Misha promptly fell asleep, missing dinner.  Actually it was the best airplane food we had had thus far.  Amy had borrowed my blanket and left Misha and I without.  I asked for two more for Misha and I, but the attendants were busy with dinner service.  I had to ask twice and finally they remembered.  Good thing cause Misha's arms were covered in goosebumps.  After covering up Misha and I, we all fell asleep.

As we neared Bangkok, Thailand we set our clocks back one hour and were happy to deplane.  And then had another trip though Immigration, Customs, and then Baggage Claim.  All of our packages were quick to arrive except for the Christmas lantern box and my suitcase.  In fact, my suitcase was one of the last to arrive, but hey, it arrived.  It would hve been a bummer to lose it now.

We gathered up our stuff and headed out to the curb and who do we meet?  Kevin.  So glad to finally be in Thailand and happy to visit Kevin and his family.  Kevin directed us outside to the curb where his van was waiting.  Chris commented, "Must be nice not to have to move your car."  Kevin replied, "That's one advantage to having a driver.

Kevin is an expat working for Exxon for a couple of years in Thailand.  We couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit while given the chance.  Walking out of the airport in to the air of Thailand wasn't a whole lot different than the Philippines--it was still hot and humid even at 11 pm.

We were introduced to Khun Tar (Coon Ta), Kevin's driver, and then on our way to Nichada Thani, an an international community located in the Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi, Kevin gave us some instruction on a few Thai words--Sawasdee Ka means hello from a woman.  Sawasdee Krap means hello from a man.  Khap Khun Ka or Krap is thank you from a woman or man respectively.  It took about an hour to arrive at Kevin's home.  Since it was late and his kids had school on Monday morning, we quietly settled in to our rooms.  Amy and Misha slept in the living room on the main floor with its pull-out couch. The room had a door that closed it off.  Kristen slept in her cousin Ashley's room--cousins who might pass for twins I might add--and Chris and I were happy to sink in to the trundle bed in Jeremy's room.  All three boys were bunking in Jonathon and Joseph's room.  Each bedroom had its own attached bathroom which was so wonderfully convenient.

It did not take any of us long to fall asleep.  I think it was 1 am.  And know what?  I finally took Unisom.  So wish I had taken it sooner.  I slept all night long. It didn't knock me out completely, but when I woke in the middle of the night, I didn't have any problem falling back to sleep and sleeping until 7:30 am the next morning.  Yay for Unisom.

Thankful Day 22 - Vacations

We have taken some awesome vacations as a family.  It is a blessing, to be sure.  Some things we have learned:

1.  You can't plan enough.  Research.  Research.  Research.  My husband would give accolades to tripadvisor.com as well as Evernote.  Tripadvisor for ideas and reviews and Evernote for keeping track of it all.
2.  Even though you have planned, you still have to be flexible.
3.  There are some pretty amazing places in this world.
4.  People all over the world are generally good.  Generally.
5.  Internet is vital.  Wifi too.  How did we survive without it?
6.  When you travel overseas, buy an inexpensive phone and/or local SIM card.  It has truly been a life saver.
7.  Get outside of your comfort zone.  Be adventurous.
8.  Take lots of pictures.  Take pictures with you in them.
9.  Take time at the end of the day to write down your experiences, people's names, places you've been.  Details are good because if you ever return to an area, you will have valuable resources already.
10. Talk through your trips in the planning stages.  You realize what you have forgotten.
11. Pack light.
12. Bring gifts.
13. 5-Star isn't always twice as good as 3-Star.