Homeward Bound

Our flight home was supposed to be a total of 16 hours. It took us 38 hours to get home. 38 hours of airports and flights. What a nightmare! Mechanical problem caused delay, caused missed connection, caused unhappy us. On the upside, you learn to sleep where you can. We got to go to the Tokyo airport and ride in a Hello Kitty airplane & Jack got to throw up 3 times in Hello Kitty barf bags. Seriously, everything on the plane was Hello Kitty!

We were so glad to get home.

Even after all that, we are already working on future trips!!

Back to Bangkok

We returned to Bangkok for one night before heading home. We headed over to the MBK mall that evening to look around and pick up a few more souvenirs. 8 stories high, with over 2000 stores, this place was insanely overwhelming and like nothing I had ever seen. We stayed a couple of hours, and I was dizzy and my eyes were watering from visual overload. I've never seen so many 'things' all in one place.

Our last day in Bangkok we swam, got foot massages, packed and then headed to the airport.

Thailand has been an amazing experience. All four of us loved it and were so sad to leave. It was the kids' first trip out of the US, and only the second for Todd & I (or third if Canada counts) (poor Canada). I don't think we could have picked a better country. Great food, lovely people, tourist friendly, cheap travel. This trip has sparked up a future need for travel-we are already talking about our next trip. Maybe Vietnam, Colombia, India..who knows, but I know we'll be heading out again one day soon.

More random stuff

There are no top sheets in Thailand. Seriously, it's a bottom sheet and usually a thin duvet with a white cotton cover. The beds are harder than US beds. Some of them felt like box springs. One was.

The toilets usually have a spray nozzle and short hose next to them. Instead of wiping after pooping, you use the hose to spray off, then toilet paper to pat dry. Sounds weird, but it's much nicer on your bottom.

Massages are dirt cheap. Prices vary a bit, but a nice place next to our hotel in Bangkok is 200 baht for an hour. That's about 6 bucks!

Speaking of costs: during our bike ride to the bat caves, a bug or something hit me in the eye. It got red and gummy over the next couple of days in Chiang Rai, so I headed to the drugstore/pharmacy to get some eye drops. After explaining what I was looking for, the woman at the counter asked if I wanted to see their doctor. I said sure, because my eye really hurt, and I knew my travel insurance would cover it if it was expensive. We were taken to an exam room, and the doctor came in, looked it over with a flashlight, prescribed antibiotic eye drops, pain medication, antibiotics (which I did not take as it seemed nuts), and they bandaged my eye. Total cost: $11.52

Chiang Rai Black House

Baan Si Dum. Freaky, baby!! This was a cool oddity. We messed up on the time, not realizing they closed at lunch, so we had very little time here. The buildings were handsome wood structures-very masculine. Everything inside was oversized-snake skins, skulls, bones, beautiful wooden tables, carved wooden panels, pillars and doors, giant cow horns, statues, etc. It was all weird and wonderful.

And then we went to the gift store and found some surprises. I think the artist is a bit obsessed!

 Ann-Kristin thinks they should all come with a sign like the one above ;)

And then there were four

(this is out of order, but Blogger is driving me crazy)

So sad to say goodbye. It was a great trip with great friends, with so many wonderful experiences. After being a community of 8 for the last month, it seemed strange to be just 4.

This is our last photo of all of us right before they got on the minibus to the airport.

Chiang Rai White Temple

Wat Rong Khun. This is one of those iconic visuals that always comes up when you see photos of Thailand. It did not disappoint. Sparkly, fancy, strange, very fairy land. Chalermchai Kositpipat is an artist who constructed this temple/art exhibit and paid for it all as a dedication to Buddha. 

If you look closely at the top of the spire, you can see some of the damage from an earthquake.

You can purchase lovely charms (very cheaply), write a prayer/wish on it, and hang it from the beautiful pagoda structures. There are thousands upon thousands of wish charms spread all over the grounds and down a walkway.

In all the hub bub of our last week or so, and all the problems with blogger, I let this lapse. So, the last few posts on our trip and return home will post in the next couple of days.

Hopefully Todd can crack the virus that he picked up on the camera card at an internet cafe in Koh Phayam and access the other half of our photos and videos.

Chiang Rai

Stopped at the silk museum on the way to Chiang Rai. Long trip, cool museum.

Silk moths

Silk worms

Cacoons

Extracting silk threads

Rabeang Pasak Treehouses

Also called Chiang Mai Treehouse, this is a jungle retreat of 9 or so treehouses. Some for 2, 4, 5, some 30 or 40 feet in the air, some closer to the ground. Everything is unique and kind of hobbity, if hobbits lived in trees. One of the treehouses has a beehive e made out of a hollowed out log. A river winds through the property with some little waterfalls and a couple of little pools to swim. There are little fish that nibble you gently-a free spa  treatment.

Cicadas hum off and on all day, as well as a variety of other insects, frogs & birds. It's very relaxing. The trees that support the houses are living, many have jackfruits ripening in various rooms. We've got a cool leaf bug in the bathroom about 5 inches long. Some of the bathrooms had giant free frogs that would sometimes hang out in the toilet. 

The kids had their own treehouse and played hide and go seek, played in the river, and rescued a little chick who had been caught in same thread. AK and Todd helped cut him loose and the kids located the mama hen and chicks to return him.

Out of every place we have been, I was able to really relax and let go here. Eric agreed and thought it was because the tree houses were so isolated we did not feel the constant pull of all the things we should be going to see. We did go for a bike ride, on decrepit bikes with flat tires and seat fails to bat caves. Spooky and very cool. There were shrines outside each cave and inside some.

I had the best meal I've eaten inThailand here. The proprietor, Mink was so lovely in providing me with gluten free food. I had a deep fried fish with dipping sauce to die for.