After Siem Reap, Cambodia, we flew to colorful Thailand.
The video of our Asia Adventure opens with us jumping into a Thai waterfall, on one of the best days of my life, hands down. You can watch it
HERE.
There are a lot of photos on this post, and some of the best (swimming with elephants! a Thai cooking class! the sticky waterfall!) are at the very end. And you're a sport if you scroll all the way to the end. But I want to record it all, and weave it into the tapestry of our family's collective memory.
We decided to visit sacred Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand. One of the most cherished places in all of Buddhism, known as the city of temples. In the mornings, Buddhist monks came to collect alms of food and drink, which was all they were allowed to eat until noon. They fasted the rest of the day. As we offered alms, they chanted a blessing of good luck, good health, long life.
I'll let the photos do the talking because there's just so much to see in Chiang Mai!
On our second day in Chiang Mai, we hired a guide through Untouched Thailand who took us on a tour and kept these candy treats in the car, to our kids' delight.
We began by ascending the many stairs toward the most sacred site in Chiang Mai, Wat Doi Suthep, which houses a relic of the Buddha.
I love how the dragon scales look gold going down, and green coming up.
These sprightly characters were at the top of the steps to greet us. :)
Contrary to popular belief, this big-bellied statue is not a Buddha, but a monk.
Here's our amazing guide, who is explaining the symbolism of this carving, telling the history of Wat Doi Suthep.
Ganesh the elephant, remover of obstacles in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
This mural and its seated Buddha's tell the story of the Buddha's life.
Siddharta's birth.
His first passage beyond the cloistered palace walls, in which Siddhartha first encounters old age, sickness and death.
Wat Doi Suthep.
The men received bracelets and blessings from the monk, just as we had in the Cambodian temple.
And then Mark blessed Lorelei and me, since the monks are forbidden from touching women.
Each flame and corresponding Buddha stands for a day of the week. The kids poured oil into the day in which they were born for good luck.
Only the pure of heart could rub this gong in such a way as to give off a sound. Gryffy, Lorelei and Mark succeeded.
I failed. My heart is mired; I'm a spiritual deadbeat, according to the gong.
Puppies!
It was a cloudy day, but we got a peek of the gorgeous view of Chiang Mai below.
Next, our tour took us to visit "tiger cubs."
This is NOT what I had pictured as a "cub." Ha!
And we went to the Poo-Poo Paper Factory, to learn how paper is made from elephant dung. We literally followed a trail of elephant poo from one station to the next. We've been joking about this place ever since.
Poo-Poo Paper?!
We also visited the Karen long-neck tribe, who are refugees from Myanmar. I always wonder whether visiting helps, or exploits, the refugees. But our guides were very respectful and brought special treats for all the children, and I purchased some earrings and a lovely teal scarf.
The weight of these rings seemed unbearable. I always marvel at how cultures come by certain traditions, like this one.
I don't have many pictures (sparing my camera from water) but our next stop was one of the greatest adventures we've ever had as a family. Climbing the sticky waterfall! It was so dang fun!
There were three long levels of the waterfall that eventually spilled into a pond at the bottom, all fed by a natural spring at the top. It was a wonder! We climbed up and down with glee, passing by monks in wet robes.
We ended this day at the Elephant Rescue Park. Oh man, we had a family of elephants to ourselves all afternoon to feed and walk through the jungle and bathe. We absolutely LOVED every bit of it!
So stinkin' cute! Shapoo, the baby.
They were so playful in the water, squirting us with their trunks.
The next day, we took a Thai cooking class with this guy, named Da, who owns his own organic farm. The food was beyond anything we've ever made before--best Thai food ever, especially the curry. And we made it!
Da took us first in his tuk-tuk to the market, where we gathered ingredients.
He taught us what each ingredient was, like these kaffir lime leaves and galangal root.
Stinky fruit!
Lorelei and Gryffy fell in love with these fruits in Cambodia.
Then we went to Da's home and collected more ingredients from his organic garden.
And got to cooking in Da's front yard in a hut built over a lilypad pond!
I found a four-leaf clover!
Da's wife prepped all of the ingredients for our four course meals, while Da explained what we were doing. He was the perfect cooking instructor.
Et voila! We each made different curries, pad thai, spring rolls and various desserts in coconut milk.
A feast for the eyes and the belly!
Lorelei's gorgeous mangoes and sticky rice.
We needed at least ten more people to help us polish off this feast we'd whipped up!
My favorite was the red curry.
Da's precious daughter loved hanging out with Lorelei and Gryffy. She's darling.
After dinner, Da took us 70mph in a tuk-tuk to the airport. I held on tight, no seatbelts, hoping we didn't hit a bump and fly out! It was so kind of Da to drop us at the airport.
We flew overnight to S Korea, and from Korea we flew back to the States... passing Mt Fuji in Japan along the way, a beautiful end to one crazy-wild-extravagant adventure that I'll never, ever forget.
