Elephant Parade

Our next stop was the elephant camp. We drove up into the mountains and below we could see many different camps with many elephants. I thought Bailey would pee her pants with excitement and had to practically hold her down for fear of losing her out the window. I had been close to elephants in India, though when given the option to ride one, I opted for a camel, since that seemed more unique to me at the time. We stopped off a small dirt turn-off at a hut where lunch would be served. While we waited for it to be re-heated, I took some shots of the two elephants that were lunching themselves, waiting to ferry us to our next destination an hour's ride away.

We picked our elephant - the biggest one, of course! Bailey said she had a "special connection" with him. She bought some green baby bananas to give as treats during the ride. We got up on a bamboo platform and hopped on. I gave my camera to Bob, who was on the other elephant alone, and asked if he would take pictures for me of the two of us. Frankly, none of them turned out. Bailey sat beside me and the elephant's owner/trainer hopped on the elephant's head to sit. We must have been quite a site! We began lumbering down the dirt path into the countryside. When I say "lumbering," I mean it. If you've never ridden an elephant, the experience is rather rough. The thing has no shocks, and you get tossed from side to side, though not violently, with each step. You're right above his shoulders and you feel every move. The guide was enamored with my video camera and jumped off to film us (we'll see if he was successful, as he spoke no English and had never used one before). He took some pictures with Bailey's camera, which again, were mostly failures. Not much you can do about it, since you're busy actually having the experience! After awhile, the guide prompted Bailey to slide off the seat and sit on the elephant's neck. She looked like a kid in a candy store :)

We rode for awhile like this, with the trainer hopping off and on the elephant's face and shouting directives in Thai. The elephant clearly understood that he really meant it when his voice rose! Periodically, the elephant would stop completely and raise his trunk above his head demanding a banana. Usually, he wasn't satisfied with just one...

When we began heading up a hill, I got my turn riding bareback. I was a bit shocked at the prickly hairs on the elephant's head that poked me through my pants - didn't expect that one! When you ride on the neck, you use all your core muscles keeping your balance as you ride. There were two loops that we could hold on either side behind us that were rooted in the seat. It was difficult re-adjusting, as Bailey crawled off the head and up, we traded water bottles, cameras, etc. Then, I slid down with the elephant still walking, and at once I could feel my stomach muscles compensating for my being tossed from side to side. I actually was quite proud of how well I balanced and had relatively little difficulty sitting comfortably. The elephant's ears, as they flop to and fro, actually grip your legs to its head. We had a nice ride and finally had to get off onto another bamboo platform. We mourned the loss of our leathery friends as we recognized that the end of our ride signified the beginning of our hiking. And, they were cute!

We went down a path (let me clarify: this wasn't a path in the sense you're thinking...because it's a "Thai path,"  which means it's used a lot but probably shouldn't be, for safety reasons) to the water. We had to have someone help us because we were basically sliding down loose dirt and walking down very steep rock faces. When we got to the water, we were sent across in a cage on a zip line. The man in charge of it was so excited for our glee over the concept that he sent us early, without closing the door.

When everyone had crossed, we started walking up a fairly steep hill. The dirt was dry, dusty and red and quickly coated our feet and stuck to our sweating bodies. We weren't feeling too bad, though! We'd had a nice ride, knew we had to walk a bit, and actually were sharing our path with a naked, freshly washed elephant who walked beside us. But then, we started feeling the sun, as it was 2:30 during the hottest part of the year, and the hill got steeper. I made the mistake of asking how long this walk was - 2.5 hours. All straight up. Now, I'm usually a smart person, but when I saw the word "trek" and looked at the brochures, I was thinking we were going to walk a lot through the jungle, but as it was family friendly, it couldn't be that difficult. I was sooo wrong!

Only a half hour in, I could tell my calf muscles had been overextended and began to be concerned about the ever-increasing steep hill ahead. To add to my dismay, I began to recognize that this hike was going to force me into continual overly-strenuous exercise and I'm asthmatic. I didn't have an inhaler, because we were winging this trip and everything we were doing on it (when we left, we thought we'd end up in Laos or Cambodia...you see what I mean). "Thankfully", Robert had had two heart attacks previously and had been given an inhaler to help with his exercise. He shared it with me, and my airways loosened a bit.

I can't remember a time when I've been so hot, so sweaty, so very...miserable. Every step was a challenge. When we'd rest, we'd sit in the dirt on the roadside where the elephant poop often landed, and tried to catch our breath while dung beetles and cockroaches hopped around us. People passed us on motorcycles, making the hike feel unnecessary. Our water was warm, and we were soaked. Robert and Bailey were way ahead of me, and Robert was at least 60, so you can imagine how I felt! I was very out of shape and he was very "in shape", and I felt horrible making them wait for me. The bugs love you when you're sweaty, and I swear they can feel your annoyance, so they swarm around your head as you walk. To top it off, there was no end in sight, and every time I talked myself into getting to the top (that I could see), I'd get there only to realize that there was an even steeper part ahead. 

When the road finally leveled off, after two hours, I was so relieved I almost cried! Finally, road that is walk-able. Nope. We left the road and went up the hill next to it, where we walked on another "Thai path" with loose stones and overgrown trees, and it was the steepest climb yet. I slipped in my flip flops and landed on a broken stump, and though it hurt like a *#&$^ to walk, we were close, they told me. We got out of the woods and back on to the road, and we saw a house seated on the very top of the mountain, just 100 yards away. We made it! our guide said. We made our way sluggishly to the house and collapsed on the seats outside. No, actually, he told us, we are staying on the other side of the village, so we needed to get up and keep walking. We did make it to our building and when we did, I sat on a broken bamboo beam and stared straight ahead, not moving for an hour. There's my complaining...I'm done. But I was justified - believe me.

When I finally came around, we sucked down the drinks they had for us and took turns "showering." The bathroom was a hut down the hill with an Indian-style (hole in the floor) toilet and a container of water. You dump the cold water on yourself with a bowl. The bathroom door was held closed by a rubber band, and the walls were so slatted that I could see all the chickens outside the bathroom clearly. We had only one bar of soap among the three of us, but this was not the time to be picky. We took a gander around the tiny town of the Lahu people of Burma, a hill tribe situated on one of the peaks of the Mae Tang mountain region where we would be staying tonight. It's incredible how quickly you can forget serious effort when surrounded by distracting new things. My body didn't let me forget that climb for days, but I was quite entertained with my new surroundings. 


These people raise a lot of livestock, and every person's house was surrounded by at least 10 roosters, 15 chickens, and a dozen or so chicks. They had a few pigs too. I saw one unlucky chicken get plucked from the pack for dinner, and later saw a woman pulling feathers from the bird. I was glad not to have seen what happened in-between. We made dinner in our house and sat by candle light as the sun went down (there is no electricity here). Women came by to sell their jewelry and massage services, but none of us were awake enough to notice. We played logic games with twigs and learned how to blow bubbles out of leaf stems, which the village children had discovered (a video of this is posted on our shutterfly site). We clinked our plastic glasses with a local whiskey, made of rice...it was terrible! Our guides finished it off.


As the night closed in, the village children came by and sang us songs. Dressed in traditional clothing and singing Christian songs in Thai, they were a sight for sore eyes! The missionaries have told the people about God, and they are collectively a Christian group. We played cards until we couldn't keep our eyes open, and whoever lost had to be drawn on by the others with the soot from the kitchen pan (not my idea!). We slept under mosquito tents and it was a restless sleep...the roosters can't tell what time of day they are supposed to crow, so they do so, all together, at 1, 3, 3:30, 4, 4:15, 5, 5:20 am....you get the picture.

Asia's Golden Girls

Give me one good reason why you wouldn't sign up for a three day trek in the Mae Tang mountains. You don't have tennis shoes or socks? No problem - I didn't. You want to get a good night's sleep? Eh, you can sleep when you're dead. It's expensive? No, actually, we got an unbelievable rate to do this (no, this isn't coming out of funds donated for our support). So? You'll go? Great!

We headed out early the next day to join the Cool Man Tour guide, a Thai named Non, in a three day adventure that promised many entertaining moments. We met the only other man on the trip, Robert, from Australia. After two heart attacks, he stopped working for himself and travels for fun. He's been to Thailand ten times and hasn't ever done a trek, so he figures he'll go for the gold. Three days is the longest trek we'd been able to find, and it was scheduled to end only hours before our return bus to Bangkok, so we signed up.

We were dropped off first at the local orchid garden and butterfly pavilion. We loved watching the 10 or 15 butterflies they had in there, but having been spoiled by the orchids in Singapore, I had less appreciation for the garden. We anxiously moved on to a local market where Non would buy our food for three days. We held off the anxious mountain village women selling their wares as they were quite aggressive. Their clothing was phenomenal, though, all made by hand of very colorful material.

We rode off to begin our adventure with the 7 Mountain Tribes, the most famous of which are the Long Neck Karen Tribe of Burma. The Thai government has granted them permission to reside in Thailand as the Burmese government is "not friendly" towards minority groups. These tribal people come together to sell their hand-woven scarves, metal bracelets and wood carvings in an area where many live. As we entered the tribal area, we met a woman who was busy weaving. Our guide sat beside her and told us the sad tale of her people.

The women of this tribe are made to wear gold rings around their necks as early as age 3, which are added to throughout their lives until they reach 35. When they marry, they can stop adding rings, but no one can ever remove them, both by tribal tradition and through necessity, as the rings make the neck muscles and bones weak from the spreading. If removed, the women would be unable to hold their heads up. The rings are very heavy and are put on in a spiral fashion over time.

We were told many different reasons why they put these rings on, none of which make too much sense: to protect from tigers biting the neck, to make them ugly so other tribal men won't steal them away, etc. The rings hardly make them ugly...they all smile so nicely, and the sparkling gold and multicolored clothes they wear hardly detract from their natural beauty (though I'm not condoning the practice). They also wear rings around their legs, right below the knees, as the picture shows. As this is naturally the fattest part of the calf, their leg growth has been severely stunted, but they walk fine. I don't know why those are necessary. Some have the rings around their ankles as well.

The girl in this picture is only three years old, but you can see that she's already been adorned with her neck rings. Her mother beside her, has an exceedingly long neck, and plays a hand-made guitar and sings to passers by. They are a joyful people, always smiling, happy to tell us of their traditions. Each woman has a hut with a front that acts like a store. They live behind it in the same place. I saw a husband wasting the day away,  snoozing on his back. Long Neck Karen certainly is a patriarchal society.

The woman in this picture told me her story. She's my age - 23 - and her husband is still in Burma. She has been in Thailand for four months without him and wants children, but can't have them with him being gone (hopefully obvious). She let me try on some "practice" neck rings, which had been sawed in half for easy application. They were very heavy, and the number of rings in the one she gave me stretched my neck out just from wearing it for a minute.

The tribe shared the area with several others, including the "Big Ear" tribe. The women gauge their ears with metal loops. Try not to lose your lunch...but here's a nice shot of the ring removed.

Now, we had an incredible time at this place, though we recognized the unique challenges it left us with. We felt bad that these people were so very...available. Their homes are in a village designed by the Thai government to welcome and encourage visitors, which is both educationally enlightening and invasive. We were glad they are safe from the danger of the Burmese government, who is daily wiping out the minorities in their country, but were disappointed that their cultures may be reduced to entertainment for curious travelers. We recognized that we were a part of this, and from all this I've come to the conclusion that I'm better off for meeting them, and they're better off for not being in Burma.

Our journey continued that day at the elephant camp, which I will describe next. Stay tuned...

Kendra Goes to Chiang Mai

Lured by cheap overnight bus prices, Bailey (a new volunteer) and I decided we'd leave town on the eve of the first day of Songkran and head north, to Chiang Mai, where the festival is legendary. We took a 12-hour bus to Bangkok from Khao Lak, where we crashed with Step Ahead's CEO and his family for the day. We had some new fruit for breakfast (red with green hairs, pictured below, called Rambutan, and very sweet "grapefruit") an unbelievable dinner (quiche! mmm) with their friend, who is a tailor, and her husband. No rest for us - we ran around the whole day, learning that because the holiday is very popular for traveling, we couldn't get back by Sunday and we'd have to wait until Wednesday to return. Kim took us to two bus stations and finally we landed return tickets home (we were really winging this trip) and tickets to Chiang Mai.

That night, we got on another overnight bus, and ten hours later landed in Chiang Mai, drugged from sleeping pills that didn't do their job well at all, and somehow managed to wake up enough to get ourselves to a cheap guest house. We paid $5 apiece to share a room at Mountain View Guest house and had no air conditioning and rock-hard beds, but somehow the experience made this feel like a real backpacker's dream. We slept for 6 hours. After playing a bit of catch-up, we headed out on the town to experience Songkran in the city that does it best. The canal out front was lined on both sides with giddy Thais on Holiday, scooping river water out with their buckets and hitting anyone foolish enough to come near. The water wasn't, *cough*, very clean, so we walked by in the street.

We wandered around town, getting water gunned down by every ten year old and grandfather in sight, and people have an extra sense of humor, it seems, when they slowly pour ice water down your back while you stand there, helpless. Where can you go? If you run, you're only running towards another kid with a hose! So we spent the day soaked through, wandering through the streets with a makeshift parade. We would steer clear of the crowds when we'd find an interesting temple to see- a statue of Donald Duck out in front of one made for an entertaining picture. In Chiang Mai, there are more Buddhist temples than in any other city of Thailand (300+). We did visit Wat Phra Singh, the center area for the Buddhist part of the Songkran festival (see Derek's blog previously on the history). Even at the temple, we were not safe from the water.

We wandered around the whole day like this, stopping for ice cream and ending at El Diablo's Heavenly Burritos. We sat far inside the little restaurant as the crammed street outside held overly-excited citizens loaded up with water, which they had no problem shooting inside the shop. By now, my thighs are getting rashes from the wet clothes and all the walking, so we headed back and slept...well, Bailey slept. I wanted to sleep.

The next day, the streets, to our surprise, were almost deserted. We had expected from all we had heard of this festival in the south, that Chiang Mai would throw down for a week after the "official" holiday had ended, and found that everyone was suddenly MIA. Not sure what to do with our time, we wandered out to get water and ended up in a Song Tao (Means "two rows") headed up into the mountains to check out the cities best-known temple, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. We got the driver to agree to a low price if we'd only stay an hour. "This temple dates from 1383. By tradition, its site was chosen by placing a relic of Buddha on an elephant's back and letting it roam until it trumpeted, then circled and died." (Wikipedia) Of course, in the true "European" style, the temple was under construction during peak tourist season, so we got our pictures next to it covered in cloth and bamboo scaffolding, but this is what it looks like when it's not compromised.


We headed back to town and headed to the east side of the city, where we enjoyed some Indian food and met some boys at a local spa. They were having their feet treated with...fish. You stick your feet in a fish tank and let the fish eat the dead skin off. Mmm! This is not unique to Chiang Mai, and is quite popular throughout Thailand, but I hadn't mentioned it and thought it was high time to share!

We stopped at a few shops and had a drink at a local bar, called Kafe.We hit the night market where I found nice silver earrings for $2 and bartered for boxers. We decided to check out the night life and followed the Lonely Planet's directions to a night club for young adults, called Warm Up. The place was crawling with "rip roi" (well-dressed) Thai kids, the girls all sporting high high heels and short skirts, the boys with their popped collars and spiked hair. Bailey and I were disgusting, as we hadn't been back to the hotel all day. We danced in our street clothes with our backpacks, and attempted to make our hair not horrific in the bathroom with the other primping girls. We were the only foreigners there. There was no dance floor - the barely legals had little tables that they all crowded around, bounced up and down in place (since they could hardly walk in their unreasonable shoes), and sent text messages. Everyone was texting...texts in Thai symbols look funny. 

We did find some other foreigners to cling to, but it turned out the girl (clearly the alpha-female) from Texas was a jerk and we decided we'd be better off alone. We danced in place to the American music after grabbing a Coke at the bar. Alcoholic drinks were too expensive, and we're too cheap anyway. We danced with some Thais for awhile until the band came on, and they were so horrible that we turned in early. Besides, we had to be up early...we had signed up that morning to leave the next day on a three day trek through the Mae Tang Mountains! To be continued...

Songkran Festival

Imagine a nation at civil war. The bloodiest battle imaginable, with every man, woman, and child engaged in combat. Now, within your mental picture, replace the bullets with water and welcome to the Songkran Festival.

Celebrating Thailand's New Year, the country-wide water fight is derived from the practice of sprinkling others with the fragrant water used to bless buddha statues. Given that it's the hottest part of the year, what I can imagine started out as delicate flicking has now degenerated into the rabid desire to absolutely soak any person or inanimate object that crosses your path. And it's a blast.

On the first day of the three day festival, we loaded up the back of Step Ahead's pickup. Pastor Dton was behind the wheel and several young, local children that Step Ahead works with were overjoyed to ride in the back along with two garbage cans full of water. Well water and a healthy dose of food coloring. We were dishing out orange, but we had more than enough purple, red, green, and blue thrown back in our direction. There's also the widespread practice of 'chalking' people, which is based off the Buddhist monk's use of chalk. I would end the day painted in the stuff, as the Thais will run up to you and either assault you with makeshift-chalk in the form of baby powder or outright plaster you in dyed paint-chalk mixture.

So it was without delay that we took off, the smiling kids, Bailey, Kendra, Gai, and I all stationed in the back ready to rock. Our plan was to head into town and drive down the strip of buildings that constitute Bang Niang and Khao Lak. You would see a smiling group of people waiting along the roadside up ahead, armed with some buckets, chalk, a hose, and a small arsenal of squirt guns. Pastor Dton slows the truck and it is on. Both sides battle, each trying to leave the other more saturated then themselves, and after a short altercation we drive on to the next ambush. The process of forcefully exchanging water then repeats itself with just as much exuberance.

That's when we felt it. What did you feel, you ask? The joy of communal festivity? The cross-cultural unity and companionship of the holiday?

No. Ice water. Lots and lots of ice water.

The most dastardly had laced their water with icy coldness and it was like bringing a gun to a knife fight. I soon realized that, exposed as I was in the bed of the pickup truck, there was nowhere to run and left it up to fate as I engaged in a wet version of Russian roulette. On our pass through Khao Lak, much louder screams than normal led me to turn in Kendra's direction to see a young man, smiling maniacally, pouring a massive bucket of ice water down on top of her. I immediately knocked the bucket away with a quick jab and we pulled away at the same moment, but I flashed the guy a quick smile so he'd know it was alright.

For me, at least.

After our pass through town we headed out to Bangsak beach, where a big festival was brewing with lots of food carts and many people camping out in the grass or playing out in the surf. We hopped out of the truck, rung out our soaked clothing, and snatched up some delicious, very inexpensive treats for lunch. We then went down to the beach to play in the ocean.

As mid-afternoon hit we loaded up in the truck to make our way back. Riding in the bed of the truck, cheerful cries and laughter all around you, looking at the forest of beautiful palm trees and feeling the warm sun and cool breeze fight over which can make you more comfortable, you realize that home can be anywhere and you finally feel ice-water-to-the-crotch! Oh! Oh no! How could they simultaneously hit my inner thighs and down my back?! Ah man, that's cold. 

Spring Cleaning and Spider Combat

Sad to see Craig and Ranae leave after an exceptionally enjoyable two-weeks, we returned to southern Thailand and set about our prior activities of teaching and special projects. I also drove into Phuket to pick up a new volunteer, Bailey. Kendra thought from reading Bailey's emails that they would get along quite well, and her thoughts would seem prophetic as they hit it off instantly.  It was an enjoyable week for me and a long week for Kendra, as she balanced a children's summer camp on top of teaching her course while also formulating and polishing Step Ahead's annual report. She definitely earned a relaxing Saturday, and Sunday found us driving about 30 minutes outside of town to go to Church.

Churches in the area are definitely things to be treasured. Amidst the sea of Buddhism, we really find a sense of family at the church services we attend and this experience epitomized that. We were at the church of Pastor Dton, a young man who we've had lots of interaction with at the center. Dton would lead the worship and sermon for the day within the small church building.

Overhead fans did their best to fight off the heat and humidity as Dton took care of the spiritual side of things. I augmented listening to Gai's translations of the sermon with reading through Mark and what was actually quite a long service seemed to pass by quickly. At one point, Bailey, Kendra, and I each got up to introduce ourselves to the congregation of about 12 people, and we were greeted quite warmly with smiles all around. The tiny size of the church only put more emphasis on the importance of the work we're doing supporting Christian networks here in Khao Lak.

With the final prayers, announcements, and offering concluded, we set about getting things ready for what would be a delicious lunch. Served in the standard 'family-style', we each received a portion of white rice and added different entrees to our plates from the large communal dishes. A spicy beef dish and tofu vegetable mix were my favorite, while Kendra's fish allergy once again left her playing it beautiful. I mean, safe.

For a special post-lunch desert, our hosts brought out a fruit tray and you should have seen us with that mango. It was fantastic. Spectacular. It was everything every mango dreams it could be and more.
Craig and Ranae were astounded by the quality of the mango during our trip here (and we were happy to oblige them with fresh cut mango and mango roties each day), and I think Craig would have literally passed out from sheer joy if he had been there to sample these ones.

Stuffed to the brim with mango, we helped clean up and then cleaned up even further. One of the reasons for our visit to the church was to 'clean house,' cleaning up the grounds around the building and cluttered rooms inside. I was mostly tasked with raking leaves and debris from the area behind and alongside the church, while Kendra and Bailey did their best assist things indoors and collect trash with me outside. Kendra would have involuntary reflexes fighting imaginary insects for days due to the mental trauma inflicted upon her by the legion of ants and other bugs that we faced during the onslaught.

At one point, I was inside helping move a heavier object when all of a sudden we collectively noticed a large (about 6 inch wide) spider on the wall. I couldn't tell if the massive specimen was safely inside the jars or behind them. Turns out he was behind them.

The girls screamed, but I remained cool, and immediately engaged in intimidating tactics. My prepared routine of flexing in various poses had little effect, however, so I determined that it would have to come to blows. At the behest of my wife, I engaged the beast in combat. What was his crime? Existing near Kendra, apparently, but she gets surprisingly upset when I refuse to kill things for her so I guess it's part of being a husband.

In keeping with the theme of monstrous beasts, let's now discuss tokay geckos. Here in southern Thailand, the geckos running around on the wall are only outnumbered by taxi drivers at the Phuket airport. They are, to my continued delight, running constantly about and feeding on the bugs that I've come to despise so dearly. I was in the main room of the building, ironically looking at a gecko on the wall, when one of the women called me to help remove a gecko from the kitchen area. I found this to be a strange request, as the slim little 4-6in guys are everywhere and run in and out of doors at their leisure. Then I looked under the desk where they were pointing.

A tail and monstrous gecko foot greeted my gaze, with the tail being itself the size of what I was expecting to see. A fairly large Tokay Gecko was hiding back there, and I tell you he was 10 feet long if he was a foot. [actually he was about 15in]. But that's huge by gecko standards, and tokays have a reputation for being 'the bulldog of geckos' (which I know doesn't sound impressive, it's like being 'the lion of penguin species'), biting with little cause for it and holding on tenaciously. After trying in vain to get a good photo, I kept patting his tail until he took the hint and bolted outside.

These were the highlights of a very rewarding day working at the church doing some very authentic work for Christianity here in Thailand. We got back to the center sweaty, exhausted (at least Kendra was, I was of course fine), and seeing ants everywhere. It was a great day, and we had an enjoyable, well-earned rest that evening.

Singapore Sling

We flew to Singapore early Saturday morning. The taxi driver that picked us up pointed out everything he thought may be of interest to us, and then some. My dad bet us that we couldn't find any trash on the streets, which I took as a personal challenge. The roadways were beautiful, shaded by twisty trees and lined with miles of potted flowers which acted as a median.

We reached the YWCA, which was to be our home for the next few days. As in Bangkok, the rooms had twin beds which we smushed together, but since they were on rollers, our attempts were rather unsuccessful. We headed out to lunch in the basement of the nearby mall, which took some searching. I think it was Japanese food, but it's hard to draw the line sometimes. We spotted a van that goes to China Town for free, so we hopped on and visited the heavily populated area known for its markets. Chinese are Singapore's largest "minority", making up over 70% of the population.

We were getting warm and tired, so we waited for a long time where we were dropped off by the van for it to come again. We gave up and walked for some ways to a taxi stand. Even here, we couldn't get anyone to agree to take us back. They wouldn't answer questions. They'd just shake their heads, roll up their windows, and drive away, with you still hanging onto the car. We found out later that they can be fined for picking up people within the city center.

Singapore is known as The Fine City. It's appropriate, because it is, to date, the finest city I've ever seen. It's clean, orderly, technologically updated, and bustling with energy and innovation. Its law enforcement is also very harsh on violators of their many, MANY regulations. Drug traffickers are punished by death. Urinating - $500. Spitting or Smoking (in an unauthorized area) - $1000. No Durian (smelly fruit), no unusual sex acts (?), no flammable goods, no eating or drinking on the subway, and if you're caught with gum (illegal), fork over $1200. My mom brought gum in and chewed it in her room, hiding it well in the trash. With the money they make from these fines, Singapore has built its city on a gold standard - even the sidewalks shine. I didn't see a slum anywhere.

We finally took the subway home after being very frustrated as to whether the ticket machines would give change, and not knowing how to get out again. That night, mom stayed in, and Derek, Dad and I went exploring.

We walked downtown and into the Fullerton Hotel. Strings played in the background and carp swam in the fountains. We walked along the little canals and saw a unique sculpture of boys jumping into the water, some on the edge, some in the air, some with their clothes half off. We wandered finally into the Merlion area. Now, Singapore created a half-lion, half fish creature for publicity reasons in 1966 and it stands at the entrance of Marina Bay, spewing water from its mouth.

That evening, we happened to walk by a group doing a program for Earth Hour, where the blue building in the picture counted down to a one-hour block of time where people from around the world turned off their lights to save energy. Many lights went out, and for that hour, people at the demonstration ate and sang in the dark. We found food finally in a nearby mall, where we had pizza.

The next day, in an effort to preserve funds in such an expensive city, we took off to the Botanical Gardens, where we could wander around for free. We loved the pond, with turtles and swans everywhere. We were impressed by a certain tree that grows backwards (branches drop and grow into the ground).

We went next into the jungle area, and were so overwhelmed with the heat and humidity that we escaped for a park bench where we could finally breathe. We found the ginger garden with a nice waterfall and watched some other tourists feed the catfish bread.

We stumbled upon the National Orchid Garden, which did have an  admission fee. Mom stayed behind in the air conditioning, and I was a bit jealous of her as we got on further. I've never seen so many types of orchids in my life! All brilliant, with unique markings. You could grow anything here!

The yellow orchids in this picture were used at our wedding, mostly in the centerpieces. They grow like weeds here. We found a special place where they display hybrid species - you can see our favorites on our Shutterfly site.

That evening, we took the subway to Clarke Quay for dinner at Tapas Tree, a Spanish-inspired restaurant where you enjoy small portions, like appetizers. Mom picked it - three cheers! We wandered down the pier and found The Clinic, a new-age concept for a bar of which we all approved. It is set up like a doctor's office, with drinks in IV bags and take your shots in plastic syringes and test tubes. You sit in wheelchairs while you drink. At $50USD a pop, we didn't sit down. We also enjoyed watching a man selling Turkish ice cream. He worked the ice cream with something that looked like a crow bar, to keep it from sticking to the sides (dry ice), and wore a funny hat. He could take your ice cream away from you by keeping it stuck to the bar and would ring bells with the backside of it before handing it out. He loved his job.

We took off for the famous Raffles, Singapore's most well known hotel that was built in 1887. The Long Bar is where the Singapore Sling was invented, and we found it had been moved since my dad had last visited. We were sent to the second floor when they learned we were not staying with them, which was fine, since the second floor seems better anyway. We split two Singapore Slings among the four of us (courtesy of Craig - thanks, Dad!) because they are famous and high in demand - economic term for EXPENSIVE. One Sling costs $25 SIN ($18USD). They were very pink and very good. A band played while we sipped, and I got up and danced. Amazingly, they all followed me, but my dad was mortified that he had to get up, and when I ran to get the camera, they all sat down.

The next day was pretty tame - we took the subway all the way around, to the very edges of the country. All we saw were very orderly apartment buildings. We got off at Little India (Indians make up 14% of the minority population) but were only there a minute. I realized all the restaurants were southern Indian food, which I don't care much for. My Hindi was useless too - they only spoke Tamil. We rode the subway to the mall and had lunch at McDonalds/Subway. That night, we wandered down Orchard Road, the "Rodeo Drive" of Singapore. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant, with blueberry cheesecake for dessert. Derek and I dropped our heads at the prospect of walking away from so much development, so much sugar, such a clean city. But, we're trading them in for lower prices, friendly people, and work that will actually bring Thailand closer to Singapore's developed position.

The morning my parents left, we wandered out for "donuts", cream-filled sugared bread and an attempt to use the internet without paying, which was useless. We took a cab to the airport and dad took pictures out the front window the whole way; my mom sighed louder with each shot taken. I had a hard time letting them go - it's a unique thing indeed to get to know your parents when you're older, and to have so much time to yourself...no work, no activities, no television. Just you and them, traveling together. I wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world. We miss them very much, but consider ourselves very blessed to have had them here for a time. We miss both our families very much, but are enjoying life in Khao Lak, sure as ever that God has a plan for us here.

Mango Fever - Vacation in Khao Lak

" Taxi?! "

"You already asked me! Like 5 minutes ago."

Things were getting out of hand. An early-morning departure from Bangkok had us waiting for a late-morning pick-up in Phuket and I was slowly losing control.

" You want taxi?! "

Their name is taxi driver and their number is legion. Surrounded by a throng of smoking Thai taxi drivers and smoking European tourists, Kendra and I searched diligently for our pickup. Thai sunlight apparently missed the memo on having a 'hottest part of the day' and just goes for broke throughout daylight, so we looked out into the crowded parking lot from the shade of the Arrivals area. Tragically, Pastor Dton had been there for 40 minutes before we spotted him and gained salvation from what is now, along with Houston, TX, one of my least favorite places in the world.

Pastor Dton very kindly drove us back the 60miles to Khao Lak, whisking us away from the Bangkok portion of our trip and delivering us to tropical paradise. The familiar sights and smells of Khao Lak now had the added complement of Craig and Ranae, but we would wait to enjoy the combination until after resting at the center.

Wanting ice cream from a road-side vendor, Craig and Ranae stopped for a cone. Mistake #1 - never eat ice cream or any other frozen food from a vendor in any country that is not developed. Bad things happen. Dad's mint chocolate chip tasted like Vick's VapoRub and toothpaste and cough syrup. Not the right flavor of mint. Mistake #2 - if you pay for something, no matter how much it was, it is a sunk cost. You've already lost the money. If it sucks, it makes no difference if you finish it or not. Cut your losses and get away with your health. Mistake #3 - don't listen to your daughter (who has had her fair share of food-borne illness) and finish the cone anyway. Who cares that you can hardly stomach the flavor? You paid almost $2 for it. Even animals know that if something tastes bad, it's probably poisonous.

Now, Craig has been all over the world and should not have made even one of the above mistakes, but he made all three, and in the middle of the night, groaning and shaking, we rushed him to the hospital, which was a sickening 20 minutes from our house. My mom was unaffected, thank God, but my dad had to stay overnight for IV fluids (he also wasn't drinking enough, and he knew it) and food poisoning. Now, he ate all the same things we did, except that disgusting cone, so you do the math. Fortunately, the unbearable pain subsided after an hour or two and his hospital stay was rather pleasant, and certainly inexpensive. He was back to his old self the next day, when we took them to see the preschool where we work after flying around looking for an ATM that worked to pay for his treatment.

Now in Khao Lak we have certainly been living the life of a missionary. Pulling the skin off of the chicken within our 90cent rice bowl was par for the course around 6pm before Craig and Ranae came. But, with their arrival, we were now able to enjoy a more indulgent side of Khao Lak.

This began at Chong Fah, a boutique mini-resort right on the beach. 2-for-1 cocktails at sunset were the occasion, and Craig was certainly up to the task of capturing the moment on digital film. For more photos, you can of course check out our photo site at kendraderek.shutterfly.com .

Our awesome vacation companions

Don't let the fact that I look like I'm 12 fool you- I'm actually much older

Fortunately, without haze on the horizon, the sun would make it all the way to the water

One of many very cool artistic shots by Craig

Several of the very friendly staff at the beautiful Chong Fah resort have learned English at Step Ahead. Kim first turned us on to the place and we couldn't recommend it more highly. The owner is also quite nice and has done a wonderful job rebuilding after the tsunami.

The next morning, Kendra would take Craig and Ranae on a short scooter trip to the nearby market. Lots of meat and produce are on offer, with exotic fruits and pig faces making for some interesting memories.

For the rest of the day, we would retire to Bangsak beach (which we've posted pictures of before) to take in the sun and powder-soft sand. Relaxing on the beach was just what the doctor ordered for us, and during lunch we were blessed with the company of two puppies.

Testing the waters

Atlas of Anatomy on the tropical beach? Hello 'Perfection,' my name's Derek Weyhrauch

One of the rare moments during the trip when Craig actually rested

One of our pensive lunch-time puppy companions

Dinner would find us at the nearby national park, where a short hike would show Craig and Ranae the towering trees, curious plants, and small lizards of the jungle (giant spiders were absent, but the threat of their attack was imminent). We then had dinner in the jungle restaurant while the sun went for a swim on the horizon. 

The remainder of our time in Khao Lak would quite wonderfully prove to be much the same. Dinner on the beach (pineapple fried rice served in the hollowed-out pineapple is so choice), a seashell scavenger hunt at a northern section of Bangsak beach, and another round of cocktails at Chong Fah (Ranae's mango daquiri owned my standard daiquiri, but mine was delicious nonetheless). Khao Lak's finest fresh mangoes proved to be a huge hit, and quite a few would be sacrificed. The same look of pure bliss that I saw on Jordan's face years before as he ate a gourmet cheeseburger at a restaurant in Lahaina, Maui was evident on Craig's with each bite into a mango roti. 

Finally, I remember joking during the trip that, given the frequency with which Craig snapped photos, we'd end of with a flip book of the trip. Well that's almost literally the case, so I'd again invite you to check out shutterfly. I will, however, leave you with one of the best shots of the trip- Craig's tequila sunrise at Chong Fah. I believe it's been appropriately re-named, "Tequila Sunset."

Cabbages & Condoms

This is no clever title...it's the name of a restaurant in Bangkok where we dined during our trip. A little background....

From their website: Our restaurant was conceptualized in part to promote better understanding and acceptance of family planning and to generate income to support various development activities of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA). Their motto is "our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy." That's excellent. I was just going to say, waiter, I'm concerned about just that!


The gent that started this restaurant wanted to make condoms as easily accessible as cabbages (which are VERY accessible). Instead of mints, they give each person a condom! They have lights and decorations and costumes all created from condoms. It's a very fun, lighthearted environment that has actually done a lot of good for Bangkok. 


Naturally, as Christians, we believe that sex shouldn't occur until marriage, so we're not supporting their cause as one of sinful indulgence. Rather, this restaurant's goal is to teach the community about safe sex practices so that diseases won't spread as quickly and so adults would have less children (the founder was concerned about the prevalence of AIDS and overpopulation problems). Especially with a sex trade as well "developed" as Bangkok's, this restaurant's plight is light in deep darkness. But, on a lighter note...

We thought it was a riot! What an entertaining restaurant! Right up there with Casa Bonita...(that's for you, Colorado!)