Kanchanaburi

Here's a photo trip of our visit to Nid's home province...

We left early in the morning to catch a train to her aunt's house. 

 

On the 4 hour train ride, we slept, enjoyed the views, and sang/learned fun songs.  The kids on the train had free entertainment on this ride.  :)

 

 

The sights were beautiful and riding the train was a perfect way to see them.  Nid would ride this train everyday to go to school through middle and high school. 

 

Us and the family we stayed in front of their house.  

Don't they have a great view?!

 

We set up tents inside to sleep.  I would have chosen outside under the bright stars, but we were the guests and they wanted us inside.  

Out of this simple kitchen came a lot of great food.

 

Two of the boys went snail collecting for dinner one night.  

  

Here's what we gathered from the fields, papaya, bananas, lotus flowers, green eatable leafs, and the boys' contribution...snails.  The snails were cooked up in rice porridge and didn't taste fishy at all.  :)

 

The family wanted to make sure we ate well, so the boys were in charge of catching, killing, and defeathering 3 chickens.   They tasted good. 

  

 

The family we visited is still Buddhist, but the kids joined us for worship and Bible reading under a tree in the front yard. 

 We spent one afternoon at a lake near the family's house. 

  

Another day we went to "climb up the mountain."  

But...

We only got about an hour into it before people were joking that we were about to cross the Myanmar border and needed to head back.  :)

 At least we found a rock to climb,

 

jungle vines to swing, 

 and lots of great views.

 

Another day brought us to a Thai-style water park.

(a.k.a. waterfall)

 Gorgeous and giant!

 People were floating, splashing, jumping and exploring over the whole side of the waterfall. 

 

Near Nid's house is a clearing with a lot of wild monkeys.  I don't know why they gather there, but it was fun to see.  

 

One of Nid's neighbors was making these very intricate, traditional Thai hats. 

I'm glad I don't have to dance with this on my head...the Thai women who do are very talented!

We enjoyed fresh coconuts that were cut down by the aunt from a tree near her house.  They were filled with refreshing coconut water and soft flesh that could be scooped out with a spoon. 

 Even our Thai friends said they had never seen a bug so colorful.

 The fruit on some of the fruit trees is kept covered to keep bugs and birds out.

 Kids and puppies brought smiles to our faces the whole trip!