9 Provinces in 10 Days: Biasi Family Travels

Here's the traveling crew with a couple Thai friends too.

Nid, Me, Mom, Rusty, Dad, Gif

I spy two monkeys!  

Our journey started out flying to southern Thailand, where we found these funny guys.

 The island, Koh Yao Yai, was beautiful and relaxing.  The beach was a 5 minute walk from our hotel, which made for good sunset watching.

 There were all sorts of interesting things to find.

 A three-finger wide brown/red frog joined us for breakfast this morning.

 And there were plenty of places to explore.  We rented motorbikes one day to see the island firsthand.

 There was a lot to see, and all of it was beautiful.  :)

Sometime in the last 20 years the guy to my right when from crawling around and pulling my hair to taller than me and a friend to go on adventures with.

The water buffalo is on of the most well-known animals among the Thai people.  Probably only the elephant is more popular.  

We learned, by observation, how starfish flip over, mover around and hide themselves in the sand.  Very interesting!

Any idea what these creatures are?  They look like they are between pollywog and frog, I think this is their child, teenager and adult state. 

On motorbikes we found another great beach with only two other people on it.  

One day was spent snorkeling on this beautiful island.  We could walk around the whole island in about 10 minutes, but it was perfect for snorkeling. 

Rock climbing!

 The island had very few tourists.  It was nice.  Every evening, the locals played volleyball.  We enjoyed a delicious meal under the grass-roofed hut to the right.  

 With a few hours to kill in Phuket, we visited the Butterfly Garden and Insect World.  

 After three days on the island, it was time to head back to Bangkok.

 I took the family to a traditional market dinner.  That means we walk between the market stalls, pick out what we want to eat and enjoy it in the park nearby.  Rusty found grilled corn, Mom and Dad found spiraled potatoes.  We also had fried chicken, sticky rice, and curry over noodles.  Yum!

Ayutthaya, one of the ancient capitals of Thailand (when Thailand was known as Siam), gave us a look at another side of Thailand.

 Gif (middle) was our tour guide for the day.  She did a great job, and we all had a lot of fun.  She's actually one of the students I live with at BJD, but she wants to be a tour guide when she graduates because she "loves history and English."

 Dinner at the floating market and a boat ride as the sun set, doesn't get much better than that! 

(Yes, they are selling dinner out of these boats, and it's delicious!)

Looks like next year's Christmas card to me!

 We found a couple of white frogs at one of the 7 levels of Erawan Waterfall.  They followed us out of the national park and jumped into the song taow (truck) to come home with us.

 

 Another of the 7 layers of waterfalls...we could have spent all day exploring this park...maybe next time!

 

I had no idea there was so much WWII history in Thailand.  In the western of Kanchanaburi, we visited the Death Railway along with some museums and cemeteries.  Very interesting!

 

 At first we were debating if we should ride elephants or not.  Once we got on, no one was debating anymore.  It was definitely fun! 

 Our elephant was 30 years old Mom & Dad's was 35 (if I'm remembering right.)

 Whoever though it was a good idea to let this guy drive...was right! 

 

The hair on an elephant's head is really coarse.  The elephant trainer/guide/rider made my hat out of some leaves he collected along the way.  Don't you like it?

 

Bye!  Have a great trip!

What a great trip and great blessing to show my world to my family.

Chinese New Year's Visitors

Chinese New Year brought some new visitors to church yesterday but not in the traditional fashion....

They came carrying baskets of food.
They came carrying candles.
They came carrying incense.
And they walked straight past our seating to the back of the room. 

With a double-take I recognized the building's owner's family.

"These people can come any time they want, especially if they are going to bring roasted duck, fresh fruit, and other delicious looking plates...But wait, they aren't sitting down with us and the food isn't landing on the refreshment table.  Actually they are trying to move the table...the one with the floor length tablecloth that just happens (or not) to be right in front of the building's spirit shrine."

As the Chinese New Year's rituals began, so did our worship.

"Glory to God, glory to God, glory to God forever..." The sound of our voices and a lone guitar echoed through the room, mixing with the smell of incense lit by the unexpected visitors.  Plates were shuffled and candle stands rearranged as our singing ended and Chris began sharing. 

At one point, extra somethings were needed, so Grandma was left to wait while Niece hurried out the door.  Grandma settled herself in an open seat as she listened to Chris speak.  "We are not just a creation of God's, but we are his masterpiece..." 

God's timing is perfect.

If our visitors had come an hour earlier or an hour later, if the holiday had fallen on any other day of the week, if the spirit shrine had been in any other room, the building's owners wouldn't have heard what was shared.  On top of that, this is the first week everything has been translated into Thai.  We even got to extend grace when the coffeepot was broken as the refreshment table was moved.  How awesome is God that he lined all that up for one day and a few people who crossed our path!

A Week of Beauty

The beauty of intricate details. 
We saw thousands of flowers at a giant flower exposition.  The orchid section was my favorite, so many colors and designs.  It reminded me of Disneyland for adults. 

 The beauty of human creations.

The beauty of relationships

...with like hearted Thais and Americans.

The beauty of expectation.

We tried to watch the sun rise at  Huai Nam Dang, a national park in the northern province of Mae Hong Son.  But we had to settle for the novelty of shivering in the cold and taking pictures instead (still fun!)

The beauty of ingenuity.

Almost anything can be used go get around and make a living. This style taxi (three wheeled bike) is still used many places.  It's great, as long as you don't have much luggage.  

 The beauty of time past. 

This bridge was used during World War 2.

The beauty of teamwork.

This sign was on the bridge.  Do you think they imported the steel?  I wouldn't want to be the one paying the shipping fees for that!

The beauty of exploration.

I had no idea Thailand had canyons like this to explore.  It reminded me of some great family vacations. 

 The beauty of fresh fruit.  

Strawberry farm!  No picking today, just eating.  :)

And this is what we didn't eat...grilled toads.  

The beauty of options.

Not everyone has that choice.

The beauty of simplicity. 

Camping Thai style = simple. 

With one pot, we cooked packages of Top Ramen style noodles one at a time, piling the noodles on a sheet of foil once cooked.  Then we boiled vegetables to add to the noodles, sprinkled on some seasoning and squeezed some lime juice on top.  Tossed it together and then everyone grabbed a fork to eat.  Delicious!

 

The beauty of creativity.  

Foil works for a plate just fine, and we can share the plate.  Be creative with what you have.  

The beauty of generosity.  

We chose a pumpkin at the market, but when the lady cut it in half to sell us a chunk, it wasn't good inside.  She cut the bad part out and gave us the good part for free, cut into pieces just as we needed them.  At the campsite, we wrapped the pumpkin in foil and set it in the coals to roast as a treat after dinner. (Lisa really did like the pumpkin, even though the color was scary.)

The beauty of basic.

Aka, our tent site.  Basically, you just put up your tent where ever looks good to you and in the evening the guy who owns the land comes around and collects 60 Baht ($2) from each person for the night's rent.  No check-in/check-out times, no reservations. There was lukewarm water, however, which was a step up from our camping last year, a wonderful surprise.

The beauty of creation.

Wachirathan waterfall was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.  

The beauty of new friends.

We took plenty of pictures...over 700 by the end of the week.  This one is with a new friend, Chaow (right), who we met along the way.

The beauty of tradition.  

Although a lot has changed, the Karen Hill Tribe Village we visited still kept many traditions.  Making silk scarves, shirts, and dresses is a way of life.

The beauty of hand-made. 

Their method of sewing is incredible. 

The beauty of culture.

At 8,000 feet, Doi Inthanon is Thailand's tallest mountain, so this trip we visited "The Highest Spot in Thailand."  The interesting part was that behind this sign, some stairs led us to a Buddhist statue and shrine on the actual tallest point.  It was good reminder to pray that the God who created this land would be known throughout and worshiped alone on the mountaintops.

The beauty of perspective.

It got down to 44 degrees (7 C*) at night on the top of the mountain, but when we were there mid-day it was about 60 degrees (15 C*).  It really did feel cold, even though I realize for most, this time of year, that would feel warm. 

Praise God for his creation of this beautiful land!

"Shower, O heavens from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the lord have created it." Isaiah 45:8

 

The beauty of hospitality.

Lampang is the province where NamFon's aunt, uncle, and cousins live.  They were incredibly hospitable and made us feel right at home.

The beauty of community. 

The family took us hiking like last year. We also got a tour of the community school, the rice and bean fields, the guava orchard, and the pig stalls, each place meeting more people who were treated as family and happy to meet us.

The beauty of a year's work.

It was encouraging to be able to understand the jabberings of the 8 year old niece this time around and to see the progress the 12 year old had made in learning English.