Sean's Birthday
The BIG day was celebrated at Vientien Kitchen which serves Northern Thai food and Laotian food. Shannon had only been here one day so it was a great place for her to try lots of spicy food. One of our students, Keng, was able to come with us along with another couple, Andy and Nicole. We ate a great dinner and then we got to experience some traditional dancing by the performers and also Sean and Shannon.
Also, we got to experience a Laotian Birthday Tradition. Everyone at the party ties a single string on to the Birthday Persons wrist. You should make a wish for that person, and they cannot cut the strings off. They have to keep the strings on until they fall off otherwise the wish will be broken.
Tiger Temple
We visited Tiger Temple with Shannon the third day she arrived. We paid a driver to take us to Kanchanburi in order to go to the Tiger Temple and Bridge over River Kwai. The Temple was interesting. It is located outside the city on several acres of land. The land has lots of wild animals that are all pretty used to humans. The deer would just come right up to you and let you pet them.
The tigers were an interesting part of the visit. The website about Tiger Temple states several times that the tigers are not drugged. However, after our visit it seems at least possible. They were all sleeping all the time. So it is a real tiger but it did not move at all.
Bridge Over The River Kwai and Allied War Cemetery
These two are also located in Kanchanaburi Province about two hours outside of Bangkok. The Death Railway Bridge or Bridge Over the River Kwai was built during WWII by POWs of the Japanese. The museum, cemetery and bridge were all very interesting and also really well maintained. There is a movie about the Bridge but most consider it fairly inaccurate.
Jim Thompson's House
Jim Thompson was an American who ended up in Thailand after WWII. He basically started the silk trade in Thailand, and put Thailand's silk on the map. There are Jim Thompson's shops all over Bangkok and other parts of Thailand, mostly in five star hotels. It is one of the must haves for tourists and the silk is very expensive. However, he also gave back a lot of what he made to Thai people and was very interested in Thai culture and artwork. So, his house that he lived in is now a museum showcasing his art collection and also the house. He lived in a typical teak house but changed several elements of the house making it unique and very beautiful. In 1967 he mysteriously went missing while he was on vacation in Malaysia, his sister was also killed in the US in the same year. There are lots of conspiracy theories but no one really knows what happened to Khun Jim.
Songkran
Songkran is the Thai New Year and the biggest holiday here by far. It is celebrated by everyone going home to be with their family and then having a giant water fight. There are also several elements of Buddhism thrown in the mix. However, the water fighing is what you see everywhere. There is really no way to avoid getting totaly soaked. While Shannon and Kylie were here, we would just be eating dinner, a truck would drive by and dump water all over us and the table. It was one of the best experiences we have ever had. Everyone drives around in the back of trucks shooting people with water guns. When you walk down the street everyone is dripping wet and holding a water gun, no one is exempt from getting wet. We got to experience Songkran in Chiang Mai up north, which is the place to go for Songkran, and then also in Samui. Definitly worth seeing once in your life, because there is nothing else like it. Everyone becomes a kid again.
Chiang Mai Trek
The trek in Chiang Mai was interesting mix of Karen Long Neck Village, Elephant Riding, Hiking to a waterfall, and white water rafting. The best part by far was our mode of transportation, a sawngthaew which is basically like riding in the back of a truck with two benches placed on each side.
The trek started at the Butterfly and Orchid Farm, which was better for the orchids and less on the butterflies. Next stop was Karen Long Neck village. They place gold brass bands around their necks and knees, only the women. They start at about age 8 and they only take them off once a year for cleaning and new brass bands. The neck bands alone weigh about 20 pounds, and it was originally started to protect the women from tigers.
The next leg of the journey was hiking to a waterfall. It was beautiful and the water was freezing which was great.
Next we did elephant riding. The girls, Shanon and Kylie, seemed to enjoy it and no one fell off. The last part was white water rafting. This was the favorite part for all of us. Shannon fell in, which was great. We were terrible and our guide did nearly all of the work.
Samui
After hanging out in Chiang Mai for a few days we caught another plane to Samui. Samui is a beautiful island off the southeast coast in Thailand. It was a great way to spend a few days after our very active days in Chiang Mai. We spend most of the time on the beach, but one day we rented a boat and went snorkeling. Kylie described the boat as "a canoe with a lawnmower on the back" which is pretty much accurate.
The first stop on the boat my snorkel broke, so our boat driver ripped off a piece of plastic from a bread bag and mended it perfectly. Our second stop Shannon was stung or shot by a sea urchin that produced three purple dots in a triangular pattern. So all in all a great snorkeling trip. Oh and we forgot the camera, so we have no pictures.
All of the pictures from everything above are on the right side of the page. We will try to get better about posting. Can't wait to see everyone in three months.
Jana and Sean
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