Heading for Home

2:30 a.m. at the Bangkok airport. Quinn is hanging out listening to her iPod. North...catching some Z's.

The Wedding

On Saturday we participated in the wedding of our good friend, Lance Nussbaum and his new wife, Natcha, at a beautiful beach resort in Pattaya, Thailand. To honor the traditions of both Lance's American and Catholic background and Natcha's Thai Buddhist background, there were two ceremonies. In the morning, we all participated in a very lively and colorful Thai ceremony, which included all the traditional costumes and rituals of Thailand. In the afternoon, we gathered again for a traditional American style wedding held outside among the palm trees.

Congratulations to Lance and Natcha!

The Grand Palace, Farewell to Bangkok

Today was our last day in Bangkok before heading south to Pattaya. We spent the day exploring the Grand Palace and the Thai National Museum. The palace, which is no longer a full time residence, is used extensively for royal and state ceremonies. It is an extraordinary combination of european architecture mixed with traditional Thai rooflines and details. We also took a brief side trip through Chinatown, which can only be described as chaotic...and not for the claustrophobic.

Tomorrow we head for a brief stay in Pattaya, a beach resort south of Bangkok, where we will celebrate the wedding of our good friend Lance Nussbaum.

Big Venomous Snakes

If you're creeped out by snakes, today was not for you. We visited the "snake farm," a Red Cross affiliated center in Bangkok dedicated to raising venomous snakes in order to develop antivenom. The second oldest and one of the largest such centers in existence, it first began its work in 1923. Today they continue their work to produce antivenom from some of the world's most deadly snakes, and to provide public education about snakes of all kinds. We were able to witness the "milking" of cobra venom and see a snake handling show that included among others a king cobra, a siamese cobra, a banded krait, and a green pit viper, all poisonous snakes native to Thailand. Quinn was part of the show when she was asked to participate and bravely handled a burmese python.

For the evening, we attended a dinner performance of the Aksra Theatre, which puts on performances of traditional Thai puppet theatre.

The Emerald Buddha

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha was the highlight of our day today. Located within the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the Emerald Buddha, which is actually made of jade, is one of the most revered images of the Buddha in the world. The Temple itself is entirely covered in a breathtakingly colorful mosaic of glass, tile and stone.

We also visited a small community of artisans that hand make alms bowls, the small bowls that Buddhist monks use to collect offerings, in the traditional method of hammering steel and copper.

Long Live the King

On the auspicious occasion of His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyades's 84th birthday, today was a state holiday in Thailand filled with much pomp and celebration. The government is planning 7 days and 7 nights of celebration because this birthday marks the King's 7th 12-year birthday cycle, a notable milestone for the Thai. The King is very much loved by the Thai people and is currently the longest reigning king in the world.

Today we traveled mostly by water taxi up and down the Chao Phraya River to our various destinations. The river is a great way to avoid the constant traffic jams and crowded streets of Bangkok. We first went to the Grand Palace to catch some of the festivities for the King's birthday. There were 10s of thousands of people around the palace, all waving flags of Thailand and the King's crest. While we didn't see the King, only a brief glimpse of his motorcade, we were able to see a parade of military bands and color guard. Then we walked to experience some of the many street scenes and markets in the area.

In the afternoon, we explored Wat Arun, one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Bangkok. It has unique tower-like shape that is a distinctive landmark along the river.

Exotic Bangkok

Whoever coined the term "teaming metropolis" must have had Bangkok in mind. We arrived here this morning and spent the afternoon at the Chatuchak Market. The biggest market in the world, it is an overwhelming and mesmerizing array of booths and vendors selling everything under the sun.

Here's a little trivia for everyone. Bangkok is just a nickname. Bangkok's full name is the actually the world's longest city name: Krungthepmahanakhon Amonratankosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Nophosin Ratchathaniburirom Udomrathaniwetmahasa Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathatiya Witsanukamprasit. Seriously! It means: City of Angels, Great City of Immortals, Magnificent City of the Nine Gems, Seat of the King, City of Royal Palaces, Home of the Gods Incarnate, Erected by Visvakarman at Indra's Behest. I guess we'll stick with Bangkok.

Chiang Mai Zoo

We have visited many zoos, but the Chiang Mai Zoo will be remembered. Probably because their safety standards are noticeably lower than their American counterparts, but in Chiang Mai you can get up close a personal with a lot of animals. Throwing caution to the wind, we took full advantage and were able to feed hippos by tossing food into their gaping mouths, feed meat to a jaguar and feed fish from a baby bottle. A couple of other highlights included the Pandas and petting the baby elephant.

Trekking...continued

At the end of our second day of walking, we arrived at a village inhabited by people of three different tribes, the Lahu, Lisu and Akha tribes. We stayed at the home of the village's Lahu chief, which was well appointed with a makeshift shower and a regular sit-down toilet.

One of the evening's highlights as we toured the village was meeting the Lisu Spirit Man. He like most was completely smitten with the kids and followed us on our tour through the village laughing and posing for pictures.

Every village we visited was overrun with animals, in particular pigs, dogs and chickens, which all roamed freely throughout the village. Starting with the roosters crowing starting at 4:00 a.m., we woke up in the morning to a symphony of crowing roosters, snorting and squealing pigs, and barking dogs.

Before we left on our final morning, we talked with some Akha women and visited the nursery school.

More Trekking

Our first day of walking was mostly on wide paths that doubled as dirt roads for the four-wheel drives and the motor bikes, which were the preferred mode of transportation for the modern tribesmen. Our second day of trekking included some narrow forest paths that got us truly into the jungle. Although, even along the narrowest of paths that seemed only passable to someone on foot, we would invariably encounter a local farmer carrying his bags of harvested rice or corn on a motorcycle.

With our guide Chang in the lead, we made our way through the hills, saw some of the farms and harvesting activity in action, and stopped at another village for lunch. At our lunch stop, we witnessed some women processing sesame seeds by sifting them through a woven basket. We also saw the true spectrum of tribal women, from the oldest to the youngest.