Thailand: Chiang Mai

Having really enjoyed Sukhothai we boarded yet another bus to Chiang Mai. We got dropped off at a backpacker's hostel just outside the main part of the city. This city was my favorite CITY in Thailand. The main part of the city is surrounded by a giant wall with a moat. There are many different hostels to stay in and great food. We even found am great vegetarian place that had amazing curry with brown rice. We quickly became regulars there. The tables were short and we sat on the floor on pillows while enjoying the warm breeze from the open balcony. Chiang Mai also features a decent night market where tourists can go to get amazing deals on all sorts of products. The city has been very westernized but it keeps the strong Thai culture intact. There are many active Thai-Buddhism temples around the city which are very open to visitors. All the people are super friendly and everywhere you go there's people offering to take you to the tiger temple. We ran into the girls we met on the floating hostel again. This time we actually got to chat with them and found out they were from Canada. We decided to hang out with a couple of them one night and they wanted to go to a bar on top of a building in the main part of town. They probably thought it was kind of odd that Dayton and I didn't drink beer with them and that we weren't interested in getting them drunk and taking them back to the hostel. We had a good laugh about it later. I never thought I'd see so many white people in Thailand as I did in Chiang Mai but at the same time I think it was pretty advantageous. Lots of people around the city spoke passable English and it was easy to find good food and good places to stay. One afternoon we spent wandering around the city finding different temples to explore. On the grounds of one temple there were many trees with sign posts attached to them with different philosophical thoughts in Thai and English. One sign that impacted me a lot stated "The most valuable service is one rendered to our fellow humans." All the great religions teach this simple yet profound principle. I feel like we are all just travelers in this life and we ought to render service to others along the way and tell them about the amazing experiences we've had so they can enjoy them too. The best part about Chiang Mai is it's a starting point for some great jungle trekking. Next Stop: The JUNGLE!

Thailand: Sukhothai

In Ayutthaya we lugged our stuff over to another hostel where we were told to meet some other people for a ride to the bus station. We still didn't really know what was going on, but we were handed our bus tickets without paying for them. Part of me thinks that is what the stickers were for but by this time we didn't have those anymore. Somehow, someone there knew we had already paid for our transportation at the TAT office. So we loaded onto the bus and found that the girls that had showed up on the floating house were there too. As we made our way on the charter bus the sun began to set and it seemed to me that were going the wrong direction. I sat there trying to get my bearings for a while when I said something to Dayton. He didn't really seem to care but I started to flip out. I was so afraid that we'd be going back to Bangkok, my least favorite city. I finally asked one of the girls on the bus where they were going and sure enough, we were all going to Sukhothai. We got to Sukhothai and all loaded up in the back of a truck to get a ride into the city. There was one girl in our truck that got dropped off in the country side, she was traveling alone. We never saw her again. The rest of us went to the center of Sukhothai. We found our hostel and settled in for our stay. We spent a couple days in Sukhothai, we rented bikes and rode around more ruined temples. It is very similar to Ayutthaya but in my opinion, Sukhothai is better. The entrance fees are cheaper, it's much quieter and there are fewer people. We had a relaxing time there. In one of the sections of Wats, we parked our bikes and played frisbee on the grass. Some of the tourists driving by seemed to be more interested in us than in their surroundings. We also ran into the girls again. We found out they are Canadian and we took a group photo for them on their bikes. It was inspiring to wander the ruins of Sukhothai and breathtaking to behold stone Buddha's that stand taller than my house. I wondered how they would have made such massive figures so many hundreds of years ago. Some of these statues still had incense burning in front of them. People still flocked their to perform religious rites. I also met a photographer from China there. We walked around together for a while and had a good conversation about our travels. One of the greatest things about traveling is not the things you see but the people you meet. This complete stranger and I became instant friends simply because I knew his language. Another great thing about Sukhothai is the variety to the architecture and designs of the Wats. We found one that had an elephant theme and others with many figures of the Buddha. The only way to really experience this awe inspiring place is to go there yourself. Spend a couple days wandering the clear open spaces and admire the beautiful architecture. It's worth every penny.

Thailand: Ayutthaya

After a long van ride we arrived at our hostel in Ayutthaya late at night. We got our room, found some food and went straight to bed. The next day we rented some bikes and rode around the city checking out different ruined temples. I had a really hard time remembering to ride on the left side of the road. The Burmese had come in and destroyed these temples and defaced the stone idols. Only some remain fully intact and many of the buildings have been reconstructed. These temples were all over the city. Each had an entrance fee so we only visited a couple since they are all pretty similar. It was pretty amazing to walk around these ancient temples that had been there for hundreds of years. The photos give the best description.
For lunch we found a little cafe called At Coffee that offered vegetarian food. The girl that was running the cafe was really nice and friendly. She also spoke English really well. She made some delicious food. Follow the At Coffee link to Dayton's website, WasatchVeg for some more info on the restaurant and food. To take a break from the afternoon heat we decided to head back to our room and have a nap. Our room was as cheap as they come, fan only. We were both just lying there sweating. I was working on a plan for China and experiencing a lot of anxiety about where we should go and what we should do. I took a break and read The Alchemist. Then I read this line "If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path." These words hit me like a freight train. It was at this moment that I decided to abandon my plans and let the flow of adventure guide our path. We spent Saturday night at the night market, walking around checking out the Ayutthaya nightlife. We found an outdoor cafe with live cowboy music which was awesome. We enjoyed a nice meal and listened to some country rock as we passed the evening before calling it a night. On Sunday we rented some bikes and rode to the outer part of the city to find the church. On our way there we were passed by a small pickup truck with a bunch of kids in white shirts in the back. We knew we were on the right path and we were led straight there. If it weren't for seeing those kids I'm sure we would have ridden right past the church which was in a rented building. The sign was so small and in Thai, we never would have seen it. It was amazing how welcoming everyone was. It was easy to feel at home in a place that was so far away from our real home. One of the missionaries translated the meetings for us and they gave us some good suggestions for places to eat and which Wats we should see. After church we had another sweltering nap. Dayton woke up in a sour mood which got even worse when he went to fill up his water bottle outside our hostel. There are water bottle filling stations all over Thailand. This one happened to be baking in the sun all day and when Dayton filled his bottle it was with hot water. Doesn't he just look so angry? The center of Ayutthaya is surrounded by a huge moat. We peddled our bikes to the outer part of the moat and came across the Wat that was described to us by the missionaries. This Wat was active and still in use. We spent our Sunday afternoon walking around the temple and admiring the craftsmanship and demeanor of the worshipers. Everyone was so open to us being in their holy places and welcomed us with smiles everywhere we went. Just outside the temple we sat under a tree in the shade for a snack and had a great discussion about religion and the significance of the experiences we were having. Dayton was then bombarded by a bunch of middle-aged Thai women who wanted to have a picture with him. Once one was brave enough to ask for one everybody in the group wanted one as well. He sat there as each took their turn. I told them we should be charging for these photos. We all had a good laugh and then we headed out. After returning our bikes we went to a park on the edge of the inner city and did some reading and relaxing in the shade. We swung by At Coffee again for some dinner then we walked around the city checking out more Wats. It was even better at night, the weather was perfect and all the Wats were lit up against the night sky. This was a great way to spend our last night in Ayutthaya. Next stop: Sukhothai

Thailand: Kanchanaburi: Erawan National Park

After a great morning of swimming with elephants in the River Kwai we were told to take a shower and get ready to head out for our next adventure. In our bathroom we noticed that our shower and toilet water went straight into the river! Gross! We were also told that we had only been given one night to stay there on the floating house but we decided to buy another night so we could spend it with our Swedish friends and we really enjoyed our room. Two beds, fan and A/C. We were living it up at this place. After breakfast we got into a van with Christian and Stephi and went to Erawan National Park. This park boasts a seven-tiered waterfall which really lived up to the hype. We started up the trail to the first waterfall which was pretty amazing. I was so excited to get in the water and swim in deep pools of clear blue water. We hiked up the trail to the 6th waterfall and stopped there to get in the water and enjoy the cool water. As soon as we got in we were swarmed by fish that would nibble on our skin. These fish fed on dead skin and in the cities you could pay for a fish massage where these fish would nibble on your skin, cleaning off all the dead skin cells and giving you a nice massage at the same time. I climbed to the top of the waterfall and found a shallow pool to sit in with baby fish that didn't freak me out so much and let them nibble on my feet and legs. What a strange feeling! On our way down we stopped at another waterfall that people were cliff jumping into. It wasn't really much of a cliff but a good 8 feet or so. Dayton noticed a higher spot that would require jumping from the top of the waterfall and clearing some rock toward the bottom. We tested the depth and he went for it. He cleared it no problem and I followed. We had a really good time jumping in the waterfall. Our time was spent though and we had to head down for a ride back to the floating house. After we got out of the water Dayton noticed that his watch was missing. The river swallowed it whole. Across the canyon we noticed a bunch of monkeys hanging out in the trees and making their way down the canyon along side us. Dayton and I decided to trail run down the mountain. It felt so good to be running in nature again. I couldn't help but think how cold and snowy it was back home and here we were, enjoying the mountains and swimming in waterfalls. Once we reached the bottom the monkeys were already there harassing the tourists. One lady tried to get a picture with a monkey in the background and the monkey jumped on her back! She jumped away, extremely frightened. They monkeys will hang out and steal cameras, purses and food. It was hilarious to watch them go after all the tourists. Once we arrived back at our floating house we went for a walk to check out some of our surroundings. We were near a bridge that went across the river that we had noticed some children jumping off into the river. The bridge must have been 25 feet off the water. We had another great dinner prepared for us and then the entire staff at the floating house got drunk and started dancing. They even played musical chairs and one Thai woman wouldn't stop dancing. Christian and Dayton took part in the musical chairs while Stephi and I looked on with laughter. It was a great way to end an amazing day! The next morning while I was in my room some English speaking girls about our age showed up and tried to get into our room. Good thing the door was locked because I was in the middle of changing. When I came out they asked "Is that your room?!" duh. There were about 5 of them, it was strange to see a group of girls traveling alone. We would be running into these girls later on our trip. Next stop: Ayutthaya Here's a few more photos of the waterfalls:

Thailand: Kanchanaburi: ELEPHANTS!

After an amazing night's sleep we woke up, fresh and ready to go. Before breakfast we were loaded into the back of a pickup with the Taiwanese family and were driven down river a little ways where we ran into 3 elephants walking down the road. I had never seen an elephant up close and we drove by them as if it was an everyday occurrence. We got to the river bank and the elephants we had passed walked up right behind us and into the river. These were the elephants we'd be swimming with. I was really unsure what to expect. I was so glad to have the Taiwanese family there to watch us because Dayton and I gave our cameras to them and they stereotypically took hundreds of photos. The elephant's skin was so weird feeling, unlike anythin I've ever felt before. When he would dunk his head in the water, he would use his ears to press my legs down against his neck so I wouldn't float away. These creatures are extremely intelligent and listen to every command that the trainer gives. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Enjoy!

Thailand: Kanchanaburi: War Museum

Once we finally got on a bus with our stickers on our shirts (we still didn't know what this was supposed to represent) we settled in for a nice long bus ride. We finally got to the Jeath War Museum in Kanchanaburi. Hot, confused and hungry, we walked around the museum trying to figure out where we were and what we were doing there. Originally, we had booked our own place to stay in Kanchanaburi and we were trying to establish a time line for our activities. The man who drove us to this new city left as soon as we got there and some new guy found us (I still have no idea how he knew who we were and what we were supposed to be doing). But we told him we were hungry and he bought us a meager meal near the Bridge Over the River Kwai. We decided to check out the bridge while we were there, not really knowing anything about it. It turns out that it was a major piece of WWII history. When the allied troops came in to bomb the Japanese who had occupied Thailand, the Japanese made the allied POW's stand on the bridge right before it was blown up. It was pretty interesting to check out a piece of history that I never expected to see. Still unsure why we were there, the guy that bought us lunch herded us into a new minivan with new people. There were a couple white people that Dayton struck up a conversation with toward the front and I was in the back with some Asians. When I started to pay attention, I realized I could understand about 25% of what the Asian family was saying and even better, I realized they were speaking Taiwanese! So I asked them, in Mandarin, what part of Taiwan they were from. We became friends instantly. The van ride took us into the mountains where we found ourselves at a very small train station in a very small village. I asked the driver why were were there and he said "To wait for the train". When I asked "Where is the train going?" he said "Stop! Just stop!" Apparently Dayton and I had already paid for this train ride, wherever it was going. The Taiwanese family I had made friends with had not paid for this train and were required to buy a ticket even though the man wouldn't tell us where it was going or why we were about to ride it. After everyone paid and had tickets we waited in the extreme heat for the train to come. The people that Dayton had met in the van were from Sweden and spoke English really well. We talked with them while we waited and found out that they had some of the same struggles that we had with the TAT office. It turns out the train ride we went on was on the Death Railway. Lots of allied POW's perished while building an extremely steep, dangerous railway. We were only on the train for 30 minutes or so when we got off and were met by the guy that had gotten mad at me for asking too many questions. "STOP! JUST STOP!" By then it was later in the afternoon and we were taken to a floating house on the river in a very out-of-the-way place. We were given a room with a/c (supposedly we had already paid for it) Then we sat and watched the sunset with Christian and Stephi. They had a lot of questions for us. They were very curious why I was able to speak Chinese to the other passengers in our van. I told them about serving a mission in Taiwan and our discussion turned to religion. We had a great conversation about religion and different beliefs. The atmosphere couldn't have been better for a spiritual discussion. Dinner was provided (vegetarian dishes were prepared special for Dayton and I) and we enjoyed the company of our new Swedish friends while we dined. We decided that the hassle we had dealt with in the morning was worth it. We had been given a free room, with a/c and were surrounded by good people. We were looking forward to the next morning when we would be swimming with elephants and hiking waterfalls in Erawan National Park. Even with all the stress and discomfort the trip was turning out to be the adventure of a lifetime.

Thailand: Bangkok

After the Philippines we made our way by boat and plane to Thailand where we arrived in Bangkok. Our first night there was miserable. We try to live on the cheap as much as possible and therefor for a room without A/C and only a fan. It wasn't so bad once we opened the windows to the night air but then the fireworks and pot banging began... it was Chinese New Year (this is celebrated throughout Asia) Once things quieted down we got to sleep for a few hours and then Dayton woke up with bug bites all over his legs that began to swell. He searched everywhere for the bug but to no avail. We both began to worry about what bug it could have been and especially the size of the bites but he took some benadryl and we both went back to sleep. The next morning we got some breakfast and attempted to make our way to church in downtown Bangkok via bus. This turned out disastrous as we got lost while wondering around. We eventually found someone that took us to a TAT office (tourism authority of thailand) There we planned our stay in Thailand and paid for an all inclusive custom tour. We paid our money and awaited all the transportation tickets and receipts to come the following day. We enjoyed more of Bangkok as we spent time at a park and changed hostels (to one with a more quiet atmosphere) We spent an afternoon walking around the city and stumbling across different temples that amazingly were very peaceful places among the roar of the city. As soon as we entered the doors to the temple grounds the noise and commotion left us and we watched as groups of Buddhist monks walked by to go say their prayers. After dinner we walked around the night market where I've never seen so many Europeans with dreadlocks. This place was truly hippie central. Everyone was speaking English and hawkers were peddling everything you can imagine, CD's, DVD's, massages (a little extra money could get you a happy ending), all sorts of toys and trinkets, parody t-shirts, and my personal favorite, diplomas, driver's licenses and passports. One man approached me asking me if I wanted to see a ping-pong show. I thought that sounded pretty cool, scenes from forest gump came to mind, fast-paced extreme ping pong tournament. When he handed me a card with a preview of what I'd be seeing I wanted to vomit on his shoes. Not the ping-pong I was thinking of. It wouldn't be a tourist destination in Asia without Indian men asking us if we wanted to buy a suit. We were practically bombarded by people trying to sell us stuff but it made for an interesting evening. The next morning we waiting outside out hostel to be picked up by our driver for transport to our next city. We waited, and waited, and waited. They never came. An angry fire began to burn inside me and I saw myself storming into the TAT office and punching the guy in the face (he was a Canadian living there in Thailand). We arrived to the office and were greeted by a nice, pretty Thai woman who sorted out all the issues and arranged for transportation for us and also compensated us for our taxi fares. I learned pretty quick to stop jumping to conclusions. We were taken to the nicest hotel in Bangkok and we were met by another young Thai girl who put a small round sticker on each of us as we boarded a minivan to our next destination. Having no idea what the sticker was for we made our way to Kanchanaburi.