Chaing Mai! (Brittany)

The morning of Day 3 in Bangkok was spent at Ko Kret, the infamous car-less

island only ten minutes from Teresa and Steve's house. Ko Kret is one of the coolest things I had done in Bangkok, but needing a bit of personal time, I decided to let the fab four and Steve head there without me. (needless to say no pictures)

Our flight to Chaing Mai departed around 3 in the afternoon so we hauled our gear to the airport for the hour overland flight north. Upon arrival we were greeted by a sign calling for "Persa Belisile"- we figured that must be us!

Chang Mai feels nothing like Bangkok. 40 km^2 to Bangkok's 150,000 km^2. 150,000 people to Bangkok's 5 million. The streets are still pretty packed with traffic, but it is a tourist focused city so the atmosphere seems much more mellow. The streets are clean and well manicured with brightly flowering bushes in the medians.

Khun Chan, our driver for this Chaing Mai Experience, brought us to Sote Villa. We had no idea what to expect with Sote Villa, but walked into a huge funky house made of brick and wood, blending traditional Thai with alpine cabin styles. It is a bit crazy, but pretty cool :)

The family of three with the little baby deserved the master suite for being the best hosts ever! And the family of three with the big kid (uh hum, 27 yrs big) got the basement room which looks like it would hold the three bears! The three single beds laid on the floor had such a strong mildew smell that mom and I were causing a scene with our laughter.

We let Mr. Chan take us to a dinner spot of his choice. He brought us to a cool restaurant on the river with great food and a fantastic ambiance. We laughed a lot at dinner. The Peterson Parents are the best traveling companions we could ask for- they are easy going, entertaining, and love them some G and T's! After dinner, we did a bit of shopping on the river-strip and then were swept back to our swiss family robinson treehouse to get some Zzzzs.

Iutia, or somethinglikethat. (Brittany)

The troops were hustling to clean up breakfast as the van pulled up to the house at 7:30. 5a.m wake up for this girl in order to do yoga means you are not getting an adjective filled page with bits humor today!

One hour drive to the ancient capital city. A reconstructed palace, a heavily air conditioned historical museum, and majestic ruins filled the day. A floating lunch had some tummies turning. The translator/ tour guide made all the difference in linking the sights with Thailand's history. Dinner was at one of our favorite spots- The River Treehouse! A beautiful sunset closed day. Camera ran out of batteries by then so... more pics to come later!

They're here! (Brittany)

Getting to bed last night before the "party train" arrived barely happened. Actually, sleep barely happened after they arrived either. Teresa and I were picked up at 11:30 by a huge van en route to grab our new arrivals. Brian, Robin, Larry, and Judy arrived around 1 a.m.

We greeted them with beautifully aromatic "pomm-a-lie" to grace around their necks. The trip back to Teresa's was quick, filled with excitement over questions and stories.

Once we arrived and settled everyone into their proper abodes, we celebrated with a cocktail/ glass of wine in the late night delirium. Falling into our separate beds around 3 a.m., only to rise a matter of hours later to start our FIRST DAY IN BANGKOK!

Breakfast was a buffet of tropical fruits, yogurt, scrambled eggs, toast, juice and lots of coffee! We stacked into two taxis and headed to the pier. A ferry ride down the Chao Phraya showed us the households and lifestyles on the river. The ferry was loaded with people. We were fortunate to board the boat at one of its first stops, because by the time we had to jump off we were pushing through standing crowds. We all made it off and followed travel-guide-Teresa as she confidently lead us directly to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew.

The Grand Palace is the former residence of the monarch and the Wat (temple) is the domain of the Emerald Buddha. We collaboratively decided not to get a guide, so we just bubbled around the grounds awestruck at the elaborate detail of each structure. Glittering gold structures towering high, some completely covered with patterned mosaics of tiles and mirrors. Gold sculptures dance around the premises and cement gargoyles guard each of the many temple entrances. It is an amazing sight. We hiked around the block to find ourselves at the "reclining Buddha" temple. He is a giant gold finished sculpture, barely fitting into his temple! We took a quick lap around the grounds as Brian and Larry discussed the new religion they are creating and Robin and Judy conversed about Robin's new idea for a job and how tough finances are for kids-these-days in the United States.

Steve and Teresa stayed out front to talk with Gabriella and I just took pictures and worked on deep breathing.

Lunch was at a street-side cafe with menus that had English translations. Larry and Brian learned their next Thai phrase "Sing Song" which means two bottles of beer. You can only imagine how many jokes are still coming out of that one!

After lunch we jumped into two taxis to caravan to The Jim Thompson House before it closed. Jim Thompson is an American man who revived Thailand's silk exporting. His house is a traditional style Thai house surrounded by lush native plants in the middle of downtown. The taxis quickly lost each other leaving Steve's taxi team to go directly to Jim Thompson's House, while Teresa's taxi team (Robin, baby, and Brit) took a boat loaded with locals down one of the city's narrow water canals- what a trip!

After all meeting back up, the people who have been in Bangkok for longer than 24 hours left those who haven't to take the tour of Jim Thompson's house and to find their way back to Teresa and Steve's house in the 30 minute taxi ride! We called after an hour. They were close, but circling around the neighborhood looking for the complex! You can only imagination what happened in that taxi! Brian in the front seat, what was he telling the taxi driver? We gave him the three words to say, but communication got a little sticky. And since they had never seen T and S's in the daylight, no landmarks were sticking out! But they made it and now have a story to tell!

After a fantastic dinner at ti ban (the house or my house) cooked by the beloved Khun Iad, and of course a few cocktails to slow down the heart rates, everyone fell quickly to sleep once the outside noises of some party down the street ceased. The alarms were all set for 6:30 a.m. for the next day of intense tourism!