Gettin' Around - Thailand - 2004

I recently reorganized some of my computer photo files and it prompted a lot of reminiscing of the places we have visited in the last several years, specifically the sites we have seen and what means of transportation took us there.

So I thought a little tour would be fun. I'll start with our trip to Thailand in May 2004; other places will follow in due time. Rich would retire from LAUSD the next month and was still working at Cal State Univ Northridge, and I was having a good time in my little home business as a virtual assistant.

We took a 14-day tour sponsored by Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA that was for alums (that would be Rich) and parents of students or alums (that would be both of us). What a trip it was!

After a 13 hour flight from LA to Taipei and a three hour flight from Taipei to Bangkok, we were exhausted. We had a couple of hours to shower (I flooded out our tile-floored bathroom - another story!) and catch our breath. Then we met our group and took a river boat to see how the "river people" live. Just as we were boarding our little boat, the sky opened up and it absolutely poured! You can see Rich's hair is wet, I'm squinting from the driving rain and my right shoulder is soaked - and we were just beginning!

A river home. The water is so high. People were bathing, doing laundry, whatever in this river!

Another boat for a dinner cruise. We had several of these on this trip.

From Bangkok to Chaing Mai we travelled by night train. What an experience that was! We boarded about 9-10 pm. We had just a couple of minutes (literally!!) to get all of our bags and group (24 of us!) on the train. We just threw things on and then sorted it all out as the train departed. We all had a sleeper bunk, each of us on a bottom bed. How big was it??? Well, I barely stretched from head to toe, end to end! Did we sleep??? Me, not so much; Rich, not at all! We used the bungee cords to hold our bags to the hand rails and ladders! They bounced around all night!

Early the next morning Rich met his top bunk-mate, a gentlemen who was communting from his work in Bangkok to home. What a life, was home just on weekend, if I remember correctly. Rich left his glasses behind so had to get new ones made once we got settled.

From Chaing Mai to Chaing Rai we travelled mostly by vans. Rich had a great time getting to know the three different drivers. One thing that was so great about our group was we met as strangers but everyone did a great job of "mixing and matching" on the vans, riding with different people so we could get acquainted.

One of our favorite things was to see the Thai jungle and what a better way than via elephant and river boat. I was so glad I took old capris and t-shirt for it was a very smelly, sweaty trip. That's me on the right. The ride was very see-saw, right to left. Jungle was incredible!

Rich followed behind. The Thai elephant "driver" planted his feet behind the elephant's ears so he could give commands with his feet. Don't you think Rich looks rather "kingly"??

After riding the elephants, we got on the little bamboo rafts and went down the river. There are three seasons in Thailand: hot, hotter, hottest. We were there at the end of the hotter! I never wore make-up - it wouldn't stick! We had a constant "glow".

Rich is getting ready to board a tuk-tuk. These vehicles are about the size of a VW bug and they cram in about 6 adults! This was actually the worst travel day of any trip I've taken. I failed to duck my head far enough as I boarded and about took off the top of my head. The temperature was raging hot, the air oppressive and this gave me a raging headache. My head was sore to the touch for about 3 days! Rich and I now laugh about it!

You can tell by the expression on Loretta's face what it's like to ride in this thing! It was nuts!

We travelled by vans again to a village of Akha tribal people. They gave us such a warm welcome!

Our group met with them on Saturday evening and then we returned for church on Sunday. Westmont's chaplain travelled with us and preached on Sunday. They asked our group to sing, so we sang "Amazing Grace". On the second note they joined in with us in their native language. It was heavenly! Simply thrilling - a sound never to be forgotten!

Akha ladies in native dress.

Our group was hosted for lunch in the church members homes/huts. Rich and I and another couple were hosted by the tribal chief (center back)! As their guests, we were fed first, while they all looked on. Then the men were fed, women and children were last. We were served "chicken", a very bony fish, rice and these little balls of some kind of fruit (in the bowl), very sour!!

The tribal chief's wife stands outside the cooking hut, watching as we ate.

Our group at the Queen's Gardens in Chaing Rai. They were a great group of travellers! It was on this trip that we met Carey and Nancy (Nancy in black shirt next to me, Carey in orange shirt next to Rich). We've had great fun travelling together and visiting each other since this trip.

Later in the trip we travelled by motor coach from Pattaya to Bangkok...a very large tour bus! Our bus broke down en route and it would be a couple of hours before a replacement would arrive so we limped to a travel plaza. There we found little Thai eateries, shops, and McDonald's - complete with all the hamburgers we were craving (after almost 2 weeks of Thai food!) and almost more importantly - Western toilets! That's a whole story in and of itself! Anyway, all but a couple of the group F.L.E.W. to McDonald's. We were happy campers!

We saw a lot of WATS - temples, lovely gardens, ate "interesting" Thai food, did LOTS of shopping (for gorgeous jewelry!), experienced Thai massage, and through it all really had our eyes opened to another culture. It was an amazing, rewarding trip!

Thanks for coming along. Next stop - Italy.