Interview with Beckett at the end of our year of traveling (age 7)
Paragliding in Ölüdeniz, Turkey
Q: Have you enjoyed traveling this past year? Beckett: Yes. I’ve enjoyed traveling because you can go a lot of fun places like Turkey and Thailand.
Q: What do you like most about traveling? Beckett: That I get to do fun activities like paragliding and ziplining and stuff. And elephant camp.
Riding an elephant in Chiang Mai, ThailandZiplining in Thailand
Q: What did you like least about traveling? Beckett: I have to pack and unpack my bag. And as soon as I find somewhere fun, I have to leave.
Q: What toys/games are you happy you brought with you? Beckett: Stuffies! Stuffies is like everything I brought.
Q: What were your favorite places? Why? Beckett: Thailand because we went to an elephant camp and took care of elephants for a day and cleaned it, checked the poo, ate lunch then bathed it. And I also went ziplining through the trees in a jungle. We saw gibbons through the trees.
Turkey because I went paragliding and they have delicious pancakes – yum yum. The paragliding was so fun – you were 6000’ up – but the drive was really scary.
Santorini because we went ATV-ing. And Morocco because we went ATV-ing out in the desert and because of the cobra show.
Watching a cobra in the Medina in Marrakech, MoroccoDriving an ATV in Morocco
Q: What were your least favorite places? Why? Beckett: Istanbul. There was just nothing really good to see there. And Spain, there was just nothing really good to do around.
Q: What were your favorite experiences? Beckett: Ziplining. Taking care of elephants for a day. Paragliding! ATV-ing. Going up the Eiffel Tower. Walking on the Great Wall of China and taking the toboggan down. Ice cream show in Turkey. Yee Peng. Tigers. Turkish Bath.
Ice cream show in TurkeyUp the Eiffel Tower late at nightYee Peng in Chiang Mai, ThailandBeck and Mara running on the Great Wall of ChinaCuddling with tigers in Thailand
Q: What were your least favorite experiences? Beckett: My least favorite experience was trying new foods. The ferry from Rhodes to Turkey – I hate that. I did not like Pamukkale. The scary drive up the mountain to paraglide. Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace in Istanbul were boring.
Q: Did you enjoy being homeschooled? Beckett: Uhhhhh… don’t know. It was ok.
Q: What was your favorite homeschool subject? Beckett: Science
Q: What was your least favorite homeschool subject? Beckett: Writing
Q: What have you learned from your travels so far? Beckett: That traveling can be fun but also not fun. How bad the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey was. How boring plane rides are. How fun ATVs are. How fun paragliding and taking care of an elephant is. How fun ziplining is.
Q: What were some of your favorite foods? Beckett: Turkish pancakes. Crepes. Mac n’ cheese from Hotel Letoon in Fethiye, Turkey. Baguettes. Food-go-round. MK in Thailand.
Eating Gözleme (Turkish pancakes) in Calis Beach, TurkeyFood-Go-Round in Thailand
Q: What do you miss the most about the USA? Beckett: Having a house and not having to pack your bags every once in a while. And unpack them. Finding friends and not having to leave them.
Q: What will you miss the most about traveling? Beckett: Going fun places and doing once in a lifetime experiences.
Q: Where do you want to travel next? Beckett: Go on African safari.
Me-O Veterinary Clinic in Kidzania in BangkokMaking curry paste at Sammy’s Cooking School in Chiang Mai, ThailandWashing MaeBonChon in the river at Patara Elephant Camp in ThailandFeeding a baby tiger at the Night Safari in Chiang Mai, ThailandFC Barcelona futbol game at Camp Nou in Barcelona, SpainBeckett and his magic genie lamp in Marrakech, MoroccoLoi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, ThailandCrossing the Mekong River in a longtail boat from Thailand to LaosLe Meridian Chiang RaiGoing Viking at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, NorwayTiny alley in Santorini, GreeceSantorini, GreeceTuk Tuk Race!Fresh squeezed OJ from stall #63 in Marrakech, MoroccoFeeding pigeons at Tha Pae Gate in Chiang Mai, ThailandZorb balls in ThailandTree “snow” in ParisRiding a donkey in Marrakech, MoroccoFish Spa in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Interview with Mara at the end of our year of traveling (age 9)
MaeKwan at Patara Elephant Camp in Thailand
Q: Have you enjoyed traveling this past year? Mara: Well… it’s fun at times. But sometimes I miss just having a house. But it’s great – I love traveling the world and it’s amazing!
Q: What do you like most about traveling? Mara: Going new places and experiencing new cultures. And I love to try the different foods. And the different treats are always fun.
Q: What did you like least about traveling? Mara: I don’t get to have much stuff and it’s kind of hard to make friends when you know you’re going to be leaving soon. Sometimes I just miss having friends and having a real house and being able to decorate it.
Q: What toys/games are you happy you brought with you? Mara: Well, I’m happy I brought my stuffed animals. Or some of my stuffed animals. And I’m happy I brought my Barbies. That’s pretty much all I brought.
Me with my Stuffies and Barbies
Q: What were your favorite places? Why? Mara: I loved Thailand because there were so many adventures and there are lots of crazy markets. I loved Paris because I wanted to go there all my life and I SO LOVED going up the Eiffel Tower. And I loved Hong Kong because there was a restaurant we called “Noodle Girl” and it was soooo yum! Santorini was AM-AZ-ING!
Me in front of the Eiffel Tower for the first time!Noodle Girl in Hong KongSantorini
Q: What were your least favorite places? Why? Mara: Well, that’s kind of hard but Spain was the worst place we went. But it was still pretty darn good. And in Istanbul, all the restaurants served Turkish food which got boring. Plus the Grand Bazaar was just ok. There are so many stray cats and dogs which got scary.
Q: What were your favorite experiences? Mara: I loved the elephant camp in Thailand. It was UNBELIEVABLY cool! And I also loved the crazy markets. I liked the Noodle Girl restaurant in Hong Kong – it makes me so hungry for grilled steak. Yee Peng was amazing! Great Wall of China! Marrakech ATVs were awesome! Seeing my family paraglide was neat. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France was amazing! It was so cool. And there were lights on it that blinked and made it looked like it sparkled.
Yee Peng in ThailandAll smiles while warming up after the Forbidden CityGreat Wall of ChinaATVs in Marrakech, Morocco
Q: What were your least favorite experiences? Mara: Pamukkale (in Turkey) was ok. And Tiger Kingdom was ok. I really disliked the Louvre, Notre Dame, and La Sagrada Familia. The Alcazar (in Seville, Spain) was bor-ing. The Parthenon was boring. I disliked the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey because the sea was so rocky and wavy and over half the people threw up. Climbing up the Kotor wall was just so long and boring.
Q: Did you enjoy being homeschooled? Mara: Yes because less school hours. And I don’t have to wake up early, early, early. I have the nicest teacher in the world. I also liked the way she taught multiplication and division.
Q: What was your favorite homeschool subject? Mara: I don’t have one. I do like multiplication.
Q: What was your least favorite homeschool subject? Mara: My least favorite was spelling.
Homeschooling in SpainLearning about Ancient Greece and hosting our own Olympics
Q: What have you learned from your travels so far? Mara: A lot about how boring planes are. And how rocky and wavy ferries can be. And how annoying it is to wake up early. I also learned a lot about geography. I also learned how to negotiate. And how fun tuk tuks are. And I learned how annoying it is to have everything you own fit into a suitcase. And that elephants are fun and amazing creatures.
Q: What were some of your favorite foods? Mara: Pizza in Fethiye, Turkey at Nil Bar. Steak at “Noodle Girl” in the Hong Kong airport. And Nic’s in Chiang Mai, Thailand had great meatballs and pizza. The baguettes we had in Spain were AMAZING! Mint tea in Marrakech. Mmm mmm. The crepes and macarons in Paris – yum! The gyros in Santorini and the olives in Athens were good. I also liked sushi and coconut milk straight from the coconut in Thailand.
I did NOT like the orange hot dog under the Eiffel Tower. Blahhhh.
Mint tea in Marrakech, MoroccoBaguettes and croissants in ParisHappy cones in Almuñécar, Spain
Q: What do you miss the most about the USA? Mara: I miss being able to talk to kids in English. And I miss English TV. I miss going to swim team. Girl Scouts! Toy stores!
Q: What will you miss the most about traveling? Mara: I’m going to miss the food and the cultures and going new places.
Q: Where do you want to travel next? Mara: Egypt to see the Pyramids. And Russia – I like snow.
Fish Spa in Chiang Mai, ThailandMail girl at Kidzania in BangkokCooking Thai food at Sammy’s Cooking School in Chiang Mai, ThailandDrinking tea at a Khantoke dinnerFeeding sun conures in ThailandLoi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, ThailandLongtail boat trip on the Mekong from Thailand to LaosTree “snow” in Paris
Riding a bull at a carnival in La Herradura, Spain
Interview with Beckett at the end of our trip (age 7)
Q: First question Beckett, do you like living/being in Thailand? Beckett: Yes. Well it’s been very different and interesting but I’ve been happy to experience Thailand.
Q: What do you like most about Thailand? Beckett: Ziplining. Cause that was really cool.
Q: What do you think about the food here? Beckett: Good. My favorite food was when we made that soup at Sammy’s Thai Cooking School. I like smoothies, rotis, banana pancakes… My favorite smoothie was strawberry and watermelon was my 2nd favorite and mango was my 3rd favorite.
Q: What have been your favorite experiences? Beckett:
Ziplines.
Going to homeschool co-op.
Patara Elephant farm. We got to take care of elephants for the day and stuff.
Tiger Kingdom. Lying with tigers was really fun too.
Feeding the pigeons was really fun cause we got to feed the pigeons and they’d follow us around.
Feeding the birds at Night Safari.
Food-go-round. That’s a good one. That’s fun because the food goes around and around and you get to pick off the food that you want when it goes around. The food is yummy.
Riding tuk tuks.
I loved the Chiang Mai FC games.
Seeing the lion at Tiger Kingdom. It roared really loud.
Q: Any experiences you didn’t like? Beckett:
Khantoke dinner. I didn’t get to choose the food that I wanted and there wasn’t anything I wanted.
The spiders at the insect museum like the tarantulas. They were really creepy.
That mommy got the rash from the paederus bug.
Q: What will you miss the most? Beckett:
My friends Chelsea, Alex, Titus, and the rest of the kids.
Food-go-round
The elephant camp
Tuk tuks and songtaews
I will miss the street markets, definitely.
Q: Last question, what have you missed the most from the US? Beckett:
Interview with Mara at the end of our trip (age 9)
Q: First question Mara, do you like living/being in Thailand? Mara: Yes. It’s nice, but I think 6 months is enough time to be here. It was an amazing time there.
Q: What do you like most about Thailand? Mara: Just seeing a different culture. There are elephants and green plants. And everything is cheap. I like seeing the ladies from the Hill Tribes selling things in the market especially the croaking frogs. I loved the food-go-round and the sushi.
Q: What do you think about the food here? Mara: It’s yummy. It’s cheap, it’s mostly fast. And it’s just a different way of making stuff – different flavors, different tastes, different ingredients and different styles of cooking. I’ve liked trying the different foods. I’ll miss the good sushi and the yummy corn on the cob I get at the markets. I’m also going to miss the coconuts, the good smoothies, the crepes, and the ice cream bars from the ice cream vendors. I’ve also really enjoyed going to the “food-go-round” place. I’m going to miss Nic’s, Yummy Pizza, Art Cafe, and The Dukes.
Q: What have been your favorite experiences? Mara:
The Take Care of your Own Elephant for a Day experience. I loved my elephant. I think I grew a good friendship with her even if it was just for a day. I’ll miss her a lot. Her name was MaeKwan.
Cooking school! I got to make my own food like coconut soup, mixed vegetables, and pumpkin custard. It was SO MUCH FUN! And the food was excellent! SO GOOD!
The markets were outstanding. They have a lot of stuff, they have food sections and it’s just fun to go, even if you get nothing.
The Yee Peng festival was so pretty and it looked like stars up there. It was just so magical and pretty.
I liked 3D Art Museum too. It didn’t look that real in real-life but in the pictures it does. But some stuff was just awesome.
I totally loved the Maesa Elephant Camp. Elephants painted. We could see a 3 week old elephant – it was SO CUTE! It’s trunk was only 1’ long and SO SO SO SO CUTE!
FISH SPA!!! It tickled so much! And its AWE-SOME!
KIDZANIA!!! TOTALLY TOTALLY AWE-SOME! You got to try out so many different jobs. We got to take a real wheel off a real car. And they had a spy thing which was so cool. Oh and I loved being the mail person because then I got to carry around a little cart full of packages. And I got to be a judge. I loved being a firefighter – you got to put out a fire with real water! I loved making my own Coke, making my own McDonald’s burger and making sushi.
Q: Any experiences you didn’t like? Mara:
Getting a foot massage.
The White Temple was a little bit of a bummer. I expected it to be different.
I didn’t like the Monkey Cave because the monkeys were surrounding us and it was scary.
Squat toilets. I did not like squatting AT ALL.
Black House was so yucky because it had all these skins and bones and eeeggghhh. Yucko.
Driving to Myanmar for our border runs.
The different language because you can’t communicate very well.
Q: What will you miss the most? Mara: I’ll miss the driving because it’s full of stuff you never see in the USA. Like 20-30 people in the back of a truck. I’m going to miss the culture and the yummy sushi. I’m going to miss tuk tuks and songtaews.
Q: Last question, what have you missed the most from the US? Mara: English speakers. I’ve also missed being able to make friends because the kids don’t speak English here.
Thailand has a reputation for hair-raising driving conditions, and that reputation is well-earned!
I’ve driven a car for almost the entire six months we’ve been here, and progressed from being “terrified beginner” to “almost native”.
Starting out
To begin with, it was pretty terrifying getting into the rental car at the airport. I had to remember to get in on the right side of the car, and once I was in, it just felt weird. The pedals are the same as our cars in the US, thank goodness, and we had an automatic, so I didn’t have to try and shift with my left hand. (Note – there are many options to rent a manual transmission for cheaper. It’s worth the bit of $ to upgrade in the beginning)
As we left the lot, my main goal was to make it home without killing anyone. With the number of pedestrians and people on scooters, that was no given. The Chiang Mai airport is in the city, which meant lots of traffic, but also plenty of visual cues to go to the right place.
Easing into traffic was ok, but my mirrors were almost useless because I was reflexively looking in the wrong place. (They’re mounted in the same spots as US cars, but since you’re sitting on the other side, you have to look up and left for the center mirror.) Even if I looked in the correct spot for the mirror, I saw a different perspective than I was used to. And while I processed that, someone probably pulled out in front of me. Thankfully, Kirsten navigated and kept an eye out for hazards in front of of us.
Getting in the swing of things
It only took a few days to get reasonably comfortable with left-hand driving – probably about a week to get 80%. I went up the wrong ramp at the mall once, but I caught myself before making any other major mistakes. Over time, the smaller habits were hardest to break, such as walking to the wrong side of the car, and looking over the wrong shoulder when I was backing up.
After about a month, I was pretty comfortable and able to relax. I still wasn’t driving like a Thai, but at least I was getting accustomed to the action going on around me and anticipating challenges better.
Turning Thai
Eventually I started to drive more like the locals, which is actually a lot of fun once you’re used to it. While it looks like chaos, certain aspects make more sense than the strictly regimented driving I was used to back home. Kirsten and I joked about a “Thai driving checklist” where I completed certain maneuvers I’d never do in the US but that the locals do all the time without batting an eye.
Below are some of the different things we see regularly.
Running Red Lights
Red lights are the equivalent of a yellow in the US. It pretty much means “OK, only 2 or 3 more cars. Maybe 4”. If you stop on a yellow, you WILL cause an accident. They time the lights for a 2-3 second gap before the next green, so this is rarely a problem.
Double Right-Turn
Don’t you hate it when traffic backs up in a turn lane and you miss the light? Thais will turn from the adjacent straight lane, so a lot more cars get through the light. Certain intersections would be a complete mess without this. Of course you have to learn to avoid the adjacent lane if you want to go through the intersection because you’ll sit there waiting for the turn light and lose the chance to go straight.
U-Turn Mania
All the major roads have medians, so any time you want to get to the other side you have to U-Turn. They often have little cutouts for U-turns, besides being able to do it at lights. It’s not necessarily different rules than the US, but I’ve done more U-Turns here in 6 months than in my whole life cumulatively. And even if there is a no U-Turn sign, the Thais will use it anyway. Our friend actually got pulled over and ticketed for this – who knew there were actually traffic cops?!?
Personal Safety? Meh! This is a hard one to wrap my head around. Thailand has some of the highest driving death rates in the world, in large part because people disregard safety in many ways. Despite helmet laws, probably only 30% of people wear one. I regularly see an entire family on a scooter with a toddler standing between adults. Scooters will cut right in front of you without looking. They will also drive on the wrong side of the road towards you, at night, without lights on.
Traffic Flows to Least Resistance
This is the most challenging thing to deal with in the beginning because your instincts are WRONG. Vehicles go wherever it makes sense for the driver. And what makes sense is not always the same as “marked lanes.” Think of it like flowing water – it will fill gaps and voids because it’s the natural thing to do.
If there’s enough room on a wide inner shoulder to pass, cars will go there.
Scooters regularly create a lane along the outer shoulder.
When traffic is stopped, scooters will create lanes between cars.
Scooters drive against traffic on the shoulder if it’s quicker.
Cars will park in an outer lane to run into a store and get something.
It’s Not Personal!
This is a natural results of the least resistance rule and one of the things I love most about driving here. Everyone seems to understand that you take what you can get, traffic-wise, and they don’t get offended when you do what you gotta do. In 6 months, I haven’t heard more than a small handful of honks from drivers being pissed at one another. US drivers are so “Me-Centric”. Americans will crowd up and defend “my space”. Even with all the traffic here, I find I can get across lanes more easily than the US because there are almost always little gaps I can fit into. And if you have to do something unusual to get somewhere, no one bats an eye because they do it when they need to, as well.
Nearly Killing Someone
There are 2 forms of this. One is the everyday zipping in and out of traffic with you narrowly avoiding the people around you. These close calls count on everyone paying attention and you can usually expect that all parties are prepared for this. It’s harrowing in the beginning, but you don’t raise an eyebrow after a few months.
Then there’s “HOLY S—, I ALMOST KILLED THAT GUY!” I had one of those on the night of the Yi Peng lantern release at Mae Jo. We were cruising home on the highway around 11 pm and all of the sudden there’s a guy carrying a bicycle standing directly in front of me! It should have been obvious to him that I was coming, but who knows what he was thinking. I had no chance to stop, but luckily there was no traffic and I could swerve around him. If I hadn’t had my full attention up front, he’d just be a spot on the road. That really got the adrenaline pumping!
I’ve been telling Kirsten I’m going to miss driving here. There’s just a certain efficiency and natural flow to things that make it more comfortable and practical at times. I can’t say that it’s better because there are more accidents and deaths, but provided you’re a survivor, it’s pretty cool.
Practical Tips
Get an International Driving Permit before coming. It translates your license into many languages, none of which are Thai, so it hardly makes sense. But I think it’s useful if you get pulled over. At the very least, it’s cheap and can’t hurt. At the moment police are stopping expats in droves, and you get fined 500 Baht if you don’t have a Thai or International Driver’s License. You can get one thru AAA in the States even if you aren’t a AAA member. Click here for the application.
Liability insurance is included with the car, so you don’t need to arrange anything.
If you can spend a couple weeks here before driving, do so. It really helps in learning how traffic moves before you have to do it yourself.
If you get in an accident, let the insurance company handle it. Especially if it’s not your fault. You may get intimidated into paying for something, but we’ve heard through other people’s stories that once the insurance is involved, usually the other party will back off and go about their way. I’ve also heard that the insurance adjuster will come to the scene if you call them, but I don’t swear by this since I have no experience
Get someone to accompany you for your first few days of driving. They can handle directions and be another set of eyes for safety.
Flashing lights or a short horn toot is a warning that someone is coming and you should watch out.
If you do get pulled over, ask if you can pay your fine on the spot. It’s usually only 400B and saves you hassle. Whether it makes it into the city coffers or the officer’s pocket is not your problem.
Scooters are fine for a little bit of in-city driving, but only if you’re used to riding them. This is not really the place you want to learn.
One of our favorite parts of living in Thailand was all the fun stuff we’d see while driving around. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get pictures of some of the best things we saw (like an elephant in the back of a truck) or scariest (a toddler riding on a scooter pointing a gun at me). Still, here are some of the great things we saw while driving around:
Ice cream man!Cheaper than towing your scooter?!?I loved the people holding umbrellas while they drove around during rainy season!They were going at least 60 mph down the highway!Scooters go in between the cars. Makes it scary to drive!Guess they couldn’t find a parking spot?Guess they couldn’t find a parking spot eitherPigs!
Today was our last full day in Thailand. Tomorrow, Sunday December 8th, we fly back to The States via Bangkok and Beijing.
I wish we had 1 more day here. Actually, I wish we had 1 more week here and were spending that week living in the city. We left our rental house on Thursday afternoon and came into the city for our last 3 nights. We’ve had so much fun the last day despite going to the hospital twice (stupid paederus beetle!) and Chuck running errands such as canceling our cable TV and returning our rental car.
Today, we woke early to go to the Hot Air Balloon festival, had breakfast at Art Café, fed the pigeons at Tha Pae Gate (one of our kids’ favorite activities), went to the last Chiang Mai FC game (which did a cool candlelight tribute to the King afterwards), then I stopped for a 1 hour oil massage on my way back to the hotel. Not too bad for our last full day.
Enough of that though, as this is supposed to summarize our 6 months here, not just the last few days.
Where to begin, where to begin.
I don’t even know how to put into words what this experience has meant to me or how it’s changed me. I noticed the change while it was happening but now I have trouble remembering how I was before we came.
From a life dreams perspective, I crossed 2 places off my travel bucket list (Bangkok and Hong Kong) and crossed 2 things off my general bucket list (Live outside the country and ziplining).
I’ve wanted to live outside the US since I was about 15 years old which was a long, long time ago. So this was HUGE for me. I finally did it! And not in Europe or an English speaking country which is kind of where I assumed I’d go if it ever happened. And, yes, I know 6 months is not the same as years and years in a country, but when you have a rental house, recurring bills in the country, need to cook/clean/handle real life, etc, well, then its living there. Finally doing this has given me such a confidence in life and banished all those constraints you think you have but really don’t. I have way less fear in tackling anything now and I also have more conviction in following other dreams instead of lamenting that they “aren’t possible”.
This experience has also taught me how to be comfortable being so far out of my comfort zone. I’ve been so uncomfortable at times here but instead of letting it get to me, I approached it with gratitude. I was so grateful to be here and being uncomfortable was a temporary byproduct but also gave me room for tremendous growth. The coolest part was having the time and space to notice when the uncomfortable became comfortable and normal. At the beginning, we were so far out of our comfort zone but maybe a month or two later, those things became normal. These things ranged from being immersed in a completely different culture with its own specific rules and religion, driving, being surrounded by people that speak a different language and which you can only say “Hello” and “Thank You”, not knowing where anything is, not knowing what anything is, not knowing how things work or how to get things done, to more mundane things such as not having a library to get books, not having many TV shows in English, not having a stereo, DVD player or dishwasher. The list goes on and on and spans pretty much every aspect of life from eating, sleeping and even using the bathroom.
We got used to each one of these things over time and learned so much. Now we know where to go to get most of what we need on a day to day basis. I know which laundry detergent doesn’t inadvertently contain bleach (not easy when it’s all in Thai), I know which stores have which ingredients, etc.
Another thing we’ve learned is to live with a lot less stuff. We came to Thailand with 4 suitcases (that were maybe 2/3 full each) and 4 carry-ons. We’re leaving tomorrow with the same 4 suitcases and 4 carry-ons but of course now they’re packed to the gills. But almost everything extra is souvenirs and kids’ toys/books.
We did buy some things initially to make our rental house more comfortable: better sheets (turns out sleeping on sheets that feel like burlap kind of suck), a coffee maker, 1 baking dish, 1 muffin tin (so Mara can bake her muffins), 2 bikes for the kids, some homeschool supplies, a few more kitchen items like knives and a can opener, a printer, towels (there weren’t any in the house) and… well that’s about it. All of that stuff we left behind with the rental house and our property manager is going to take them to a local village and give everything away.
Granted our house was fully furnished so we had beds, armoires for our clothes, TVs, desks, etc. It didn’t come with a garbage disposal or a dishwasher which are 2 things I miss.
We also became closer as a family through this experience. The 4 of us were together 24/7 for months on end. Maybe I’d go out once a week for 1-2 hours for a massage, but aside from that, I was around Chuck and the kids 24/7. Sure there were times I wanted some privacy or to not be interrupted or be on parenting duty, but I also got so much precious time with my kids. I got to teach them life lessons. I got to teach them things I wanted them to know. I homeschooled them so of course they got all that instruction. And they got an education on everything from a different culture, religion, money, measuring system, way of life, embracing change, and well, that list goes on and on too. We documented all the big ticket activities already, but aside from that, the kids learned something new pretty much every single day. Honestly, I’m so proud of how the kids have handled this experience and how open they are now. They’ve embraced the change remarkably well and I’ve seen them both grow and mature immeasurably. Heck, Beckett will go order food and pay for it by himself – even if they speak limited English. He’s even flagged down a songtaew, told them where we’re going, got the price then agreed without any help.
All of that said, I know I haven’t even scratched the surface of how we’ve all changed. And I haven’t even captured how day to day life was different. I’m not sure I can. Or maybe with time it will crystallize into more coherent thoughts that I’ll be able to write down.
All I can say for now is that I’m so grateful for the experience. I’m so grateful that life aligned just right that we were able to follow my dream and that it was even better and richer than I could’ve imagined. I’m so grateful to my husband, Chuck, for trusting me and my dream and joining me on this journey. Without his trust in me, this never would’ve happened. And without both of our hard work this wouldn’t have happened either – something this big and this hard doesn’t happen without lots of planning, research, suspending any doubts and fears, supporting each other and taking a huge leap of faith.
Probably the biggest take away for me personally is that I have so much more conviction in myself and my dreams. I hadn’t really realized I still had some fears about life and following my dreams and I’ve watched them erode this past 6 months. And I’ve always been too afraid to really embrace who I was because it was outside the box. But now I’m embracing who I am, embracing my dreams and embracing the life I’ve always wanted to live. What a gift that is!
Where this takes me/us, I don’t know. I’m not 100% sure I know where I want to be in a year or more. I just hope that I still have the conviction to carve out our life like I want it to be instead of how it *should* be or how it’s easier. If I can do that, well, there really isn’t much more to happiness and life than that! And if this experience gave me that, well, then it was literally life changing.
Here are some of our favorite signs and pictures from our time in Thailand:
Found in a taxiGoat placenta facial? I think I’ll pass.I think I’ll shop somewhere else, thanks.Filled to the brim with boons?!?That is an oddly specific discountI think I’ll pass on the Lady Pie tooI don’t think Google Translate worked quite rightMICE city?Let’s just stick with a plain omeletteI have no idea what this one meansOr this one…
Oh, is that what that “Pass the Dutchie” song was about?!?
The Sunday Night Market in Chiang Mai is a one of the most popular markets in all of Thailand. Its hard to describe if you’ve never been to a Thai street market before. There are knick-knacks, handicrafts, food, drinks and more but its definitely a different thing that what we have in the USA.
At first we didn’t care for the Sunday Night Market. We could barely find any food the 4 of us would eat aside from Pad Thai (there was food, but not the kind we like to eat) and we would wander around desperately hunting for food and not enjoying ourselves. However our friends Ellen and Kevin were pros at this market and told us about the massive food area inside one of the wats. Not sure if the name, but it’s on the south side of the street about 3 blocks from Tha Pae Gate. Once we met them there, our opinion of the market changed and it became one of our 2 favorite markets here. (Tip: Most wats have significant food areas, so poke your head into the other wats as well)
One of the coolest things about this market is what happens at 6pm. At 6pm every day (not just at the market), they play the National Anthem over loudspeakers. Everyone stands up from eating, remains silent through the song, bows when its over and then carries on with whatever they were doing.
We went our last Sunday in Chiang Mai and had a nice evening of gorging ourselves on all our favorites and wandering around. What follows are a glimpse into the Sunday Night Market (and really most markets here) and is our way of reminding ourselves of the street markets in Chiang Mai.
Tuk Tuks!Beautiful silksLove these hand painted lacquer bowlsHand painting a lacquer bowlWaffles!My favorite Pad Thai lady cooking it up freshFruit smoothie stands
Street performersAnother street performerSome of the food we do not eat – Hello, bizarre white spongy meat on a stickSo much clothing for saleBeckett’s favorite stand – fresh grilled corn on the cob (with generous helpings of salt, sugar and butter)“Ancient” ice cream and our favorite, Mango with Sticky Rice
Bizarre black jello substance – Bubble Tea perhaps?
Pancake/Crepes with banana drizzled with chocolate syrupDessert! Banana pancake with chocolate syrup and a young coconut. Delish!Fun mushrooms wrapped with baconFood court near the one WatAnother corn vendor. Another one of Beckett’s favorite places.A typical drink vendor
Massage placesDrink vendor – I can’t even tell you how many coconuts we drank while in Thailand
Street performerT-shirts, t-shirts and more t-shirtsBags, bags, bagsFun juices
One night we got the kids’ portraits done. Unfortunately, they didn’t come out very well and didn’t look like either kid. Oh well.
Near the end of our time in Chiang Mai, we went to the Buffalo Market, which is down near Hang Dong. It’s a local’s market that does indeed sell buffalo amongst other colorful things. It was definitely interesting. ….
Some of the items for sale:
Ducklings. Sadly some of them were dyed multiple colors 🙁
Lots of knives and machetes for sale
RoostersRoostersSadly there were even cock fights going onSold buffaloClothes
Some of the food for sale:
Lots of chilisSmoothies
Quail eggsWorms and honeycombsVERY fresh chicken!
Bugs
Looked like fried baby birds on a stick. Gross!Rice
With less than 2 weeks left of our 6 months in Thailand, I’m feeling sad about leaving. 2 months ago I was almost ready to leave. But every month I’m here I get more and more comfortable and enjoy myself more and more. It took me a while to really warm up to Chiang Mai, but now I like this place and will look back on it fondly for the rest of my life.
Here are some of the top things I’ll miss about Thailand, specifically Chiang Mai:
1. $5 massages. This is definitely the #1 thing I’ll miss. I LOVE getting massages and getting a 1-hour massage for $5 is incredible. Granted that is the price for a Thai massage which is uncomfortable and at points brutal, but I love them anyway. Many times I go for the 2 hour Oil Massage which is more like a Swedish Massage. Total cost for 2-hours? $15. I’m trying to figure out how to get my favorite massage lady to come with us when we leave.
2. People-watching while driving. I hate driving here. Its crazy and people drive the wrong way and scooters swerve all around you and its so chaotic and dangerous (Thai roads are some of the most dangerous in the entire world). HOWEVER, the things you see while driving is one our favorite things about being here. You routinely see 25 people crammed into the back of a pickup truck (and usually they’re standing as they drive fast down a highway). We see the street carts being driven around with exposed food. And of course there are all the fun things people do on scooters. We’ve seen people carrying huge rugs, weed whackers sticking across their laps sideways, a guy with 3 tires around his waist (roadside assistance?!?) and our favorite, the baby with a handgun that was standing on the scooter as it went down the street and proceeded to level the gun at my head. No kidding.
3. No commercials during TV shows. WHY OH WHY can’t the US adopt this model for commercials?!? Almost all the channels (that are in English which isn’t all that many) don’t show commercials throughout the show. Commercials are shown between different shows at the top of the hour. It is so nice to watch a show or movie without getting interrupted every 5 minutes and being “sold” on what is “coming next” then seeing the same 1 minute again after the commercial. And everything isn’t being “presented by XXXXX company”. It’s so nice and refreshing and so much more enjoyable and relaxing to not get bombarded constantly. And when you’re watching something like a hockey game, you can stay in the action the entire time. What a concept.
4. Cheap street cart meals. Oh how I’m going to miss the cheap street cart meals. We actually don’t eat off street carts very often (we would more if we were in the city) but when we do, its so much fun to order various things for $0.30 to $1.50. We’ll get a Pad Thai, mango smoothie and maybe even some satay for under $3. I wish I ate more of the variety that exists and while we don’t eat many of the main dishes, we eat lots of smoothies and snacks on a stick for cheap, cheap, cheap.
5. Street markets. I LOVE the street markets here. Sure, many sell very similar items and I barely buy anything. But there is something special about the atmosphere of the street markets that makes for a nice evening out. I even enjoy browsing the “locals’ markets” which sell some crazy stuff like live turtles and snakes. I really wish we had more of these types of things in the US complete with the food carts and snacks on sticks.
6. All the fun things to do nearby that I’ll never have this close (and this cheap) again. There is so much to do in Chiang Mai. Elephant conservation farms. Ziplining. Trekking. Whitewater rafting. Waterfalls. Wats. Meditation retreats. Street markets. The list goes on and on and there is something for everyone here. Sadly, we aren’t going to get to do everything we would love to do before we leave. At least we’re hitting the most important things to us before we go.
7. The relaxed rules. Rules are made to be broken here and its actually kind of nice once you get used to it. Need to park? Just pull off on the side of the road almost anywhere. No shoulder? Just stop in the outer lane!. Going to the Chiang Mai FC game? You buy your food and drink (and beer) outside and take it in then are free to leave the game and come back in at any time.
I can’t even think of all the ways but there is something more relaxed and enjoyable without having strict rules for everything all the time…. Of course, the negative of this is that people don’t follow the rules for driving or wearing helmets (especially for their kids – come on people!) and a lot of people get hurt or killed because of it. So there are some real positives to having so many rules like we do in the US as well.
8. The culture. This one is tough to explain. There is a definite Thai culture that I really like. They seem more cohesive. They seem less rushed and there seems to be a larger sense of community. For instance, people offer food to the monks every single morning between 6am-7am. They rise early, cook the food and are out there to offer it to essentially strangers every. single. day. And then there is their love of the King. There are pictures of him everywhere. And everything stops at 6pm every day in public when they play the National Anthem and everyone stops what they’re doing, stands in silence, then bows at the end. There is so much respect for their country and their King and its beautiful.
9. Tuk Tuks. I wish every city and town had tuk tuks instead of taxis. Of course they’d be too cold in the winter most places but they sure are a fun form of transportation.
10. Same Same, but Different. There is something so fun about being somewhere where everything is written and done in a different language. And where you don’t understand where to go or what to do. Its exhausting as well. Its very cool to be so outside your comfort zone where the people around you are so different and look different and act different but to also realize that you’re all just people and at the core very much the same. I love seeing signs in Thai. It’s beautiful and usually doesn’t bother me the least that I have no idea what it says. I’ve learned so much about myself, about my husband and about my children by coming here. And I’ve learned a lot about the Thai people and their religion and culture. …It hasn’t been the easiest 6 months of my life and sometimes being uncomfortable can get exhausting and overwhelming. But it has also been one of the coolest things I’ve ever done and I know that my kids and myself are much richer for this entire experience…. Frankly, going back to the US seems so boring and easy. 🙂
We were excited to visit the when we arrived in Chiang Mai. In fact, it was one of the first attractions we went to after we got settled in. And it was probably our most visited attraction for the entire time we’ve been here for a few simple reasons: feeding the animals is fun, its cheap if you go before 4pm, and there is a great play area for the kids! Oh and there are lots of animals to see as well.
There are really 3 types of experiences you can have there.
Outside the park entrance you can feed giraffes and sun conures, see a few big tigers, and even get a picture taken with a baby tiger. You do pay for the food and the picture, but there’s no admission to see it.
Enter the park and just do the “walking tour” only. You see a good amount of animals, and the cost is modest. $5 for the for of us before 4 pm, or $10 after 4. There’s also a kids play area (both indoor and outdoor) that costs a little bit more, but is a great way to let the kids run around while we chill.
Do the real night safari, which is a tram trip through an additional section of zoo you can’t get to on foot. The “night safari” is the big draw, but we’ve done similar tours in the past, and at the prices they charge, it wasn’t much of a temptation.
When we first entered the grounds, we saw deer wandering around and had to be careful not to hit them.
After you park, you’ll see giraffes and zebras in a huge enclosure and if its after 3pm, I think, there are people selling baskets of various plants to feed to the giraffes. We’ve had a great time feeding the giraffes. The best time was when I was bending over to feed the little giraffe and got knocked (hard!) upside the head which caused me to stumble. I thought the big giraffe had just bumped into me but came to find out from Chuck and other spectators that the giraffe mistook my head for food and proceeded to try to eat my head before spitting me out. To add insult to injury, he started stealing food out of my basket as I recovered and tried to figure out what exactly had happened. (In all seriousness, I wasn’t hurt and now it makes for a great story)
There are also deer you can feed and bunnies to watch. Once done there, you start walking past the tiger cages. Man these are some big boys. There is also a little place where you can feed a baby tiger and get your picture taken for $5USD.
He doesn’t seem happy to have his picture taken
Behind the tiger cages is a bird enclosure where you can feed the sun conures. This is so much fun as they’ll land on your hand and gently peck food off your palm. Beck has been skittish about letting them land on him but once he was brave and let some eat off his hand. Mara has been pretty fearless and lets them land all over her.
There is a bird on your head
Why do animals keep trying to eat my hair?!?
After we’re done with that part, we usually wander to the entrance and actually enter the park. (yes, you can enjoy the stuff outside for free). From here, you can wander around to see the animals, attend a show if one is going on or head to the play area. For 40Baht ($1.30), the kids get an hour at this great indoor/outdoor play area. This was so nice to have during the rainy season and also made a great place to meet up with friends which allowed the kids to play while the adults could talk.
At night, there is definitely more to do. There are show performances, once they brought out animals for us to hold, and one evening there were horseback rides.
Albino porcupine
Yep, that’s pretty much my reaction to a python tooSome of the performers with Mara
A few times we’ve eaten dinner at the Giraffe restaurant there (not the buffet restaurant downstairs, but the restaurant around the corner upstairs past where you feed the giraffes). The restaurant overlooks the giraffe enclosure and tiger enclosures and the food is pretty decent and reasonably priced.
Overall, it’s definitely worth a daytime visit. I’d recommend hanging out until about 6 or 7 pm to see all the animals and activities they bring out as the rush of tourists comes in for the safari.
The last day of the Loi Krathong celebration in Chiang Mai had a big parade, which was pretty cool.
About an hour into the parade, the skies opened up and it started to down pour. I mean torrential! We took shelter under an awning before ducking into the doorway of the fish spa. After waiting it out for a long time, we finally walked back to our hotel while it was still raining and the streets were really wet. Definitely memorable!
The primary dates of the Loi Krathong and Yee Peng Festival spanned Saturday November the 16th through Monday the 18th this year and each day was very eventful. On Saturday, we went to the Sky Lantern launch near Mae Jo University, and then we went into town on Sunday and Monday nights. This post covers Sunday night, and we have Monday night’s parade in Part 2.
We met up with some friends near Tha Pae gate and walked down to Narawat Bridge, which is the heart of the action. It’s closed off to traffic (mostly) and you’ve got a huge crowd doing all sorts of crazy stuff you shouldn’t do in a crowd.
Along the way, we saw some ladies dressed up for some sort of exhibition, lots of hanging lanterns, and stopped at a wat to launch another lantern.
Traditional Thai clothingMonks lighting and releasing a lanternYou can write wishes on the lanterns so we each wrote a message then launched it into the sky
At the bridge, the first order of business was to buy and launch a krathong in the river. Krathongs are little floating containers, often built of leaves and natural materials, that also have a candle and a few sticks of incense. You light the incense and candles, then cast your krathong off into the river to send away your worries, anger, etc.
As you can see, krathongs come in all shapes and sizes. The ones we looked at ranged in cost from 20 to 150 Baht ($0.65 to $5.00).
These krathongs are little turkeys.
There are a lot of people making krathongs right behind the tables where you buy them. Neat to see them get assembled.
After perusing several tables, we made our selections and were good to go!
From the tables, we headed down to a small dock along the river that was PACKED with people trying to launch their krathongs. As a bonus, there were several idiots shooting off fireworks right near there. One of them shot onto the dock right under someone, but thankfully it didn’t blow up. Once we reached the river, we each lit the candles and incense on our krathong (well, attempted to light, as they kept blowing out), and sent them down the river.
After that, we decided to head onto the bridge, where the biggest crowds were. It was certainly exciting and festive, but dangerous and noisy as well.
There were more people shooting fireworks off the side of the bridge, plus there was a stiff breeze so the sky lanterns were often blowing sideways into the crowd or getting stuck on the telephone wires. Beckett got overwhelmed and really wanted to leave. Unfortunately for him, his pleas were ignored as we took the scene in for a few minutes and grabbed some photos of the sky and river.
Persevering paid off for us, because around 8:45 they shot off big fireworks down the river. Seeing the explosions in air set against a sea of drifting sky lanterns was super-cool. The video below is a pretty good representation of the scene.
After a few snacks on the way back through town, we decided to stop for a late-night foot and leg massage for the whole family. 30 minutes for only 80Baht each (<$3). The Thai ladies really loved Beckett and laughed at everything he said!
At the top our list when we decided to come to Chiang Mai was attending the Yee Peng festival. Once I saw the pictures and video of this event from fellow bloggers, I knew I had to attend. In fact, this festival was one of the reasons we stuck with our plan of doing 6 months in Chiang Mai when we arrived instead of traveling around.
Yee Peng is a festival celebrated by the Lanna people of Northern Thailand. It’s a religious ceremony paying homage to the Buddha. The sky lanterns — known as khom loi — are released into the sky while making a wish. At the Mae Jo event we attended, everyone releases their lantern at the same time.
It was very hard to get accurate details about this event. They don’t release the actual date til a month or so before the event, there isn’t much about it in English, and what you can find in English is unofficial. I’ve been a bit stressed about it for the last couple of months trying to figure out where the best event was, what date and time, was this the same as the other Yee Peng festival being held in the city, etc. In the end, we got it all figured out and attended one of the coolest festivals on the planet.
Despite leaving pretty early, we hit a bunch of traffic going to the event and when we finally got nearby, we couldn’t find parking. Cue major stress. But then we found parking near the first gate. Best 100 Baht I’ve spent to date. We then had to walk about 1 km or so to the main event gate and we were finally inside – much later than we wanted but inside nonetheless.
We stopped to buy 3 lanterns then walked into the venue just after 6 pm as the event was just getting started. After finding a teeny tiny spot of lawn to call ours, we waited and listened as it got dark. The ceremony consisted of asking the Buddhists to pray, some quiet meditation time, and other activities that I didn’t quite understand. There was also chanting by the Buddhist monks, which was really cool.
After the prayers and chanting (about 7:45 pm), it was time for the big launch. There are a few thousand candles on 3-foot high stakes driven into the ground throughout the venue and they told everyone to light those first. Then, they announced for everyone to begin lighting lanterns and hold onto them for a few minutes as they fill with hot air. (Note: They do directions in English and Thai on loudspeakers, so it’s easy to know. But even if you don’t understand, just follow the crowd!)
We decided to let everyone light their lanterns first and just enjoy watching the first wave float into the sky. There was no way I was missing the “big moment”.
When they gave the signal, everyone released their lanterns into the air all at once.
It was breathtaking!
I took so many pictures but often just held the camera away from my face so I could watch in real life and not behind a camera lens. I just stood there in awe and was overwhelmed by the beauty of all of these lanterns in the air floating off into the distance. I actually started to cry at points because I was so overtaken with how beautiful it was, and how grateful I was to be able to attend this festival. I felt so fortunate just to be there. It was a moment and a feeling I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
The kids were oohing and aahing as well and even Chuck had this look of amazement on his face.
After a few minutes, they launched fireworks into the sky.
After letting the people near us light another lantern, we decided to light ours. The kids were so into this part; especially Beckett. He was the perfect height to hold the lantern but also peer underneath to watch the flame as it fills. The look on his face while lighting each lantern was priceless. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who thoughts so, as people kept coming over to photograph him. No lie, he attracted so many people that it became funny and I took a picture of all the people taking his picture (see below).
Beckett’s first taste of celebrity status. There were a few photographers on the other side, t0o.
We talked to one of the photographers and they sent us this picture of Beckett.
We lit 3 lanterns and watched them float off into the sky.
After that, we went around and helped other people. The lanterns are quite big and tall and it takes more than 2 people to hold it and expand the top so it fills with air without catching on fire. People seemed to love having the kids’ help and sometimes Chuck and I would take their photos.
Once most of the lantern lighting was over, we strolled around the grounds. We were able to get up close to the Buddha, torches, and other decorations that we couldn’t approach when it was so crowded before.
We were on the grounds until about 9 pm, when they turn off the lights. Even though it seemed most people had left well before us, it was a complete traffic jam of people walking the 1km back to the gate. Took us about 50 minutes. Since we were moving so slowly, we stopped off to buy krathongs (floating lanterns) from the Mae Jo University kids (they were so fun and nice!). Beckett picked his out first (for 20Baht – $0.60) then walked down the water where they lit the incense and candle and helped him place it on the canal. Mara then picked out one and set it floating down the canal. I of course couldn’t resist, so the kids picked one out for me and off it went down the canal.
Upon getting out of the gate, we saw traffic wasn’t moving so we found a mini-mart and bought some snacks and drinks to hold us over while we waited. When we went back to our car, we noticed 2 cars had an accident pulling out of the parking lot. And by accident, I mean there were 2 cars barely touching and it didn’t even look like there was a dent or even scratched paint. However, they left their cars there blocking everyone in. The kids were still eating and traffic wasn’t moving so its not like we would’ve left for a while anyway. Eventually the kids were done eating and went to the car to go to sleep (about 10:40pm at this point) and traffic had cleared out. Finally common sense prevailed and one of the drivers came over and asked if we wanted to leave (um, yes!), so they moved their cars and everyone was able to head home.
Accident!
This festival is definitely one of the coolest things we’ve ever done. I am so grateful that we were able to attend it and witness the beauty of the lanterns floating off into the sky. If you happen to be in Chiang Mai around November, this is a must-do as the pictures and commentary do not fully do the reality justice.
Logistics:
The Yee Peng festival we attended near Mae Jo University was a separate event from the Loi Krathong/Yee Peng festival being celebrated throughout Chiang Mai. The Mae Jo event was held Saturday, November 16, 2013 and the Loi Krathong event also kicked off on November 16, 2013 and ran (officially) to Monday, November 18, 2013.
We attended the Loi Krathong/Yee Peng festivities in downtown Chiang Mai on Sunday the 17th and and Monday the 18th and it’s different than the Mae Jo event, but also great fun.
Information about the date is hard to find and usually not announced til a month or so ahead of time. The event is is based on the full moon and lunar calendar and I *think* some years its held in October instead of November. I found out about the date from the Facebook group “Chiang Mai Events” and also from ChiangMai City News which posted the date less than a month beforehand.
If you want to get a decent view of things, I’d aim to be inside by 4:30-5pm. That was our original plan, but we got a little bit of a late start, and it also took us much longer to get there than planned.
Route 1001 goes North from the city and it’s not too far to Mae Jo, but the lights at the major cross streets caused big delays. Once you pass the University, you U-turn and make a left, then drive about a mile until you get to the spot where you walk down to the entrance. We got to the turnoff from 1001 about 4:30 pm and it took about 45 minutes to inch our way back to the parking and dropoff areas.
It was after 5pm as we got close to the first entrance and unfortunately there weren’t any parking spaces left on the side of the road so we started stressing out. Luckily, just past the main gate, someone had opened up a parking lot and we pulled right in, parked and forked over 100Baht happy as clams. At about 5:30pm we were parked right near the first main entrance.
And by main entrance, we mean the point from which you have to walk about 1km down to the real entrance!
There are food vendors set up all along the walk with the usual Thai street market fare. There are also a gazillion vendors selling lanterns. Do NOT buy one! You aren’t allowed to bring them in, and must buy the ones inside. The cool side effect of this was a steady stream of lanterns being released from the gate area throughout the entire evening because people had to light them or leave them.
The walk from the first entrance gate to the main entrance
Once inside the official gate, there is a place to buy the lanterns for 100 Baht each. We bought 3 which worked out about right.
From there, you walk another few minutes to the grounds and pass a restroom facility along the way.
There isn’t any food or drink sold inside the grounds so it’s best to buy that along the walk and cart it in or bring your own from home. We ate on the way and threw a few sandwiches in a backpack.
We got to the grounds around 6:15pm and by then it was PACKED. We found a tiny patch of grass that was kind of in a path at the back and claimed it. Unfortunately we were near another lantern buying stand and about as far away from the front as possible. Eventually we got our patch big enough to sit down and the entire walkway behind us filled in as well.
It turned out to be a decent location because once the lanterns were released, it was all in front of us in one big panorama of lanterns. If we were in the middle, there would’ve been lanterns all around us in a 360 degree circle which would’ve been cool as well, but maybe not been as amazing of a photo op.
It was also great because I was able to sneak out to go to the bathroom relatively easily. And while returning to my spot was a problem, I didn’t have to go far. Forget about that if you were in the middle somewhere. If at all possible, make your last bathroom run at 5:30 or before.
FYI, there is a 2nd set of bathrooms on the other side of the grounds (left side when facing the front) which were clean, Western and stocked with toilet paper, AND there was no wait.
They announce everything in Thai and English so you definitely know when its time to light your lantern and when its time to release. Please wait for the announcement – its very clear – but some people didn’t.
As mentioned above, we stayed on the grounds till nearly 9 pm when they said they were going to turn off the lights. Once we got back to the main entrance gate, there was a wall of people barely moving. It took us a good 50 minutes to walk the 1km back to the first gate. Traffic was creeping forward at this point so we found a mini-mart right near the gate (~50-100 meters to the left) and picked up ramen, yogurt and milk. The restaurants there were closed (so they said) and I wasn’t able to locate a toilet nearby.
By 10:45pm, traffic was pretty much gone so when we left, we drove right on out to the main road and cruised on home.
One more note, respectful clothing is necessary as they won’t let you in wearing tank tops and short shorts. Mara and I wore a t-shirt and capris while Beckett and Chuck were fine in a nice short sleeve shirt and shorts. Fireworks and alcohol aren’t permitted either and they have a lot of people at the gate checking out what you’re wearing and what you’re carrying.
As far as taking kids, it would probably be tough to take kids younger than 6 due to the crowds, long wait, firecrackers (along the walk only), and potential inconvenience of having to hit the bathroom at an inopportune time. However, I know plenty of folks took very young kids with no issues so you really need to be the judge. Our kids were grumbling a bit, but I think at this point they’re conditioned to being dragged around to stuff! We had also done a practice launch the day before, so they were motivated to hang in there until the big release.
One final note, there is also a paid version of this event put on for tourists a week after the ‘real’ event. They are 2 separate things. The one we attended is the ‘real’ event, which is free and a religious ceremony for the Thai people. The paid one is just for tourists and costs $100 USD. It looks more comfortable, less crowded, and dates are set far in advance, which is great for planning. More info on that at http://yeepenglanna.com/
In early October, we did our second border run to the Myanmar border at Mae Sai, which is about 4 1/2 hours from Chiang Mai. We drove up to Chiang Rai the first day, then planned to do our crossing on day 2, hit the Monkey & Fish Cave right afterward, then jet back to Chiang Mai.
Well, it didn’t quite shake out like that.
Our border crossing was uneventful, but we spent way more time than we expected with the monkeys, putting us in a bit of a rush. The mountains between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai have a lot of twists and turns, and people drive CRAZY on them, so we didn’t want to go through them at night.
We’re jamming back towards Chaing Rai and all of the sudden the car loses power in the middle of the highway. Luckily I was able to coast to the side and get out of the traffic lanes. I tried restarting the car a couple times and had no luck.
Then we smelled gas, and bailed everyone out of the car, along with all our important stuff.
After a few minutes of gathering ourselves, I decide to go see if I can put the car into neutral and move it up a little bit to a better spot. When I turned the ignition to free the gear shift, I could hear gas pouring out of the bottom of the car. Again, I got out hastily and saw a wide pool of gas coming from underneath the car.
So there we are, about 30 minutes from the nearest city, and about 3 1/2 hours from home. No phone, don’t speak Thai. No clue what we’ll do about the car or what we’ll do that night. Definitely an “awww, shit!” moment, but both Kirsten and I were fairly calm about it, for no good reason.
There was a building nearby with what looked like a small restaurant and store, and we figured we’d go in and call the company we rented the car from, then figure out housing.
Meanwhile a woman came out from the store and started gesturing at and talking to us. We tried to indicate that we had car problems (though I suppose that was obvious), and wanted to use a phone. She kept talking to us and started gesturing toward the side of the building.
I followed her over and sure enough, around the side of the building was a little shop for a guy who does auto repair!
My new favorite repair shop
I wandered back there on my own and tried to indicate that my car was broken down right outside. He was pretty confused, but followed me partway out to the street. The lady who sent us to him, then poked her head out of a window and told him what was going on.
He came out front, looked under the car, and found some part of the fuel line that had come off. He then stuck it on, and had me drive back to his shop. Seemed weird to start up the car while sitting in a puddle of gas, but hey, I lived to tell about it.
Meanwhile the lady from the shop had a couple friends there who came out and checked out the kids. Many Thais love to touch our kids, especially Beckett with his blond hair. They also brought out water for Kir and the kids so they could stay comfortable while waiting.
Back in the shop, he jacked it up, pulled another part off the car, then got some rusty wire and bound the whole assembly back together. You hear the phrase about things being build with duct tape and baling wire – that was actually the case here. Verrrry confidence-inspiring.
Here’s the part for my car. Just a coil of rusty wire.The final repair job. What could go wrong?!
So after about 30 minutes he puts the car down and indicates he’s done. Someone else at his shop spoke limited English and indicated it was OK to drive to Chiang Mai as the car was, but that we should get it repaired there.
I’m figuring the fix is going to cost me $20-30. Costly for Thailand, but damn reasonable for a man stuck in the middle of nowhere! I gestured about “how much” to him and he shook his head. He wouldn’t even take money for fixing me up. Crazy!
I drove back out to the street, loaded up, and said goodbye to our new friends.
At this point, it was 4 pm and we were never going to make it back to Chiang Mai during daytime, plus now we have this gas leak repair of dubious integrity.
What to do? Well, we decided to use the last of my Starpoints and go spend one more night at the Le Meridien in Chiang Rai, then drive back to Chaing Mai in the morning. Took a little bit of funky logistics, but we got it all worked out.
So about 90 minutes after staring disaster in the face, we were poolside ordering cocktails and food from room service. Can’t believe we were lucky to break down next to an auto shop, on a day he’s open, at a time he’s open, when he could handle us right away, with a car problem he could actually fix. Once we were forced from the car due to gas fumes, we knew we’d have some sort of story, but didn’t see this ending coming!
Here are a few shots of our stay at the Le Meridien Chiang Rai, which was far better than being stuck roadside!
Recently a 3D art museum called Art in Paradise opened in Chiang Mai. The pictures people posted on TripAdvisor looked pretty cool so we finally went to check it out for ourselves.
It’s not cheap especially for Thailand standards: 300 Baht ($10) for adults and 200 Baht ($7) for kids. Unfortunately Mara counted as an adult because its based on height and not age.
Overall I’m pretty disappointed by the place. Most of the art didn’t look 3D at all in person and only looked kind of 3D in our pictures. Beckett was pretty bored for the first half but loved the 2nd half of the museum. Mara loved it though.
There were a few cool exhibits and its always neat to see art so I’m not really upset that we went. But it’s more like a working photo shoot as opposed to an great experience, so you’re working while you’re there, but as you can see, many of the photos do come out great!
The real-life room is sideways, giving us a chance to create some cool poses.
Chuck went to the meditation retreat the week before I did and had such a good experience that it seemed like I should go too. So the following Tuesday, off I went.
At the beginning, you sit in room and learn about Buddhism and some basics on meditation and how the two go together. The monk used some really great analogies in explaining things. For example, when he explained the different types of Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana) he said its like if you’re trying to go to Bangkok, you can go by bus, train or plane. All will take you there a different way, but they all get you to Bangkok.
One of my favorite things he said (and frankly it was an epiphany) was when he asked what would happen if we didn’t shower for a week or a month. Well, our bodies would get dirty and people wouldn’t want to be near us because we’d smell bad. So what happens to our mind if we don’t “clean” it regularly? Well it gets stressed and overwhelmed and chaotic. Meditation is just a way of “cleaning” our mind and fits into taking care of your body.
As an American, its not acceptable to say you’re working on your mind. It’s considered weird or that you must have mental issues or its seen as a sign of weakness. But for Buddhists, meditation is just taking care of your mind on a daily basis. It’s not a negative but a positive. You clean your body, and you take care of your body by eating right and exercising (or at least knowing you should do those things) but we don’t take care of our minds!
For the first time ever, feeling stressed or being mentally exhausted was no longer a negative. It was just a symptom of not caring for your mind just as a broken leg would be a sign to rest and take care of your body.
As an aside, you don’t have to be a Buddhist to meditate. Anyone can meditate. Meditation doesn’t have a religious bent to it so while the monk teaching us was Buddhist and we learned about Buddhism, he wasn’t converting us to Buddhism or changing any of our thoughts or beliefs.
After the 1:30 introduction, we road 45 minutes to the meditation retreat. We paired up with someone else and had some time to change into our white clothes before we started the actual meditation practice.
We began by learning a walking meditation. You begin by standing, arms clasped in front of you or behind you, eyes open and focusing on your breathing. Then he’d repeat, slowly, “Standing” 3 times. Then he’d say “Intending to walk”. Then he’d say “Right foot, touch” at which point you’d slowly move your right foot forward and touch it to the ground when he’d say “touch”. Continue on for the left foot and you’re on your way. It seems a little silly when you start (and reading it probably sounds pretty dumb) but its actually not. You focus on your breathing and your walking which clears your mind. I actually found the meditation like this to be the easiest because you can concentrate on your body and the feeling as your foot hits the ground.
We then learned the sitting meditation, standing meditation and even a lying meditation. Over the 2 days, we practiced each type as a group but were also given lots of free time where we could practice whichever meditation we wanted. We also practiced outside and were free to wander the grounds (silently) and practice wherever we felt comfortable.
I found the first day the easiest. I would start to meditate and focus on my breathing and whenever I noticed I was thinking about something else, I’d yank my focus back to my breathing.
The 2nd day started at 5 am and if you know me, you know I don’t do mornings well at all. Surprisingly I did ok, at least at the beginning of the day. We started outside in the dark and did some meditation and even some yoga as the sun rose and lit the sky.
We then offered rice to the monk then had breakfast (Thai vegetable soup with rice and toast which was delicious. I seriously need to start eating this soup for breakfast!).
All the meals were supposed to be eaten silently and Chuck’s group followed that direction. However, some of the people there (there were 25 of us total) could not help themselves from talking despite being told repeatedly to eat in silence. It was still much quieter than it would’ve been if talking was allowed. All the meals were vegetarian and quite filling and seriously delicious!
We were given 1:30 to practice our meditation after breakfast and by this point my mind was exhausted. I was too tired to yank my thoughts back and after about 1:15 of practice, I gave up and went to my room.
Next up was a discussion with the monk. This turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the entire weekend. We were allowed to ask the monk anything and everything and so we did. I also found out that others felt exactly as I did: the walking meditation was the easiest and we all did better the first day but did horribly on the 2nd day.
Then he said something that changed it all for me: The goal is not trying to have no thoughts, the goal is to notice the thought you are having, acknowledge the thought, let it pass and return to focusing on your breathing. So instead of yanking my thoughts back to my breathing everytime they strayed, I started saying “I’m thinking about X” and then guided my thoughts back to my breath or gave the thought time to float away. It became a much more fluid thought process and was a lot less exhausting. No longer was I concentrating so hard at not thinking but just noticing and being mindful.
After a lunch of potato curry eaten in not even close to silence, I went to find the monk to ask more questions. Since we’ve been in Thailand for so long, I’ve noticed a lot of things around me or in wats or in the culture but I didn’t understand them. I sat by the monk and started asking him everything from why I see one Buddha image for each day of the week at the wats but an extra one for Wednesday Night, can my family give alms to the monks in the morning and if so, how/when/where/what.
Most of the group came and sat behind me and listened in. It was such a great experience – I know and understand so much more about Buddhism and even the Thai culture and understand more about what is happening around me. Buddhism plays a MAJOR role in the daily lives of the Thai people so you see these things everywhere and all around.
I also learned that meditation can be adapted to your personal life. Maybe sitting on the floor doesn’t work for you but sitting in a comfy chair does. Or maybe you want to informally meditate doing a different activity. Its all good.
In the last sessions, I actually meditated the best and had some epiphanies about some things which are too personal to share here.
Eventually the day came to a close and we all headed back to Wat Suan Dok and I was happily greeted by my kids.
Its too early to say (only 24 hours later) if this was a life changing experience for me or just a really cool experience. I’m not sure I’m going to formally meditate every day but I do plan to informally meditate more often. I also have a new perspective on some things and some things I viewed negatively I can see positively now. I realized that I need to take more time for myself, take better care of my body and my mind and be kinder to myself. And needing that time isn’t because I’m weak but because my body and mind deserve to be treated better.
If you’re in Chiang Mai and want to do the retreat, more information can be found on the Monk Chat site. The 2 day/1 night course is 500Baht (about $16USD). You can purchase a t-shirt and white pants for 150Baht each ($5USD each) when you arrive.
Bring your toiletries, a towel, toilet paper, hand soap and, of course, your white clothes and an open mind. Water is provided whenever you want it however a water bottle is nice to have so you can fill it and have water in your room.
Warning: On the morning of the 2nd day you’ll do yoga. He asked if anyone ever did yoga so I raised my hand and next thing I knew I was standing in front of everyone and being asked to lead the class. I was so confused at first that he called someone else forward and they led the class thru a yoga session. SO, if you don’t want to teach, don’t raise your hand!
To make a reservation, email thaimonkchat@yahoo.com or you can call or stop by in person.
Sadly we had to deal with Mara’s first love and first heartbreak all in a single day. Her name is MaeKwan and she’s an Asian Elephant that Mara got to take care of for the day. Leaving her at the end of the day was such heartbreak for Mara and she refused to leave and couldn’t stop hugging her.
And that pretty much sums up the day.
Once again, I lack the adjectives to fully describe our day at the Patara Elephant Farm. Amazing. Educational. Incredible. And dare I say that this day will have a lasting impact on my kids.
They picked us up at our house, then drove about 20 minutes to part of their farm/reserve. There we were able to meet, feed, interact with and even get run over by some mamma and baby elephants.
This little guy was so playful and rammed into me a few times. Stepped on my toe too but it didn’t hurt.
We even got to interact with a baby elephant that was only 6 days old. So. Freaking. Cute!
After meeting these guys, we drove about 5 minutes to the main event. We started with a presentation by the owner about elephants, conservation, their mission at Patara, and some of the realities of the elephant population. He gave a great talk that was neither preachy or dramatic but set a great tone for the day and made what we were about to experience even more meaningful. It also made me regret going to the Maesa Elephant Camp which I’d already had mixed feelings about.
After getting our mahout clothes we went to our camp area and got to meet our elephants. (Mahouts are the elephant caretakers. At Patara, these guys are from the Karen hilltribe and the women of the community make these shirts and riding pants.)
First up was learning how to tell what mood they were in, how to approach them and how to make friends with them (Hint: have lots of sugarcane). We then fed them and learned their names and some Thai words to communicate with them.
Meeting and feeding MaeKwan. You can stick the sugar cane way back into the elephant’s mouth.Meeting and feeding MaeBonChon
Then we learned how to check their health. We learned to inspect dirt marks on each side of them (to make sure they’re sleeping evenly on both sides), checking their toenails for sweat (they only sweat thru their toenails), check the tear marks under their eyes and of course, the ins and outs of checking their poop. How many poops? Color? Size of fibers inside the poop? Smell? Squeezing it to make sure it holds moisture. Yeah, seriously. But it is an important part of taking care of them and really can tell you (well, them) a lot.
Hmmm, elephant poo
After we checked to make sure they were healthy, it was time to clean them off. This entailed whacking them with bunches of leaves to remove the dirt they blow over themselves. Then we walked them to the shower hose and hosed them down.
Brushing dirt off MaeKwan (she gets to eat the leaves when we’re done)Taking MaeKwan for a walkBeckett hosing MaeBonChon down
Next up was learning how to mount our elephants and ride them bareback, mahout-style. Chuck got on using the trunk to hoist himself up and I mounted mine by using its right front leg. Somehow it seems a long way down when you’re sitting up there. And with only a little rope to hold onto behind you, it was actually kind of scary at first.
We rode them for 45 minutes out of camp, up a muddy, steep hill and down the other side. Eventually we rode them along the road (what a treat for the drivers driving by) then down another muddy hill to the waterfall. I have to say, riding an elephant is EXHAUSTING! You’re trying to hold your legs up over its ears while balancing as its climbing up and down (and ripping various plants out of the ground to eat while its walking) all while holding onto a rope behind your body.
It was made tougher because I had Beckett in front sitting on the elephant’s head and he was holding onto my legs and nothing else. If the elephant dipped her head and he wasn’t holding onto me well, he would’ve slid down her trunk like a giant slide. So I’m holding on for dear life to him in front and the rope behind so we both didn’t fall off. After a while my legs started to tremble so I had to shift position which made it easier to maintain my balance.
Despite all this, at one point the elephant dipped to the side and turned its head which caused me to start to fall off sideways. A quick yell for help and the mahout came to my rescue and hoisted me back on top.
Once we were almost to the waterfall, Beck got off and walked because he was too tired of holding onto me. It was MUCH easier to ride after he got off, however, everyone seemed so worn out when we arrived at the camp!
Despite all that, it was such a cool experience. The scenery we went thru was gorgeous and the elephants can handle hills and mud much better than I can.
Chuck mounting MaeKwan via the trunk
I’m on an elephant!
Hello down there…So beautiful
Luckily when we arrived at the waterfall it was time for lunch. I gorged myself on fried chicken, coconut and other yummy things.
After lunch, we changed into our bathing suits and bathed the elephants in the water. The elephants seemed to love being in the water and were lounging around as we scrubbed them down.
Scrub a dub dub, 8 elephants in a tub
Then it was time for some group photos where we got sprayed by the elephants. I must say that I loved this part!
One of the highlights of the day for me
Sadly, our day with the elephants came to a close and after a brief final ride, it was time to say goodbye. As a parent, this part was heartbreaking to watch. Mara refused to take off her mahout clothes, kept hugging MaeKwan and kept saying she wouldn’t leave. Beckett then gave MaeBonChon a goodbye pat and burst into tears. Both kids had to be led away and Chuck had to carry Beckett and put him in the car. He proceeded to sob the entire ride home.
Goodbye my friend
To say that this experience had a big impact on them is an understatement. We didn’t just see elephants like you do in a zoo or feed them in passing. We got to know them a bit, earned their trust and spent a day helping these gentle creatures.
Mara said her favorite animal is now an elephant and I hope that she carries a little piece of this experience and her love of animals for the rest of her life.
Logistics: Patara Elephant Farm has earned its ranking as the #1 activity in Chiang Mai on TripAdvisor. The work they’re doing is awesome and if you’re ever looking to support an animal charity, please support them. Its a very pricey day out but money well spent.
The normal price for this program is 5,800 Baht per person ($190). However I read a blog post elsewhere about a a cheaper option (4,200 Baht pp) where 2 people share 1 elephant instead of everyone getting their own. I doubt adults can do this (each adult needs their own) but if you have young kids, this is the way to go. I’m kind of glad each kid didn’t have their own elephant as I think they got more out of it by sharing one with mom or dad.
I’m also so happy our kids were old enough to enjoy this activity (Beck is 7 and Mara is nearly 9). I actually wouldn’t take kids much younger than this although I know some do and have a great day.
Some advice:
– I’d recommend wearing light long pants. They do give you mahout clothes to put over your clothes but I wore capris and their pants were short on me (darn long legs 🙂 ) and I got chafed while riding the elephant. If you’re petite, you should be fine, but if not, longer pants are probably better. Chuck wore shorts and was fine though so long pants aren’t necessary.
– They take photos and videos all day (our CD had 981 photos from our whole group) so you really don’t need to bring your own. They give it to you for free at the end of the day.
– Take or wear a bathing suit and bring a towel. They move your bags for you while you’re riding the elephant and there are changing rooms at the waterfall so you can change there. After bathing them, you have the chance to towel off and change back into regular clothes. I had strap-on water shoes which were nice to have in the water (there are some rocks in there) but Chuck and the kids went in barefoot and were fine (flip flops in there isn’t a good idea).
– They provide water throughout, there is access to a bathroom except during the ride and you’re provided with a big lunch so no need to bring much unless you have allergies or need snacks frequently.
– Sunscreen and bug repellent is a good idea as well.
