The trip with the Dermans, Bergers, Tietals and one Livingston was
really fun (and exhausting!). I took Lee and Laura on a fun bike trip
through Ayutthaya and saw all the wonderful ruins. Then met up with
the West coast dermans and we went to the grand palace and Wat Pho
(but not enough time for massages :( )
Then we hopped on a night train to Bangkok and enjoyed a family
dinner, some beers and some pq time (pointed questions). After
arriving in chiang mai, t and I went to pack and left the family to
explore the city before meeting for a wonderful New Years Eve dinner
at the house where it literally took four hours for our dinner!!! But
it kept us up til 12 and we released the hot air laterns into the air
to celebrate.
Then the family all did a cooking class while T and I
kept on moving. Then I drove us all up to Pai (about 3 hours
northwest) where we made in time to see a beautiful sunset at the Pai
canyon before heading to our guest house which and an evening dip in
the hot springs.
The next day we played around in Pai, Michelle, Emma
and I did yoga, t went shopping, the adults went for a hike. Then we
went to a spring pool where we played frisbee sunned and hung out
before seeing a small waterfall on our way to our next stop in the
golden triangle. We left late from Pai but managed to end up at a
mountain view point right at sunset where you could see layers of
mountains and an auburn sky. The rest of the drive in the dark to
small Cave Lodge guest house was fun and added a little more
excitement.
We woke up in a beautiful cliff side guest house with a history that
we couldn't have even fathomed (we read the owners autobiography
sporadically though the rest of the trip). We organized a mountain
hike and hiked up on a ridge through a few valley to a hill tribe
village where we stayed the night. The village was quaint and
peaceful although the barn animals beneath our house were a little
noisy. Not too much tourism but the village certainly benefited from
visitors and selling of their textile handicrafts. Villagers were
friends, our host and guide were sweet and informative. The next
morning we hiked back by a river back to our lodge. We made it in
time for a quick kayaking trip.
The next day we headed back to Chiang Mai with a stop at a hill tribe
school where we donated some sports equipment and were challenge to
friendly game of volleyball. The game was close but in the end the
home team won.
Once back in Chiang Mai we relaxed a little, went on a hike up a doi
suthep before a yummy feast prepared by the Emma and Michelle with
some parental help of tacos.
We then flew to the beach and had a quick trip at Khao lak. The
bungalows were beautiful as was the beach and turquoise water. The
trip gave me time to get to know everyone a little better, it was a
pleasure to have had so much time with my family and girlfriend!
Bye for now
