Chiang Mai, Thailand



After leaving Seattle and crossing the Pacific, we enjoyed a nice week with our supervisors at their home in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  We had the opportunity to both recoup from jet lag a bit (yay for three days of 2:30 a.m. wake ups for the toddler -- and therefore at least one adult!) and to start learning new programs and duties for our new jobs.  Since our supervisors are the same wonderful couple who supervised us in Indonesia, it was like visiting family for a week.  Edward enjoyed splashing in their fish pond, though he wouldn't keep his hands or feet still quite long enough for the fishies to come nibble on his fingers or toes.  (We paid about $15 for fish to nibble on our feet at a spa one time... We had 9 hours to kill in the Singapore airport.  And while there's a lot to do there, on an overnight layover when all the shops are closed you just start embracing the strange types of entertainment available at 2:00 a.m.  Like a fish spa...)

 

Edward wasted no time stealing hearts and attention in Thailand. When we visited a Thai church, he quickly made friends and enjoyed hanging out with whomever would have him.  (There were a lot of willing, smiley, giggling ladies!)



 

We enjoyed some AWESOME Thai food, and also got to be tourists for a bit. The rest of these pictures are from a visit to a mountaintop temple.  Up first:  A street-side warning to anyone who was thinking about droppin' some ABCs:

 

There were A LOT of stairs to reach the top.  A LOT.  If you look very closely, you might see the top WAY up there:

 

Faint with hunger just a quarter (maybe) of the way up, we gained nourishment and energy by munching on some delicious grilled corn.  (Or, "jagung bakar", as we called it in Indo.)

 

A close-up of the shiny dragon scales.

 

Edward had a really tough ride all the way to the top.

Family photo op at the top.  There's a bit of a haze between our altitude and the city below.

Cool bells.

I just liked the colorfulness of this tree's flowers and the ribbons tied to it.

Temples, temples everywhere.

Pictures just don't do justice!  Everywhere you looked inside this temple area was SHINY!

One of many places to leave a monetary offering.

More shiny.

 

Another of many places to leave an offering.  Below, there were candles and matches, so you could drip hot wax onto the board and then stick coins to it.