Thailand, Part 2

(published November 9th, 2024)

Day 6, continued: Kung (our driver, who is LDS and served a mission in St. George) hooked us up with great seats at a cool dinner show showcasing Thai music and dancing

Day 7: Mae Tang River are in Chiang Mai for an elephant reserve and river rafting (actually, just floating and letting locals on the riverbanks spray us with water), Thai hot pot restaurant with Kung and his wife for dinner, and walking street (night market)

Day 8 (Sunday): Walking around Chiang Mai to see the old city wall and local temples and eat, afternoon church, more walking street, then driving back to P-lo to drop Cat off at her school. It was a quick goodbye, and it helped knowing that she would be home 5 weeks later.

Day 9: Ben and I flew from Phitsanulok to Bangkok and spent the day touring some of the major tempels there: Wat Traimit, Wat Pho (home of the enormous reclining Buddha), and the Grand Palace (home of the Emerald Buddha); shopping for a gong; then an amazing dinner on a river cruise and a quick stop at an incredible mall with everything from Hermes and Dior to its own night market before going to the airport.

(the iconic Angkor Wat is blurred out in the background)

Day 10: Travel home by way of a long layover in Seoul, during which we stopped at Bukchon Hanok Village, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and a cool shopping district with yummy street food.

Day 11: Home! Andy and Amy took care of the kids at their house for the first few days we were gone, then Reed and Jen came to our house to take care of them for the rest of the trip. They were awesome and the kids had a great time while we were gone (but were ready for us to come home, which was nice).