Some Buddha offerings-banana, soda. Very practical. Rather than crosses on side of road there are little Buddha shrines. Body scrub massage like being scoured with Brillo pad. Did everywhere but two places, one of which, was my face. Coffee grounds embedded in nipples definitely a first. After getting the 150-grit treatment there was a relaxing oil massage. Surprisingly skin still intact and super soft. Scouring felt best on my coral scrape of over 5 wks ago. Talk about some potent poison. Stung like a beast for 30 hrs, then been itchy, raised hive-like-scars the rest. By the looks of it I've got another month at least of itch. Coral 1, Me 0
Many apply gold leaf for merit-making & to honor the Buddha
Doi Suthep is a mountain about 15 km from Chiang Mai. Near its summit (5,250 ft) is a Buddhist shrine, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. We hired a songthaew (aka truck taxi) to take us there and back. The truck taxi cost less than $15 for ~3 hour excursion...I love Thailand.
Eva tuckered out after our winding drive up the mountain
We took the tram up so we didn't have to drag our lazy selves up 309 stairs,because we were exhausted from traveling with 5 little people, because we knew it is what the children would like best. We are thoughtful like that.
At the top of the stairs, we didn't have to climb
You see stairs, but I fondly see those water bottles. More on that some other time.
Monks Worshipping
Some interesting monk facts: • Monkhood is so respected that it comes just below royalty in the social hierarchy. • Monks are prohibited to touch a woman or receive anything directly from her. Women should avoid sitting near a monk and if she wants to give him something, she needs to use a middle-man or place the item nearby for him to pick up. • Monks make a daily alms round shortly after dawn in search of their daily meal. Monks are allowed to eat only food that has been given to them and they must eat it before noon. • Monks shave their head on the day of the full moon.
Monks Chanting
Peter, Josiah, Caleb, Isaac, Rachel, Florence, Eva
Signing a large banner
Eva was in heaven with all the shoes and no, those aren't ours
Some strangers showed interest in Eva, causing her to cling to Caleb
Nothing like big brothers to make you feel safe
This is the first & only fat Buddha we saw
Worn out after all the excitement. About 30 minutes earlier, she was flailing on the ground throwing a tantrum and about 28 minutes ago she was covered in chocolate from the ice cream we used to appease her.
Thankfully, Josiah didn't get sick, even though the rode twisted and turned a lot. Must be the huge windows.
View of Chiang Mai from the mountain. It was very smokey, because they burn their fields.
The next day we spent lounging at the hotel, so the children decided to brave the pool once again. To put it in perspective, after living on our island paradise, even the water in Hawai'i is too cold.
Caleb contemplating getting in
Some Coaxing
Short-lived
Isaac
Caleb's 2nd Attempt
Once in the water, those evasive measures don't work
Josiah Jumps
Isaac
Rachel
Butt Burner Game
Resorting to jumping jacks to get warm enough to gather the courage to enter the water again
Overnight train to Chiang Mai awesome. Super slow and rocky whole way. Didn't sleep good, because share with Eva, but bed on train actually softer than all other beds!! Night market in Chiang Mai the best. Weather more comfy. Pool here freezing. Two dive-ins all can handle.
On our third hotel (4 if count train) and truly beds like sleeping on stone. Putting damper on experience. :( Finally, asked about bed topper and hopefully is thicker than 2 cm! Need another massage due to kink in neck from awful bed. Food all delicious. 3 more days near CM and then start drive south. ily
After getting filthy at the JJ market, we headed back to our Bangkok hotel on the SkyTrain. Not only did the Ascott hold our luggage for us, even though we had checked out, but they let us use the gym showers, too. After freshening up we rushed to the Hualamphong Train Station to catch the overnight express to Chiang Mai. We made it just in time to grab some food and climb on the train. When I purchased the tickets they didn't have enough 1st class tickets for us all, so Peter's ticket was for 2nd class. Thankfully, the porter was nice and let us squeeze into the 1st class cabins and didn't banish Peter to 2nd class (communal area). Frankly, the one left with all the kids would have had it the hardest. I'm glad he had mercy on me Peter. We were able to open the door to join the two cabins, so we fit quite comfortably. We doubled up on each of the beds, except for Peter had his own. Talk about 2nd class citizen moving up. While eating our dinner, Rachel choked on a french fry. She put her finger down her throat, which caused her to gag, which caused her to free her wind-pipe. She was about to start crying and I said, "Rachel, you did the right thing! That was so smart." Her frown turned into a beaming smile and she went to each family member and announced, "I did the right thing!"
Leaving Bangkok
Notice the sink
Rachel's plan to catch a pesky fly
After our 13 hour journey, we arrived in Chiang Mai on a beautiful morning. Our hotel, Shewe Wana, was less than 5 minutes away and even though it was in the middle of the city, it was a quiet oasis.
Peter & Eva
Watching the fish
The breakfasts here were our favorites.
Hot Cocoa with a bunny face
Even for the adults
The only real negative about the hotel were the beds...they brought hard to a new level. The last two nights I had a mattress topper, which really was just a blanket under the sheet. Every centimeter of padding helps? However, since all the beds in Thailand were hard, I'd say it was a wonderful place to stay.
Stone Bed
Out of the mouth of babes
The hotel had the most delicious homemade soaps, shampoo, and body wash
(honey & turmeric, black rice, lemon grass, and many more)
Tuk-tuk taxi...yes we all fit!
EIGHT with the driver.
Songthaew Taxis (truck with covered benches in the back)
I wish I could say it was good planning on my part, but it was pure luck that we were both in Bangkok & Chiang Mai for their weekend markets. Yay, for the stars aligning!
On our way to Chiang Mai's Night Market
The hotel provided a luxury tuk-tuk as a free shuttle to the market
Check out the yellow VW Beetle with huge wheels
Chiang Mai's night market was wonderful. The weather was delightful, the atmosphere was relaxed, and the entertainment was, well entertaining.
Rachel fell asleep minutes after arriving
There were many performers and interestingly lots of them were blind.
One of the groups with blind performers, except for the 2nd person
Blind Band Clip
Another reason to love these taxis...no need to collapse the stroller with sleeping child and plethora of souvenirs
Josiah & Caleb with MOMO
Back story on this picture: In 2007, Isaac (7) got angry at Caleb and called him a "Momo". Caleb said very calm, "Isaac don't call me that." Muttering under his breath, Isaac left the room. Caleb followed him imploring in a sweet little voice, "Hey don't be angry at me. I'm only four. I'm not as tall as you, so don't be angry at me!" Then Isaac said, "Well, don't be angry at me!" To which Caleb replied, "I'm not angry at you." Isaac said surprised, "Oh. Well, I'm not angry at you," and they continued to play together. I wrote about this in my journal years ago, not realizing what a part Momo would have in our lives. Anyway, that is when Momo was born. He became their imaginary scapegoat. Many games the children play, Momo is the honorary idiot, buffoon or loser, and the cause of many sudden fits of giggles. So you can imagine our delight when we found MOMO at some random Thai restaurant. I would have never guessed he was a yellow baby bear.
Eva, Rachel, & Josiah
Watching on our mini-portable DVD player, since the hotel's DVD player doesn't work with our "foreign" DVDs.
Kids trying to overthrow the Master, with no luck. I still reign supreme at "Ticket to Ride". Eat your heart out kiddies. Actually, I feel loads of guilt when I crush them, but they want me to do my best.
When I beat Peter I feel awesome, equally bad.
