Thailand

We recently got back from our first trip into Asia, where we visited Thailand for 8 days, and it was absolutely incredible!  We began our trip in the capital city of Bangkok.  Being the same size as New York City, there was lots to explore in this new city!  We began our tour by visiting the Grand Palace and Wat Prakaew.  The Grand Palace, built 150 years ago, has been home to the Thai royalty up until recently.  The architecture was a beautiful blend of Thai and European styles.  After seeing the outside of the palace, we were able to enter Wat Prakaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  Inside the temple, the Emerald Buddha stands at 26 inches tall and is carved from a single jade stone.  The king changes the cloak of the Buddha three times per year according to the season: winter, summer, and rainy.  Although small, the Emerald Buddha was a beautiful site to see.

Ready to see Bangkok.

The Grand Palace.

Wat Prakaew.

Family photo!

Emerald Buddha.

Sisters!

Elsa with the Grand Palace in the background.

Soren man.

The beautiful mix of Thai and European architecture.

Tuk Tuk...a very common mode of transportation.

Hot but having fun!

After visiting the Grand Palace grounds, we visited another temple, Wat Pho.  Housed in this temple is the laying down Buddha, which measures 15 meters high and 46 meters long.  The laying down Buddha is completely covered in gold leaf and the soles of the feet have inlaid mother of pearl.  After visiting Wat Pho, we headed down to the Chao Phraya River, which runs through Bangkok.  We boarded a ferry that took us across the river to Wat Arun, also known as the Temple of Dawn.  The architecture of this temple was astounding.  We then got on a longtail boat that took us through the canals of Bangkok.  Who knew there were canals in Bangkok?!  Our guide referred to it as the Venice of the East.  To get to the canals, we had to take a lock, since the canals sit lower than the river.  While on the river, we saw a water monitor (a huge lizzard/iguana thing) that was sunning itself, we fed catfish (which the kids LOVED), and saw lots of houses and beautiful vegetation.

Laying down Buddha.

Trying to get the whole Buddha in one picture is tough!

Me and my love!

The mother of pearl inlaid into the feet.

Wat Pho.

Sibling love!

Wat Arun.

Love them!

Long tail boat ride!

On the river heading to the canal!

Waiting for the lock to open.

Daddy and his girls.

The water monitor...Soren loved it!

Feeding the catfish.

After our river trip, we walked through the flower market, where we saw lots of beautiful flowers, including the yellow flowers that are often bought and laid in the Temples.  We ended our day with a lovely Thai lunch right on the Chao Phraya River.  We ate Pad Thai and Chicken and Rice to our hearts content.  We headed back to our hotel for a nice afternoon swim and then found some supper that evening.  It was such a fun first day in Thailand!

The yellow flowers offered at the temples.

Beautiful flowers.

Bangkok at night....view from our hotel room.

View from our hotel....on the river.

The next day, we decided to venture off on our own and explore one of the world's largest weekend markets, the Chatuchak Weekend Market.  Open for about 75 years, it has more than 15,000 stalls that covers 35 acres.  The vendors sell clothing, ceramics, furniture, accessories, trinkets, food, and drinks.  We had so much fun wandering up and down the alleyways finding lots of trinkets to buy.  Soren got a scorpion glow in the dark bracelet, a silver elephant, and ceramic fish.  Elsa got a beautiful Thai fan, a wood elephant, and flower.  Kjerstin got an elephant puzzle and elephant sun dress.  And Ryan and I got a Christmas ornament and magnet.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park near the market and then headed back to the hotel for another afternoon swim.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner at our hotel that evening, sitting outside right on the river.  Our time in Bangkok was so fun!

On our way to the weekend market!

Alley way at the weekend market.

Food options at the market.

Ran into this Thai man wearing a Hawkeye shirt....Ryan yelled "Go Hawks!"....he just laughed.  We just had to take a picture!

Lunch in the park!

Back to the hotel after exploring the weekend market.

The next morning, we were off to Phuket Island to meet up with our dear friends, who are currently expats in Budapest.  After arriving at our hotel, we spent the day eating delicious Thai food, trying Durian fruit popsicles (the stinkiest fruit ever...our hotel banned having them in the rooms because they stink so much), then swimming the afternoon away.

Our Phuket hotel.

View of our beach.

The water was astonishing!

Ready to swim!

Twins!

Swimming time!

The girls loving life!

This view never got old!

Our first full day on Phuket Island started off with a delicious breakfast and lots of swimming.  The kids swam at the pool for a while, and when we got bored there, we headed off to the beach.  They built sand castles, dug big holes, and caught the waves.  Our hotel was located in Kata Noi, which is on the southwest part of Phuket Island.  We had access to a beautiful private beach that had such clear, aqua water and sand as soft as a baby's bottom.  Later in the afternoon, we took a trip to the top of a mountain to visit the Phuket Big Buddha.  Sitting 45 meters tall, the Big Buddha statue is made of concrete and covered with Burmese white marble.  We decided to eat supper in Kata Noi town at a little restaurant our hotel driver suggested.  And it did not disappoint.  I could have eaten there every single night!

Beach time!

Body board surfing!

Riding the waves!

Sand fun!

Titus and Kjerstin were such buddies!

Sweet friends!

View from atop the mountain.

Love him!

Big Buddha.

Messages left at the Big Buddha in lots of languages.

More messages.

A happy man!

The next day's big adventure was visiting the elephant sanctuary.  The sanctuary we visited rescues elephants that have been mistreated.  When they are first brought to the sanctuary, the elephant is paired with a human care taker who does everything with the elephant.  They even sleep right next to the elephants.  It was so sweet to watch the interactions between the elephant and their care taker.  You could tell it was like family.  While at the sanctuary, we got to feed the elephants and bath the elephants, which included a mud bath, a rinse, and a shower.  The kids all had a great time, although Kjerstin thought they were a bit scary.  In the evening, the adults got to enjoy a delicious meal at the hotel restaurant, filled with wonderful Thai flavors!

Elephants!!!

This little boy was in heaven!

We saw a baby elephant too!

Feeding!

More feeding!

Family fun!

Mud bath time!

Then came the rinse.

And ended with a shower.

Our hotel room had our own private pool.

Sunset view from our room.

Simply stunning.

The sunsets were amazing.

Crab cake appetizer.

Thai flavored pork neck....so yummy!

Our next day brought a fun morning of Thai cooking!  The wonderful hubbies took the kids swimming so my friend Katelyn and I could go learn a little about Thai cooking.  We began by going to a local market, where we purchased fresh ingredients.  Our instructor taught us how to make our own Pad See Ew, Green Chicken Curry (with homemade green curry sauce), Tom Yum Soup, topped off with Mango Sticky rice.  It was so much fun and we both left stuffed!  After finding all our people on the beach, we decided to head to the local beach and rent some jet skis.  After fun out in the ocean, we found some supper and ended our evening with some delicious rolled up ice cream.  Another fun day!

Cooking class.

Our labor of love....green chicken curry, tom yum soup and sticky rice.

All the benefits of thai ingredients.

Mango coconut sticky rice....who would have thought this could be so incredibly yummy!

More digging!

Hanging out waiting for our turn on the jet ski.

Jet ski!

Beach fun!

Home made ice cream!

Happy girl!

Happy kiddos!

Our last full day on Phuket Island was spent out on a boat exploring caves and the landscape of Thailand.  We boated north into Phang Nga Bay, where our first stop was a mangrove forest.  At each stop, we would load into smaller boats with 2-3 people, so we could paddle into smaller spaces.  After the mangrove forest, we stopped at a cave with stalactites and stalagmites.  Next up was a nice swim in the water off a private island.  We then boated by James Bond Island, famous for being featured in the James Bond movie "The Man with the Golden Gun."  Our final two stops brought us through low caves that opened up into beautiful lagoons.  To end our boat trip, the captain brought out birthday cakes to celebrate our two birthday boys!  It was a perfect way to end our awesome time in Thailand. 

Birthday boy....how is my first born 7?!

So excited!

Beautiful landscape!

So incredible!

Going through the mangrove forest.

Mangrove forest.

Our little boats!

Going in the cave.

Fun cave formations!

A nice swim at the private island.

Low cave!

Daddy and Elsa.

Beautiful view from inside the cave.

James Bond Island.

Me and my mini me!

So fun!

Had to lay down so we didn't bonk our heads!

So low!

Inside the lagoon!

Playing with the flash light!

Captain Elsa!

Captain Soren!

Birthday cake with the birthday boys!

After an amazing week in Thailand, it was time for us to go home.  We loved everything about Thailand....the food, the people, the sights....but most of all the friends who met us there....thanks Fertittas for a great week in Thailand!!!

Such cool escalators at the Bangkok Airport.