Colorful Balls

Last Saturday was National Kids Day. We weren't on top of that news until a friend warned us on the way out the door on the way to the mall. Uh oh. We were going to see a movie and that was actually not too crowded but on the way up the escalator, we looked down to see they had created a massive, colorful ball bit on the bottom floor full of kids going nuts. Naturally, Eliana wanted to go so she got her chance after the movie. At any rate, this ball put is a good summation of the malls here: crowded, chaotic, and colorful. And to Eliana's credit, she got right in there...

Rafting in Chiang Mai

Well, 4 months after it happened, I open up my email to find that we finally received the pictures from the whitewater rafting trip Andrew and I took during our Labor Day trip to Chiang Mai. We went down the River Ping (Mae Nam Ping) in what were 4+/5 rapids (whatever that means...I was a first timer) due to it being the rainy season.

Anyway, it was a great time. I fell into the water both voluntarily and involuntarily. Most of the heavy lifting was done by our guide who was of Karen descent and from nearby. As you can see the from the pictures, the hillsides surrounding the river were quite lush. We were told they grow coffee there. Thailand actually produces quite a bit of coffee but they don't seem to export it much.

Koh Samui

As we previously mentioned in the last post, we spent a beautiful Christmas weekend in Koh Samui, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. Some flights go there directly, but two airlines use the airport exclusively and therefore charge a premium to get there. So instead, we tried the plans-to-bus-to-boat route.

 

Was the money saved worth the trouble? Who really knows but the end result was well worth it. For 3+ glorious days, we had our own teak house right on our own beach with crystal clear water, views of the islands across the way, a tropical plant-filled garden and all of the other trappings of paradise.

 

 

 

 

When not enjoying our idyllic accommodations, we found other activities to do such as hitting the local towns for their walking streets full of food vendors.

Had dinner literally on the beach and released paper lanterns into the night sky.

Went to other beaches to see how the other sides of the island looked.

 

Went for morning beach walks and took pictures of ourselves.

Went 4x4ing to see elephants and a jungle waterfall.

Went to the pool.

 

 

On that note, that wraps up a great Xmas weekend.