Travel to Thailand
On Saturday the 11th, we headed off to SFO for our flights to Thailand and the start of a grand adventure. The flight to Tokyo went well, and then after a few hours delay, the flight to Bangkok took off. Before we knew it we were in Thailand. We took a car from the new Bangkok airport to the old airport to wait a few hours for our Nok Air flight to Phitsanulok. I tried to get us a last minute room at the Amari Airport Hotel, but they were booked due to the protests and pending shutdown in Bangkok. After a few hours of play (for the kids) and rest (for Arne) on the floor, we caught our 6AM flight and arrived bright and early in Phitsanulok.
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| Phitsanulok Airport - what is this old plane? |
Anne (Alex’s bride) and her sister met us at the airport and took us to her uncle’s hotel, the Princess Green (named after his daughter). We spend the day exploring the town, walking around, sleeping and adjusting to Thailand. One of the most notable things was how much everyone adored Liam. They wanted to hold him, to touch him, they talked about him. Our big blond happy baby was a star.
That night we gathered with Anne’s family for a great dinner by the river. Our group was all now in town, my Mom and Bob, my sister Amanda and Carter, Aunt Frances (the mother of the groom), Jim (Frances’ cousin), his son Ben and Ben’s girlfriend, and of course Alex and Anne. Elsa slept through the meal.
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| A combined family dinner |
January 14 - Sukhothai Historical Park
The next morning, Anne's uncle Pong, a judge in Thailand who was on winter break, took us out to Sukhothai Historical Park for a biking adventure. The Sukhothai Historical Park covers the ruins of Sukhothai, capital of the Sukhothai kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries. There are 193 ruins on 70 square kilometers of land. Inside are the remains of the royal palace and 26 temples. We rented bikes and began our tour, heading through the main complex then around to some of the outlying ruins. The bike setup included Arne biking with Liam in the Baby Bjorn and me biking with Elsa in front of me in the kid’s seat.
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| The bike |
After a few hours of biking and exploring ruins, including Elsa climbing a lot of stairs to a Buddha at the top of the hill, we headed back to the main complex. All of a sudden my bike stopped. Elsa’s foot got caught in the front wheel. She cried "my foot is stuck in the bike forever." It was very scary, but we got her foot out and it was only covered in scrapes. Everyone stopped to help, and within minutes the police were there to escort us to the local hospital to have Elsa treated. Her treatment was cleaning and wrapping the wound. They also gave us antibiotics and painkillers. Cost for the treatment - 100 baht (approx. $3). The quality of care was great, and before we knew it we were back with the group and finishing our explorations (for us by car).
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| Elsa's foot - all wrapped up and clean |
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| Liam eating the sticky rice and beans |
That night Anne’s family arranged for us to attend a Chinese auction spectacle. It was an awesome display of fireworks, food and fun. We also stared a joke around “cup” - the word in Thai that means “full stop” or “period” in a sentence. As we left, I picked up for Elsa a pink elephant balloon that stayed with us for the rest of the trip.
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| Chinese Banquet |
January 15 - Khao Kho & Wat Pha Sorn Kaew
Wednesday morning we headed in a different direction up through the Khao Kho district to the Wat Pha Sorn Kaew. Khao Kho has scenic hills and mountains and is home to Wat Pha Sorn Kaew, a spectacular Buddhist temple adorned with over 5 million colorful mosaic tiles and pottery items.
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| Route 12 Rest Stop |
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| Route 12 Rest Stop |
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| Our Guide Uncle Pong |
The ride was along Route 12 - which had a throwback Route 66 style rest stop. After the Route 12 rest stop we headed out to Wat Pha Sorn Kaew. The site was beautiful. It was built recently and is still under construction. The Wat was covered with, as Elsa called the “jewels.” Her favorite were the rainbow jewels. Elsa was able to climb all the steps to the Wat, making it clear her foot injury was not serious, confirmed by Jim (the medical doctor in the group).
After our explorations we headed back to town to visit one of the local Wat’s (Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat) and its famous Buddha, before resting for the big day.
January 16 - The Wedding
The wedding started early, with us getting to the site around 6:30 AM. The start of the ceremony was a blessing by 9 monks. The chanting was riveting, for Elsa and I think everyone else. After the blessing, came the procession. Our family (plus assorted helpers), brought a series of offerings to the brides’ family (helpfully prepared by the bride’s family). Once we arrived, Anne was hiding, and without help Alex had to find her, while everyone tried to keep him away. He found her and then after Anne’s family accepted the dowry, Anne and Alex were married.
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| Our family with the bride and groom. |
Next, Anne and Alex changed into their traditional western outfits, and had a family tea ceremony. Many red packets were received, and they gave cloth elephant gifts to the guests (traditionally this would be towels). Now, the family ceremonies (that about 60 attended) were over and we headed upstairs to the Wedding Banquet. On the way we passed by the life size Anne & Alex cardboard cut-out and other fun photo opportunities. Once inside the hall (seating for over 300) the banquet began with the wedding couple procession and video. Then it was the cutting of the cake, which in this case was the cutting of the cupcakes with a sword. As we ate, there was karaoke and Arne serenaded the couple with our wedding song, Can't Help Falling in Love with You. Elsa slept through the banquet. The events ended around 1, and we headed back to the hotel to rest then explore.
The four of us headed up to the river for some playground time and then a sunset walk along the river. We had fun just hanging out. Phitsanulok is the perfect size city to visit. After the kids went to sleep, I headed out with Amanda and Carter to explore the night bazaar and get my favorite Thai dish - banana crepes for a street vendor. We ended up taking bike taxi home. It was a spectacular day.
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| Sunset by the river |
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| My favorite Thai food - banana crepes from the street vendor |
Early Friday morning our family group (minus Jim and his crowd, who flew out) headed down to Bangkok in a small bus, about a 5 hour drive from Phitsanulok. Another one of Anne's Uncles, the one from Bangkok, Sonmuk, took over leading the group, and we followed the Voxy (Anne's families car) the rest of the trip. At the rest stop for lunch, the string holding Elsa's pink elephant slipped off her wrist and everyone helped us get it down from a very high ceiling. It was great seeing so much of the countryside.
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| In the bus with pink elepahant |
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| No car seats in Thailand |
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| Grand Place Fun |
When we left the Palace, we headed out to our hotel, and due to the protests traffic was bad and it took us several hours to get to our hotel - the Amari (the old BKK airport hotel). It seemed fitting that I would end up actually staying there.
January 18 - Amphawa Floating Market
Saturday morning we headed toward Cha-am, stopping along the way at the Amphawa Floating Market. Amphawa is a village west of Bangkok, close to Samut Songkhram. The market is along the Amphawa Canal, a small tributary of the Mae Khlong River. It was a lot of fun. We had great coconut ice cream from a coconut bowl and then took a boat around the market, getting Pad Thai from another boat. The channels that people lived on in some ways reminded me of the land outside of New Orleans and also of the backwaters of Kerala, India.
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| The floating market |
Then it was a short ride down to the beach. The beach was filled with Scandinavians. There was a Swedish-Thailand Travel Club at our hotel and a Norwegian restaurant near by. Clearly the place to go in the winter. We played in the hotel pool which was on the 17th floor.
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| Poolside in Cha-am |
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| Amazing Seafood Dinner |
January 19 - Cha-am Beach
Cha Am is a district in the southern part of Phetchaburi province. It is a famous beach resort town in Thailand. We had a great morning eating noodles for breakfast, playing games with the pink elephant, hanging out at the beach, playing in the surf, making sand castles and enjoying wonderful local food from the strolling vendors. The chicken was so good, Elsa ate six pieces. I enjoyed trying barbecued eggs.
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| My sandy boy |
That afternoon on the way back to Bangkok, we stopped at the Santorini Park - a modern shopping and amusement center. Elsa had fun exploring, and Liam showed off his walking. He really started walking 2-3 or more steps in Thailand.
Once at the NASA Vegas Hotel in Bangkok, we took the metro to go see the protests and get a T-shirt. The protests were very big and well organized. The people very much want a restart to the government.
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| At the protest |
After retiring to the hotel, I found out our flight home (BKK-NRT) was canceled. What a mess. After 3 hours on the phone, we ended up on a 5:30 AM Delta flight, and the adventure began (with no sleep for Karna, making me very cranky). Delta was great and we made it the Norita airport with no problems, and then after 5 hours of play, Liam fell asleep as we boarded the plane, finally with seats together. The kids slept most of the flight home and then we had MLK Day to recover.
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| Look at all the luggage we brought! |
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| Playing in the BKK Airport |
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| Playing in the NRT Airport |
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| Sleeping both legs of the flight home |
