Photo Friday

~Every Friday, I will post a picture from our life.  Enjoy!~

Patara Elephant Farm, Chiang Mai, Thailand, April 2011

Photo Friday

** Every Friday, I will post a picture from our life.  Enjoy!!!**

 

Sunset on Kata Noi Beach, Phuket, Thailand, April 2011

Photo Friday

*** Every Friday, I will post a picture from our life. Enjoy!!! ***

 

Teaching Sarah to smell the flowers, Bangkok, Thailand, March 2011

Photo Friday

** Every Friday I will post a picture from our life.  Enjoy!!**

At the waterfall, Patara Elephant Farm, Chiang Mai, Thailand, March 2011



Photo Friday

** Every Friday, I will post a picture from our life. Enjoy!**

Giving Boon Pak a bath, Patara Elephant Farm, Chiang Mai, Thailand, April 2011

Photo Friday, Intro and week 1

A dear friend of mine has a wonderful blog and posts a picture from their travels every Sunday.  I've been drinking in her photos all year and have marveled at her talent. So much that I've decided to embark on my own project...   Photo Friday.  I want this to be a weekly thing throughout 2012 as a way to remember some of the more interesting things we've done in the 11 years of being the Oliver family. Here's the deal...  every Friday I'm going to head to my local random number generator and have it pick a number.  Easy-peasy since I have photos all named by their photo number.  HA!  Of course, you'll get an anecdote with whatever photo happens to be posted.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Without further ado...    week 1 of Photo Friday.  DSC01832:

Tiger Kingdom, Chiang Mai, Thailand, March 2011

Yes, that is a real tiger.  Yes, those are my daughters in there with the tiger.  Yes, they still have all their fingers and toes.  This was from our trip to Thailand last year and was the first photos taken of the girls at Tiger Kingdom.

Thailand: The Shores of Serenity

With Chaing Mai in the rearview mirror, we hopped a plane to the largest island in Thailand, Phuket.  Doing some research, Ronnie and I decided it was more important to have a quiet resort right on the beach.  Again, the Lady Draggins came through with some fantastic suggestions and we settled on the Kathatani Beach Resort on Kata Noi Beach. 

This area of Thailand had been inundated with rain over the previous week, and we landed to grey skies and a steady drizzle.  But no matter, because we are believers that a rainy day at the beach beats a sunny day at home any day of the week.  The first day, we just explored our hotel and played on the beach while trying to get an alternative plan together for the next few days.  

Thursday brought some more cloudy skies, but the rain had pretty much stopped.  Ronnie and I discovered the hotel offered cooking classes and the girls were begging to go to the Kids Club.  Perfect!    Even better was when we showed up for the class, it was a class for just the two of us as the other couple had dropped out.  So our class wound up being private Thai cooking lessons.  We learned about the different ingredients, how to prep everything, and prepared a four course meal.  By the time we were done, we were stuffed to the gills. 

The sun decided to start peaking out, so we headed to grab the girls and go for the pool to play for a few hours.  We finally headed in to get cleaned up for dinner - not that I could eat another bite.  We went into the Kata Beach to eat at a local restaurant and explore the market there.  Unfortunately for them, we had been to Chiang Mai and knew what things should cost in Thailand.  There was about a 50% markup on pricing there.  But darting down a side alley, we found the one thing we couldn't find in Chiang Mai - sterling silverware.  We were shopped- and walked-out and decided to head back to the hotel, as we had an early morning the next morning so we could head to Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee) Island. 

Friday morning, we caught a speedboat to Phi-Phi and the surrounding islands.  Talk about beautiful!  We hit all the usual sightseeing spots.  Maya Bay, where the beach was filmed was too much fun.  While swimming, a group of Korean vacationers swarmed the girls.  Luckily they are used to that sort of thing.  Ronnie and I were joking that they can now make a stir wherever they go in the world. 

We continued our trip with island hopping, snorkeling, and a nap on the beach (well, at least I got a nap on the beach).  By the time we got back to our hotel, we were wiped out and unfortunately had to pack for our trip home. 

Our trip to Thailand came to an end way too quickly.  All I can say is if you get a chance to go, GO!   From a bustling megacity, to the artsy fartsy north, and down to the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, Thailand is a wonderful place to experience and one that we will never forget. 

Thailand: The Rose of the North

After our quick trip (long layover?) in Bangkok, we got on the road to Chiang Mai.  We really lucked out with some great travel tips from some of the other families at Osan.  One of them paying off with the hotel in Chiang Mai.  There aren't enough adjectives to describe how utterly fantastic Yaang Come is.  

View from our front door

Then again, there aren't enough for Chiang Mai either.  It is such a vibrant city with a laid-back vibe.  Over breakfast, we decided to hire a car for the day and tour some of the sites around town.  First up: Tiger Kingdom.  A friend of ours recommended heading there if we had time - and I'm really glad we made time.  The draw of Tiger Kingdom is that you get to go in the enclosure and touch the tigers and take all sorts of pictures.  The whole family went to the baby tigers.  One of them was loving on Sarah, laying all over her and even licked her toes when she yawned.  Of course, that's not necessarily a good idea, so they straightened the tiger up quickly.  After we got done with the baby tigers, Ronnie and I went in with the 2 year old tigers. 

Left: the tiger laying on Sarah; Right: our family photo op

After Tiger Kingdom, we wanted to head to one of the many waterfalls Chiang Mai has in the area.  We visited Mae Sa waterfall. The hike was relatively easy, we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather or a more beautiful area.

After a good hike into the 8th fall, we headed back to our driver and decided to check out the silver factory in San Kamphaeng.  San Kamphaeng has a lot of artisan showrooms and have the factory set up where you can see how they make everything.  First up was the silver factory. The girls were enthralled with watching the workers make the different items.  They were working on Pandora bracelet beads that day, and the girls had to be peeled away.  We also checked out the silk factory that was nearby.  Again, the girls were amazed by the silk worms, cocoons and how they wove the silk by hand.  It was starting to get late, so we headed back to our hotel to rest up a little. 

Left: watching them make molds for silver beads; Right: the silk weavers.

After a quick nap and a change of clothes, we headed out around town.  We headed to Wua Lai road to check out some of the silver stores there and then walked along the Old City Wall.  The Old City was set in a perfect square with the walls oriented to the cardinal points.  Then they dug a moat around the city and people would enter Chiang Mai after crossing the moats on bamboo bridges which could be withdrawn at night.   Eventually, we hailed a tuk-tuk and set off for the Night Market area. 

We were there early so we could grab some dinner and watch the set up.  As we ate dinner, it was amazing to watch the place come alive.  There were trinkets and clothing, fabrics and food.  So much to look at and just fun to get out and barter.  We picked up a few items and headed back as we had a big day planned for the next day. 

Left: Holly and Sarah's favorite motorcycle; Right: the South Gate

Left: the girls at the Old City wall; Right: the Night Market

We woke up early Tuesday morning, as we were getting picked up to spend the day at Patara Elephant Farm.  Yet again I am left speechless for the experience we had with the elephants and the staff of Patara.  We were able to meet up with our friends JoAan and Jason, who were also on "holiday" in Thailand after the TDY.  My elephant, Mae Com, is a 33 year old female who had a mind of her own, but was extremely sweet with the girls.  Ronnie's elephant, Boom Pak, is a 19 year old male.  We fed them, bathed them, took them for a walk, fed them some more, and walked them some more.  It was a once in a lifetime experience and one that I would do again if I ever got the opportunity.

Left:  Ronnie and Holly meeting the babies: Right: Us and our elephants

To cap off our time in Chiang Mai, Ronnie and I arranged for a sitter through our hotel so we could have some time on our own to explore the city.   The girls snuggled in and watched a movie while we headed to the market.  Ronnie and I walked around, bartered for goods, and got a fruit smoothie.  I took full advantage of the 70 Bhat 30 minute foot massages ($2.30) while Ronnie looked for a shirt.  I was spent from our day so we retired to bed early. 

Our last morning in Chiang Mai was bitter sweet.  Ronnie took the girls swimming for a bit after breakfast while I finished packing up.  Finally, the time had come to head to the airport.  The staff at the hotel was so incredibly sweet and the girls were sad to say goodbye.  One of their favorite girls even came with us to the airport to help out and give the girls big hugs.  But we had to be on our way to other parts of Thailand; namely Phuket and Kata Noi.

Left: the market; Right: Saying goodbye at the airport.

Thailand: The City of Angels

Our trip to Thailand was just too big to fit into one post.  I decided to divide it into separate posts based on the city we were in. 

The girls and I left Korea and its 20 degree weather last Saturday morning.  They were too cute and so excited to go see daddy.  Before we knew it, we were on the plane heading south.  The flight was uneventful, though I will say traveling on a budget airline is about the same anywhere you are in the world.  We landed in Bangkok around 2 pm local, gathered our bags, and headed off to find Ronnie, who had arrived about 30 minutes before us from Udon Thani.  After a quick snack and a wonderful fruit smoothie, we hailed a cab and got on our way to the hotel.

Zipping through town, I just stared out the windows.  Everywhere I looked was a study in contrasts: small shacks in the shadows of tall apartment buildings; tuk-tuks running beside traditional taxis; small family farms followed by large fields.  In researching Bangkok, I found that its known as Krung Thep for short, or City of Angels.  It's a fairly large city with about 9 million people. 

Once we arrived at our hotel, we were checked in and promptly escorted to our room.  The girls had a lot of energy to get out of them, as we had been traveling since they woke up, so we decided to let them go swimming before dinner.  We all threw on our suits and headed for the pool.   The Marriott has a great layout, with a nice big pool and beautiful gardens surrounding it.  I couldn't get over how green everything was already.  Oh, and yes, I had to go put my toes in the grass and smell all the flowers.   Soon enough it was time to find some supper and head to bed.

Left: view of the river from the hotel; Right: view from our room

As we thought they would be, the girls were up bright and early on Sunday morning.  We discussed going on a tour to the floating markets, but decided we would just find our own way that day.  Good thing too!  While exploring the dock after breakfast, we struck up a conversation with the hotel guard.  The hotel had a river shuttle to a downtown area that we could take, but he asked what we were wanting to do.  When we told him we wanted to just walk around Bangkok and see some sights, he suggested we hire a longtail for a few hours and tour the canals.  We agreed wholeheartedly.  He set it up for us while we headed to the room and got everything ready to go.  Within the hour we were on our way.

Our Longtail

Our longtail took us on a two hour tour through the canals in Bangkok, to a Snake Farm/Petting Zoo, and then dropped us off near the Grand Palace.  We were on our way to the Grand Palace when stopped by a guy saying it was "closed."  Yeah, we got taken by the Bangkok tourist scam, but we went to look at a local Buddhist temple, rather than the large overly tourist temples and got to see a back alley cock fighting group.  Worth the 60 Baht ($2) for me!  I just wish I got a good picture of the cock fighting.  

By the time we decided we were fed up  finished with our alternative tour, it was time to get some lunch.  We decided to eat off the carts near the Grand Palace.  Our meal was fantastic!  The girls got chicken on a stick and Ronnie and I got various curries.  So yummy, and all for under $5.  We headed to the Grand Palace but conscious of the time, we decided to not go in with hundreds of our closest tourist friends.  Instead, we walked around near the grounds and just enjoyed the market.

Left - Holly and Sarah at the Grand Palace; Right - Holly's favorite cart - the fruit cart!

And before we knew it, it was time to hail a cab and head for the airport.  Our stay in Bangkok was about 24 hours, a little too quick but enough time to see some fun things.  Next up: Chiang Mai!

How exciting.. . a pink and a purple seat!