spiders from mars

As our time in Thailand winds down we've found ourselves in a few places that, at least for us, were off the beaten path... or at least off the beach. And this has meant both the kids and the parentals have had a taste of something different.

back to the jungle

After a much anticipated visit from Buddy and Girl's grandparents on one of Thailand's busiest islands, we are now drowning our sorrows with a good dose of hiking and exploring Khao Sok National Park. We have been lucky to have had visits with friends and family during our trip and it always takes a few days to regroup. With an epic day traveling to our guesthouse at the gates of the park, we were able to talk about homesickness and all of our friends and family at home. Today we woke up ready to hit the trail. It is extremely humid and hot here, possibly one of the hottest places we have been. But who really knows, it is all starting to blur. Add in zero wind and the constant buzzing of what has to be millions of cicadas and that is the scene of our hike.

home is wherever i'm with you

 

We are currently into the groove of school and beach, intermixed with delicious cheap food. Which makes it seem like there is nothing really to blog about. But hey, maybe you are interested in what $15 a night gets you on a chilled out Thai Island? This place has no pulse, just good vibes and that suits us in-bed-by-eight-ers quite well.

island living

Picture a tiny tropical island with no cars or even roads, limited power, a few small resorts (with huts), beautiful beaches with just a few people - mostly Swedish families - and the best beachcombing ever. You need a speedboat, longtail and jump onto the beach to get there. The lizards were huge and we made some great friends. Here's Koh Bulone Lae...

glimmer lantern glimmer

In mid-November our school in Canada celebrates Martinmas with evening lantern walks in each of our children's classes. I have to say that I really missed that tradition this year. But in late November we stumbled upon Chiang Mai's lantern festival. Soon we were spotting lanterns on all of our walks throughout the city - lanterns hanging, being carried, floating down the river and lifting up into the sky. It felt like a little connection to home.

a day with the elephants

Being with elephants was something our whole family wanted to do on our trip this year, but we had some concerns about where to do that and how to reconcile the sadness we feel for caged animals. Thankfully our friends found us the perfect place to visit. The Elephant Nature Park was founded by a Thai woman with a passion and love for elephants named Sangduen Chailert (Lek). She has been named Asian Hero of the year and her work has been recognized by the Smithsonian and beyond. This beautiful property of over 300 acres was donated by a man from Texas who was so impressed by her work at her former rescue, Elephant Heaven. At ENP elephants are not chained up, are free to roam and no violence is used in their keeping. Most of the elephants are female and are leftover from the now illegal logging industry in Thailand. Some were blind, deformed or victims of beatings, broken bones or landmines. We learned so much on our day at the park - some of it sad and most of it absolutely breathtaking.

sweaty old friends

We have ended up in Chiang Mai at the same time as some of our great friends from home and have plans to explore a few places in northern Thailand together. It is so great to be with people who really love you when you are sweating like a beast. We must be drinking at least 10 litres of water/family/day. It is unbelievable the feeling of constantly being wet with sweat. As we talked today we came up with many terms for all of the areas that we were sweating from and maybe I'll just leave the rest to your imagination.

With our sweaty old friends we checked out the first day of the Thailand International Balloon Festival at a local golf course. The large green space meant the kids could run, and move. We participated in some crafts, watched balloons, used faulty trampolines, ate, danced and I even won a free night in a fancy hotel here, and we have babysitters!

Needless to say we are tired, so please enjoy a few photos from today. By the way if we look cool, we aren't, the sweat is always on.