A Visit from the Parents
Since my parents were already in this part of the world (Africa and now India), they decided that they might as well make a little detour and visit me in between. So they arrived in Bangkok on Feb.18 and came up here to Mission College to spend about a week and a half with me. It was nice to be able to show them around and let them get a sense of what I'm doing here.
We didn't get to do a lot of traveling or sight-seeing while they were here because I was teaching during the week, but on the 2 Sundays, we were able to do a bit. And we were also able to find some time for my dad to make roti and curry!
The first Sunday they were here we went to Khao Yai National Park, only about 45 minutes away. It was a beautiful drive out into the country. It's a really big park with lots to see, but most of all I wanted to see monkeys and elephants. We saw lots of monkeys. In fact, at one view point we got out of the car and left the windows rolled down. While we were eating our picnic lunch, a naughty little monkey came out of the jungle and headed straight for our car. He jumped in through the window, grabbed Andrew's bag of pumpkin seeds and jumped back out! Andrew was very upset about his pumpkin seeds, but the monkey didn't seem to mind. He opened up the package like he'd done it a hundred times before and ate all the pumpkin seeds.
Then the monkey ran across the road to where my mom was holding a bunch of banannas. She managed to rip one off an give it to him before he got the whole bunch. We then jumped into the car, rolled up the windows and escaped the naughty monkey.
I didn't get to see an elephant in the wild in the park as I was hoping, but this was the closest we came to seeing one.....
The park has several waterfalls and trails to hike. We went only to two due to time limit. But Thai waterfalls aren't quite the same as they are in North America - any water running over rocks is considered a waterfall. We were a little disapointed, but it was still fun to hike some of the trails.
My dad, always up for a challege, crossed the stream on a log.
Andrew and I down by the "falls"
On the way home, we did see some elephants in captivity, but it wasn't quite what I had in mind when I said I wanted to see elephants.
Sabbath morning with my parents, overlooking the college grounds
The second Sunday that my parents were here, we got up super early and headed into Bangkok with all their luggage. We dropped it off at a friend's place and then headed to "Muang Boran" - Ancient Siam. It's a huge outdoor museum of sorts that is in the shape of Thailand with various exhibits and buildings in the location where they acutally come from in Thailand. So we got to see "all of Thailand" in about 5 hours! It was pretty neat. Here's a glimpse of what we saw.....
This is a scripture repository where they kept the scripture written on bananna leaves to keep them safe from ants and termites
My parents in a cute little Thai boat
Some of the many Thai pagodas all around
A photo with the Thai dancers after they performed
Buddha has big feet.....
I'm "wai-ing" and elephant, that's the Thai way of greeting people
There were lots of plumeria trees - my favorite flower - so I took lots of pictures of them!
One of the buildings that my dad and I explored
A cute little hut on the river.....I'd be satisfied with one of these!
These huts are found up in the northern part of Thailand
These sorts of houses are found more in the central part of Thailand
The place is so big that this is how we got around. The bikes are really old, but they come along with the cost of the entrance fee.
A cute Thai family wanted to take a picture of their baby being held by a white lady!
More of the typical structures.....
Dragons shooting water instead of fire
My mom being silly!
This is part of the floating villiage and floating market
It was a great way to spend their last day in Thailand - they got a tour of the whole country! After, I took them to the market to let them get a taste of that. And then I treated them to "khao-niao ma-muang" (mango sticky rice with coconut milk) one of my favorite Thai treats!
They headed to the airport early on Monday morning and I caught the 6am bus back to the College. Now it's back to life as usual.....
We didn't get to do a lot of traveling or sight-seeing while they were here because I was teaching during the week, but on the 2 Sundays, we were able to do a bit. And we were also able to find some time for my dad to make roti and curry!
The first Sunday they were here we went to Khao Yai National Park, only about 45 minutes away. It was a beautiful drive out into the country. It's a really big park with lots to see, but most of all I wanted to see monkeys and elephants. We saw lots of monkeys. In fact, at one view point we got out of the car and left the windows rolled down. While we were eating our picnic lunch, a naughty little monkey came out of the jungle and headed straight for our car. He jumped in through the window, grabbed Andrew's bag of pumpkin seeds and jumped back out! Andrew was very upset about his pumpkin seeds, but the monkey didn't seem to mind. He opened up the package like he'd done it a hundred times before and ate all the pumpkin seeds.
Monkey eating Andrew's pumpkin seeds
Then the monkey ran across the road to where my mom was holding a bunch of banannas. She managed to rip one off an give it to him before he got the whole bunch. We then jumped into the car, rolled up the windows and escaped the naughty monkey.Monkey climbing all over someone else's vehicle
I didn't get to see an elephant in the wild in the park as I was hoping, but this was the closest we came to seeing one.....
The park has several waterfalls and trails to hike. We went only to two due to time limit. But Thai waterfalls aren't quite the same as they are in North America - any water running over rocks is considered a waterfall. We were a little disapointed, but it was still fun to hike some of the trails.
My dad, always up for a challege, crossed the stream on a log.
Andrew and I down by the "falls"
On the way home, we did see some elephants in captivity, but it wasn't quite what I had in mind when I said I wanted to see elephants.
Sabbath morning with my parents, overlooking the college grounds
The second Sunday that my parents were here, we got up super early and headed into Bangkok with all their luggage. We dropped it off at a friend's place and then headed to "Muang Boran" - Ancient Siam. It's a huge outdoor museum of sorts that is in the shape of Thailand with various exhibits and buildings in the location where they acutally come from in Thailand. So we got to see "all of Thailand" in about 5 hours! It was pretty neat. Here's a glimpse of what we saw.....This is an old market villiage
This is a scripture repository where they kept the scripture written on bananna leaves to keep them safe from ants and termites
My parents in a cute little Thai boat
Some of the many Thai pagodas all around
A photo with the Thai dancers after they performed
Buddha has big feet.....
I'm "wai-ing" and elephant, that's the Thai way of greeting people
There were lots of plumeria trees - my favorite flower - so I took lots of pictures of them!
One of the buildings that my dad and I explored
A cute little hut on the river.....I'd be satisfied with one of these!
These huts are found up in the northern part of Thailand
These sorts of houses are found more in the central part of Thailand
The place is so big that this is how we got around. The bikes are really old, but they come along with the cost of the entrance fee.
A cute Thai family wanted to take a picture of their baby being held by a white lady!
More of the typical structures.....
Dragons shooting water instead of fire
My mom being silly!
This is part of the floating villiage and floating market
It was a great way to spend their last day in Thailand - they got a tour of the whole country! After, I took them to the market to let them get a taste of that. And then I treated them to "khao-niao ma-muang" (mango sticky rice with coconut milk) one of my favorite Thai treats!
They headed to the airport early on Monday morning and I caught the 6am bus back to the College. Now it's back to life as usual.....
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