Bangkok and Elephants with Rhianna's mom!
We are in our school's longest quarter with no breaks for another 3 weeks so I figured we would blog about my mom's visit! She came the day we got back from the Philippines - in fact we met in the airport a couple hours a part. We were so excited so show her our life in Thailand and explore more of Thailand with her.
We started in Bangkok for 3 full days. Ben and I didn't have a chance to really explore when we came in September, so this was our first time playing tourist in Bangkok as well. We started off at the Grand Palace. We went first thing in the morning, and I'm sure glad we did, because the lines and crowds of people were overwhelming as we were leaving. The people of Thailand are still mourning their loss and are allowed to pay their respects to the King at the Palace for free. They are also offered free food and drinks as they wait in line. The palace grounds were beautiful! So many temples and gardens to explore. After the Grand Palace we went to Wat Phra Kaeo, the home of the Emerald Buddha. This is the most revered image of Buddha. I would like to mention that you will see the phrase "the most..." often in this post. Thai's like to make everything sound like the best of the best so at every single temple they say it's "the most" something!
The next day we woke up bright and early for a day tour to the Floating Market outside of Bangkok. We first stopped at the Mae Klong Railway market. This was a jam packed market along the train tracks and people actually had to pack up for 5 minutes while the train comes to town every day. I wish we caught it on video the smooth transition of people making sure the tracks were clear for the train. Our tour guide was really sweet and wanted to take a picture with us by the train.
Next stop was the Dumnoen Saduak Floating Market. This was such a cool experience seeing how the Thai's used to buy and sell goods on the water. Now of course they sell goods that tourists like, but it was neat envisioning what it was like a long time ago. We bought fresh pineapple, art work, and beers on our tour! Some parts of the river were really packed with boats and tourists, while other parts you felt like you were all by yourself. We had a cover on our boat, but some people did not and I definitely recommend the shade covering if you ever go!
The next day we flew back to Chiang Mai for New Years Day. We took mom to the Four Seasons resort for their Sunday Brunch. It is difficult to describe how good their buffet is but we were there for 3 hours... what can I say, we paced ourselves. Afterwards we toured the grounds and then gave mom a tour of old city.
After the Elephant sanctuary we went to Doi Inthanon - the highest spot in Thailand! Too bad it was cloudy at the top and you couldn't see the view - but I'm sure we will be back. Next we went on a hike with a local guide that took us through waterfalls and strawberry fields. It ended at a local village where we tried their coffee. Last we ended up towards the end of the National park and stopped at a few waterfalls.
The next day we left for a 4 day tour of Northern Thailand! We will post that blog later this week. For now - enjoy our Bangkok and Elephant videos on YouTube! :)
Also, some of you may not know that at the start of the year I requested a move to our Elementary School since their was an opening in 5th grade. Well it happened and I started the first day back of the New Year! I was so thankful my Mom was able to help me get up and running in my new classroom! I feel like I am finally where I am supposed to be and I love the students. It's a very diverse class and I hope to share more about that transition later, or maybe next school year since I will continue in 5th grade. Thanks for reading and we will post again next week!
We started in Bangkok for 3 full days. Ben and I didn't have a chance to really explore when we came in September, so this was our first time playing tourist in Bangkok as well. We started off at the Grand Palace. We went first thing in the morning, and I'm sure glad we did, because the lines and crowds of people were overwhelming as we were leaving. The people of Thailand are still mourning their loss and are allowed to pay their respects to the King at the Palace for free. They are also offered free food and drinks as they wait in line. The palace grounds were beautiful! So many temples and gardens to explore. After the Grand Palace we went to Wat Phra Kaeo, the home of the Emerald Buddha. This is the most revered image of Buddha. I would like to mention that you will see the phrase "the most..." often in this post. Thai's like to make everything sound like the best of the best so at every single temple they say it's "the most" something!
Below is Wat Arun the Temple of Dawn - Bangkok's best known landmark (under renovation).
After a day of walking the Grand Palace we took the BTS to a roof top bar - on our way we stopped at Terminal 21 to show her the different countries on each level.
The next day we woke up bright and early for a day tour to the Floating Market outside of Bangkok. We first stopped at the Mae Klong Railway market. This was a jam packed market along the train tracks and people actually had to pack up for 5 minutes while the train comes to town every day. I wish we caught it on video the smooth transition of people making sure the tracks were clear for the train. Our tour guide was really sweet and wanted to take a picture with us by the train.
Next stop was the Dumnoen Saduak Floating Market. This was such a cool experience seeing how the Thai's used to buy and sell goods on the water. Now of course they sell goods that tourists like, but it was neat envisioning what it was like a long time ago. We bought fresh pineapple, art work, and beers on our tour! Some parts of the river were really packed with boats and tourists, while other parts you felt like you were all by yourself. We had a cover on our boat, but some people did not and I definitely recommend the shade covering if you ever go! 
That night we ate a fabulous Italian restaurant. Even got 'free' Limoncello at the end!
Our last day in Bangkok we went on a grand walking tour of the Wat's all over Bangkok. First Up -Wat Pho - Reclining Buddah that is half a football field!
Next was Wat Saket and the Golden Mount which gave us a great view of Bangkok. We then walked 2 km because we didn't want to sit in traffic by the palace to Wat Traimit (the Golden Buddha), then to Lumphini Park and ended at the Jim Thompson House.
The next day probably deserves a whole blog post of its own, but its own YouTube video will have to do :) We went to the Elephant Sanctuary near Doi Inthanon National Park. We have a friend of the school's that does tours and he took us on an all day adventure tour. First stop was the Elephants! These were the funniest animals and so much fun to play with and feed. (No riding - I'm not going to get on a soap box here about that particular topic) This was probably my mom's favorite part of the whole trip - She definitely fell in love and had no problem jumping in the freezing water to bathe them. We were fortunate to have these animals all to ourselves.
After the Elephant sanctuary we went to Doi Inthanon - the highest spot in Thailand! Too bad it was cloudy at the top and you couldn't see the view - but I'm sure we will be back. Next we went on a hike with a local guide that took us through waterfalls and strawberry fields. It ended at a local village where we tried their coffee. Last we ended up towards the end of the National park and stopped at a few waterfalls.
Also, some of you may not know that at the start of the year I requested a move to our Elementary School since their was an opening in 5th grade. Well it happened and I started the first day back of the New Year! I was so thankful my Mom was able to help me get up and running in my new classroom! I feel like I am finally where I am supposed to be and I love the students. It's a very diverse class and I hope to share more about that transition later, or maybe next school year since I will continue in 5th grade. Thanks for reading and we will post again next week!
