Trekking through the Jungle

There we were, trekking through the jungle with only 5 small backpacks for supplies.  The whole family was there, plus the guide and his friend.

"Girls!" Yells mom from behind "Come look at this!" she cries. Maya and I both race back - what's this?  It's a caterpillar, covered in hair.

"Can you touch it?" I Ask.

"Yah" says the guide. He reaches over and brushes over it with his finger.

We continue walking and we stop at a tree that is twisted, and has a swing. I rapidly go over and check it out. I climbed up little higher, and my sister comes running over and starts climbing too.

She comes when I am standing on it with no hands, and shakes it, I fall! But land on my feet.

The guide laughs, and we are all quite confused. He says something in Thai. Then tries to translate it. "She is a ling." He says still giggling "What is a ling?" Mom asked with a smile on her face. The man acts like a monkey, and me and my sister are both convinced he is crazy.

We start moving again, and we see a bug that curls up into a ball, cool mushrooms that grow out of elephant poop, and a few more things.

Overall that day would be from 1 - 10 a definite 12. The guide knew a lot, and was funny. He was also good at translating considering he knew only limited English.

Mira

Not in Kansas Any More!

After an eventful one-day stopover in Abu Dhabi, we find ourselves in a country which is the polar opposite of Jordan - Thailand!

Nadia

The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

Receiving blessings for good luck

We've been eating tropical fruit and street food non-stop since we got here, building up our tolerance for spicy food (in anticipation of India).

We took a fantastic eating tour of Bangkok by bicycle!  We rode through the back alleys and took ferries on the river for nearly eight hours, seeing a side of the city which we normally would have never seen.  Well worth the detour!!

After two days in the capital city, we took a 14-hour overnight train to Chiang Mai, where we continue to eat our way through the country!

 Eating again!

Inhaling Bangkok

The smells.  Thats what makes a city, really.  You can tell, by walking down the streets of Bangkok, that it is a city full of food, full of culture, full of history.  Strolling through town you smell the spices, the fruits, the barbecues, but you also smell subtler things, the car exhaust, the incense, and the not so pleasant sewage drains.  When strolling through the city, you are breathing in the culture, breathing in the history.  You are smelling the tales of a thousand monks, the stories of a hundred queens and a hundred king, you are getting a whiff of the lives of the people living in Bangkok. Whether the smells of Bangkok be of the heavenly food stalls or the foul sewage drains, they are all a part of the story of everyone who is and everyone who once was in Bangkok.

Maya

The Crazy Bathroom Break

The last few days have been exciting, tiring, and new. We said goodbye to some very close friends, and got on a plane to Abu Dhabi. The boat we stayed on almost sank. We crashed into our neighbouring boat. We took a 6 hour plane to Bangkok, and today we ate the best food I ever remember putting in my mouth.

I know you are probably wondering about our boat almost sinking. Well, my dad woke up to use the bathroom and noticed the boat was tilted, so he got out of bed and woke up the captain. The captain discovered a leak down where the engine is. They rapidly started the engines and BANG, into the dock, then CRASH, into another boat. As soon as that happened everyone woke up. It was crazy, my dad was grumpy, the captain was yelling at everyone, and my sister was chatting on her phone, my mom was on her computer and I was watching all that was going on. Captain drove us to the beach so that we couldn't capsize so soon. Then he called the marine people and they showed up in their fancy shoes and suits and refused to get wet, except one, who was a huge help. After we finally fixed that problem at, maybe 3:30, and every one was happy, until they found another problem. It took a while then to fix that too. However we had to leave at 5:00 to the airport and leave the captain to do all the paper work, and dealing with the owner of the boat, and the owner of the boat we broke. The picture below is of the boat we crashed into.

Tomorrow we head up to northern Thailand to volunteer at an elephant sanctuary! (Remember to subscribe!)

Mira

And They're Off!

All I Want...

Nearly Ready

Cake had, backpack packed, one more day in the house...

Nadia

Preparations

Amman, Jordan.  Still planning, preparing, and saying goodbyes... 

Nadia