Ayuthaya, Thailand

Saturday I went on an Embassy sponsored trip to Ayuthaya (the "th" do not make a "th" sound like in english...just a "t" sound). My friend who works for the embassy signed us up. We met at the embassy at 7:30 and rode a bus the 90 minutes to get there. Our first stop was Bang Pa-In Palace. Ayuthaya was anciently the capitol of Thailand. A palace was constructed in Bang Pa-In during those days but after the fall of Ayuthaya it was left to be overgrown and in disrepair. The palace was revived in the 1800's and is quite lovely!

The next stop was Wat Mahathat home of the Buddha head embedded in twisted tree roots. This Khmer style temple built in the 14th century was burned down by the Burmese during an invasion. The ruins themselves are impressive!

The final stop was Wat Phrasisanpeth. I'm afraid I don't know much about this Wat other than it was built in the 1400s and also burned by the Burmese since as I wandered to the entrance I was bombared by school children with the assignment to practice their English. They each had a paper for me to write my name and my email address and a lot of other questions I just couldn't get to! They practiced their English and were patient while I practiced speaking Thai. After signing about 20 papers and getting multiple photos taken and shaking each students hand at least once I was finally able to slip away, into the walls of the Wat, only to be snached up by university students of tourism doing a survey. So, I didn't see much of this ruined Wat but got a few photos.

After this stop we got back on the tour bus and headed to the pier where we were picked up by a small cruise boat that had lunch waiting for us. I enjoyed an international buffet as we cruised the 2.5 hours back to Bangkok. It was a lovely day except that sometime before lunch my friend got food poisoned. YUCK! Hard to tell what it was since the only thing we had eaten before lunch was fried bananas and fruit, which we shared and neither effected me. strange. So I had to drive us back in her car to her apartment. Driving the streets of Bangkok on the left side of the road was nerve-racking! We made it with minimal damage to her car (I took a turn to sharp and met up with the curb...oops).

As soon as I can figure out where my photos are I'll post them! :-)

Finding Balance

I've now attended 8 Thai language classes and already I'm forming basic sentences. Dichan poot paasaa thai nitnoi. I try to use the vocabulary I've learned whenever possible but I definitely need more practice. My sweet tutor speaks so slowly during our 90 minutes together Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Sometimes I feel badly for making her start our lessons at 7 AM but mornings are the only part of my day I feel I have control over. I now know basic family members, several adjectives and verbs, question words, some professions, foods and such. My flash card collection is growing and I love adding new words to the stack. In a meeting with staff the other day I tried out a few phrases and wowed them all. :-) It sure feels good to be challenging my brain like this! It's a great brain work out.

I'm also working out physically. On the mornings when I'm not at language classes I'm at Bootcamp. That's what they call it and that's what it feels like! It's a strength building workout that involves lots of pushups of various kinds, squats, jumping, running and all sorts of crazy exercises. Boy was I sore after the first week!!! It's exciting that after just a few weeks I'm making lots of progress and while I can definitely feel my muscles after an intense work out, I'm nowhere near as sore as that first week! On Saturday we had time trials where we were timed running about 2 kilometers. I was so sad to see how slow I've become after not running as much as I used to while living in Utah. Not having Cheri, my running partner, to get me up every morning coupled with the intense heat that makes running so uncomfortable here has diminished my desire. But I'm growing strong in other ways, using different muscles now, and it feels so good.

I'm up by 5 every morning which is an exercise of self control for sure! And if I'm not in bed by 9:00 each night that self control is really tested!! I've changed my work hours to 9-6 to allow me to have the mornings to focus on my physical, mental and spiritual strengthening. Having the balance of physical, mental and spiritual workouts makes me feel complete.

A Trip Down Under-Part 5

Ok, here's where I stopped writing in my journal and now it's been 2 weeks since I've been back from the land down under so let's see if my memory serves me.

Day 13- Today was the last day in Cairns. We decided to take the day easy and buy any last minute gifts and souvenirs. We walked down some of our favorite streets, including the walkway by the croc infested beach (we never did see any crocs there), by the pier where we enjoyed a nice lunch, to a jewelry store, and when we were walked out we passed by a didgeridoo store. Maren reseted her feet on a bench outside the store and I wandered around having a look. The store advertised lessons. I became curious and with Maren's encouragement took a short lesson. In order to play this aboriginal instrument which is basically a tree branch which has been hollowed out my termites, one has to...umm, how to I explain this. I guess the best way is to say that you have to imitate a horse by blowing through your lips to make them vibrate...you know, like a horse. Does that make sense? Once you have this technique down you place your mouth on the top of the instrument and do the same thing. I did it the first time perfectly but then lost my beginners luck and it took several more tries before I could successfully do it again. Finally I figured it out and it I was making "music". It was fun to practice. While I decided not to bring a didgeridoo home with me (tempting) I did purchase a CD of great didgeridoo music. As we left the store the store keeper and music teacher (a handsome single man) apologized that we hadn't been picked up by any men while on our holiday. He said he was just downright embarrassed. We assured him it was ok and he rightfully assumed we must be "good Christian girls". He invited us to return to meet his 2 "good Christian guy" friends who also worked at the store. We told him that under normal circumstances we would accept the invitation (why not?!) but that since we were on our way to the airport in just a few hours we would have to take a raincheck. :-) Then we headed for the park where we spent our last hour recapping our favorite Aussie moments and soaking in the sunshine. Then it was off to the airport and back to Sydney. After a delayed flight and trying to avoid a scuffle at the metro station we made it back about 11:00 pm.

Day 14-Well, this is the final day. We spent the night in a haunted hotel...at least that's the rumor. We were hoping to get the haunted room but weren't so lucky. I had picked up a cold and spent the night coughing so I'm sure I scared all the ghosts away anyway. In the morning we packed up, enjoyed breakfast, and checked out of the hotel leaving our luggage until it was time to go. Maren and I said goodbye since he flight left earlier than mine and I wanted to spend a few more hours in Sydney instead of hanging out at the airport. I bought a ticket for a city tour and spent the next 2 hours being driven around the city seeing some beautiful sights and cute neighborhoods. I fell in love with Sydney even more! After the tour I headed to a store we had visited on our first day in the country. I purchased a painting by an aboriginal artist. Once I had selected the piece , which is dot painting of patterns I learned that the pattern represented women in a meeting. Cool. Then I walked to a grocery store and purchased some cold medicine and tissues, a huge jar of Nutella, since it was on sale for a much better price than I'd find it in BKK and forgot that I there were several other things I wanted to pick up while I was there. Oh well. I returned to the hotel, grabbed my bags and headed to the airport. My Australian adventure had come to an end. The 2 weeks had been amazing! We saw and experienced so much! And it was easier to leave knowing that returning is actually very affordable! I'm so glad we chose Australia!!!

Ugh, i just realized that I skipped day 12!!! What a crazy day that was!! Another entry for another day.

A Trip Down Under-Part 4

Day 11- Today we headed to the Great Barrier Reef! Can you believe it! ME...snorkeling on one of the only 2 visible things on earth from outer space!!! I was totally excited for this day! I prepared for the day with yet another peanut butter and banana sandwich. We headed to the pier to meet our boat with the other 100 who would also be going with us and off we went to Green Island. The ride took 90 minutes. The whole way I looked so closely for a whale to leap from the beautiful blue water. No whale but the color of the water was mesmerizing. As we neared the island and the view just got more and more gorgeous my excitement grew. The reef became more visible and in some areas, as we neared the shore of the island there were parts of the reef above the water. We pulled in and unloaded the boat with our snorkel gear. There was only enough time to find a locker to put our stuff and then we headed back up the pier to load the semi-submersed boat which would give us a divers perspective of the reef. The first thing I saw out the window when I took my seat was a shark on the bottom of the ocean floor. NICE! Except a little scary to think that I'd be out snorkeling with the sharks a little later. We headed out to the reef and saw several types of fish from very small to pretty big, a HUGE giant clam (I'm talking several feet in diameter!), several turtles and amazing reef. It's so amazing to think that there is a whole other world in the depths of the blue ocean. After our boat trip the snorkeling began. We donned our snorkel gear and began the trek into the water. It took a little while to get out to where the water was deep enough to swim in but finally I got there into the water I went. Immediately I was looking at the most colorful parrot fish, tiny electric blue fish and then I nearly ran into one of those super huge clams! As I went on it just got more and more amazing. Such a variety of fish, lots of starfish...one was so big! It had long, thin arms and was such a beautiful color blue. I just wanted to keep exploring but without a wetsuit I began to get cold and finally had to end my exploration of the colorful, living reef without seeing a turtle or shark. I sat on the sand to dry off and eat my lunch while trying to shew away the most pesky bird who was bold enough to get into my bag to get to the apple core wrapped in a plastic bag! geesh! At the end of the day we boarded the boat and the staff threw pellets into the water to feed the fish. Quickly several sharks came to the surface to try and beat the numerous other fish to the free meal. It was a great day. My only regret was not having worn a wet suit so I could have stayed in the water a little longer. Happily, I remembered to lather on the sunscreen and where a shirt so I came out of the experience with very little burn. Good thing Australia isn't too far of a flight from Thailand so a return trip is totally possible!

A Trip Down Under-Part 3

Day 9- Now in Cairns we had nothing planned for today but to wander around the city and see what there is to see. A block from our hotel is a crocodile infested "beach". Even if there weren't crocs in it this beach isn't one you would find inviting...very muddy, not so sandy. We walked along the boardwalk unable to spot any crocodiles. We found the pier and admired all the large boats and the beautiful view of the ocean laid out before us. There were several fishers along the pier reeling in their catches...made me wish I had a rod to join them. We found some more shopping and Maren found an opal she fell in love with and purchased. We signed ourselves up for some day trips and just rested and enjoyed walking around the city until our feet begged us to stop. We headed back to the "beach" and sat on the boardwalk waiting for a croc to show up, which they never did. But some beautiful pelicans and a heron did make appearances. As we sat there and as the sun began to set birds began flocking in large numbers to 2 trees near where we were sitting. They were making so much noise it was impossible to not notice them. For some reason their song was so familiar. We looked up and realized that the birds were the beautiful rainbow lorikeets we had become familiar with at the beginning of the trip. I was amazing to see these birds all flock into these 2 trees to settle in for the night. As the sun disappeared the birds became completely quiet, like kids sharing a room finally drifting off to sleep after mom asked them time and time again to please quiet down.

Day 10- We were picked up by a bus at 8:45 and taken to a train stop where we caught a historic train that took us up the mountain, through sugar cane fields, rainforests, around waterfalls. After the 2 hour ride we ended up in the village of Kuranda, population 1200. The tiny town really has very little to offer other than tourist shops, a butterfly sanctuary, and a reptile zoo. We walked up the main street lined with shops and began with lunch. I found an option that intrigued me...a kangaroo meat pie! SIGN ME UP! It was fine...not amazing but

different. After lunch we went for a rainforest walk (can't get tired of them!), did a little shopping and then it was time to catch the gondola back to Cairns. The gondola took us up and over the rainforest...a different perspective. We stopped at several places along the way to take little walks and look out over the gorge, admire the waterfalls and learn more about the plants in the area including identifying the stinging fern...yikes! and seeing HUGE spiders! That night Maren and I split up. I went off for more walking through the city and some personal shopping time and Maren headed to crocodile beach hoping tonight would be the night a croc would show up. My shopping was successful...more Christmas shopping done! and an opal necklace for me!

Ok, that's all for tonight. I have to get up early tomorrow for my 7:00 Thai language classes so i'd better get some studying in and get to bed. Good night!

A Trip Down Under-Part 2

Ok...let's see, where did I leave off...

Day 4- After a

night on the train unable to see any of the countryside (very disappointing) we arrived to Brisbane at 6:30 a.m. We made our way quickly to the hostel and we were able to switch our reservation since they weren't expecting us until tomorrow night. Surprisingly we were able to get right into our room... a nice surprise. Unfortunately, we found the hostel to be pretty undesirable. It was dirty, the doors were thin so you were able to hear even the whispers of the people in the hallway and the sheets on the beds were stained. We decided only to stay here one night since we were already locked in. We dropped our bags, found a hearty breakfast and headed off to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This was a special treat. We spent the day admiring the cuddly koalas who were lazily perched in trees munching on eucalyptus (I got to hold one and snuggle with it. It was so great!! Super soft and snuggly!), play in an open field with wallabies and kangaroos petting and feeding them, see a bird show, watch the herding and sheering of sheep and see numerous other animals inside the sanctuary. It was delightful to spend the day with the variety of animals

found in Australia. At the end of the day we gathered with others to feed the rainbow lorikeets. A wet, mushy, oatmeal-type porridge was placed into containers and the birds came flocking in with a thunderous roar. There were over a hundred birds! We held the containers and the birds climbed all over us to get to the food. At one point I had 2 or 3 birds on my head. I'll have to get that photo from Maren. The birds were so beautifully colored! After that experience we headed back in town, did some shopping ate dinner and headed to the hostel for a less than restful night sleep.

Day 5- After breakfast we headed to the information center to see about booking some excursions. We were able to book a 2-day trip to Fraser Island which had been recommended by an Australian friend of mine. The kind lady also got us a great price in a nice hotel...much better than the hostel! Two women at the information center were getting excited about some big sales happening at several stores. They kindly shared the names of the stores and locations with us and off Maren and I went to boost the Australian economy! I had been looking forward to an opportunity to buy some new clothes and this was it! I came away with several pairs of much needed shoes and some clothing. We also found a farmers market where we picked up some fresh produce to take with us on our adventure to Fraser Island, we did some shopping for opals (which are mined in Australia...there are opals being sold everywhere!!!) and after another long day on our feet we headed to the hotel and prepared for our trip the next day.

Day 6- We met up with our tour guide, Eugene, and the 5 other others in our tour group.

Eugene was a most interesting individual. A man in his early 40's (my guess) with long, curly hair and a goatee who loved music (we listened to AC/DC for most of the 3 hour drive to the island) and also composes his own music (he just released his first album...more on that later). The others in our group included a young couple who had just gotten engaged a few days earlier (cute story), a girl from Germany, a guy from England and another girl from England. It was a great group with fun dynamics. Once we arrived to Fraser Island we realized why people kept telling us to go with a tour company rather than on our own. The Island is one huge sand dune and unless you know how to maneuver a jeep in the sand you are out of luck...we saw several vehicles that had gotten bogged down in the sand. The sand was such a light color and the ocean was a beautiful blue. A beautiful sight. Immediately Eugene began pointing out the variety of bird life on the island. We also saw several dingos (wild dogs) on the beach. Most of the day we spend driving along the beach exploring the island. We stopped to meander through a creek with crystal clear water and we passed by another creek with deep red water colored by one of the native trees. It was interesting to see it spill into the ocean and turn the water in that area red. We also stopped for a bush walk. We walked barefooted on the sand through the rainforest admiring the plant life. Unfortunately, my little toe met up with a tree root leaving me fairly certain it broke my toe. Very painful, I don't recommend it. Made walking a little tough for the rest of the trip. Anyway. As we reached the top of our walk, which was a steady incline up, up, up we found ourselves at the top of sand dune which we then walked down a ways and found a beautiful lake where we stopped to rest and enjoy the view (and try to recover from the intense pain of a broken toe). All too soon it was time to head back down the path...ouch! We got back in the jeep and began the drive to the house we'd spend the night at. As we drove I noticed something out in the water...what was it? a fin? I had heard Eugene talk about the sharks that trolled the waters near the beach but wasn't sure if that's what I was seeing. When I decided that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me that there there was actually something jumping out of the water I asked Eugene if it was a shark. We got closer and he got excited. Not a shark...a dolphin! One lone dolphin swimming through the water, and jumping through the air in order to catch our attention. It was a beautiful sight as the sun was beginning to set. Eugene cooked us up a dinner of hamburgers and we asked him to play us some music. He pulled out his guitar and harmonica and gave us a concert. It was much more enjoyable than I had anticipated. He then pulled out his CD and informed us that we could take a piece of him home with us for a mere $25. Um, kind but no thanks. As the evening progressed and intoxication settled in the evening became more interesting. We began learning drinking games from around the world. We were all laughing our heads off, even those of us who were alcohol-free...perhaps especially those of us who were alcohol free! It was decided that a trip to the pub was in order via the beach so we all climbed back into the van and Eugene drove us up the beach a little ways. We got out to admire the night sky. It was majestic! It's been a long time since I've experienced a night sky with very little light pollution. Stars were falling from the sky left and right and the milky way showed herself in all her glory...a truly beautiful night. Maren and I would have preferred to just stay on the beach admiring the sky rather than heading to the pub but in an effort to be "dingo safe" we decided against the possible danger of that option. The local pub was full of young kids (i'd guess most of them between 18-21) who were in costumes they had put together using the props from their hotel rooms. They had a costume contest, played drinking games and consumed an amazing amount of fluid. Anyway, Maren and I decided it was a bit much for us so we headed out seeking a different environment. Most of our group also decided they were ready to turn in but Eugene wasn't expected to come get us for a while longer so we decided to try making our way back to the house on our own. After we began our journey we realized that none of us really knew exactly how to get home. We just knew that we had driven up the beach a ways. We walked and walked and tried to find the right road (there weren't many to choose from). After a while we doubled back and decided on a road that ended up leading up home safely. Exhausted we all fell into bed. Unfortunately, the pain of my poor toe kept me awake most of the night.

Day 7- I really wanted to see the sun rise over the ocean but I was so tired and my foot hurt so

badly I just couldn't get out of bed in time. Finally at 6:30 I decided it was pointless to stay in bed any longer so I got up, got dressed and forced myself to walk to the beach despite the pain. I walked through the cool water hoping to draw out the inflammation in my foot, enjoyed watching the birds and welcomed in the rolling waves. About 7:30 Maren joined me and at 8 we headed back to the house to find that everyone had finally rolled out of bed. It was a slow morning despite Eugene's efforts to hurry everyone along. Disappointingly, the slow morning resulted in a much condensed version of a morning bushwalk through the rainforest. What we did see, however, was beautiful. We saw the very rare shiny black cockatoo, a kookaburra, we learned about indigenous plants, saw magnificent trees and admired the handiwork of God. Then it was off to a fresh water lake. White sand, clear water...beautiful. It was only about 10 a.m. or so and still a bit cool but the water was too beautiful to pass up so I down to my swim suit and went for a dip. Cold but refreshing! I shared the lake with turtle. We stayed for about an hour or so and then it was time to have lunch and head back to Brisbane.

Day 8- Back in Brisbane we spend the morning riding the ferry up the river as we explored different parts of the city. To our surprise we turned a bend and there, on the cliff was a Mormon temple! What a beautiful sight. I knew there was a temple there but didn't expect to see it like this! When we had gone far enough we jumped off the ferry and caught a ferry headed back the other direction. We hopped off at one stop and began exploring. We found a beautiful church, ate our lunch and then headed to the botanical gardens where we spent several hours. Then we wandered through more of the city, shopping along the way, of course. Then we picked up our bags from the hotel and headed to the airport to fly to Cairns for several days at the Great Barrier Reef! YIPPEEE!!!

A Trip Down Under-Part 1

I've just returned from a 2 week vacation in Australia, a country approximately the size of the US. As you can imagine there would be no way to experience even a tenth of what the US has to offer in just 2 weeks and this was the same case with Australia. Planning for this trip was essential. Actually, this trip was originally supposed to be a trip to Mongolia where I'd meet up with a friend of mine but due to her work situation this was no longer possible. I mentioned to another friend of mine that I had this time off already approved and she volunteered to come meet me in Thailand and the plan was to explore Thailand and Cambodia. Unfortunately, the situation in Bangkok became unstable and we decided to choose another meeting point. Australia it was!

Maren and I had a few goals: Whale watching, kangaroos, koalas, Great Barrier Reef, rain forests. We decided to focus our time on 3 main areas, Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns, in that order. So much happened and it would have been easier if I had been able to blog each day but I choose not to so I'll just give a quick run down of the highlights of each day.

Day 1-Arrived and met Maren in Sydney at 7 a.m. Dropped our luggage at the hostel and began our exploration of the city. We immediately fell in love with the city for it's old world look and modern vibe. It rained most of the day as we wandered through the streets, the botanical gardens and made our way to the harbor for a view of the iconic Opera House. It was magical to be there in person. We stopped for a bowl of soup for lunch which felt nice in the crisp temperature...a welcome change from the Bangkok heat. Maren had her introduction to the traditional music of the a hollowed out tree limb instrument called the didgeridoo as we listened to performances of local musicians. Then we found a local market where we enjoyed some dumplings and pastries, walked along the harbor bridge and decided our feet had had enough walking so we headed back to the hostel. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the hostel we realized we were starving and the only food within reach was Dominos Pizza!! I'm embarrassed to report that we broke down and ate it...and vowed not to do it again!

Day 2-As it was Sunday we got up, put on our skirts and walked a few short blocks to the church. We attended a small congregation of young single adults. It turned out that there was no one in the congregation that day who played the piano so Maren was recruited. I sat and enjoyed the meetings until I was called on to share some thoughts and feelings during the last meeting. What a surprise! I expressed my gratitude to God for the numerous blessings he has given me and encouraged the congregation to be service oriented, enjoy this time of life and to look out for each other. After church we headed to the Opera House for a symphony performance. The inside of the opera house was beautiful! Theme of the fins that defines the Opera House is carried through inside the building as well. The first number performed was a debut of a modern composer. I found the piece very difficult to listen to, very disharmonious, screechy, eerie and strange. I was relieved to hear the much sweeter sounds of composers who have been around a while! After the symphony we picked up our rental car, enjoyed some sushi for dinner and hit the road for a 2 1/2 hour drive south to Jervis Bay where we would stay the night. We had a rainy, windy drive. It was my first time driving on the left side of the road and I successfully got us to our destination. It was a strange feeling with the drivers seat on the wrong side, the blinker was where the wiper should have been and vice-versa. I'm just glad we had an automatic transmission cuz trying to shift gears with my left hand would have been too much I'm afraid!

Day 3- The plan for today was a whale watching cruise. We woke up early and found that it was still raining and windy. My heart sank knowing that there was a good possibility the cruise would be canceled. We had breakfast, wandered along the water's edge as the waves rolled in. Then we went to the office of the tour company and my fears were confirmed. The storm was too big to take a boat out. I admit that I was severely disappointed in the weather. As there was nothing else to do in the town of less than 1500 people we wandered along the beach, watched the surfers, who didn't seem to share my disappointment in the weather, and then decided to drive back to Sydney and see if we could change our train tickets to Brisbane from tomorrow to today. On the drive back we stopped to watch huge waves roll in at one beach and crash violently into the rocks. It was a beautiful sight and made me so grateful I was not on a boat at that moment! We made it back to Sydney, returned the car and got our tickets changed. We hopped on the train and off we went to Brisbane. Unfortunately it get's dark by about 6:30 pm in Australia so we were unable to enjoy the scenery as we had hoped.

Well, I'll stop there for today. Come back tomorrow for a second installment! :-)