Sarah's Thai Backpack

A very pround girl holding her Thai backpack which arrived on Halloween.

Cute little people and animals!

When I was in Thailand I saw some adorable backpacks and purses. The designs are animae looking and they have cute little faces and animals all over them. I almost got one for Sarah, but changed my mind at the last minute. I was on a quick dash of a shopping trip with our translator Nu, the day before we left to come home. I was picking up an illustration done by a Thai artist of Sarah which turned out so amazing - I'll have to post pics of it sometime. In all the rush and hurry of shopping I didn't pick one up. Anyway, when I got home I told Sarah about the backpacks and she said, "Mom, I wish you had gotten it for me!" So I contacted one of the YWAM leaders we met, (Heather), and asked her to pick one up for me. She hunted for it in the night market and found an adorable one, thank you Heather!! It has all kinds of eco-groovy symbols on it and is perfect for our area - it even has pictures of houses with solar panels on them! Sarah loves it and I'm happy to have gotten her a one of a kind birthday present. It cost only about $10, here it would be much more!

Thailand - Part 8 Random Pics

Temple Bells

An elephant was hanging out at the temple.

Tatey and Dee after a 30+ hour trip, just after we got off the plane in Chiang Mai.

Rowan and Tatey - hugging bears at the frozen yogurt shop.

Jen enjoying the ride in the taxi.

Old city wall

Nu and Tatey became good friends. He wanted to push her stroller everywhere.

Mural at WonGen

Elephants are awesome animals.

There was a place where you could sit by a tiger, pet it, and have your picture taken!

Beautiful orchids at an orchid farm.

Chiang Mai has the most incredible artists! I brought a picture of Sarah and had an illustration done for only about $30.

Some monks at the university during a science fair.

Oils at a local massage shop. I had a massage and wished I had many more while I was there!

The Inter Bar. We hung out there with the locals...not your usual missions trip!

Thailand - Part 7 Elephant Training Camp

We had weekends off, so one weekend Adam and Deanna and I went to an elephant training camp! For $30 we got to ride elephants, watch them paint and kick soccer balls, had an elephant ride through the jungle and over the river, and got to ride a bamboo raft down the river!

Houses on the side of the river


Our bamboo raft captain.

Hanging out with the elephant. I was too scared to sit on his trunk!

Such gentle animals

The elephants could paint with their trunks! They did paintings of elephants, amazing.

I rode an elephant, (didn't want to pay for the touristy picture though!) We went on a half hour ride through the jungle and across the river.

Thailand - Part 6 Cuisine

I had heard that Thai food is the best, and I have had my fair share of it here in the states, but nothing could prepare me for how insanely delicious it is!!! Not only is it good, but it is cheap - like $3 a meal cheap!! We ate at the restaurant next to WonGen every day and I got the pad thai almost every day because it's THAT good!! If you go to Thailand for one reason only, the food should be it! Even the food on the Thai airlines was good, seriously.

Eating noodles in the Tai Pei Taiwan airport.

Rowan enjoying some yummy ice cream. Ice cream was great in 100 degree weather!! (I made her skirt by the way :)

Some sort of a chocolate drink

Pad thai baby!

Thai iced tea - yuuuummm!!

Thailand - Part 5 Transportation

Transportation in Thailand is pretty incredible. People mostly travel via scooter and motorcycle around the university. When I first got there I was hanging on white knuckled, but I got used to the ride pretty fast. Traffic moves quick, and the Thais are good drivers weaving in and out on their scooters. I wish I had gotten a ride on one while we were there...next time!

View of Chiang Mai at night from the back of our taxi.

Tuk tuks were everywhere

Deanna and I had quite the adventure trying to get to a meeting on time. Our driver didn't know where a main street was, talk about frustrating!

We look happy here...smiling only for the camera I can assure you!

Hanging on!

Most people travel by scooter or motorcycle.

Scooters at the university

We rode in trucks that had benches in the back with no seat belts. These two rode on the back most of the time.

Thailand - Part 4 WonGen Cafe

The main purpose of my trip was to help out a start up coffee shop/cafe called WonGeneration. After we had gone to the university for lunch we worked on the shop. We had a contractor on the team who did some construction and made a coffee bar. There were 2 baristas who did the shopping for the shop and got the espresso machine up and going. We had a few musicians as well who played music in the evenings. My big accomplishment and contribution to the shop was helping grout the rocks on the espresso bar, and I usually cleaned the shop to get it ready for the evening.

View of the mountains from the roof of WonGen.

Our awesome translator Nu, who became a great friend.


Adam and Andrew jamming out some tunes.

An amazing Thai band who played for us one evening.

Menu board, pic taken by Rowan (3 years old!)

Jen the barista tamping some grounds.

Emmi, the owner of the shop (on the right.) Amazing woman, she rocks!

The bar I helped grout. I am still proud of that!

Thailand - Part 3 Chiang Mai Zoo and Baby Panda (Ling Ping)

Another great highlight of the trip to Thailand was the Chiang Mai Zoo. It happened to be just a short walk from where we were staying, so we got to go a few times. Each time we went we got caught in a down pour so it was a real adventure!! The main reason we went to the zoo was to get to see the new born baby panda, Ling Ping. She is only the third panda born in captivity. Three of us got to see her and even got free tickets from some guy who didn't need his!! I was so happy to get this once in a life time chance to see a baby panda!

Entrance to the Chiang Mai Zoo

Cool bush animal sculptures

I love these elephant fountains. Elephants are the symbol of Thailand, you see them everywhere!

I wish I could have taken one of these home with me!

Here she is, Ling Ping as cute as ever taking a nap in her crib.

We got to view her for about one minute through a window.

Awww, too cute!