Bangkok, Thailand - Summer 2008

Our summer vacation in Thailand! Forgive me...I have posted 34 photos on the blog, but it was so hard to eliminate pictures as we had such a fantastic and amazing trip. Everything was so much fun and a great experience for the kids.
Bangkok was great - busy, crowded, full of new sights and smells, energetic, etc. - especially after you have spent the last 7 years on a small island in the Pacific! We went to the Grand Palace, Lumphini Park, the Reclining Buddha, the Aquarium and the I-Max theater. Then we headed North to Chiang Mai via the overnight train. We had two combined sleeping booths that had couches folding out to bunk beds. What a great way to travel!
Chaing Mai was wonderful - the tours (Journey tours and Nate's mt. bike tour) were extremely well done, the Sunday night market was full of wonderful arts and crafts and the kids drank banana milkshakes at least once a day. From there we took the 'curviest' 3 1/2 hour bus ride of my life to Pai. Pai was and is my favorite part of the trip. It is very laid back and safe - the perfect place for us to relax and take time to see the outdoor sites. We had a fabulous time playing in the river with the elephants in Pai (photos not included as they are still on the disc that the elephant camp made for us i.e. I was in the river with the elephants and could not take photos!) and the motorbikes gave us freedom and kept us entertained (it was especially entertaining for the family to watch me learn how to drive a motorbike).
We had a long day of travel when we took the public bus to Chaing Rai - but it was worth it. The Night Market in Rai was the best - good size and lots to see, and Nate had a fantastic solo Mt. Bike ride on single track and through some Northern villages.
Here's to a fabulous summer vacation in Thailand!
The kids in Lumphini Park, Bangkok...