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ThailandTrip07
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Name: The Thai Crew
Interests: Climb, Travel, Coffee, Loving God, Loving People
Expertise: Life
Occupation: In Progress...
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Member Since:
1/24/2007
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| well dear friends and faithful xanga reader this is the beginning of the end. Tomorrow 2:50pm the three of us (trey, rach and I) will be
boarding a train headed for Bangkok.
We arrive at 5 am and then spend the day in city before we catch our flight
home at 1am on Tuesday the 1st of May. Three whole months of traveling
completed…thank you very much! It has been an experience none of us will ever
forget. It has changed us, moved us, broken us and built us and made us into
the people we are today. So thank you to all our friends who told us we could
when it didn’t make any sense to the worlds standards. Thanks mom and dad for
supporting our dream no matter how wild they may be. Thank you to all the best
friends out there who planned this with us and then willingly stood in the background
and watched us fly away. We love you all more than you will ever know. see you in a few days.
- Kati, Rach and Trey
ps stephen has already fled the country en rout to Africa
but I am sure he shares our view on the matter.
pss we all miss him dearly
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| Tonight is cooler than usual and it feels like there is rain in the clouds. We are happy for the change in weather because the heated nights have made it a challenge to sleep, not to mention we are all looking forward to going home, so there is a lot to think about. What an amazing place that God has allowed us to come and grow closer to Him. We have already started looking back and thinking about those moments that define our own personal experiences, there are so many that it is hard to hold on to all of them or even gather them on to a piece of paper. I can only speak for myself about how I've been effected by these last three months...well really this last year and a half and I'll begin by saying that I am where I am because of my Father in Heaven. How he has blessed our efforts and and been faithful even through the hard times. However much you would gauge this trip on a "fun" scale based on what you have heard and the pictures that you've seen, times that by 100 to the second power, and it will be close. That doesn't mean that it was a walk in the park, God refines by fire and we all have walked through it in our own ways. I feel like God has shaken the dust off of a few areas in my life, removed some unnecessary concepts that I had, and showed me new areas of my life that need exercising. But the my favorite part of this trip is how God blessed what may appear to the outside as spontaneous acts of ridiculousnessism, but this is how God showed himself most personal to me. These were frequent moments that I felt, if the opportunity arose, could be a blessing and encouragement of how God cares about event the little desires of life. That he would create a situation or atmosphere if He thought that it would make you smile, or laugh, or dance, or bring any kind of joyful pleasure in knowing that this moment or moments were for you. These were my favorite moments on the trip, and it would have not been the life changing experience without those. There are some many great things that happened on this trip, but these spontaneous acts of ridiculousnessisms was rich ingredient in my faith in God. Reassuring me that God is faithful even when I am not. Thank you guys for your prayers and all that you have done for us, and we will be home in few days. be encouraged, Trey | | |
| my flip flops clacked against the black brick street as i silently walked through the sunday market for the final time tonight. alone, i quietly took in the sights, smells and energy that had grown to be so familiar and so beautiful to me over the past few months. it was funny to think how this place had been so new and fresh to me when i first arrived in Chang Mai. it was, i think, my first real cultural experience in thailand. and now, stylishly dressed in my loose fisherman pants, black flip flops and tank with (of course) my tan hippie bag slung across my shoulders, i looked the part of the lone traveler i had become, rather than the wide eyed touris i had arrived as. in essence, i felt older somehow, grown up in a sense. the people were lovely as they always are. standing proudly behind their booths, displaying their work, ready to offer a "special price" just for me. my heart pulled at me tonight as i interacted with an older thai woman. after making my purchase she smiled broadly and after thanking me, she gently put her hand on my arm and helped me rearrange my bags. seeing my purse was open she reached over and insisted i close it. seeing my hands were full she went on to fidget with the latch until satisfied my bag was secure from any and all dangers. had it not been for our appearance she might have looked like an over protective grandmother looking after her naive granddaughter. the whole thing made me smile and remember why i loved these people so much. they had welcomed me into there country with wide open arms and embraced me as their own. i came to this place to give, to effect, and to love. but as i walked out of the old city gates and on to Thapea road, homeward bound, i was again reminded how it is they, the people of Thailand, who have given to me. it is their smiles and warm hearts that have effected my life and it is there Love that has forever changed me. this is a place and these are a people i will never forget. -Kate 
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| Hello faithful xanga checkers. I think it is about time someone put a post on here. I, Stephen, have been in Laos for the last two weeks. Just to clarify so no one sounds unedumicated Laos is pronounced Lao so when you talk to smart people say Lao. The "s" is because it was a French colony and you know how they put the "s" on everything. Anyway I have spent most of my time in Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. Vang Vieng is known for its mountainous landscape, caves, and tubing on the Mekong River. I went tubing twice while I was there and I hope to put a video and some pictures of that up when I get back to Thailand. But because I lack pictures I will just tell you that there are zip lines and trapeze swings from trees that go out into the river. The highest swing gets about 40 feet off the water. I attempted to do some back flips off them but I ended up just smacking really bad so there will be no pictures of that. I also did a hike through the mountains for a day in the rain. It was just me and a Lao guy so we had a lot of fun. We went through a Hmong farming village and then went to a cave to have lunch. the cave was at the start of a big stream. we sat on a rock in the middle of the stream inside the mouth of the cave made a fire and cooked chicken kabobs. After that we continued hiking to other villages until we made it to the other side where the water came out of the other side of the mountain. It was a long but excellent day. From there I went to Luang Prabang for the Lao new year festival "Sabaidee PeeMai Lao". It is basically a three day water fight. The first day was the most crazy with all kinds of buckets, squirt guns, hoses, anything that could get someone wet was involved. People crammed in the back of trucks with large tubs of water and would drive through the streets splashing others. Thousands, I am not exaggerating, of people are apart of the fight everyone from 3 years old until 80 gets wet. It is impossible to walk outside of the hostel without get soaked. It is okay to get wet but there are worse things you have to be aware of the paint. Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Black paint all over your clothes and face and to top it all off you will also be covered in white powder that sticks excellently to anything wet. It is the closest I have ever been to tar and feathers. The people in Laos are great no matter if they are soaking you or just passing on the street it is always with a smile. Their children are probably the most fun of any country I have ever been to. Another thing I really enjoy here is the karaoke the Lao people love to sing and at times it is the worst singing I have ever heard but all in good fun. There does not seem to be any Christian influence in Laos but even though they don't speak English I have to think that my interaction with them means something. I will try and put up pictures soon. They do not take a visa card in Luang Prabang so I don't know what the next week will look like. No worries though I will not be stranded in a third world country. I will try and put pictures up soon and get one more post in before I leave for Zambia on the 28th.
May peace and joy be with you all in abundance,
-Stephen
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