Merry Christmas from Thailand!
Amber’s mom, Susan, came to Chiang Mai to spend Christmas with us – our first visitor from home! Amber and I became tour guides for ten days, and we had an awesome time showing Susan around the area. Here’s a summary of everything we did over the holidays:
We took a day trip north to Chiang Rai, the Golden Triangle (famous for heavy drug trafficking in the 1970′s and ’80′s), and Mae Sai (a town along the border with Burma and the northernmost point in Thailand). We visited the famous White Temple, took a boat ride on the Mekong River, and even briefly set foot in Laos.
Amber and her mom did a Thai cooking class, where they learned how to make pad thai, khao soi, spring rolls, coconut ice cream, and more.
We went to the khantoke dinner and dancing show.
We went Christmas shopping at the Night Bazaar, Sunday market, the Central World mall, the silver district, and more.
We lit a lantern just like the Loi Krathong / Yi Peng festival and sent our Christmas wishes up into the sky.
We went to the Mae Sa elephant camp, where we saw elephants perform tricks and sports and Susan took an hour-long elephant ride through the jungle.
The ten days went by very quickly because we had so much fun. Having a family member from home join us for Christmas made the holiday special and memorable. Susan even brought us a Christmas tree for our hotel room! Check out the pictures below to find out how she did it!
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- Posing in front of the White Temple in Chiang Rai
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- The staircase of the White Temple
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- Hands reaching up from the depths of Hell
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- See if you can tell why it’s named the White Temple
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- A ‘No Smoking’ sign at the White Temple with skeleton hands holding packs of cigarettes
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- The infamous Golden Triangle, where Burma, Thailand, and Laos meet
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- This is the type of boat we rode on the Mekong River
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- Posing on the boat
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- A real boat on the Mekong River – amazing that it’s still afloat
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- Docked at an island owned by Laos
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- Laos is famous for whiskey with things inside, such as these scorpions
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- Fishermen huts along the Mekong River
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- Mae Sai, the northernmost point in Thailand
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- Looking across the Mekong River into Burma, with children playing under the bridge
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- A woman selling vegetables at a market in Mae Sai
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- Spring rolls
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- A spicy soup
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- Pad thai
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- Khao soi, a Chiang Mai specialty
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- The elephant fountain at the Central World Mall is decorated for Christmas
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- A Christmas tree at the Night Bazaar
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- Lanterns for sale in the Night Bazaar
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- Steve posing with performers at the “Japanese Culture Night” show
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- Khantoke dancers
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- Staff at our hotel – Santa looks like he lost weight, and Mrs. Claus is looking fine!
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- Christmas dinner at Art Cafe – turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, the works
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- Lighting a lantern on Christmas night
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- Elephants on parade – I thought they only held each other’s tails in cartoons
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- An elephant painting a picture by holding a paintbrush with his trunk
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- Susan getting a special hug from an elephant
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- Amber also getting a hug from an elephant
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- Susan riding an elephant
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- Amber and the elephant gaze at each other
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- A mother elephant with a 6-week old baby at the nursery
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- Our Christmas tree, made of wrapping paper, photographs, and scrapbook stickers!
Aweeee. I love all the pictures of Amber’s Mom in Thailand!! What a great Christmas. The White Temple is BEAUTIFUL! Oh yes, and I love that Chelsea’s picture gets the top spot on the Christmas Tree!