Blown away...on our way out

Now again Mom you said let you know after the fact so I can now tell you...

I called a company about rock climbing and they said Trent was over the weight restriction for climbing, it did not matter what they said there was no way he was coming with me Trent said. Melody decided to join me.

Friday morning we were picked up and headed to Kalim Beach. Melody and I were the only ones on this tour and I assured Trent if I felt it was not safe we were out of there. Our guide was named John so that was a good start (my dad's name). We got our gear on and we walked up into the hills to the unknown...

John, our guide went over some safety and gear tips. The first part of the program was going up 135 meter (448 feet) with 280 steel steps screwed in granite wall ( the longest in Thailand) reaching above 270 meter (886 feet) above sea level. We had our safety clips and we hooked in as we went. Melody was pretty shaky at first and was doubting the sanity of this adventure but I reasurred her it would be worth it and she did great.

This was a great workout. If I had started doing this a couple times a week when we came I would be fit as a fiddle.

After our rest we saw the Monkey Bridge we were going to walk on.... At some points I would say we were about 10 meters (33 feet) high above ground. We walked on the Sling Bridge from tree to tree above the jungle (this is the only kind in Thailand) The bridge was over 180 meters (590 feet) long. We had to basically hug the trees and there were a few spots where you had to stretch your body to clip into the next point and undue one behind you. I was hanging on by my finger tips... I was preparing myself for the feeling of my feet dangling.... but I never slipped... :-)

The monkey bridge was pretty wild and the view was stunning, you would never have this view unless you went where we were.

To get to the third part of the program we had to walk down a fairly steep hill to get to the waterfall. Walking down made me more nervous than anyother part of the day, you could easily slip and twist something.

We made it to the waterfall and it was time for "canyoning" (i was really excited about this part). Canyoning is rappelling down rock faces, this just happened to be over a waterfall (not to powerful on this day, I could not imagine what it would be like in rainy season). Our lives were basically in the strength of the knot of the rope we were decending down on. We were given a quick briefing on the safety equpiment then Melody went first.

This was a blast but tricky as the rock face was very slick from the water and unless you kept your feet very wide apart and lean back 45 degrees it would be impossible to make it down without few bumps and bruises. This was AWESOME!

Melody says: this was the most terrify and liberating experience I have ever had. Would I go again... In a heartbeat!

The final part of the program was the "fox fly" this is basically a zipline through the jungle. This was the best part.... as I was flying I had to put my legs up to not run into all the foliage... This was OUT OF THIS WORLD. You travel for about 100 meters (330 feet) at a speed of about 80km/hour.

When you come to a stop on the zipline you release your safety knot and repell down... AMAZING again.

This day was exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time... I can not wait to do it again...

Trent and I had a few things left on our list to do before we left this beautiful place. One afternoon we had an hour to spare so we went to the Shooting Range. This is not an ordinary shooting range. You can pick from a wide range of different guns to shoot.

Trent chose a 45 magnum and I was recommended the 38 caliber . It was pretty loud there and a bit unnerving hearing guns go off. Trent was up first. The gentleman showed him how to hold this very powerful gun and Trent took his first shot. It was so loud and I could see how powerful that gun was. Trent held that gun very steady... I was really impressed. We each had 10 bullets each.

I was up next and they suggested I sit in a chair to handle the power of this gun. I was nervous my first shot, I could not believe I was shooting this gun. I took my first shot and it was alot more powerful than I had imagined. I shot a few more bullets and I was having a hard time keeping my hands strong, I was sure I was missing the target over and over. After my 10 bullets they brought my target sheet in and I was amazed I hit it all 10 times. They figured out my average and it was 62%, I think that is pretty good for a beginner.

Trent's average was 42% but on his last two bullets he figured out how to handle the 45. I thought it was pretty cool going to the shooting range and being able to shoot guns like we did, I don't think that would happen at home, maybe you can I just have never came across a place before where you can.

Melody bought the kids some of these water balloons when we were gone and they won't pop. The kids spend hours in the shower playing and laying on these balloons, it will be hard to come home to our tiny bathroom when we have been spoiled with three huge ones here.

Trent took Easton prawn fishing the other day. Easton was so excited to show me and for me to take a picture of his catch of the day. Here on Phuket you can fish for your dinner. In the middle of the restaurant there is a pool full of prawns, you are supplied with a fishing rode ... and fishing you go. Everett was just as excited to see them but I think the local kitty was most pleased as we saw her licking her lips from outside our gate. (the kitty got supper)

I can now say I have experienced Thailand (driving a bike) this morning as I took a bike to the temple to meet my pick up for my Thai cooking class. Trent went deepsea fishing with Casey and his cousin Ryan so he had to take our car. Jennifer (a babysitter) came over to watch the kids for the day so I could still go to my class. I took Jennifer's bike to the temple and it was an experience for sure.

You will never understand the amount of bikes there are on the road here until you come visit. (we are at a market here)

I took a bike taxi home the other day from the dentist also... you live here long enough it's hard not to get on a bike at one point or another.

I took a one day Thai cooking class and it was great. Before we went to the cooking school they took us to the local fresh market to buy our ingredients for the dishes we were going to cook. The market was in downtown Phuket Town and it was FRESH.

CHOICES AT THE MARKET: You can pick the fish that was still flipping around, they will prepare it anyway you like, you could stick your hand in the bucket of eels and if that is not your fancy then either pick hopping frogs or freshly skinned ones for your tasty lunch... or take all three.

eels... do I need to say anymore...

The plates on the left are fleshly skinned frogs just waiting for the perfect buyers... not me!

This guys is shredding the inside of coconuts to make coconut cream & coconut milk. He was really funny, he said that he will never leave Thailand so if we take pictures of him at least his face will see the world....

If you have never seen what curry paste looks like... here you go.. all kinds green, red, panang, and spit fire hot :-)

At the cooking school I learned to cook Tom Yum soup, Green Curry soup, Pad Thai, Chicken & Cashew, Sweet Sticky rice with Mango and Spring Rolls. The setting was beautiful the school was located right on the beach so as we cooked we looked out onto the ocean. I really hope I will be able to pull off at least one of these dishes when we get home since we are going to really really really miss the cheap food we have loved for three months.

Pad Thai, great dish.

Chicken & Cashew Nut with vegetable Spring Rolls. I can't believe I cooked this and I have to say it was delicious.

Trent, Casey and Ryan went out on the water in the deep seas in search of this BIG fish. They drove almost two hours away to get closer to the Similan Islands which is suppost to be perfect for it underwater beauty and it is suppost to be the SPOT for fish. Sadly I have to report THE fish has elluded Trent AGAIN (feel more sorry for me please, this is year 7 of chasing THE fish) They did however catch 6 tunas.

We are gearing up to head back to North America. Melody has left and we leave on Sunday. Emma does not want to come home and wear a jacket and Easton said we can go to Singapore... then to Canada for three sleeps and then... we are off to Africa ( he has the gypsy spirit in him) He did finally say today that he wants to go to Africa because Auntie has been there(my sister).... A few more years when Everett can keep up we will go.

On Tuesday morning we had some family pictures taken, there were some good pictures of the kids but a family picture was a bit more difficult, unfortunalty we were unable to get a good one. I need to be behind the camera to get the shot ( i just can't be infront and behind at the same time).... but the photographer did try...

I picked my favorites to share with you of my amazing family that I am soooooo thankful for.

I love this picture, Trent and Easton... my men xoxoxox

Em & East are real buddies and over the years traveling they have formed a great bond.

They are so much fun, we love to watch them explore and learn about the world around them.

Angel # 1 - Oh my not so little girl anymore who is growing up. I could not ask for a more amazing little girl. Em's curosity about the world and quite confidence is wonderful to watch develope. Em is a wonderful sister to the boys, she is very compassionate and caring person. Future prediction - Em loves school and will do the best at whatever she chooses to tackle. She will also keep the boys in line :-)

Angel #2 - Easton is a special little boy. Easton is very philosophical for a three year old and he keeps us on our toes while he reminds us so much of my dad. He is a stinker in front of the camera, he is a master distorting his face already. A kind, gentle little guy who's listening ears are super powerful. Future prediction is he will be on a stage somewhere in a band... and teach us new things forever.

Angel # 3 - Ev is such a fun little boy, he is always willing to give kisses and loves to be with the big kids. He is such a happy boy and is developing his personality more and more eachday. Our future prediction is the joker of the family, keeping us all laughing.

My little Crew!!

Let me not forget my big King Kong, Yack, Giant Angel... My wonderful husband who without his patience, understanding, trust, compromise, hardwork, and Yack Status we would not be where we are today. Future prediction the best is yet to come...

Sadly this will be my last blog from Phuket Thailand for now. It has been a pleasure writing about our adventure and I hope that you have taken something from our stories and you have learned some new things along the way.

A HUGE thank you to my mom, sister, Ginger and Tom for keeping up with your blog updates and Tom thank you very much for your recap of our adventure it was GREAT! I love hearing what people have to say and in the future for our kids to look back and read comments will be great for them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE JUST TURNED 40 I am not sure if you want me to disclose names but you know who you are ...Simpsons... and Tom. I myself will be hitting a mildstone this year, time is to precious to waste, it is flying by.

I have loved putting up our blogs and I will miss it. However I promise you I will be back when we depart for our next adventure.

I will talk to you from Singapore next week.

Until then. Stay warm :-) I know we could not escape winter that easy it will be waiting for us when we get back to Calgary on March 4th.

Trek our way to Chiang Mai

Our last quick trip...
Trent and I caught the late plane (11:30pm) flight out of Phuket landing in Bangkok roughly an hour later. I wanted to make sure we tucked in the kids for bed and gave them lots of kisses before we left for the week that is why we left so late.

Arrived in Bangkok close to 1:00am found internet and caught up on computer stuff. Trent layed his head down to catch a few zzzz before we were off to the races for the next few days. As you know I like to pack in as much as possible when we are somewhere and we had a full schedule from the moment we got off the plane in Chiang Mai at 8:00am Monday morning. I fiqured why waste money on a hotel when Trent can sleep anywhere :-) We spent a few hours in the airport.

We stayed at a hotel called the D2 in Chiang Mai... it was the most posh and funky hotel I have ever been in. When we checked in they offered us a refreshing drink. Trent put his glass down.... and jumped to catch it as he thought it was going to fall... the glass had a swival on the bottom, it was pretty neat. Everything at this hotel was odd shape, the pillows everywhere were so luxurious. Jen Newman you would have appreciated this hotel.

After we checked into our room Trent and I had a quick nap and then it was time to hit the city. Trent arranged for a car and driver to take us to a few sights with the help of "Prem" the gentleman at the concierge desk. This hotel had the best customer service we have ever experienced world wide.

Our first stop was for lunch. Trent asked Prem for a local place.... oh my was this restaurant ever local. We were getting many looks, we were so out of place here. The food was good... for as fast as we ate it... we had places to see :-)

We stopped at a few Temples... Wat Chedi Luang (the largest stupa) also the Wat Chiang Man (the first temple in Chiang Mai)

I am amazed at the detail that the people have put into their temples, it turely is a holly place for them. We spoke to a monk here... The history of a monk is... every boy or man will serve as a monk for a minium three months during their life time. It is very important that a male serves as a monk to ensure the holly place for the family after death. A monk is not to eat after 12:00pm, some are allowed a glass of milk if needed in the afternoon. All afternoon they are to meditate and clear their head... no stress is allowed on a monk.

In a temple and in a presence of a monk a woman is not allowed to show her bare shoulders or legs, it is very disrespectful. It would be almost 40 degrees outside, Trent is dripping sweat and I am in a jacket to cover up. Surprising though I got used to it. At most temples you can rent pants if you do not have any to cover up with.

Outside the temple Trent was approached to release these birds for good luck. The lady told him to make a wish and release the birds... Trent won't tell me what he wished for so you will have to ask him if it has came true. When Trent released his birds they flew to a close by tree... it was funny, we think now the ladies will recapture the birds and charge another sucker to pay 150B to make a wish :-) Next stop was at the Meon Hilltribe.. aka lots of shopping. We did not see any hilltribe living in there original enviroment. This village of salesmans were way in the hills and we took a very interesting road to get here. The market had a few unique things, Harlow keeps benefiting from all my market trips...Emma won't wear all the cute things anymore.

It is sad to see children on a weekday selling things, it ususlly means they are not in school. It has became a problem in tourist areas that children don't go to school because they help make money for their families this way. These girls were adorable all dressed up in traditional Thai outfits, they were younger so I am not sure if they should be in school. By law the goverment says all children must attend school until age 12 and it is free. After 12yrs. it is up to the family to pay. This lady was very sweet and she made all her own clothes... how could I resist.

Our next stop was Wat Phathat Doi Suthep Temple, the most visited temple in Chiang Mai. To get to the temple you had to climb over 200 steps. It was amazing to watch the people pray to Budda and to watch the monks pray over the people with holly water. This temple resided high on the mountain that overlooked Chiang Mai which was a wonderful view. In this picture you can see the monk sprinkling holly water on each person, we even got a splash on us. To the right of this picture there is a large money tree and it was covered with thousands & thousands of bahts. It was very busy here this day as it was the last day of Chinese New Years. We toured the temple and then raced down the steps so we would not miss the last stop... We went to a district on the outskirts of Chiang Mai on Sankampang Road with factories for woodcarving, jewelry, lacquer wear, silks, cerladon, paper unbrellas. This was very intersting, we stopped at most factories to see how they make these items.

The silk factor was very interesting. We saw the eggs-worms-cocoons-stages. Then the process is to boil the cocoons... the worms are boiled alive for the silk which is where the weaving process starts.
This lady is boiling the little creatures alive and spooling the thread as it is released.
After the thread is streached out it can then be dyed different colors. Here at this station the woman sit at this machine all day to produce the sheets of silk. It takes 4000 threads to produce one meter and it will take this woman one hour to make 1/2 a meter. To watch her make this was facinating.

After we watched in amazement we then toured the gallery and the silks were beautiful, very interesting to see. The lady did a pure silk test... she lite a peace of pure silk on fire and it smelt of burnt hair, then she put synthetic silk to a flame and it smelt like plastic.

The lacquer factory was intersting also if you like lacquer. All the gift wear is hand painted or decorated by hand, nothing is machine produced. My appreciation is so much more now.

After a quick nap in the afternoon we went for dinner at a resturant called "The Gallery" excellent thai food. On our way to dinner we took a tuk-tuk. They are different from the tuk-tuks in Phuket. We noticed many differences between Chiang Mai & Phuket even Krabi when we went there. This is a very diverse country.

A major attraction in Chiang Mai is the "night bizzare" it is a big street market. Off shopping again, Trent says everything looks the same but it is sooo not, the shop keepers sale different things in Chiang Mai compared to Phuket.

Day 2 in Chiang Mai.... on a trek for two days/one night. We left Chiang Mai in a packed truck headed for the hills tuesday morning. Our truck made a stop at the police station so the officer could confirm our passport ID in the off chance we went missing. Good chance the way they drove this truck at over 100km/hour at times. Trent and I sat at the back hanging on pretty tight as the tailgate was down and not much else to keep us in ....THAILAND On our trek we had four guys from Korea, two older guys from Holland, two guys from the states and our two guides male also. I was the only female surrounded by 11 males...

We drove for over an hour until we stopped at a village for a lunch pit stop. The kids here were very sweet. After lunch we were off trekking in the Chiang Mai outback. It was a challenging walk in places, on this trek at some spots we could have used safely equipement.

Our guide lead us to a waterfall. The water was FREEZING just like our mountain lakes back home but it was very refreshing. Mom you always said to let you know AFTER I do something. Well some guys were jumping off the cliffs and I could not just sit there and watch so up the cliff I went. To Trent's mom... don't worry Trent kept his feet safely on the ground.
After a few hours of trekking through the jungle of Chiang Mai we finally arrived at the village we were going to stay for the night. Here is our hut all 10 of us stayed in, we were very happy to see mattresses on the floor most treks sleep directly on the bamboo floor with one blanket.

Some of my roomates for the night... there was way to many snoring men at night. Advise for future trekkers, bring earplugs,

The hilltribe that lived here was quite small and we were in a very remote area, no other trekking tours or tourists. It was amazing up here, it was very peaceful, quite, tranquil. I was expecting to be going somewhere that had more villagers trying to sell us their goods, not the case here ! There was only two woman trying to sell beaded bracelets and scarfs. Since I was the only female I bought alot (men are oblivious most times)

The kids faces were priceless when they saw Trent walk out of our hut, they were amazed at how big he was.... that is a moment I will always remember. The little boys thought Trent looked great in purple and beaded braceletts so they dressed him all up.
This lady made a scarf in every color and kept making them. The little girl was very happy and I never heard her cry, I followed her around to take some pictures, she was a cutie.
We had dinner by candle light, it was very romantic spending Valentines being surrounded by these guys... (not) but we did have a sky full of bright stars, full moon, candle light... what more could a girl ask for :-) hahaAfter our dinner which I thought was delicious (i was expecting alot worse) we sat around the camp fire and our guide played some american songs on the guitar. It was a great night until it was time to get some sleep. The four guys from korea stayed up until after 1:00am and then at 4:00am the roasters under our hut started singing to eachother. It was not to bad, as it could of been worse.

As you can see the walls are paper thin...haha... This was our sleeping quarters for the night, a net to keep the bugs out which I had to tuck under our bed since the floor boards under our bed had big gaps in them.

I was playing the role of "Den Mother" to these guys in the morning getting them all their coffee for the start of our full day. The two men from Holland were ages 52 & 60. They did great and they were the nicest gentleman. We had an american breakfast- eggs & toast to prepare us for our three hour trek.

Right before we were about to leave this woman looked close to 90yrs. old. She climbed the steps to our hut to sell me some beaded braceletts, I had not choice but to buy them all....

One of the guys in our group twisted his ankle so our trek took a bit longer as we had to wait for him, there was no way out except down the mountain.... As you can see it is not a flat walk. Trent, Arun, Ashu are heading towards a waterfall.

We had to always be watching where we were stepping, one slip and anyone could twist thier ankle.

Two hours into our trek we came to another waterfall, you could not do cliff jumping here but we did climb to the top to get our picture taken. I have not seem Trent so nervous in along time. One slip here and that would be pretty much the end of your normal life. We took it nice and slow, at the top Trent took a dip in the little pool of freezing water, I think he is still waiting for his nuggests to fall back into place. (he would not let his wife show him up again..haha) The top of the waterfall is alot higher than the picture appears.

Chin(our guide) Ashu (an american) Trent & I up on the top rock... Pretty amazing up here!

After another hour of walking we made it to the truck and stopped at another remote village. I being the only female, was the only one who bought a table cloth from this very nice lady.

Ate lunch and then we headed to do "bamboo rafting". This was the highlight of our two days. Our raft guide was named Noi and there was three of us on the raft; Trent, Arun and myself with Noi. Trent and Arun took turns streering at the back of the raft, it was harder than it looks. We had a lot of fun and Noi was a great sport, he just kept laughing at us especially when Trent started to sing Jonny Cash (his new favorite artist since the movie Walk the Line) The rafting was a great hour!

Someone was almost in the water. Trent and Arun traded spots, Trent was going to the back to help Noi steer the raft.

Trent was a master at steering us away from the rocks... He almost bailed a few times but stayed nice and dry.

The trek was great and I am glad we went despite all the roasters and chickens that kept us up at night. We met some great people and we experienced & saw some pretty amazing things. My hip flexers were getting pretty tight from all the up & down hills we were going over by the end of day two.

Wednesday night we spent the night with Ryan & Michelle Young (Nicole's sister) they live in Chiang Mai. They have a new baby boy Carson almost 8weeks old a real cutie. Ryan and Michelle were very welcoming. For dinner we went out to this Italian restaurant that had delicious food and wine. The next morning Michelle was kind enough to drive us to the airport for us to catch our plane back to Bangkok. That was the end of our time in Chiang Mai for this trip but we will be back again in the future.

Our plane landed in Bangkok around noon and I planned for us to spend the day there. We again hired a driver and van for us to hit the city running for the day.

Our first stop was at the largest solid Golden Budda in the world, it was beautiful. This Budda is 12 feet in diametre and 15 feet in height, weighing approx. 5 tons. The Budda is now more than 700 yrs. old and is a very valuable treasure to Thailand. It was one of those things I am glad we saw. Our second stop was one of the largest reclining Buddas, and this Budda was amazing. It stood 15meters high and 46 meters long. The building was built around it. Trent and I were both in Ahhhh looking at this Budda, it was breathtaking.

If you watch Amazing Race you will recognize these pots, they were on one of the episodes. You pay for a bowl of coins... say a wish and then put a coin in every pot while thinking about your wish. There were about 80 bowls.

We had a personal guide when we visited this temple. It has many "stupa's" here, it cost over $7,000 US to have your ashes put under the smaller stupa and many many people do it here. It is more expensive at this Temple because it is a royal temple.

What is a stupa?
The Tibetan word is Chorten, which means "the basis of offering".
It is a symbol of enlightened mind, (the awakened mind, universal divinity) and the path to its realisation.

If you had to use just two words, the best definition I have seen is "Spiritual Monument"
The stupa represents the Buddha's body, his speech and his mind, but most especially his mind and every part shows the path to Enlightenment

the Stupa is a structure built to house sacred relics.

At this temple there is 186 Budda's, these ones in a row are beautiful. Just a few years ago they had to put the Budda's behind glass because the birds were beginning to destroy the statues and were building nest. Our driver took us to a canals station and we took a tour through the canals. It was very interesting to see how people lived. I really wanted to go to the floating market but it is finished at 11:00am each morning so next time. (we made it to Bangkok in the afternoon)

A great reminder to be EXTREMELY appreciative and thankful for what we have!

The boatman stopped the boat and reversed...we had no idea why AND THEN he pointed at this creature on the side of the canal... it was so ugly and it was a wild animal, no pet.... I am still having chills run up my arms knowing that these lizards roam free. It was lot bigger than the picture shows.

The crazy amount of traffic and congestion in Bangkok reminded me alot of Hong Kong.

After we did a bit of looking around we then rushed to the airport to make our plane back to Phuket. As we waited for our plane which was delayed (like usual) Trent found the exact same seat he slept on on our way to Chiang Mai in the same clothes like the first picture of the blog... This was not planned I noticed when I was looking back through my pictures.

We arrived home safe and sound to our cozy bed at 1:00am. We had a few fun filled packed days and it was great. Chiang Mai was the last of our little trips for Trent and I we are now home until we head to Singapore on our way back to Calgary.

Thanks again for allowing us into your lives and again we love to hear from you. I will be putting together one more blog and then that will be it until Singapore. Sadly we are leaving Thailand in less than a week but there are many great things waiting for us in Calgary.

Until next time... all our love and talk to you soon.