Thailand: Our Return

Well, we're back! After three weeks in Thailand we're back in Georgia and it's weird to be home. I'm not sure if it's stranger to be uncomfortable back at home or to have been SO comfortable on the other side of the world. Truth is we're still jet lagged (having just gotten in yesterday afternoon) so I'm not sure we're used to anything yet. Maybe things will return to normal soon, but with such grand adventures, you can never be quite sure if they will or if your world has changed forever.

       As I "wake up" and process things, you can expect a lot more stories - I'm sure at some point that intercultural class is going to make sense, I just can't remember what parts yet. But for now this is just going to be a summary.

      Back in January of this year I decided, no more nonsense about going to Thailand "one day." This was going to be the year: we were going to go this year as sort of a 10 year anniversary celebration (which isn't until September), sort of as a promise I made to myself to take a break this summer, and sort of as a commitment to stop putting off the fun things. So we bought the tickets, made plans, and waited. I have to admit my semester seemed to be never ending and I had a hard time hanging on to my motivation knowing we were going on vacation. Giddy with anticipation (and a little nervousness), it seemed like our departure date of June 11th would never arrive. Then suddenly we were trying to figure out if we packed enough and were rushing to the GROOME station to leave for Atlanta. After a little issue finding out our oldest daughter wasn't heavy enough or tall enough to ride the GROOME van without a carseat (and my husband having to race home to pick up an extra) we were on our way.

LOOOOOOOONG Flight

     The trip was rough. We left from the new Atlanta International Terminal at about 1PM EST for our near 14 hour flight. Korean Air was great though. They had a library of movies, games, and entertainment; so much, that the kids barely used the NOOK or other entertainment we brought them. We had a short layover once we reached Incheon Korea, enough time to grab a bite to eat at Burger King and then leave for Thailand. We got in around 10PM and were met by Phil's dad, Om (his step mom) and his step sister Amm. *Now is the point where I have to apologize for any misspellings on Thai names or nicknames.* By the time we got to Sunit Golf, we were all pretty wiped out. I think we had some food and then went to bed.

     After a couple of days wandering around Bangkok we went up to Chiang Mai to visit some of Phil's cousins. Did some great shopping in a handcraft market and picked up some souvenirs. We also visited Maesa Elephant Camp and then ate at a hilltop restaurant where I had a mushroom curry you can ONLY get in Chiang Mai! Oops! Can't forget the kids also got to pet tigers at Tiger Kingdom and we also visited San Kamphaeng hot springs and ate eggs that were cooked in the 105 degree Celsius water pool. Can't forget we visited Ristr8to for some of the World's Best Coffee! After a few days and a LOT of fun and good food, we returned to Bangkok. We visited DreamWorld and the malls before heading back out to Phuket.

      In Phuket we stayed at the fantastic Alpina Phuket Nalina (which just won a Trip Advisor Award) and visited Koh Phi Phi by way of Sea Angel Tours. We also saw the Fantasea show and ate some fantastic seafood (which is unusual for anyone to hear me say since I usually don't eat seafood). Once we were back in Bangkok we did a lot more shopping, visited the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art, Bangkok), Samphran Elephant Show, and the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Phil and I visited Khao San Road a few times and ate Mediterranean food at Shoshana with his childhood friends. We did more, wanted to do more, shopped a lot, ate a lot of great food at Sunit Golf just about every day, and met some wonderful people. Then, all of a sudden, we had to go back. I can't deny, we were thinking about staying an extra week, but with a lot to return to (family, birthdays, work, closings, classes, summer reading, etc.) we had to come home. We were blessed to get a connecting flight out of Incheon early (much earlier than our original 12 hour layover) and that brings us back to today... when we are recovering on the 4th of July too tired to stay awake for fireworks (and just praying the kids stay awake 2 more hours so they can go to bed on time at 8PM even though they've been awake since 3AM).

      With so much we've done and so much to remember, it's going to take a long time to write it all down. I may bridge some of these into my travel blog. In any case, everything was just amazing and I'm missing Thailand a lot. I can't thank Phil's family enough for the great accommodations, communication, encouragement (in speaking Thai) and help in planning which made the whole trip memorable in such a positive way. I know I told the kids at one point that this could be a once in a lifetime trip... but now I know there's no way it will only be once. We've got to go back, and next time I'm going to know more Thai!

Happy Independence Day America! Even though I miss Thailand, it's still good to be home.