Final Adventures (and photos!) in Thailand: The Land of Smiles!

My last week in Thailand completely FLEW by (as did all the others!) and was full of adventure once again! 

A couple days after my grand Bangkok adventure with P'Ganniga, I was taken to the fish market in Ang Sila by my dear friend P'Oiy. Having heard rumours about the 'delightful' smells that would greet me there, I prepped myself for the worst.......Friends, one cannot prepare themselves for what I smelled there. (My nose is still recovering!) ;) It was an exciting place to visit, nonetheless. I have never seen so many kinds of seafood in my life! (Too bad that all seafood has gluten in it, right?......ahem...) ;) After the market, Bonnie, Corina, and I went to the Jatajack (spelling??) night market in Bang Saen and we enjoyed once again exploring all the interesting things for sale (picture the Richmond night market x20). We enjoyed eating mango sticky rice, chicken satays,  and fruit smoothies once again - you can never get enough of those in Thailand!

The following day was one of my top days in Thailand. Bonnie and I set out on an adventure to explore Koh Si Chang (google image it!) - a tropical island just off the coast of Sriracha. We drove to a park where the ferry docks are to the island and explored there first. We found a pond of giant turtles and two massive Chinese and Thai Buddhist temples at the top of a huge staircase. After putting our strong legs to work (thanks, squatty potties!) and climbing to the top, we found vendors selling everything from eels to noodles being sold for people to offer to the idols there. To our right we saw one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen: a completely panoramic view of the sea with Pattaya visible to the far left and Bang Saen to the far right. A few steps away we heard some monks chanting and we saw people bowing, burning incense, and making sacrifices before a huge golden Buddha in attempts to gain "merit" (like Karma). It was sad to see these people bowing before such meaningless objects amidst such overwhelming beauty. 

After taking in the views and vibrant colours all around us, we realized that we needed to go quickly to catch our ferry in time to go to the island. We paid our 'whopping' 50 Baht ($1.70ish) to get on the ferry and walked up the dock. Approaching the dock I saw our boat: Thai luxury indeed! ;) As I walked up I noticed the "walkway" that I was expected to climb down and my heart stopped. If you know me at all, you know how terrified I am of heights. Now throw in a few more factors: the wooden plank wasn't even a foot wide, was bending under the weight of those already on it, was at a sharp angle down, and was slippery. The Thai people (and Bonnie!) were all laughing at me as I clung onto the rope leading down for dear life. All I could picture was having to explain to my dad why the iPad he lent me for the trip somehow made it's way into the Gulf of Thailand....  Once on the boat we sat in our extremely comfortable luxury liner chairs (orange plastic patio chairs) and cruised for an hour to the island. Loved it!

As we approached the dock in the harbour, the Chinese temple up on the hill lit off fireworks (how kind of them to know we were arriving!) ;) and I had a massive smile. The view that lay before me was beautiful! The lush green mountains full of palm trees came right down into the water and colourful homes and boats dotted the shoreline. After scampering off of the boat, Bonnie bartered for a Tuktuk to take us to the beach. Neither of us ever having been to the island before, we had no idea where we were going so we told our driver to take us to the best beach he knew. After barreling through tiny villages with thatched roofs and driving up a big mountain in the middle of nowhere, I was convinced that our driver misunderstood us wanting to go to the beach! As we started coming down the mountain we rounded a corner and my breath was completely taken away. The scene before me was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my entire life! The white sand stretched across a huge bay with the beautiful sea of every shade of turquoise enveloping the bay. Palm trees stretched from the surrounding hills all the way down to the water and there were white cliffs on the other side of the bay. It was UNREAL - Like a scene from a movie! Our driver took us down into a small village where we got off and walked down to the beach. I was in PARADISE! (I'm currently trying to figure out a way for the Surrey School District to start a school there so that I can go back and live there...) We enjoyed a Thai lunch under hundreds of colourful umbrellas dotting the shore before we ran into the warm sea. The waves crashed over us as we floated in the bay and I stood there for a long time just taking in the view. Words completely fail to describe the beauty of God's creation there! I was completely surprised and mesmerized! It was such a gift to spend the day in such an amazing place exploring with a dear friend. Leaving that afternoon was hard to do! (After another adventure on the Tuktuk and riding on the glorified fishing boat we made it back to Sriracha safely.)

That evening back in Bang Saen, P'Ganniga and I decided to go visit the people in the Cambodian slums once again (see previous blogs). I played with the kids and played charades to explain myself (They don't speak English or Thai - they speak a special dialect of Cambodian) and they eventually piled in the van with us to head off to Sila church that evening. Two of the kids clung to me like glue and my heart melted. I was told that these kids weren't shown a lot of affection so I gladly held them and danced with them at church. :) I went back to visit them a couple more times in the following days, armed with a soccer ball, glow sticks, and toys for the kids - they completely lit up when they saw the small things that I had brought from Canada for them. What a privilege it was to be with them! They were some of my favourite people that I met while being in Thailand. 

The next morning, Sunday, I headed off for my last time to Tha Riu Plii in Bang Sai where Jon and Bonnie hold the outreach for the kids there on the fishing docks. Being the last time I'd be there, I wanted to take it all in (except for the pungent smell of fish and sewage.....THAT I could easily leave behind!) ;) I sure love the kids that go there and I miss them already - their smiles completely light up a room! After a lunch of home made chicken satays and sticky rice at the fishing docks, I headed to the beach town of Bang Saen with my Thai friend Gay to explore and eat (Thai people LOVE to eat! Fiiiiiiiiiiiine with me!). We drove down on her scooter sans helmets (the Thai way!) and I had a huge smile the whole way! As mentioned in previous blogs, there are no rules in Thai traffic - NONE! Especially on a scooter. So we dodged in and out of crazy weekend traffic and I clung to the back for dear life! After eating a SALAD (woohoo!!) we walked down to the sandy beach. Picture a Thai version of Spanish Banks in Vancouver.......but with 100x more people and garbage.
It was beautiful nonetheless! I enjoyed spending a great afternoon with my friend before heading to TLC church that evening for the last time. 

That week I was privileged  to be given cooking lessons by P'Oiy and P'Ganniga. I can now make pad Thai the real way, green curry coconut chicken, mango sticky rice, cashew chicken, and pineapple coconut curry chicken. Jealous? You should be. ;) They were AMAZING dishes! (and so easy to make!) That same evening, Gay's English class put on a Thai feast for me because it was my last day joining their class. INCREDIBLE food and even better people! (And only a few dishes stared back at me on the plates) ;) 

I also had the joy of taking the older girls at the orphanage out for a karaoke night with Corina the next day. Thai people LOVE karaoke! Who knew!? It was HILARIOUS watching the girls dance and sing their hearts out to Thai pop music. (Justin Beiber, you've got some serious competition in Thailand!) What a joy it was to watch some of the more shy girls feel comfortable enough to sing at the top of their lungs! My ears are STILL recovering from the noise level in there! Over my 6 weeks in Thailand I really grew to love these girls - all of them are living with HIV and yet they have such a zest for life and are like any other kids their age. I am so blessed by them!

The following morning I had to say by goodbyes to all of the kids at the orphanage. I got up uber early to see them all off to school and with tears in my eyes I hugged every one of them as well as the house moms. My time at ALH is unforgettable and each one of those kids impacted me each in a unique way. God has truly blessed my life through working alongside these remarkable kids this summer! I'll never forget the tears in theirs and my eyes as they drove away in their vans to school, faces pressed against the window and waving all the way down the road. It was hard to say goodbye. (Hopefully it's only goodbye for now!)

Shortly after, Jon, Bonnie, their kids and I packed up and headed south to the resort town of Rayong for my last two days in Thailand. We stayed at the gorgeous Novotel right on the white sandy beach and I felt completely spoiled! It was such a contrast to many of the places I had stayed and visited. What a gift it was to unwind, relax, and debrief my time in Thailand with my dear friends Jon & Bonnie. I had a Thai massage right on the beach (it's a tough life...) and suntanned in the 45+ degree heat by the beautiful pool! I drank from my first coconut (eww! never again!) and ate more delicious Thai food (I had to get my fill before I flew out the following day!). I knew I was getting used to being in Thailand when my jaw dropped at my dinner at the hotel costing $4! (Most Thai dishes are $1-2). Who knew that this cheap Dutch-Mennonite could become even CHEAPER!? (Dutch + Mennonite + Thailand is a dangerous combination!). I spent a lot of time in the ocean there - huge sparkling waves crashing on the beach (the water was warmer than the hotel pool!), palm trees dotting the shore line, tropical islands in the background, and colourful fishing boats trolling the sea in front of me. How incredible GORGEOUS! What a gift it was to go back there! I really treasure my time with Jon & Bonnie there. They allowed me to talk about my experiences in Thailand and asked a lot of thought provoking questions that really made me reflect and think deeply. After soaking in every minute of my time in Rayong, we started on our trek home. Bonnie and I hit up the Ninja road night market for the last time and then we headed back to their place to hang out and debrief some more. I am thankful that God gave me such great friends while I was in Thailand! I miss the Esaus dearly already.

The following morning (Saturday) I left after a tearful goodbye for the Bangkok airport with P'Ganniga. The fact that P'Ganniga got her Canadian Visa and plane ticket in time is a complete miracle! It was such a gift having her with me on my hectic trip home.....read on.....

Checking in at the airport went smoothly and we got on our plane without any hassle. I knew it was too good to be true (especially in Thailand when most things DONT go according to plan...) After sitting on the plane for an hour in the bay we were told that the plane was having mechanical difficulties. I don't know about you, but when I'm told that my small plane that is about to fly me from Thailand over Laos and Vietnam and into China is having technically difficulties, I get a wee bit nervous! Another hour went by waiting on the plane still not moving and by that point I realized that P'Ganniga and I would miss our connecting flight from China to Vancouver. Goody. At the 2.5 hour mark, they started bringing the drink cart out to liquor everyone on the plane up because people were getting really mad and wanted off! (I stuck to OJ....) At the 3 hour mark, all the English speakers on the plane decided to all get off together at the same time (I felt like I was in the French....or Thai?....revolution!) It worked. They finally let us off but it was complete chaos figuring out new flights, especially with people who don't speak any English. (China Southern Airlines, you need to get your act together!). Ironically, there were employees who spoke French (FRENCH?!? In THAILAND? Really??) So I was able to speak to them and decipher that a piece had fallen out of the engine  (WHAT!!) and that someone was driving to a city an hour away to get the part needed to fix the plane. #onlyinthailand There were no other planes flying with China Southern that day so we had to wait until the plane was fixed and they said they would figure out the rest of our flights after we got to China. They put us up in the VIP lounge in the Bangkok airport where we waited for another 5 hours until the plane was "fixed". We were herded onto the plane once again and then waited on the plane for ANOTHER two hours because the captain forgot to fill out some kind of paperwork. Eventually we were on the runway taking off......Never have I prayed so hard in my entire life! 

After a 3 hour fight we made it (thankfully!) safely to Guangzhou, China. The best part of the flight: I was able to share about Jesus to a man sitting beside me. :) The flight that I was supposed to catch had left half a day earlier so we were stuck in the airport. After going through insane levels of security, a China Southern rep took our passports and assured all 20 of us who had missed our flight to Vancouver that he would be back "in a few minutes" with our boarding passes for a new flight. After 2 hours of him being gone with our passports I got nervous. Eventually he came back (fewf!) and told us that we wouldn't be flying out until the afternoon the following day!! Good grief. He told us that we would have to get a 2 day Chinese Visa and that we would be put up in a hotel for the night. Sounded easy, right? That's what I thought. After going through the complete chaos that is Chinese customs I had my passport stamped and understood that we would be going to the airport hotel right away. Wrong again! We were put in a "holding tank" at Chinese customs while they verified all of our information. After 3 more hours of waiting, we were loaded onto a strange bus that took us to the middle of nowhere (I was laughing at this point - seriously, what else could go wrong!? So funny!). After FORTY minutes of driving away from the airport we arrived at a strange hotel where we had to once again surrender our passports and then find our rooms. I was so thankful to have a bed to sleep in rather than on the airport floor! P'Ganniga and I shared a room and she was super excited to get to visit China as she has never left Thailand before! It was neat being with her through the experience but I felt bad for all the hassles we'd experienced!

We got up early the following morning and we were told that there was an American breakfast waiting for us! Woohoo! Not having eaten dinner the night before, I was HUNGRY and ready for some bacon and hashbrowns. Wrong again! Our 'American' breakfast consisted of congealed pigs' blood cubes, yams, quail eggs, and lots of other interesting things! I had a good laugh! When in Rome, right? Soon after we all loaded into vans in a massive lightning storm and began our trek back to the airport. When we arrived we were told that our flight could be cancelled because of the storm! It was evident that God was telling me to stay in Thailand, right? ;) Thankfully it WASN'T cancelled, and after a 13 hour flight we made it safely back to Vancouver! Customs went smoothly for P'Ganniga and I and all of our luggage made it (a complete miracle considering all the times we had to transfer planes!). It was such a joy to see my family and to be with Ganniga as she experienced Canada for the first time! I was thankful to be back and to be done with the chaos of the last 2 days. :)

What an adventure of a lifetime! My heart is completely full and I have much to process and prayerfully discern through. I will be writing a final blog soon about overall thoughts since being home, as well as the challenges, joys, and crazy things I experienced during my time in Thailand. Stay tuned!


Prayer Requests:

1) For P'Ganniga: that she would have a refreshing and eye-opening experience in Canada (she is one of the house mothers from the orphanage and she is here until Sept. 12)

2) For the orphanage - there has been a lot of transition as of late with the kids and the house mothers.

3) For the people in the Cambodian 'camps' - that they would continue to be involved in the Sila church and would come to know Jesus.

4) For Jon & Bonnie's ministry in Bang Sai - that the upcoming launch would go well and that they would be used to impact the lives of many there as they being planting their church.

5) For discernment and wisdom as I sift through many of my thoughts about my time away

6) For SLEEP once again. Jet lag has been incredibly hard coming back and I've been running on 2-3 hours of sleep each night this week. 

7) For health Since coming home, I have been sick! Pray that it goes away quickly.

8) For creativity, energy, and perseverance as I begin planning and setting up for the new school year that starts next week (Sept. 3). I am back to work this coming Tuesday to set up and prep. It's been challenging having the energy to plan running on only 2-3 hours of sleep!



Thanks for reading about my last week in Thailand! There is one more blog to come about the culture shock of being back home. Stay tuned! :)