We planned a trip to Thailand with some of our friends here in Japan. There were five couples all together and we all decided it would be better to go without kids. We agreed, but my anxiety immediately set in. I had never left my kids for longer than 2 days (only one time!), so I was a little unsettled about it. Especially since we were traveling to a foreign country and my kids would also be in a foreign country, with the closest family being across the entire Pacific ocean. We found a babysitter, and Justin reassured me that everything would be fine and that I better relax or I won't be able to enjoy this awesome experience. It didn't help my anxiety that we finalized our will before we left, just incase something happened to us while we were gone. I even called my sister, telling her not to forget that Anderson is allergic to peanuts...just in case. I wrote about 6 pages of notes for the babysitter, and went over everything with her, more than once. She probably thinks I'm a nut case! I'm sure Justin is starting to think I'm a nut case as well. What can I say? I have anxiety! Fortunately for me (and Justin), my nerves were settled as soon as we landed in Thailand. My prayers were answered and I was grinning from ear to ear. We were so excited to be there, we could hardly stand it.
Our first day, we spent in Bangkok. We had the nicest cab driver who took us around all day playing music from the Bee Gees, Eric Clapton and the Eagles. He said these flowers hanging from his window are for good luck.
Our first stop was a boat ride down the canal.
We stopped and got off at this temple, which I do not know the name of. It was amazing. The way it was made and the tiny details were fascinating.
We got to climb up these super steep stairs and walk around. The view was amazing!!
(I have a feeling I will be using that word a lot in these posts.)
Bangkok in the distance.
This picture will give you an idea of how steep the stairs were. They were not skirt friendly!
I'm not sure why this yellow banner was wrapped around it, but we left our mark!
Most of the colored pieces were made out of broken ceramic plates.
After the temple, we headed farther down the canal. The houses we drove by were very sad. They all looked like they were about to fall over and some of them only had three walls. It was crazy to see this big temple, most of them covered in gold, and right next to it was a shack. Seeing all of these houses made me feel very guilty.
This lady pulled up to our boat trying to sell us all kinds of treasures. She was a little disappointed when we didn't buy anything.
The first restaurant we went to ended up being our favorite of the whole trip. Thai food is very different, but we LOVED the food and we ate way too much, all week long.
This is called a tuk tuk. They are every where! The first time we rode in one, I thought we were going to die. I think the driver was annoyed with us or something. He drove us to our hotel like a maniac!
This was the second temple we went to. Inside of it is a solid gold Buddha. It is 9.8 ft. tall, weighs about 6 tons, and is worth 250 million dollars. Crazy!
There are pictures of the king of Thailand all over. This one was just outside the temple.
The street and driving situation there is all over the place. No one cares about the lines. If someone is in your way, you just make a new lane and go around. There are also tons of scooters. Sometimes a family of four...all on the same scooter. Quite impressive.
Our last stop that day was at the temple with the reclining Buddha.
The girls.
Suzy, Amy, myself, Ashlee and Hollie. Surprise...I'm the shortest of the bunch!
The reclining Buddha was huge. These pictures do not do it justice.
Justin said this was his favorite out of all the temples we saw. It really was beautiful.
And apparently monks can use cell phones. Who knew?!
