2007 - Asia
May 26th - June 14th
2007 - Asia - Day 1 - Hong Kong
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Dave dropped Mark and I off at the airport at 6:00 p.m. We got a snack wrap and McD’s to hold us over until we got to San Francisco. The plane was very small to SF. In SF, we had 5 hours until our next flight, and mom was still not there. Mark and I got some pizza for dinner and walked around the shops. We watched mom come through the security area. At 12:45 a.m., we boarded our flight to Hong Kong. Mark and I had checked in together so we were able to sit next to each other. Mom and Josie were in the same section as us but not together. We sat next to a man on his way home to India. Very nice guy. This was a 14 hour flight, and I was super tired. As soon as they had finished serving dinner, I went to sleep. I managed to sleep off and on for almost 6 hours. I then watched a couple movies, but didn’t care much for either one. We arrived in Hong Kong at 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Some local tour guides met us and showed us to our bus. Hong Kong consists of 260 islands. They even have a Disneyland and Sea World and an LDS temple. There are 7 million people living here and they drive on the wrong side of the street. I have never seen so many tall skyscrapers everywhere. It is amazing. Our first stop was at the peak of Victoria Island. We got quite a nice view of Hong Kong. We walked a pathway for awhile. We then went on a boat ride on small sampan boats. We went to Aberdeen, the boat village. (Hmmm…sound familiar, WoW players?? J) We saw a many house boats, where people live on these little boats in the harbor. We then went to a market and got some lunch. I ordered pizza again. I’m nervous what kind of food they will be serving us. Our lunch cost $16 though. L We then checked in to our hotel at 2:00 p.m. Afterwards, we walked around the mall next to our hotel for awhile and got a McFlurry. Yummy! Now it is 5:00 p.m. and mom and I are SO past ready for bed. We are hitting our pillows a little earlier tonight! It is so exciting being here in Hong Kong! It is quite a miracle that I could travel all this way to the other side of the world in a day. It took Lehi a year to travel this distance over the ocean. What a blessing this is!
![2007 - Asia - Day 1 - Hong Kong]()
2007 - Asia - Day 2 - Shenzhen, China
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Facts about Shenzhen: • Shenzhen has only 1% of local people living here • 1986 sq. km • 10 million population • Shenzhen is only 20 years old • Shenzhen is the third largest economical city in China • Oranges, mangos, bananas, lichee fruit, and dragon fruit is famous here • Number meanings in China: 4 death, 6 peace, 8 fortune, 9 live forver, 10 perfect Mom and I got up at 4:30 this morning. We both slept great for 11 hours! We went down to breakfast at 6:00. It was very good; a traditional western breakfast. We then got on the buses at 7:00 and drove to the ferry. While on the ferry, Michael Wilcox talked to us about China. The ferry was almost an hour from Hong Kong to Shenzhen. Once we got to Shenzhen, we had to wait awhile for our bags, and then go through customs to get into mainland China. We then got on our buses and were given a bus tour of the city. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant. We had 11 people at a table and there was a lazy susan in the middle with about 10 dishes. Most of it I liked. I did not like the bean curd soup, or the sweet and sour fish. But I even tried the roast goose. We then went to China Folk Cultural Village. It was beautiful. Nice trees and bushes and flowers! We saw a show with horse fighting, and then it began to rain. Some of our group was able to get into another indoor show, but no room for us. We walked around for a bit and after the show, our group went to go sit at a covered bar place until our next show started. But there were limited seats, so we got kicked out because we didn’t order anything. Mom, Josie and I walked around the miniature villages. We soon got pretty wet even with the umbrellas, so we walked through some shops. At 4:30, we went to see the next show. They had beautiful costumes and dances. At the end of the show, my energy for the day was gone. I slept on the bus on the way to the airport. We are now waiting for our flight that is an hour late. Mark left his belt pack in the restroom, and when he got it back, his money was stolen out of it. About $150 taken. We will fly to Guilin tonight.
![2007 - Asia - Day 2 - Shenzhen, China]()
2007 - Asia - Day 3 - Guilin, China
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This morning we had another western breakfast at 8:00. We left the hotel around 9:00 to go to our boat that would take us up the Li River. This is such a beautiful part of China! All the rice fields and incredible mountains are so pretty. The cruise up the river was so spectacular. It is definitely my favorite so far. I took about 65 pictures on the river trip. Absolutely beautiful! The weather was perfect. After the cruise, we shopped at the market for 30 minutes. I bought T-shirts for my kids and a silk robe and bag for me. Also some silk PJ’s for Christa. We then drove through the beautiful countryside to the Reed Flute Cave. I was quite amazed at how big and beautiful this cave was. I really enjoyed it. We then came back to the hotel for dinner and many went off for a massage. I’m choosing to go to bed early since we have to leave by 6:00 a.m. for our flight to Wuhan in the morning.
![2007 - Asia - Day 3 - Guilin, China]()
2007 - Asia - Day 4 - Wuhan, China
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It was an early morning for us. We got up at 4:30 and left for the airport at 6:00. We were able to board our flight pretty quick for Wuhan. The flight was a little over an hour. I slept a little and read my book. Once in Wuhan, we got on our buses and drove through rush hour to a museum. I didn’t see any street lights or lanes in Wuhan, but at least they drive on the right side of the road. The museum was about the findings from an excavation of a 400 BC king from the Zhou dynasty. The most significant find was a huge set of bells and musical instruments. We then heard a concert performed on replicas of the instruments. It was very good. We then drove 5 hours to our cruise ship on the Yangtze River. We took 2 potty breaks. The first potty break was just a trench for us to squat over with next to nothing for privacy. The second one was a regular squatter toilet. We boarded our ship around 6:30 p.m. It is a beautiful ship and very fancy. We had a yummy dinner. (I did not like my duck though). Then we wandered the ship for awhile. Mark and I went up to the sun deck and sat on the swings and looked at the stars and scenery.
![2007 - Asia - Day 4 - Wuhan, China]()
2007 - Asia - Day 5 - Three Gorges Dam
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We got up today at 7:00 a.m. and had breakfast at 8:00. It was so good! I think I’m going to like the food here. We then took a shore excursion to see the 3 gorges dam. It was pretty misty outside today, so we didn’t see it very clearly. It was interesting. On the way back to the ship, I bought a couple parasols for my girls and silk jammies for Megan. I also bought some artwork for me. As we disembarked, we went through the locks on the dam to get to the upper reservoir. That was cool. It took about 2-3 hours. This afternoon, we sailed through one of the gorges. It was beautiful, and we saw some nice Chinese countryside along the river. Mark and I spent some time reading on the sun deck. We ended the day with a lecture from Michael Wilcox. He talked about the Perennial Philosophy, the parable of the boys and the wishing tree, and the life of Buddha. It was all very interesting.
![2007 - Asia - Day 5 - Three Gorges Dam]()
2007 - Asia - Day 6 - Shennong River
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This morning after breakfast, we got on a smaller ferry to take us up some tributaries and have the trackers pull our boats. It was raining today, so we all got in our slickers with our umbrellas. The ferry ride to the dock for the smaller boats was about an hour. We saw a hanging coffin along the way about 2000 years old. Once we got to the docks for the little boats, they were not going to let us go further up river because all the rain had made the river too dangerous for the trackers. Jim (our tour director), said he did some negotiating and they decided to let us go upriver in the smaller boats, and then see how the river was to judge whether or not to use the trackers. It was downpour at this time so some of our group decided just to stay on the ferry. But most of us loaded up on these little row boats, about 10 per boat. They began to row us upriver through these narrow canyon walls. There was lightning and thunder and down pouring rain! But because of the rain, we saw many waterfalls. It was an incredible experience! I loved it. It was so beautiful. Unfortunately, we were not able to use the trackers to pull us further upstream. We only went upstream for about 20 mins, and then had to turn around and come back. Back on the ferry we had lunch. Some of us brave enough to endure the rain (Michael Rust and I) stayed on deck and got some great pictures. That afternoon back on the ship, Michael Wilcox gave us another lecture on Buddhism. It was very interesting, as all his lectures are! We also sailed through a couple more gorges and Michael Rust and I again endured the rain on deck to get more pictures. China is so beautiful! We saw many waterfalls from the rain. We had a delicious dinner---all the food has been great on the ship. Michael Wilcox then gave us another lecture on Confucianism, and then bed.
![2007 - Asia - Day 6 - Shennong River]()
2007 - Asia - Day 7 - Snow Jade Cave
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We had another delicious breakfast. Here I thought I would lose weight on this trip, and I’m going to gain weight! After breakfast, we left our ship in a town called Fengdu and rode buses to the Snow Jade Cave. Mom chose to go on the other tour option of the city tour. It was a beautiful cave. Our tour guide liked Mark. She told him he had hot lips and asked many times for a kiss. She told me my brother was very handsome. On the way back to our ship, there were a lot of vendors and beggars. I bought a cool sword, and a bunch of other little things like hats, fans, kites and a map. I also handed out several dollars to the beggars and children. In fact, they cleaned me out of all the ones I had left in my pack for the day. Back on ship, we had a huge lunch, and then I went on the sun deck to read and enjoy the scenery. I started to get sleepy, so I came back to the room and took a nap. We then went to Michael Wilcox’s lecture on Taoism. Shortly afterward, we watched a video of our tour. We then had another good dinner. I didn’t eat much tonight though. I wasn’t very hungry. We have been eating so much on this ship. This evening the staff put on a show for us. It was very good.
![2007 - Asia - Day 7 - Snow Jade Cave]()
2007 - Asia - Day 8 - Chongqing, China
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We left our cruise ship at 9:00 a.m. We got right on the buses and drove for almost 3 hours to Dazu. Dazu is a place that a disciple of Buddha had many sculptures of Buddhist beliefs carved into the mountains. It was very cool. I also bought a red jade dragon that looks really cool. As we were leaving Dazu, we stopped at a farmer’s village and took pictures of their lifestyle. Many of our group passed out a lot of money to the children and families. We had a box lunch on the bus on our way to Dazu. Michael Wilcox got on our bus for a little while and shared some Chinese stories. We then drove back to Chongqing. It has a population of 33 million and is the largest city in China. We then drove to our hotel. We had about an hour before dinner, so we walked along the sidewalks and looked at some the street vendors. There were several of the local people that started following us and watching our transactions. It was funny. After I bought a couple fans and saw my audience, I wanted to take a picture of them. As soon as I pulled out my camera, they scattered. We then had a buffet dinner at the hotel with 400 people. It didn’t work out very well. We spent just as much time in line as at the table. After dinner, Michael W. read us some Chinese poetry. Then Mark and I walked around the city. We walked for about 45 mins, and saw a lot of the night, street life. I was glad I had Mark with me! When we got back to the hotel, I called Dave and the kids and enjoyed talking with them.
![2007 - Asia - Day 8 - Chongqing, China]()
2007 - Asia - Day 9 - Xi’an, China
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Facts about Xi’an: • Xi’an is the oldest city in China • It borders the Gobi desert • Near the airport are 18 tombs of 200 AD emperors • 8 million population • It is the capital of the province in the NW part of China We had a buffet breakfast at 7:30, and left for the zoo at 8:30. We saw several adult pandas and one 7 month cub. He was asleep in a tree and some workers came and pulled him out of the tree and gave him a ball to play with. He was so cute. They then took us to an art shop and several people bought items there. Although the prices were 5x what we could get elsewhere. While we were waiting outside for people to finish making their purchases, Michael Rust showed Mark and I where they were having an animal show. We saw a goat climb a ladder and stand on a vase with a monkey doing a handstand on his horns. We also saw tigers and lions roll over and walk on balls. Very cool! After the zoo, we went to a hotel for lunch. We then went to the airport and flew to Xi’an. Once in Xi’an, we drove to the wall of the city and climbed the tower. Mark and I also got rented bikes and biked along one edge of the wall. It was so fun. We then went to the place for our evening show and dinner. It was a big stage with all of our tables in front. We heard musical presentations while they served us dinner. After dinner, the show began. It was fantastic. Beautiful costumes and dancing. I had been feeling achy and sore all day, and needed to take ibuprophen to keep going. That evening, mom got sick and was up most of the night. We have had police escorts while here in Xi’an. They told us it was to help us navigate through the traffic??
![2007 - Asia - Day 9 - Xi’an, China]()
2007 - Asia - Day 10 - Beijing, China
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After breakfast, we drove to see the Terracotta warriors. It was an amazing place. It is called the 8th wonder of the world. It is 2200 years old. We saw 3 different excavation pits. A lot of it had not been excavated yet. The warriors are all slightly larger than life size, and there are believed to be over 6000 of them. They were discovered around 1970(?) when some local farmers dug a well. We also had lunch there. We then drove to the airport and flew to Beijing. Beijing is the capital of China and has a population of 10 million. They served us dinner on the flight, so when we got to Beijing and went to the restaurant for dinner, I could not eat anymore. I also bought more artwork at the restaurant. It is of beautiful purple flowers. I love it. Once back at the hotel, Mark, Michael R. and I walked around Beijing for an hour, and stopped at McDonalds for ice cream. They did not have McFlurry’s, so I got a fudge sundae.
![2007 - Asia - Day 10 - Beijing, China]()
2007 - Asia - Day 11 - Beijing, China
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This morning we drove an hour and a half to the Great Wall. There were 2 sides to climb. One side was a little less steep, but more crowded. The other side was a bit more difficult and less crowded and better views. Mark, Josie and I went up the more difficult side, and mom went up the other side. I felt a little guilty leaving her to do it on her own. The climb was very steep in some areas. We got a nice workout. We got some nice photos of the wall and mountains. It was quite amazing. Many people were calling their families at home from the top of the wall. There were also many vendors along the wall. Mark and I bought a marble carving of the wall and T-shirts. When we left the wall, we went to a restaurant for lunch. I’m getting tired of Chinese food. Then we went to the entrance of the Ming tombs, and walked down the scared way. It was so beautiful and peaceful. They even had music playing. Mark had me climb on top of a marble horse for a picture. It was against the rules. So the joke was this is the picture that shows why I was arrested in China! Before we came back to Beijing, we stopped at a jade factory for lunch. They had such beautiful jade pieces. I love jade, but it was way too pricey for me. On our way back into Beijing, we stopped at Silk Alley. It’s a market place mainly for tourists. They sold a lot of pearls for a good price. I bought a single black pearl necklace and a large fan to put on the wall. I also bought a painted vase along the way, which I love! We left Silk Alley at dinner time and went to a restaurant for dinner. After dinner we got back to the hotel around 8:30. Mark, Michael R. and I walked some more around the city and stopped at McDonalds again on our way back.
![2007 - Asia - Day 11 - Beijing, China]()
2007 - Asia - Day 12 - Beijing, China
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This morning we left for the Forbidden City at 8:30. It was about 95 degrees today, and we did a LOT of walking today. The Forbidden City really didn’t have any shade either. It was a huge complex. The buildings were all so beautiful in the old Chinese style architecture. I enjoyed walking around the courtyards and looking at the beautiful buildings. After we left the area of the Forbidden City, we walked through Tiananmen Square. Our bus picked us up from the square and we welcomed the soft chairs and chance to put our feet up and the AC. We drove 30 minutes to our restaurant for lunch. We were all pretty hungry and ate quite a lot. We then took a bus ride to the summer palace. We first got on a dragon boat and rode it across the lake. We then walked along the pathways around the palace. There were beautiful gardens and scenery. We were not allowed up to the palace though. Back on the bus, we drove about an hour back into Beijing. We stopped at a restaurant for a Peking Duck dinner. It’s similar to a fajita, just duck meat instead of beef or chicken. I don't like duck, so I used a beef dish for mine. It was good. At the hotel, Michael R, Mark and I went shopping in the hotel, bought some knock off Rolex watches from a fellow traveler, then ate at McDonalds again. We also had to say goodbye to Michael. He was heading back to the States tomorrow, along with a lot of other people from our group. Only those going on the extension to Thailand are staying.
![2007 - Asia - Day 12 - Beijing, China]()
2007 - Asia - Day 13 - Hong Kong
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We left for the airport at 5:30 this morning. We were given a box breakfast to eat on our way to the airport. The flight was 4 hours from Beijing to Hong Kong. Once here, our guide from before in Hong Kong picked us up again and we came back to our hotel. We went to McD’s for lunch. Then about 10 of us wanted to see the temple, so we got some taxis to take us there. It was very beautiful, as all temples are. The first floor is used as a ward house, and the second floor is the mission offices. The top 3 floors are used for the temple. While there, we ran into several missionaries and many people in our group knew the mission president and his wife. We talked with them for awhile. We took taxis back to our hotel. Mark and I decided to go to the harbor. We walked to the train station near our hotel and tried to figure out how to buy a ticket and get on the train. We really looked like tourists, and had to ask for help a couple of times. The subway train system is like an underground city with stores and restaurants and walkways. We finally found our way back up to the street and walked toward the water. We were able to get some great pictures of Hong Kong Island. While there we found out that they had a laser light show from the buildings across the harbor in an hour. We decided to wait for it. It was incredible. It was amazing that these 80 story buildings across the harbor would shoot white and green lasers around to music. Crazy, but really cool. We met a new friend from Hong Kong while we were waiting for the show named Yan. He had a nice camera and took some pics for us and said he would email them to me. After the show, he showed us a quicker walk back to the train. I enjoyed walking along the boardwalk on the harbor and Josh Groban was even playing on the speakers. COOL!! Back at the hotel, we picked up mom and took her to get McFlurry’s at McDonalds.
![2007 - Asia - Day 13 - Hong Kong]()
2007 - Asia - Day 14 - Bangkok, Thailand
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We didn’t have to leave the hotel today until 10:30, so we were able to sleep in. We were on our own for breakfast, so we went to McD’s. At the airport, they wouldn’t let my carry on my fan, so I had to check it. Mark’s suitcase from Beijing to Hong Kong was ripped and he lost some garments and socks that were in that pocket. The flight was actually very comfortable. I watched Ghost Rider and most of Terabithia. It was a 4 hour flight from Hong Kong to Singapore. As soon as we landed, a rep told us our gate to our connecting flight, and they were ready to take off. They were just waiting for us. So we quickly made it to our next plane. Our flight from Singapore to Bangkok was just under 2 hours.We arrived around 8:00 p.m. and got to our hotel around 9:30. They gave us a beautiful flower wreath made of jasmine and rose. It smells so nice. The hotel is really nice too.
![2007 - Asia - Day 14 - Bangkok, Thailand]()
2007 - Asia - Day 15 - Bangkok, Thailand
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We left the hotel at 7:00 this morning and went to the floating market. We got on long speed boats, 8 people per boat. We drove along the canals around the village and homes for about 20 mins. Then we drove into the market area. Many shops are right on the water for you to get to by the boat. We got off the boat though, and walked through the market for an hour. I got a really cute wraparound skirt, some slingshots for the boys, and elephant key chains. Also a cute hair clip. It was so hot today that I kept holding my hair off my neck. Now I’ll be able to keep it up while here in Thailand. It was 100 degrees today with 95 % humidity. Mark and mom got some cool Chinese stars. After the market, we went on a cruise ship for lunch. It was really good. It was nice to get out of the heat. We then had a 2 hour ride back into Bangkok. Traffic is so bad here. We just crawl by. In Thailand, they drive on the left side of the street also. The population in Bangkok is 11 million, with 33 million total in Thailand. They have a king, Rama 9, which they revere, although he is pretty much just a figure head. He doesn’t have any real power. The people here greet you and say goodbye by putting their hands together under their chins and bowing. It’s so sweet. Then we went to the temple and palace areas. It was really spectacular. The walls of the buildings are so intricate in their design and details, with glass and gold tiles. We also got to see the emerald Buddha. It is smaller than I thought it would be, maybe only 3-4 feet tall. It is considered the most sacred place to be in Thailand for the Buddhists. Our group then opted to skip the jewelry factory we were scheduled to see, and head back to the hotel. For the evening, we were given choices of a Thai massage or a dinner cruise on the Mekong River. The cruise was $40 or the 2 hour massage for $30. Mark and I chose the massage. This was the first time I have ever had a professional massage. It was incredible. They just came to our hotel room. I loved it. Afterwards, Mark and I walked out to the river and found a little restaurant on the pier. He got some dinner, but I still wasn’t very hungry. I ordered a 7-up. There was a band playing for us too. We then walked to 7 eleven across from our hotel to get batteries and snacks. I then talked to Dave and the kids for an hour. All is well. One cool thing that our guides do here is get us some local fruit and foods to try. They brought us pamelo fruit (yum), tiny finger size bananas (yum), and coconut pancakes (double yum).
![2007 - Asia - Day 15 - Bangkok, Thailand]()
2007 - Asia - Day 16 - Chang Rai, Thailand
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We left our hotel at 7:30 today for the airport to fly to Chang Rai. Once here, we discovered our flight had been cancelled. They put us on a flight this afternoon at 1:45. They let us go ahead and check in our luggage. We spent the time shopping, eating, reading, etc. Once in Chang Rai, we drove 30 mins to the Burma border. We just took pictures of the area and walked through some shops. We then went to our hotel and checked in. It is not as nice as the others, but it is really cool. It is in a primitive, jungle like setting with beautiful landscaping. I even got to see and take pictures of some lotus fields and blossoms. We then walked up the street and boarded our boat on the Mekong River. We are here in the Golden Triangle of Thailand, Laos, and Burma. We sailed along the shored of Burma, and then we stopped at Laos and did some shopping along their streets. They even sold snakes in bottles! :/ I bought a cool bow and arrows for the boys. The sun had set at this point, and we rode the boat back to our hotel in the dark. We had a buffet dinner. It was our first meal since breakfast 13 hours earlier, so we were hungry! Oh!! The pineapple here is incredible! It is so sweet and juicy I could eat it like candy! I had no idea pineapple could taste so good. After dinner, Mark and I walked down the street to the Golden Buddha and took some pictures. When we got back to the hotel, Cary Billings was playing on the grand piano in the lobby. Several members of our group were down listening to him play. I laid back on the couch and looked up at the walls and ceiling, and noticed about 10 or more little lizards crawling around and several black and white butterflies. It was kind of cool, but weird!
![2007 - Asia - Day 16 - Chang Rai, Thailand]()
2007 - Asia - Day 17 - Chang Mai, Thailand
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We had breakfast at the hotel, which was good. Jenny found a rice bug, a kind of big grasshopper, and put it on Bob’s plate. From there it went to Leon’s shoulder, my plate, and Mark’s. Funny! We left Chaing Rai at 7:30 a.m. I didn’t care much for our room, but I loved our hotel grounds and this area. We drove 2 hours to the village of the long necks. That was a cool place. They have a little village I the mountain tops, mainly now for tourism. We had to load up in jeeps to get to it. They used to wear the rings around their necks for protection from lions and wild animals. Their necks would get so weak that if they took the rings off, their necks would break from the weight of the head. They now take them off sometimes to keep their necks strong. I bought a cute bracelet there. We then drove about 2-3 hours to a restaurant for lunch. The restaurant was really interesting. It was called the Rubber triangle. They REALLY promoted safe sex. The food was excellent though. I was hungry. Oh, I forgot to mention that halfway in our drive, we stopped to buy pineapple at a street stand. Mmmmm! I’m really going to miss the pineapple here. The rest of the day has been driving and factories. We went to a lacquer works factory, umbrella making, wood, and silver factories. Ugh! We went to a dinner show at 7:15. It seemed very authentic. We had to take off our shoes and most people were sitting on the floor with cushions. There were tables along the outside of the room, and the stage in the middle. We sat on the tables and then most of us moved up closer to the stage for the show. The food was pretty good. I loved the sticky rice steamed in the bamboo bowls and some spicy beef mixed in. The show was good. They pulled Mark out of the audience to dance with them.
![2007 - Asia - Day 17 - Chang Mai, Thailand]()
2007 - Asia - Day 18 - Chang Mai, Thailand
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Today was fantastic! It could possibly be my favorite day of the trip. We left the hotel at 8:00 and traveled about 90 mins to the elephant park. For the first half hour, we fed the elephants and walked around to see them. Asian elephants are smaller and more intelligent the African elephants. We then watched the keepers take the elephants to the river and give them a bath. It was very cool. Next was an elephant show. The elephants danced, played soccer and basketball, and one elephant painted a picture of an elephant. Unbelievable! We then had an elephant ride through the jungle and river. It was so much fun and so cool. It lasted about 30-40 mins. About every 10 mins, there was a “service station” where we could buy bananas and sugar cane to feed our elephant. The elephants know they get fed at these places, and didn’t like to go on without it. We fed at 3 of the 4 places. It was an unforgettable experience. We then got on Ox carts to ride back to the restaurant for lunch. It was a bumpy ride, but we drove past the local village where most of the people that worked at the park lived. Lunch was next and very good. I like Thai food! We then got on little bamboo rafts and floated down the river for 30 mins. Mark and I even had the chance to steer our raft. It was very tranquil to float down the river and see the jungle on all sides and the elephants roaming the hillsides. Afterwards, we went to a snake show. I was nervous about this one. I have this irrational fear of snakes, especially cobras. I sat clear at the top bleacher. Mom and Mark sat on the front row. It was sure fun to watch them jump out of their seats a few times. I’m so glad I sat where I did, because snakes came out of the pit, and was swung over their heads, and put in their faces. When the 2 king cobras were brought out, the announcer kept saying that if you get bit by one, you will die in one hour if you don’t get to the hospital. :/ It was crazy but fun. We then drove back to Chaing Mai and went to the temple on the mountain built in 1355 AD. A white elephant carried up a relic of Siddhartha (first Buddha) on his back. Where he stopped is where the king built this temple. It was a beautiful fancy temple with lots of gold Buddha’s. We also had an excellent view of the city. As we were leaving the temple, we were on our way to a jade factory. A member in our group, Don, fell as we were walking down a road with a slight decline. He fell forward and landed on his face. He cut it up pretty bad and bled all over. The Thai people were so nice and brought rags and water and called a truck to come take him to the hospital. He refused to go to the hospital, so they took him back to the hotel. During all this, it started to really rain. We skipped the factory and went back to our bus. We were all soaked by the rain, even with the umbrellas.
![2007 - Asia - Day 18 - Chang Mai, Thailand]()
2007 - Asia - Day 19 - Singapore
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Facts about Singapore: • British ruled from about 1814-1947, therefore they drive on the left side of the roads. • Singapore became part of Malaysia afterwards, but was abandoned by them in 1965 • The city was built in about 41 years, and they are in the top 5 economic countries in the world • Population of 6 million • They speak 3 languages here: English, Mandarin and Malaysian We flew out of Chaing Mai to Singapore this morning. It was a 3 hour flight. I found out that we will have taken 14 flights all together on this trip. OUCH! In Singapore, we went directly to our hotel. It was on the beach in a fantastic area. We could go to the lower floor and walk out onto the beach. The rooms smelled so strongly of mildew though. You could see it on the walls, ceilings, curtains, and carpets. One couple would not even go in their room. Several made separate bookings to other hotels on their own. Mark had arranged to meet his Singapore friends as soon as we got to the hotel, so we left shortly after we arrived. We took the sky rail over the harbor to Vivo City. It is like a large mall. We met up with his friends there and they ordered dinner for us. They got a lot of authentic food for us to try of the area. It was good. We then went back to our resort at the beach for a water, laser, and fire show. It was really cool. I’ve never seen anything like it. When it was over, we went back to our hotel since we were so close and Mark wanted to give his friends a gift. As we got to our room at 9:20, there was a note on our door saying that we switched hotels and the last group was leaving at 9:15. I ran to the lobby and caught them, then went back and packed up our stuff and got on the bus. Marks friends came with us. After we got checked in to the York Hotel, we left and took the train to the city center and walked around the buildings and harbor. We took pictures of the merlion, a mythical creature representing Singapore.
![2007 - Asia - Day 19 - Singapore]()
2007 - Asia - Day 20 - Singapore
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I started out this day by calling Dave. It was so nice to talk to him and the kids. I’m excited to be home with them tomorrow. It’s sad though, this being our last tour day. It has been an amazing trip. I’ve loved it. Asia is so beautiful. I love the trees and flowers and people I have met. Our first stop was at the botanical garden. It was so beautiful. I had no idea there were so many different species of orchids. We only had 45 mins there, and I didn’t want to leave. I took pictures of many of the different flowers there. I want this garden for my backyard! After the garden we drove to India town and walked through the market. Then we went to the harbor of the Merlion and took a boat ride around the city. It took about 30 mins. I’ve loved all the boat rides on this trip. We then stopped at a jewelry factory on our way back to the hotel. I was tired so I stayed on the bus and took a short nap. We got back to the hotel at 1:30. Mark called Lenni and Melina and we met them for lunch at a pizza restaurant. They took us there just for me…isn’t that sweet? We ordered 4 different kinds. One had prawns! Yuck! But the Hawaiian was delicious. After lunch, we went shopping for a new suitcase for mom. Then we walked mom and Josie back to the hotel. We stayed at the hotel for about an hour talking, and then walked to our bus. Our bus took us to the night safari. Traffic was really thick, so it took over an hour to get there. We missed the first animal show, so we decided to take the tram ride and see the last show at 9:30. We saw cool animals, huge tigers, and lions, lots of different kind of deer. We even walked through a bat room that had huge bats, at least a foot to 18 inches long. They were swooping over our heads and we had to duck. It was crazy but cool. By the time we got back to where the show was the line was really long. We waited in line and then when they let people in, they stopped right in front of us and said it was full. It was the last show of the night. We were really disappointed. So we walked around for another half hour or so and got back on the bus. The ride back to the city only took 20 mins. We stopped at KFC for dinner. Then we said goodbye to Mark’s friends and came back to the hotel. We leave for the airport at 7:15 tomorrow morning.
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