For Chinese New Year, February 2008, my brother Chris, his friend Jason, and our friend Robin all came out to visit us in China. Part of their time here included a week-long break for us. During this time off, we all flew to Thailand for a Northern Thailand adventure. Our great friends, the Stalkers, were able to come with us as well.
After a few days exploring the busy streets of Bangkok, we flew up to Chiang Mai. Mellisa Stalker had a friend, Peggy, who married a man of Laotian descent and owned a farm north of Chiang Mai (The Pun Pun Farm - http://www.punpunthailand.org/). The farm was a sustainable living and learning center in which people from all over the world would come and take workshops on sustainable farming. In addition, Peggy and her husband would travel throughout Northern Thailand educating local farmers on the traditional methods of farming. What an amazing time had by all. We spent several days here living a traditional and basic way of life. Judah and Avery were able to run (and crawl) around the farm with their friends. We fell in love with the countryside and its people. It was very hard to leave The Pun Pun Farm.
Part of our stay in Chiang Mai, included a visit to an elephant center. The elephants that resided had been rescued from harm or abandanment from the region. Their trainers put on amazing shows and we were able to ride an elephant along a trail and through the river.
Continuing north, we were able to visit hilltribe people including the Karen Longneck Tribe. This was an outstanding cultural experience seeing and experiencing how they lived. As we continued down the main road, we eventually hit the border crossing into Myanmar. We hopped over the border for a few hours in order to tour some of the markets and get a stamp in our passports. We continued our journey to the Golden Triangle - a place where rivers meet and Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand come together. While there, we boarded a narrow riverboat and crossed into Laos.
The last part of our trip took us down into Chiang Rai to visit Josh Parsons - a friend who works with YWAM and leads the discipleship training school. It was great touring the base and venturing into the city for some great food and sights.
Reflecting on this trip, we felt it was one of the best ones we had been on since we moved overseas. We hope to eventually go back and experience some of the highlights again, however, there is so much more of SouthEast Asia to explore.
Praise God for an opportunity like this!
After a few days exploring the busy streets of Bangkok, we flew up to Chiang Mai. Mellisa Stalker had a friend, Peggy, who married a man of Laotian descent and owned a farm north of Chiang Mai (The Pun Pun Farm - http://www.punpunthailand.org/). The farm was a sustainable living and learning center in which people from all over the world would come and take workshops on sustainable farming. In addition, Peggy and her husband would travel throughout Northern Thailand educating local farmers on the traditional methods of farming. What an amazing time had by all. We spent several days here living a traditional and basic way of life. Judah and Avery were able to run (and crawl) around the farm with their friends. We fell in love with the countryside and its people. It was very hard to leave The Pun Pun Farm.
Part of our stay in Chiang Mai, included a visit to an elephant center. The elephants that resided had been rescued from harm or abandanment from the region. Their trainers put on amazing shows and we were able to ride an elephant along a trail and through the river.
Continuing north, we were able to visit hilltribe people including the Karen Longneck Tribe. This was an outstanding cultural experience seeing and experiencing how they lived. As we continued down the main road, we eventually hit the border crossing into Myanmar. We hopped over the border for a few hours in order to tour some of the markets and get a stamp in our passports. We continued our journey to the Golden Triangle - a place where rivers meet and Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand come together. While there, we boarded a narrow riverboat and crossed into Laos.
The last part of our trip took us down into Chiang Rai to visit Josh Parsons - a friend who works with YWAM and leads the discipleship training school. It was great touring the base and venturing into the city for some great food and sights.
Reflecting on this trip, we felt it was one of the best ones we had been on since we moved overseas. We hope to eventually go back and experience some of the highlights again, however, there is so much more of SouthEast Asia to explore.
Praise God for an opportunity like this!
