February 2008 - Northern Thailand: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Myanmar, Laos, Chiang Rai

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!

Oct. 2007 - China: Shanghai, Xian (Terracotta Warriors)

Another amazing trip! We started our journey with the Stalker Family and flew to visit our friends, the Rhorbecks, in Shanghai. They showed us a great time in this modern Chinese city. After spending time touring Shanghai American School, and their nice neighborhood, we ventured out into the downtown area. We first hit the Bund - an scenic and historical area along the river. After wondering about and mixing with some locals, we made our way to the infamous Shanghai Aquarium. As we explored the many exhibits and chased our excited children from room to room, we decided that this indeed was the best aquarium we had attended. A tired day led to a group bath with the 5 kids, and a great night sleep.

The next day, we visited some historic river towns in the area. While we shopped to our hearts content, the kids explored and entertained the locals. It's always amazing experiencing what goes on in the local streets of China. This week we witnessed a baby's exposed butt-cheeks, sizzling squid on a street fryer, turtles for sale (likely for soup), and several interesting women preparing vegetables. Judah and Jack blended in well as they found many interesting places to pee along the way (it's a normal thing to see people urinating in public areas).

As we appreciated the hospitality of our friend's who housed us, after three days we knew it was time to move on. We said our goodbyes to the Stalkers, and took the Maglev train to the airport (one of the fastest trains in the world). We boarded our plane and flew to Central China to the city of Xian. Xian is famous for it's dumplings, old city wall, drum tower, bell tower, and terracota warriors. In three exciting days, we hit all of these places. We were fortunate to meet up with other great friends (Justin and Sarah Walker) for our travels around this city.

While it's great getting out to other countries in Southeast Asia, it was extremely exciting traveling within China. The culture, sites, and people never cease to amaze us. We are absolutely loving our time in this country and hope to be able to experience it for much time to come.

If you would like to see more pics of this trip, follow the link in our pics section or click on http://picasaweb.google.com/robbmarea/ShanghaiAndXian102007?authkey=f9fpasNyevQ#