Our month in Thailand is our longest stay in any one country, and what a country it is. We didn’t see it all (darn, looks like we’ll have to come back!) but what we did see was a feast for the eyes:
Bangkok, including the streets thereof, the Grand Palace, Snake Farm, and tours by canal and electric scooter. Here was where we explored our first Wats, along with lots of street food, a little shopping, and welcoming the Year of the Pig in Chinatown. We also saw some traditional Thai dance, and even tried it ourselves. (It’s harder than it looks!). Last, here’s a Kids’ Corner essay by our youngest on the street dogs of Thailand.
Chiang Mai, in the hilly north. Home of so. many. amazing Wats, including the hilltop Doi Suthep. We also had the best day out with some elephants, learned to cook Thai, and visited a local school, where we were a real-life Show & Tell for an English language class.
Chiang Rai, home to a trio of Bhuddist-y art/Wat sites: the kitchy-cool White Temple, the eye-popping Blue Temple, and the description-defying Black House. And in what passes for a more more plain vanilla Wat in Chiang Rai’s crazy Wat collection, Wat Huay Pla Kang, the so-called Chinese Temple, whose many visitors come for the giant Bhudda outside, and about a million disco balls inside.
*And speaking of Wats, I’m not too proud to admit I’d not only never been in one before I set foot in Thailand, I didn’t even know what a Wat is. So I’ve written a little primer—Wats 101, if you will. Hey, if my kids can write essays about what they’ve learned on our trip, so can I, right?