I've finally nailed it-the certain je ne sais quoi of an Asian tourist. It's not the fanny packs, the huge expensive cameras, or the tour guides with colored umbrellas and coordinating hats and t-shirts. It's the pictures. The constant fixation on pictures. Pictures must be taken at all times, with everyone. Not one picture is sufficient. No, multiple pictures with multiple poses are required. Finally. After our family trip to Khao Kho this weekend and the sheer volume of pictures taken, I think I can qualify.
After being dropped off at home post-English camp (we were so grateful to be back!) we turned right around and hopped in the family van. Crystal and I are essentially staying with the same host family-we spend about 50/50 with each family and in each place, and the entire family has a HUGE Toyota van that they use for road trips-so reminiscent of many a Shelden vacation. So we piled into this big van, full of our rambuncious Thai family and were off. My host mother, father, two brothers as well as their family friend and her daughter, Crystal and I set off to Khao Kho, a mountain in Northeastern Thailand in the "Petchuburn" region. Story has it that if you sleep one night at Khao Kho, you will live one year longer than you were supposed to-so I'm glad I've got that in the bag. Our family road trip was a riot-my host mother seems incapable of travelling anywhere without an excessive amount of snacks. She had everything-fried seaweed (it sounds gross..but its so good), corn on the cob, chips (Asian flavors like spicy lime and bbq shrimp), Thai desserts, a tub of green curry (it's my favorite), fruit, juice, water, ice cream... I can't even remember. The entire trip basically consisted of eating snacks in the car, then getting out of the car to eat at restaurants. We also got to watch DVDs-in English!-in the car and pretty much just had a Thai rave in the car.
After driving a few hours up steep and windy roads (and multiple rest stops-we always stop for the "Hong Nam" or bathroom every hour it seems) we arrived at Khao Kho and had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the valley. It was so goregous and the food was amazing. We then went on to our resort, where we settled in and played cards. Cards are illegal to buy in Thailand if you are under 18 because gambling is illegal-it's so funny how taboo cards seem to the kids. We taught our whole group how to play spoons and it was hilarious-they absolutely loved it! Everyone had a great time as we rocked out to some 90's era American pop-surprisingly refreshing. The next morning we woke up at 5 to see the fog on the mountain, and were disappointed when it wasn't there, but no worries-there's always something to eat! We had yummy rice soup and went off to the new temple that they were constructing. We walked up a lot of stairs and took a million pictures of the amazing view. The view was absolutely breathtaking (look at my facebook pics!) After stopping by the King's palace (just the one in the Northeastern region, he's a baller...he has tons), we went to lunch (because of course we hadn't eaten enough) and then headed home. True to form, we took TONS of pictures. It is so funny-my host Dad has a huge fancy camera and acted as the group photographer, always taking tons of pics, complete with peace signs :) Gotta love it. We had such a great time-it was fun getting to hang out with my host brothers and their family friend, Mim. She goes to university in Bangkok so we are going to go visit her one Saturday and go shopping-I can't wait!
More to come on my travels to Bangkok soon! I am back in Taphan hin for 2 days of teaching at school, our first "extra" class tomorrow after school which is open to the entire community (it should be really interesting!) and then off to Chiang Mai this weekend!
Miss you all, thank you so much for all of the emails and messages-they make me less homesick :) I promise to reply soon!
xoxox
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