Loose Ends

Tues. and this morning were for squeezing in a few last tasks / activities. Robin, Kyle and the boys were off to do some last minute shopping, so Bob and I headed out on our own.

I had wanted to visit Wat Pho, so that was our first objective. I don’t know if you saw anything about the flooding in Thailand – but it’s been severe in some areas, including some we visited earlier in our trip. If I understand correctly, the cause is both rain locally and the need to reduce pressure on dams upstream by releasing water. Flooding in Bangkok is the worst it’s been in 30 years, but until yesterday we hadn’t seen any. Until we found ourselves in a taxi, unexpectedly in a street with water over the curbs. Shops and stores had sandbag barriers to prevent the waves generated by the traffic from flowing into their businesses. And then after several blocks we were out of the water again and back to everyone acting as if there weren’t any problems.

Wat Pho was as beautiful as I expected, with an unbelievably huge reclining Buddha. Even more amazing were the statue’s feet; it’s soles were inlaid with intricate mother of pearl designs. There were numerous very tall chedis covered with porcelain mosaics and pairs of carved stone warriors guarding each doorway. Wat Pho is also a center for Thai massage. Bob had been raving about his Thai massage at the beach on Monday morning and Robin was equally enthusiastic about hers on her last trip to Thailand, so I decided to see for myself. It was wonderful – my only regret is that I didn’t have one during our first week here so I could have had time for more.

We visited Chinatown next and waked through very narrow streets with street vendors selling all kinds of food and other goods – and then found ourselves in a huge covered market area with everything from trinkets to bolts of material (at least in the small section we saw). And it was packed with people to the point where it was difficult to even move. I’m not particularly claustrophobic, but I certainly was there. We managed to find our way to a street, had lunch and returned to the hotel.

Dinner last night was near our hotel – at the one restaurant we’ve returned to often for sticky rice and mangoes. Last night Robin remembered to take a picture before we demolished 3 orders of our favorite dessert. Not as ‘piggish’ as it sounds since there were 6 of us who shared equally; we each got half a mango and about 1/3 cup of sticky rice. It always amazes me how kids can be full from dinner and still have room for an adult size helping of dessert. We have a recipe in our new Thai cookbook – this dish is definitely on my ‘must do’ list.

And then this morning – one more lizard safari. Actually, Robin, Kyle and the boys were heading over to Lumphini Park to go geocaching, but my interest was in scouting out the reptiles. Everyone was successful: they found 2 caches and I saw 8 lizards in the first 2 minutes – and a total of 29 (I might have missed a few) in the hour we were there. Bob insists we were seeing the same 8 lizards over and over – that they just kept moving ahead of us so we’d think there was a large population. but I’m satisfied that Robin is now completely vindicated – she didn’t exaggerate the number (although the ones as large as Labrador retrievers must still have been sleeping).

We’ve moved to a hotel close to the airport for a couple of hours before our 12:30 am flight out. It’s been a terrific trip; we have lots of special memories and more importantly a new grandson in our family.

Catch Up

I’ve obviously been less than diligent in writing this week. I’d say it’s been a little slower and lower key, but in looking back on the past 3 days, I realize we’ve still managed to do quite a lot. In many ways this is now much less our story. We’re not posting any pictures of Pea until we return to the states, but Robin’s blog is password protected- and if you’d like a sneak peak, you can send us an email at rkjastephens at gmail.com and we’ll send you the password. This blog is a combination of Thurs. through today (Sunday) as well as some general observations.

All of us took a trip to the zoo on Thurs. Robin, Kyle and Tea had been there the week before, but Tea wanted to visit the animals again so we headed over there again. This time we saw the seal show, which was great fun. All the announcing was in Thai, but it didn’t really matter since the seals were the stars. And laughing and clapping at their antics / accomplishments was a universal language.

We’ve done pretty well with our very limited Thai (basically only hello and thank you). We’ve even managed to get our laundry done (it was much less expensive to find someone to do it locally than go through the hotel). It’s a real lesson in trust to leave most of your clothes with someone who speaks very little English without even getting a receipt and hope you understand when it will be ready. And then to return and they know exactly which pile of freshly laundered and ironed clothes belongs to you.

Ordering meals has been even easier. Restaurants usually have entries in both English and Thai and wait staff often have enough English to understand – or at least the can see what you’re pointing to. Pictures in menus are even better. There have only been a few times where we’ve gotten something other than what we’ve ordered and they’ve cheerfully replaced the item when requested. Some things aren’t substitutable – Robin and I were happy to drink Thai iced coffee instead of tea – but Bob has never liked coffee, and being in Thailand isn’t going to change that.

I really thought the Ancient City sounded interesting and was happy that Tea wanted to return again and show it to Nana and Granddad on Friday. It was about 45 min. south of Bangkok (double that returning because of traffic). It’s a cultural amusement park (with no rides) shaped like Thailand. Reduced sizes of monuments and significant buildings are placed in appropriate parts of the “country” – in some cases, buildings were taken down from their original locations and reconstructed. In village areas there are craftspeople working. In the southern market town we watched someone making beautiful pictures from cowhide. They even had some of the traditional shadow puppets. Even there, Bob managed to find some boats to look at – and Tea enjoyed pretending to steer a Chinese junk. We had a wonderful lunch in the floating market section, for a very reasonable price. Hard not to compare with the quality and price of food at amusement parks we’ve visited.

Made it back to Bangkok just in time to head out for the weekend to a resort on the beach on the east coast about 3 hours south of Bangkok. Definitely a kid friendly place – seems like all families, so it’s perfect for us. Lovely setting across a road from the beach and ocean – which is unbelievably warm. Swimming mostly in the resort pools.

The highlight Sunday was a trip to Monkey Island. A local fisherman took us out to the island in his fishing boat and provided us with bananas to feed the ‘wild’ monkeys. I use the term ‘wild’ loosely – with all the boatloads of tourists visiting and feeding them, they’re pretty used to people. It was amazing – and even Tea who has a love / hate relationship with the creatures had fun. I couldn’t help thinking that the whole situation would provide lots of material for Far Side cartoons – I can just imagine the conversations among the monkeys:

- Hey Harold – here come those crazy people again. What is it with all those bananas, haven’t thy heard of the importance of a balanced diet?

- Joe has the 8 am watch, Ed goes on duty at 10, Al has noon to 2 and I’ll take the last slot at 2. Remember to sound the alarm when the boat is 5 minutes off the beach

- They’re almost here — places everyone. Remember we’re entering from the rocks on the left this time. Show time!

- (Instructor of class for smallest monkeys). The most important thing is to perfect your facial expressions to show friendly eagerness. Try not to show your teeth – it tends to frighten the visitors.

- Remember your rotations – those in front for the first boat are expected to go to the back of the line for the next boat. There will be plenty for everyone.

- Try not to be too eager; It’s better to let them call you. We don’t want them to take us for granted.

Tomorrow we head back to Bangkok. Pea’s visa won’t be ready until Tues

Finally

Yesterday Robin & Kyle took custody of Pea and today was the meeting with the Thai adoption board.  They now have everything they need for Pea’s visa appointment at the US embassy on Friday afternoon.  It feels like the pressure is off everyone.   Pea has ups and downs, as expected.  And Tea has his good and bad times, too, but he’s trying to be helpful.  The two little boys are certainly going to be a handful — Pea is a great mimic and always has an eye on Tea.

Bob and I headed over to Lumphini Park late this afternoon.  It’s a huge green space in the center of Bangkok.  I was anxious to see the large monitor lizards that Robin claimed were everywhere in the park (like squirrels back home was I think how she phrased it).  We walked and we walked and we walked.  We saw people exercizing, marching bands practicing, several jazzercize groups, people feeding the fish, guys playing a game with a rattan ball that looked alot like volleyball but played with their feet, runners, and walkers, but no lizards.  We started making up stories about the absence of lizards:

1.  There are no lizards — Robin and Kyle wanted us out of way for awhile

2.  Someone discovered they were tasty and hunting decimated the population

3.  They ate so many tourists they had to be destroyed

And then Bob started taking pictures of other park creatures – just in case Robin didn’t know what a lizard looked like.  He thought he could show them to her so she could identify her ‘lizards’ for us.  He had pictures of feathered flying creatures (pigeons) , furry four legged animals with whiskers (cats) and swimming monsters with large mouths (catfish).  And then as were were walking back to the entrance, we saw one in the water, and hopefully Bob got a picture we can post.  And we saw another on land.   A successful lizard hunt!

We ended the day with a stop for sticky rice and mangoes – my new favorite dessert.  I’ve never been crazy about mangoes before – I thought they were o.k., but nothing special.  The mangoes here are out of this world.  And paired with sticky rice, they’re a real treat.  In fact all the fruit is terrific — one of the benefits of being in a tropical country.

Tomorrow we’re planning a trip to the zoo — special request by Tea.

Second Meeting

Pea arrived around 10:30 am for his second and final meeting with Kyle and Robin before they take custody tomorrow. What an amazing change in one day. We were driven to a large store where we walked around for awhile before lunch in the food court. Pea was initially reserved – but not terrified as he was yesterday.

Sometime during lunch it was as if someone flipped a switch and he was more like we’d seen him in his foster family. He smiled and giggled and was interacting with his new family, especially Tea. There was about an hour left of his visit when we got back to the hotel. The plan was to give him his bottle and settle him down for a brief nap with his new family. Robin pulled the shades and everyone settled down – for all of 5 minutes. Then both boys were up and moving – and I do mean moving. Pea does it all, he climbs and runs and seems to be perpetually moving. I’m not sure who will be the instigator, but there’s no question in my mind that Robin and Kyle will have their hands full. All too soon it was 2:30 and Pea left for one more night bwith his foster family.

Tea was a great big brother today, but understandably, the new situation is overwhelming for him at times. Bob went swimming at the hotel with Kyle and Tea this morning and the five of us had a nice evening together at the night bazaar.

We’re all looking forward to tomorrow.

Connections- Friday in Laos

Time to get to the real purpose of our trip – helping Robin and Kyle with Tea during the adoption process for Pea. It was great to see them again after only being in contact through our blogs. There’s a link on this page to theirs.

Robin and Kyle took us out for a great Thai meal last night – it will go down in family history as the first time we found something that was too hot for Bob that Robin could eat!

Our kids are mature independent adults, they’re wonderful, patient, caring parents – but on some level they’re still our children and we hate to see them hurting. We’ve learned so much from them over the years, and one of the things I think we really ‘get’ (at least as much as someone who’s not an adoptive parent can) is not only how much work is involved in adopting a child but how grief is as much a part of the process as joy. And right now our kids are hurting along with Pea as he begins the transition from his foster family to theirs.

Today was hard – the first time Pea met Robin, Kyle and Tea as well as visits to Pea’s foster family and Thanu’s foster family. From our ‘outside’ view, I think it went better than I expected. There’s a long way to go, but they’ll get there. Because there was also a lot of joy today:
– Watching Tea sharing goldfish crackers and toys with Pea
– The first family picture with the four of them
– Watching a giggling Pea interacting with his loving foster family
– Being amazed at Pea’s energy as he confidently played on equipment in a schoolyard close to his foster home. Robin and Kyle will have their hands full with two very active little boys.
– Watching Pea watch Tea; he seems drawn to him already
– Visiting Tea’s former foster family and seeing the joy on their faces. He was obviously very much loved. Both his foster parents were thrilled to hold him again and gave him a large stuffed dog.
– Experiencing the hospitality of both sets of foster parents.

We’re so proud of Robin, Kyle and Tea – especially Tea. For a 3 year old, he had a lot to deal with today – and he did great. We feel privileged to be part of this journey.

Final Laos Chapter

Friday afternoon after our school visits we stopped at Somnuek’s parents’ home and were guests with Lae at a Baci ceremony. Somnuek’s parents and many from his extended family participated. It’s used for special events, including welcomes; we felt very honored. It was a very interesting ritual celebrated with chicken, sticky rice, rice liquor, prayers chanted by a shaman and white cotton thread. The white cotton thread was used at the end of the ceremony – the most significant and moving part of the ritual for us. White symbolizes peace, good fortune, honesty and warmth and the cotton threads represent continuity, brotherhood, community and permanence. Each person present tied a length of thread around each of our wrists. It was incredibly moving to be so accepted by this family. It really didn’t seem to matter that we couldn’t communicate directly – we felt the connection.

Our plane left Laos at 8 am Sat. morning, but Lae managed to create more lasting memories for us before we left. We got up very early so we could be in the city by 6 am to participate in feeding the monks with the sticky rice Lae’s mother had cooked. Buddhist monks from the various temples walk through the town early each morning with their bowls and collect food from townspeople and visitors. These contributions (most often rice, but sometimes fruit or other food) are their breakfast and lunch; they eat nothing after lunch. Sometimes small monetary donations are made, too. The monks are totally dependent on the generosity of the people.

We also walked through the local market. How amazing to see eels, frogs, crabs, fish, chickens, ducks, meat being butchered, food vendors preparing a wide variety of interesting looking treats, as well as the usual vegetables and fruit. And then it was time to leave.

A chance meeting in Aug. with Somnuek led us to Laos and we didn’t meet Lae until we arrived. After less than 3 days we felt like we were family. We truly hope we’ll return to Laos.

Connections- Friday in Laos

Unfortunately between our schedule and our access to the Internet, all our Lao adventures will be posted upon our return to Bangkok.

We spent this morning touring Luang Prabang with Lae. Because he spent 12 years in the monastery (from ages 10 to 22), we had a unique opportunity to learn about Lao culture and it’s relationship with Buddhism. His knowledge of the history of both his country and Indochina was extensive. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s a quaint and very walkable town. We wandered through Buddhist temples and watched some young monks working on bamboo star frames that will be covered with tissue paper to make decorations for an upcoming festival. We spent some time in the former royal palace, now a national museum. We visited a small paper factory where paper is handmade from mulberry pulp and I even got to make a sheet myself. And we ended the morning with an excellent noodle soup – a local speciality.

And then came the afternoon. As I’ve mentioned before, our nephew Bill’s blog (see link on this page) contains much more information on Somnuek’s efforts to improve education, especially in rural areas. The short version – Somnuek was very poor when he was young. The gift of a pair of shoes from a foreign visitor inspired him to determine to do something for others when he had the means. This has become an ongoing passion that he invites others to participate in. We stopped at several stores where for a few hundred dollars Somnuek purchased items for us to take to three schools – blank notebooks, pens, toilet paper, toothbrushes and paste, soap and a few fun things (soccer and rattan balls). Bob, especially, wanted there to be something fun for the kids.

The first school we visited was the one funded by our nephew, his friends and family. Very simply constructed, it provides a primary school (5 years) for a small village that had no school before. The children were excited to receive the notebooks and pens – I was almost in tears. This experience was repeated at two more primary schools, one of which was the school that Somnuek attended. And of course the sports equipment was a huge hit. Classrooms are very basic – long benches for desks that usually seat two students with lower benches to sit on, a teacher’s desk and a blackboard.

We made an additional stop at Somnuek’s former high school. Unbelievable: 60 – 70+ students per classroom, often three students per desk, no electricity (which means no lights or fans). The school was so crowded that some lower level storage rooms had been turned into classrooms. They have a foundation and roofed area that will become three more classrooms – when they have funds. It was overwhelming. They have nothing in their classrooms, but the students were bright and eager. We talked to several – amazing English after only a year or two of study.

We know there must be needs like this everywhere, including the US, but actually seeing it with our own eyes and talking to local people makes it extremely personal. How can we not want to help?

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Connections- Friday in Laos

O.K. – the title is a teaser, you’ll have to keep reading because it refers to the end of our day. A very long day that started when we left the hotel at 8 am. Somnuek arranged for his good friend Lae to come from Vientiane to be our guide during our stay.

The 3 of us took a 2 hour trip up the Mekong river on a beautiful teak finished tourist boat – We had tje boat to ourselves and Bob wants me to tell you that it was about 65 feet long. He was enthralled with all the boats on the river, especially the very long narrow boats used by the fishermen. (We’ll try to keep the boat pictures to a reasonable number.) Two hours sounds like a long time, but there was always something to look at – the beautiful scenery, river traffic, local people working in their small garden plots – and it was so interesting talking to Lae that the time went quickly. One of the things we talked about was the terrible legacy of the Vietnam war – the number of unexploded bombs that still exist in rural areas of Laos.

Our first stop was a small rural village. While the men work in the fields, the women weave – beautiful cotton and silk scarves and fabrics woven on primitive looms. This particular village isn’t often visited by tourists and we were the only ones there. As we walked the length of the village admiring their work, each woman tried to interest us in her weaving. It was so hard to pass anyone by – but we couldn’t purchase from everyone. The other product of this village is what Lae referred to as whiskey. It’s a fermented rice liquor probably like Japanese sake. It was very strong, so Bob and I limited ourselves to a small sip.

On our way back to Luang Prabang, we stopped at Tham Ting, a cave and Buddhist shrine. Visitors have added Buddhas over the years – the current estimate is that the cave now contains 4,000 Buddhas.

Back in Luang Prabang we watched women making thin pancakes from taro that were then put on racks to dry in the sun while we waited for Somnuek and Sisamone. Then it was on to a spectacular waterfall for more pictures and a picnic lunch, Lao style. All the dishes are set out and everyone helps themselves. There was grilled beef on skewers, sausage, fish, a crab chili dip, stew, green leafy vegetable in broth, spicy salad, edamame, sticky rice and fresh papaya. I may have forgotten a few things. I’m getting a little better with chopsticks. We took a brief walk through the jungle and stopped briefly at a bear rescue facility. Never saw a bear in a hammock before!

Then it was back to our bungalow for a quick shower and we were off again. It was a good thing that Bob and Lae didn’t give me the details ahead of time. Phousi, the hill in the center of the town is considered both the physical and spiritual center of Luang Prabang. It’s 328 steps up to Chomsi Stupa at the top of the hill. Still can’t believe I made it – but it was definitely worth the effort. The views of the rivers and town were terrific. And the it was 328 steps down, but now it was dusk, so that was it’s own challenge.

We descended right into the night market. What a sight – it’s set up under red canopies and with the lights shining up from underneath, it looked magical. We were impressed with the quality of the goods in the market. This was more of a craft market than the night market in Chiang Mai.

And finally our day was over at around 7 pm. I don’t think we’ve ever attempted to cram so much into one day before. Laos has turned out to be so much more than we dreamed. Its natural beauty and the unbelievable hospitality of our hosts have made our stop in Laos one we’ll never forget.

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Flight to anther world

We made a quick trip to the Chiang Mai National Museum this morning and spent an enjoyable hour. Probably not a great kid’s activity, but it was a worthwhile way for us to spend our last morning in Chiang Mai. Then it was on to Laos.

We met Somnuek this past summer through our nephew Bill (Bob’s brother Steve’s son). For background on how Bill met Somnuek and the results, see the link on this blog to “Land of a Million Elephants”. When Somnuek heard we were visiting Thailand, he suggested we visit his country, Laos, too. It seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity so we added Laos to our itinerary and made a reservation at the hotel that Somnuek manages. Before we left, Somnuek had made plans for our entire time in Luang Prabang.

We were met at the airport with smiles, hugs, cool bottles of water and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Then Somnuek and his lovely wife Sisamone took us to the hotel. It’s a magical place. Bob will take pictures tomorrow, we promise. We have a bungalow of our own set back from the Nham Khan river. Tonight We joined Somnuek, his wife and 4 year old daughter for a “barbecue” dinner in a local restaurant followed by an introductory tour of Luang Prabang, a city of around 50,000.

Dinner was both unique and delicious. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera, so here’s an attempt at a description. The outdoor tables had large circular holes in the center into which fit containers of charcoal. Over the top there’s a pan with a dome several inches in from the edge of the pan. The outer edges of the pan contained a broth, into which a variety of fresh vegetables and mushrooms were placed. Small pieces of meat or fish were grilled on the dome section of the pan. Everyone had a small bowl to which was added barbecue sauce, garlic, green chili paste, fresh lime juice and sauce from the cooking pan to taste. Then you add the meat and fresh vegetables to your bowl – and eat it with chopsticks. And repeat, and repeat until you can’t eat any more. If Bob can figure out how to fit one of the pans in our luggage, we might be bringing one home with us.

The good news is that you’ll start to see pictures. The problem appears to have been the slow speed of the WIFI we had at our previous stops.

Fogged In

Today we travelled to the highest spot in Thailand today – Doi Inthanon, elevation 8,511 ft. is located in a national park of the same name. The bad news was that fog and mist prevented any pictures of what could have been great views. Bob did take pictures of the signs at the summit however, so when/if we ever add pictures to our blog, we can prove we were there. The good news is that we had a great time anyway. And we did get pictures of a couple of impressive waterfalls and beautiful twin chedis in a wonderful garden. The temperature on Doi Inthanon was only 60 degrees F – the first time I’ve actually felt cold in Thailand.

Tonight we ate in a restaurant specializing in northern Thai cuisine. We tried a set menu with small amounts of a variety of different dishes. Very interesting – lots of pork, different flavors. Some we liked, but in general, I think we prefer southern Thai food. We walked through the night bazaar for awhile and decided we actually preferred it to the Sunday “walking market”.

We leave for Laos tomorrow.