Bangkok
We spent 2 nights in Bangkok when it was the hottest place on the planet along with North African countries. Air quality was dangerous too but at least it was Songkran, Thailand New Year and World Water Festival. It started as pouring water on the Buddha's then taking the blessed water home to share with the elders and the family for good fortune, relationships, business success, longevity, etc.
The sharing and pouring water symbolizes a cleansing of the soul from the last year and a rebirth into the new year. Now it is more mainstream with people all over the world coming to take part in the citywide festivities including parades, live concerts in the day and Electric Dance Music concerts at night, multiday, nonstop water fights with hoses and water guns to people on the street, and family and friends in the beds of pickup trucks dumping water on passerbys on the sidewalks and other vehicles, as well as hundreds of people on motorbikes spraying sidewalkers with water guns as they zoom by. It is a lot of fun and we will go back. More prepared to participate in the day AND the night.
We arrived on April 13th, the day the festival started. It started in a couple corners of the city but by the final day April 15th, it had taken over most of the city day and night.
That night we went to dinner at a rooftop restaurant along the river. Our introduction to this restaurant was walking up the stairs and seeing a waiter pull a 3ft snake down from the rafters and beating it incessantly with a bat. Everyone in the restaurant was freaked out, but after the threat was nuetralized
Bangkok Highlights
Walk to Sanam Luang a large square for community events
Ferry to Wat Arun by very busy boat in the hottest heat of my life
Witness watering of the Buddhas for blessings
Participating in Songkran Water Festival with water guns- like bourbon street in NOLA or 6th street in Austin or St. Patrick Day in Savannah if everyone had supersoakers, buckets of water, and hoses and everyone was spraying each other in celebration.
St. Francis Xavier Sunday Church in Thai
Ayutthaya Day Trip with Pia, our tourguide, to the reclining Buddha (46 meters long) and to the Wats (Buddhist centers of worship). Ayutthaya was the center of gravity when people were immigrating from India, Laos, Cambodia, and China. Incredible structures and sign of war in the burned and decapitated Buddhas.
Bonchons, our favorite chicken place in the USA up there with Chickfila and Popeyes
First struggle: the night before we want to be in Koh Chang Island 6 hours away. All buses are sold out. Abby finds one with seats left that guaruntees ferry ride with an air condition bus.
6hr. Bus ride to ferry to Koh Chang (Elephant Island) to a open pickup truck and getting drenched with water by local people in 4 towns we passed through on our way to the local village we settled in called Bang Bao. Bang meaning town
Quiet, Air conditiioned bungalow in south island outside of town with less than 10 rooms but 3 outside sections: thai massage area, Chilling area, dining room/bar. The beach was 20 steps from our room. Weather is 10 degrees cooler than Bangkok.
Enjoy the easy life on the beach. Didn't need to go to town there was a thai restaurant, a pizza place and 6 bars at other bungalows walking distance down the beach.
The exploration down the pier with houses on stilts on the pier
Cruising the whole island on the motorbike. Epic to climb and descend the mountains. To see the island on our terms for just 300 baht ($10) for 24 hours and just a couple bucks for a gas fill up. New favorite way to see a new area with little traffic.
Visited the Russian Orthodox ChurchFelt the liberation of the bike
Stopped for food on the beach
Motorbike AccidentWould never ride in a major city. It’s too chaotic. We hit a slick part of the road at the end of our ride with no cars around, only monkeys. As I was braking down the hill just past our bungalow turn off, we hit a slick spot possibly from dump trucks leaking fat or oil. It was invisible on the road. We hit it when we were breaking down the hill. Fortunately, we had helmets on. The bike lost traction and turned sideways, falling on Abby and I and skidding for several feet. I felt the skin on my leg burning and quickly lifted it. My left shoulder was hurt badly. Initially it felt like when I fractured my clavicle in high school. My elbow and knees had roadrash. My hips were bruised. We were both in disbelief. Abby had a pocketwatch sized scrape on her left shoulder, a blood red on the outside with a whiter shade in the center on her left pinky knuckle and 2 deeper scrapes on her knees. I quickly got up feeling my body burning all over. Putting the arm across my body or supporting my weight on all fours was excruciating and sent sharp pain thru my arm and shoulder. I picked up the bike and tried starting it. It wouldn’t start.
Another motorists came down the hill and asked if we were okay but didn't have anything he offered to give or do, but I understand, all we had was what was on us. I got the bike to start after a quick prayer and parked it back at the bungalow where we went to the room, and cleaned the wounds which were quite painful. I went out to talk to Luc, the Belgian co-owner of the bungalow. He recommended we go to the clinic at the pier and they would patch us up nicely. They had no first aid onsite. 
We are grateful that we brought the first aid kit with us. It was critical for us to clean our wounds and cover some of them heading to the pier and riding again, which we were both apprehensive to do. My shoulder was in pain to ride but it was the quickest way to get there and my wife’s hand looked in the worst shape. We found the clinic. With translation apps we were able to get what we needed. They re-cleaned and wrapped all Abby’s wounds. They left most of mine uncovered to dry out except for the scrape on my elbow. Then we jumped back on the bike and went back to the bungalow hotel. There was damage to the bike, the woman who rented us the bike saw our plight and gave us a break on the damage also because her boss was away. She charged us only $1000 Baht (thai currency) which is about $27 USD.
No more ocean water for us but we still enjoyed the amenities of the beach everyday. Read in the mornings listening to the waves roll in and roll out. Enjoyed the small local restaurants in the jungle along the sand roads way off the beaten path.
Walked the beach. Abby got her first thai massage and loved it. We enjoyed the tropical drinks, walks on the beach, Arranged a private taxi to pick us up and drive us all the way back to Bangkok, (a 6 hour trip one way). We got a funny character known as Cha La Lai. She was one of those people who is laughing a lot and talking to herself in a good way. She was well, but she was silly. She was very positive. We were both speaking English but there were still a few language barrier moments. I am terrible at understanding accented English accents. Take that and put it in a room with many other people talking and it’s game over. I cant really hear anything or comprehend it. I am better off learning the language than understanding English in a thick accent
After 6 and half hours with her, we made it to the Bangkok overnight train station.
We waited 3 hours then got on the 12 hour overnight train to Chiang Mai...much slower than the bullet train. We were probably going 40 mph.
We didn’t have cabins. We were 2nd or 3rd class. Our seats converted to beds. They kept the lights on all night but each bed had curtains. Abby and I both had bottom bunks across from each other.
Met John in the morning, a teacher from London who loves traveling, but thinks London is too expensive but he is there for his 5 year old son, who he had with a woman he met in Chiang Mai in a teaching program. They were together for a while but split custody now. I asked if he did a certain Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL or ESL) program. He said that any teachers can go and teach english speakers at english or international schools in those other countries as long as they are teachers already. He recently taught in Kuwait.
John wasn't in it for the money but for the time with his son, the adventures it afforded him, the long periods of time off. It's all about priorities, not money. Money can be the means to an end but not the end itself. You can't take it with you when you die and you never know what day will be your last. Might as well focus on the things that matter most. So many things are more important than the pursuit of wealth.
Chiang Mai is certainly a chiller potentially hipster version of Bangkok. We liked it a lot. Lots of travelers here, not as chaotic as Bangkok and the food is better. Smoothies are king here. The local dish is Khao (Cow) Soi (Soyee). It might be our favorite dish in the world. It is a yellow curry noodle soup with veggies. We will be seeking it out when we come back to the states.
We arrived in Chiang Mai at 7:30am and had the whole day ahead of ourselves. We checked into our cute robot jungle themed hotel: Sleep Guesthouse. Then went to a free walking tour of the old town, the most significant buddhist shrines and some hidden shrines led by a former monk. We booked it thru guruwalk and were very happy. Our tour guide had been a Buddhist monk twice in his life. You can choose to be a monk at any time but you must follow all the rules which, in this part of Thailand included: no drinking, no sexual relations of any kind, daily meditation, etc. It's not for everyone. They must also walk every day to the community and accept food and money door to door. They are only allowed to take what is offered to them, but the community is very supportive. We witnessed this many mornings. Monks in orange cloaks/togas walking from shop to shop accepting gifts to live off of. We also learned of mafia monks, groups who pretend to be monks who take advantage of people. He said there are many. Throughout the tour he shared intimate details of his life like that his previous job was to do tours to show students around for food and drinks and eventually developed and alcoholic behavior. The monkhood saved his life, he said, and by doing the breathing exercises he was able to renounce drinking, sex, and commit to the Buddhist principles such as: kindness and compassion.
He also shared that growing up his father was an opium trader on the river. His father eventually became addicted to opium, and he had to leave the monkhood to take care of his father. He told his father that now it's his turn. Through Buddhism, his father was able to conquer his opium addiction.
He also shared with us that 30% of what we would hear that the shrines would be truth, but that 70% is legend and depicts legend. He helped us to discern the difference.
That night, I needed to go to the hospital for my shoulder to get a definitive answer on its condition.Was it broken or just strained. I just knew it hurt like hell. I went to McCormicks Hospital which to our surprise was Christian. Jesus was holding lambs everywhere. It was very comforting. In that moment upon entering the hospital and seeing that image I was immediately put at peace. I knew I was that lamb and that he was holding me. I felt loved and trusted God in that ER in Thailand. They put me on a gurney and took me to the emergency room to test my strength and mobility. After x rays, they determined that it wasn't broken. Prayers answered. I prayed for a lot of people while I waited in the ER on the gurney. I was referred to an orthopedic specialist but I’m going to wait for another week to see if it heals more. X-rays, ER Visit, and meds came out to a total of just $60. Another blessing. 
The next day, Sunday, we went to Church at Sacred Heart. A 10 minute Grab from our hotel. I couldn't understand a word, but like in Japan, I could follow along with the liturgy, read the reading from the Anawim book or US Conference of Catholic Bishops site (USCCB) because the mass order and readings are the same every day in every part of the world; this is the beauty of the universal (catholic) church, we are of one faith, one body, one spirit, one baptism, one hope, one Lord, one God and Father of all. I was struck by the full house at Sacred Heart Cathedral. The cloud of witnesses receiving communion was extraordinary and moving to me. The whole community showed up to pray and celebrate together. I was grateful to be among such a dedicated community of Christians. 
At 12pm we went to an ethical elephant rescue and rehabilitation site in the mountains of Chiang Mai. To be within a couple feet of the elephants and to hear what abuses they were rescued from made us really admire the work of this organization. It made me want to volunteer at this site to care for and feed the elephants. They also had more than 6,000 cats, dogs, pigs, water buffalo, and rabbits on site that they have rescued and taking care of on a daily basis. 
Places that allow tourists to ride elephants first have to break the elephants by means of whips, cuts, stabs, burning, and threatening pain. Those elephants are not happy, they are abused and scared on a regular basis. We heard so many stories of elephants who were saved after stepping on landmines, getting hit by cars, used for street begging, used for logging, used for riding, and kept in the worst conditions. 
Some of these elephants lost their family members or best friends and experienced depression like one old elephant who was 65 who was alone and bitter for years until the day a baby boy elephant was born. She took the baby boy and to mom in as her own and looked after each as their grandmother-guardian. She opened her heart and let them in and now they are a family.
We came home and did real laundry for the first time in 20 days. It was the second most beautiful thing we saw all day after the elephants. We had been previously cleaning our clothes in a bag with soap, a useful product Abby's mom got for us.
Went for vegan gelato and smoothies.
Got up on Day 3 for breakfast and coffee to take a day to work on projects, blogs, communications, theology on tap support, travel to vietnam plans, visas, etc.
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