Back to Thailand June 6-29

Confession time…I would go back to Malaysia and Cambodia in a heartbeat but it was so great to arrive back in Thailand! We flew from Phnom Penh to Bangkok and then straight up to Chiang Mai for a couple nights before flying out to Maehongson again. (For earlier trip to Maehongson, click here)




(View of Pa Tyng, one of the villages where I grew up.)






We spent four nights in Pa Tyng and four nights in Napajat where I had stayed back in April. Many highlights – catching up with old friends, visiting a couple churches where my parents worked (photo below), sort of plowing a ricefield (see future video post), enjoying the freedom being on the back of a motorcycle riding through the fields and forests, getting my first haircut in nine months! – and not dying from being hit by lighting or being bit by a massive cobra! Oh you want more information on the last story?? There’s a hill/cliff on the other side of the river that runs by Pa Tyng. I had climbed up there before but wanted to return to get some digital pictures. It didn’t take long to reach the top but there was a huge storm coming along with licks of lightning and thunder reverberating through the hills. I thought I should probably hurry down and not be on the highest point around. So I’m hurrying and just before I reach the main path at the bottom I happen to see a very large six foot snake crossing the trail two feet in front of me. I instantly stopped and debated pulling out the camera and taking a picture or backing up – I chose the latter, but clearly it wasn’t my time to go yet! (Photo to left - Andrea and Grandfather Nan in Napajat)

We flew back to Chiangmai for another two nights where we were able to catch up with long time OMFers and former colleagues of my parents – Andrew Goodman and Hans and Beatrice Bar – so great to see them again before flying down to Bangkok and journeying south by bus for three hours to Huahin for three wonderful days at Veranda Lodge, one of our most favorite beach getaways. It was great to have these three days there as we came to the end of our trip.

This time we met the owner of the hotel who invited us to eat with her and her family one evening which was pretty cool in and of itself. As we were finishing eating in came an older gentleman who turned out to be a prince - the grandson of King Chulalungkorn (so he was the great grandson of the King in The King and I!) Totally random, kind of crazy and a fun night. He didn't realize how tall Andrea was until she stood up as we were leaving. He of course wanted a picture right away. Evidently the hotel owner decided she liked us as she offered to take us back to Bangkok in her car as she was going up there the same day we were leaving.

(Photo - With Hans and Beatrice Bar)

Friday, June 26 we were supposed to stay with Eak, my security guard friend from Union Tower. We had made plans that we would meet him at work at 6pm when he was finished with work and drive home with him. He had told us we were going to go camping in his yard. We weren't quite sure what this all meant but we were looking forward to it. Unfortunately, while we were still at the beach, he called from the hospital to tell us he had had another seizure. Eak has some form of epilepsy that only causes seizures when he is sleeping. He said he wasn't going to be released from the hospital until Friday. We decided that it wasn't the best idea to have us go stay with him the day he was released from hospital and that we would go visit him the following day instead. Who wants to be setting up a tent after being in hospital for three days?

Unfortunately, Andrea became very sick that Friday night and knew she wasn't going anywhere until she got better. I went and spent the day with Eak and some of his family.

By Saturday night/Sunday morning it was clear Andrea wasn't improving even though she had started taking antibiotics right away. Sunday night she developed a fever which made us more nervous, knowing that all the asian airports are equipped with thermal detectors to check out arriving passengers. (They don't mess around with H1N1 flu!) So we sent out an email to those who had been praying for us these past months. Thankfully and pretty miraculously (but should we really have been surprised given how we feel God has looked after us over and over again this trip) by the time we had to leave for the airport for our flight to Singapore at 2pm on Monday, June 29 Andrea had no fever and didn't have to run to the bathroom every hour! Upon arrival in Singapore we walked past the thermal detectors and were very grateful not to get pulled over. If you were praying...THANK YOU!

Duncan