Category: Asia

A Weekend in Amphawa

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When planning a trip from Bangkok to a floating market, most online sources will recommend either Damneon Saduak, the biggest, most popular, most geared towards western tourists; or Amphawa, the smaller, quieter, more popular with Thais. Some will say Amphawa is more authentic and less touristy, but the truth is none of the floating markets in Thailand are “authentic.” None still sell stuff from boats because it’s the easiest way to transport goods. They sell stuff from boats because tourists like it.

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Two Days in the Ancient City of Ayutthaya

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There is just something about visiting ancient ruins that makes you keenly aware that you are walking on the same ground as people who lived thousands of years ago. It makes sense, or course, that seeing these crumbling buildings would conjure a sense of the past. And our trip to Ayutthaya was no different.

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 16 Things That Seem Normal After 5 Months of Travel in Southeast Asia

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It occur to me recently that things that seemed unusual in southeast Asia at first are starting to seem normal. Our daughters had a friend come stay with us for two week recently and we would laugh when she would point out things she found strange because they didn’t seem weird to us anymore.

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Things to do in Mae Chaem, Thailand

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Mae Chaem is a small town in northern Thailand. Not as small as Mae La Oop. But not very big. Some people say it will be the next Pai, but not having been to Pai so far, I can’t say. There is definitely not much tourism happening in Mae Chaem . . . yet.

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Schools in Mae Chaem

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In Mae Chaem, like in Mae La Oop, we had the opportunity to follow the students on their internship when they visited schools and participated in other English teaching opportunities. This time Rand and I mostly observed, but we still had some great experiences.

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Mae Chaem Homestay

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Unlike in Mae La Oop, our homestay in Mae Chaem was set up as a business. A sign in front of the house with Thai lettering marked the Pa Daed Homestay.

When we arrived our host, Mae Pa, had a cold drink waiting for us. She ladled blue liquid into glasses and gestured that we should squeeze lime into the drink. After we did, she held up the glass and showed us how the lime was turning the blue liquid purple. Continue reading →

Adventures in Transportation Part 2: Getting Around Northen Thailand from Mae La Oop to Chiang Mai to Mae Chaem

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We left Mae La Oop and the students staying for their internships on a rainy Friday morning. After saying our goodbyes to our homestay family, our host drove us in the back of his truck the 11km down the mountain to the closest town. As we reached the town we came upon a songtheow Continue reading →

Evenings in Mae La Oop, Thailand

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Our favorite part of the day in Mae La Oop was the evenings. After teaching English in the morning, we would relax on our mats in the main house. At 6pm Oon, the nine year old daughter in our homestay family, would walk in and announce, “Dinner time” in accented English.

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Life in Rural Northern Thailand: Doing Laundry

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After spending several days in Mae La Oop, I needed to do some laundry. I had noticed clothes hanging on lines in front of houses all over the village, but I wasn’t sure if there were washing machines.  I wonder/worried that I might have to hand wash all of our dirty clothes. I asked one of the students if she had figured out what the laundry situation was and she said there was a washing machine at her homestay. I peeked around the back of the family’s raised hut and found that, yes, they also had a washing machine.

So I asked our host if it would be all right if I did some laundry. He said that his wife could do our laundry, but I said, no, that was OK, I could do it myself. I mean, I have done thousands of loads of laundry in my lifetime. I could certainly do my own laundry in rural northern Thailand. Or so I thought…

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