Thai Village

This woman was photographed in her village on the Thai side of the Mekong river. There is government interest in the village since several of the buildings are so old and of a nature that they represent a particular period of Thai culture. There is interest in helping village people to maintain their buildings, customs, culture etc as a tourist attraction - I'm glad we got there first!

Sugar Cane

A common sight throughout north eastern Thailand were trucks fully laden with sugar cane. While they were everywhere they were very hard to photograph! This was a shot of one truck overtaking another.

Steve and Quinn

Steve and Quinn spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos - Steve has become an expert on "Five Little Ducks" and several other rhymes!

Vientiane

We spent only 3 hours in Vientiane, Laos but is was enough to visit a number of sites in the city. We hired a driver for the time here and that made so many visits possible. Vientiane shares many similarities with Thailand - temples, markets, architecture etc. The hustle and bustle wasn't as intense as it can be in Thailand.

Lynne feeds the monks

This was one of the many processions of monks walking through the streets between 6-7 am

Various

One day we went to a border crossing at Thali. Sumontha, Nick and Frank crossed into Laos for a quick visit. Lynne and I saved our visa fee ($1300 Bht) for when we cross at Nong Khai.

This sticky rice cooked in a strip of sugar cane - really delicious! They are sold at so many market stalls that one is in no danger of starving!

We visited the site of the big Bhudda which was impressive in its own right but the thing that caught my eye was the rubbe plantation nearby. I couldn't resist taking this photo of a cup set up to catch the liquid when it runs at night.


This woman was photographed at a morning market in Loei. This was one of many magnificent photo opportunities.

Trip to the north

Pim had been a visiting student at Nelson central school a few years ago. Her parents were keen to help us explore the north east of Thailand. This photo was taken a Phu Rea, a village in the mountainous area between Loei and Sukothai. We were a week too late to join in the annual flower festival but there was plenty of evidence that there had been one. This area is renowned for growing flowers which are then sold all over Thailand.

The second picture shows our group at the original capital of Thailand - Sukothai.

Khon Kaen Temple

Darawan took us to Khon Kaen to visit the 9 storey temple - the biggest in the north east of Thailand. While were were there three 'guides' offered us their services! They were quite charming and if our Thai had been better I am sure we would have learned a lot more about this beautiful temple.

Ban Chian

This a photo of a shop selling replica pots similar to those found in an archaelogical site in the Ban Chian area. The site dates human settlement in the area from about 5,000 - 6,000 years ago. Gree's parents brought us here - his mum had taken the day off work to do that - how generous is that! The people we have met have been absolutely fabulous hosts.

Dinosaurs

Gree's mum and dad took us to visit the dinosaur park on the way to Udon Thani. This is a genuine archaeological site where dinosaurs once roamed 30 million years agao - amazing really.

BBQ at Darawan's house

We had dinner at Darawan's house one evening. She invited some of the people who had had students in Nelson over they years. This was a great evening with great food. Nick, Darawan's son and one of his frieds were busy with the spit roast.

Frank

Frank and his family pose for a family photo. Frank attended our school for three weeks earlier in the year. The family generously loaned us a four wheel drive vehicle to explore the North East of Thailand.

Royal Palace

Highlight for the day was a visit to the Royal Summer Palace - more for tourists today than an operational palace, this was a huge construction laid out one floor above the ground making it a well ventilated and cool place to be. The timber walkways were really impressive. The king does spend time here over the summer. A navy gun boat patrols the coast when he is in residence.

Sea Food

One of the things I really enjoy about Thailand is the food - so much variety and so full of flavour! On our way from Bangkok to Hua Hin we stopped off at a seafood restaurant (Sung Wean seafood restaurant) on the seashore - literally! What a feast we had - crab, squid, sea food salads and more.

Later in the evening we went to the night market and ate banana roti - there was no room for anything else after that!

Hua Hin

Jib and Mac drove us in a ten-seater van to Jib's father's condominium at Hua Hin. This is a massive place - 5 double bedrooms! We are on the 5th floor and have a lovely view of the ocean and the huge swimming pool below.

Dionne, Quinn, Duncan and Myrna stayed in a condo next door; that one owned by Jib's mum.
This is a picture of Jib with her mum and dad.

Jib and Mac's Wedding

This was a really grand affair held in the the Grand Hyatt Erewan - a place one visits rather than stays at! It was truly grand so we took lots of photos to prove we had been there!



Check out the hotel's web site:

http://www.bangkok.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp



The wedding ceremonies were equally grand and fascinating starting with a Chinese tea ceremony followed by a traditional Thai ceremony.





See this website for an explanation of the Chinese ceremony which was mainly for Macs family: http://www.chinabridal.com/etiquette/tea.htm



The Thai wdding ceremony is called ROD-NAM-SANG. It is the main event where both the bride and the bridegroom's family get together. They witness this important event. Both the bridge and the bridegroom will sit close together on the floor (or small stage) with their hands held in WAI style.



A flower chain connects the hands. Jib's parents led the event. They started to pour water over Mac and Jib's hands, blessed them and wished them good luck. The water is contained in a conch shell. Usually, only selected people like close friends and close relatives will be invited to the ROD-NAM-SANG event.



The dinner party started around 6 pm; the bride and the bridegroom with their parents stood in front of the function room greeting and welcoming the guests.



Before this guests went to register their name at reception area. They signed the guest-book wishing good luck for the couple.



Guests had their photograps taken with the bride and the bridegroom.



During the evening there was a reception made up of eating lots of wonderful foods and listening to a series of speeches. It was a shame our Thai wasn't good enough to take it all in as it sounds as if there was lots of humour in the speeches.



The Master of Ceremonies (MC) started the formal ceremony. The MC invited both the bride and the bridegroom to the floor. A wedding Flower is presented to them by the parent of the bridegroom.



The MC called for the guest of honour to give the speech for the bride and groom. The guest of honour in this case was a reresentative of the king.



The cake was an enormous thing standing almost two metres high. Jib and Mac used a sabre to cut it.



Jib and Mac looked really pretty and handsome.

MBK

The MBK centre is huge and a challenge for even the most ardent shopperholic! I have been here twice now and still find eplring the MBK something of a marathon or should that be 'tryathlon?' Tow hours at a time is pleanty for me!It's hard to describe it to friends but visit the website below for some well chosen photos/video clips to get some idea of what you have to look forward to.

http://www.mbk-center.com/en/vdo_presentation/index.php

There are heaps of bargains to be had here and it makes a clean, air conditoned alternative to the street markets.

Christmas Party

The hotel put on a Xmas party for guests. Lynne and I went along and were greeted at the door with a Xmas hat which were happily donned - no-one here knows us! Great food, plenty to drink and good music. There were lucky draws during the evening - but we didn't win one. However our skill with darts saw us win a can of coke and a large soft Xmas toy - really needed one of those!

Tailor

I couldn't resist visiting a tailor and now own 2 new suits and a jacket! The prices was very friendly especially compared with wha I would pay at home. Measured on Tuesday evening, fitted on Wednesday evening and picked up on Thursday evening - not bad I think.

Centre Point Petchburi

Jib checked us into this wonderful hotel http://www.bangkok.com/centrepetchburi/
We have 4 rooms between us and seem to be be having hui in different rooms from time to time.


Breakfasts are something else! Enough to keep your ribs apart for the rest of the day. Yesterday we passed on lunch and had a light meal in the evening at a nearby family restuarant - very cheap.

Next stop - MBK shopping Centre.

Yesterday we had Xmas dinner in a private room at the Oishi Japanese buffet restaurant at Siam Discovery. Apart from the 'hundreds' of dishes to choose from as 'ready to eat' you could also select from a range of meat and seafoods and have the chefs cook them for you. Everything was scrumptious! Jib's dad had sent along some wine for us to drink with lunch. Having a private room was great for Quinn - at least we could contain her - boy is she active.