Temple of the Dawn

Yesterday (Sunday) brought a morning boat ride on the Chao Praya river and some of the canals in Bangkok. Interesting to see how people live along the river. The students fed the massive amounts of catfish with bread and seemed to enjoy the morning. We stopped at the Temple of the Dawn which was truly impressive. Many of the students climbed to the top along very steep steps. Fun watching them come down. Today (Monday) brings us to the King’s summer palace and to Ayuthya, the former capital of Thailand to again visit some ruins. It’s a full day and with many students (I suspect) staying up to watch the Vikings beat the Cowboys (the game finished at 4:00 am our time on Monday morning) it may be a tiring one.

Here are some thoughts from Marge Thornton, Megan Gosselin and Megan Hoeft:

I now know why people fall in love with Thailand. We have accumulated some varied and eclectic experiences from busy Bangkok, to the serene countryside of Sukothai and 12 days in the tourist hot spot of Chiang Mai. However, the Thai people themselves remain constant. My encounters with the people have been gracious, enthusiastic and genuine. Villagers came out to greet us as we biked by, some to giggle at the large and what must have seemed strange looking Americans and some held their babies out to wave at us yelling “hello” in English. Hospitality is a large and profitable business here, so I understand the kindness is part their job, but the one on one encounters are so authentic. People are curious where you are from and what you are doing in Thailand. Some seem to laugh and smile easily, I am sure half the time it is at me and my terrible accent and sometimes it is out of joy and acceptance.

I believe travel of any kind changes you. This trip is by far the most unique and most satisfying of my travels. I take away a better understanding of Buddhism. I will leave here more relaxed than I have felt in years (really…years!!). I enjoy seeing it through 29 other sets of eyes as well, together we have seen a lot and in very different ways. What an adventure! I need to come back with my family and who knows…maybe they need English speaking nurses in Thailand…

Love to you all, as much as I love it here, I can’t wait to hug you there,

Marge Thornton

Today we had a bus ride from Sukhothai to Bangkok. We were all very thankful that it didn’t turn into a 23 hour ride like the train! On our ride we stopped at a temple that is the home for wild monkeys. A few people got out but I was too afraid to get out once our guide told us the monkeys might steal our cameras or bite us. Last night we had a sunset dinner in the Sukhothai Historical ruins. We found out before we got there that it is illegal to serve food in the ruins but our hotel had some sort of connection and were able to get us dinner there without getting us arrested! We were all very thankful to the hotel for making such great accommodations for us. The scenery was very beautiful with the sun setting over the mountains, pond, and a Buddha statue. My pictures I took definitely don’t justify how gorgeous it was.

Our bike ride yesterday through the country side was equally as amazing. I’m pretty sure other people have already blogged about the bike ride but I’m going to give my quick rendition of it. I really enjoyed seeing the farmers work in their rice and tobacco fields. The people were all very nice and the kids at the school even gave us high-fives as we rode through.

I am happy to say that I have ventured out and tried a lot of different foods. Pad Thai and fried rice are still my favorite but I have tried regular fried worms, silk worms, and grasshoppers. The grasshoppers were definitely the best!

I can’t believe that the trip is over half gone and we will be heading home in a little over a week. We have a great group of people with us and we have all been learning so much. I’m sad to be leaving Thailand soon but excited to get home to tell all my friends and family about my trip! Hope you are all doing well in the cold United States! Miss you to all my friends and family!

Megan Gosselin

Hey there everyone!

It is already the sixteenth day of our trip! It is unbelievable to think that we are already on the decline of our little adventure. Sure there are things I miss at home, but all my friends and family realize that I would never return to winter unless I had to.

Mark promised me in my interview that he and Kristen would make this trip interesting enough to beat the plane ride, and he was right. Each day I think to myself, this has been the best part of the trip, and in many ways each new day has been the best part. Some events, however, will beat out others when I talk about this trip for years to come.

One of those stories will be how we were able to talk with a monk. I had a very vague idea of what Buddhism was when I began this trip. It has been fascinating for me to see how religion influences daily routine here in Thailand. Throughout this trip we have been bombarded with different interpretations of Buddhism, much as we have different forms of Christianity in the States, but I thought the monk did an amazing job of explaining where the differences stem from and, how it is possible to be Buddhist as well as practice other religions. I was sad for our hour to end with him.

I also thoroughly enjoyed our bike ride through Sukhothai (although I am still a little sore). Every once in a while I will turn to the person next to me and say, “hey, guess what? Its January.” So obviously it was exciting for me to be outside in January and worried about overheating. Other than that, it was fabulous to bike through the country side with seas of green all around me. Farmers were hard at work in the tobacco and rice fields. Some of the more adventurous group members opted to plant some rice themselves. I have always said I do not want to be a farmer, not even on facebook or in Thailand, sorry. As we rode through parts of town it was easy to tell that we stood out significantly. I felt like a celebrity as people would stop, stare and wave. Some children dressed in what seemed to be boy scout uniforms even gave flowers to some of the female students. Sukhothai is definitely not the same tourist hub that Chang Mai or Bangkok is.

I am looking forward to our time on the island in a few days; elephant riding, more trekking, and relaxing on the beach with my new book, a perfect way to end J-term. To all of you at home, I hope you are enjoying your January and I will talk to you soon!

Megan Hoeft

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