Friday the 22nd - Last Day

Our Last Day In Thailand

This morning we drove out to the Wildflower Home for our last day of volunteering. Instead of helping with the children and garden work, we showed the women how to make prints and create books. Ms.Russell made sure that we had all the necessary supplies and led us all through the printmaking, paper-cutting, and book-binding processes. 

For lunch the women (and some special guests) made us the traditional northern Thai dish of Khao Soi. We were told that it is a recipe that mixes the curry from the Muslim culture with the noodles from the Chinese influence. It is topped with crispy fried noodles and is delicious (although it was a little too spicy for some of our students' taste buds!)

After lunch and a farewell photo with the Wildflower families we headed home to pack, enjoy some Thai massages, and then ventured out for one last meal with Imm. She took us to a local place where we ran into students from Indianapolis (that we had seen at Doi Suthep) and got to have one last authentic Thai meal. 

We flew out to Bangkok around 10:30 pm and will each hopefully return someday!

PRINT/BOOK-MAKING AT THE WILDFLOWER HOME:

 EATING KHAO SOI:

FAREWELL PHOTO:

THAI FOOT MASSAGES/PEDICURES:

 LAST DINNER OUT WITH IMM:

 A SLAMA SANDWICH IN BANGKOK:

ADIOS THAILAND...

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Thursday the 21st - Wildflower Home, Doi Suthep, Riverboat Cruise

Wildflower Home, Doi Suthep, Riverboat Cruise

This morning we returned to the Wildflower Home to resume work. Abi, Marissa, Rachel, Maddy, Ms.Tibbetts, and a few of the women staying at the home continued to move dirt to the banana grove. Ben, Bella, Andrea, Lizzy, and Ms.Russell went with the children to the Montessori school a ways down the road to play and learn. They all raved about the program and the facility and had some fun. 

After lunch we piled into the truck and drove up to Doi Suthep. Located on top of a mountain, within a national park, (Wat Phra That) Doi Suthep is one of the north's most sacred temples. It was established in 1383 and has an interesting origin. A white elephant, carrying a mystical relic, was allowed to wander until it found a place where a temple could be built to enshrine the relic. The elephant supposedly stopped and died where Doi Suthep is now located. At the temple there is a statue of the white elephant and lots of other statues and shrines, but the most famous part of the "wat" is the gold-plated "chedi". From Doi Suthep you can see all of Chiang Mai, including (if you look close enough) the outline of the old walled city. There are 306 steps that lead up to the temple.

After our descent from Doi Suthep we had dinner on a riverboat while the full moon shined down upon us. It was a great way to spend our last evening in Chiang Mai. 

At The Wildflower Home:

On the way to and at the Montessori school:

Doi Suthep:

(The Slama Sandwich)

 Dinner on the Riverboat: