Summer Travels Part 1

This summer we decided to take a bigger trip through Southeast Asia. We were prompted by our friend's wedding in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We have wanted to see these sights and I was thankful we made it a reality. Our first stop was Thailand. Our itinerary included Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. We had visited our friend the summer prior and we really do enjoy Thailand and Chiang Mai in particular. We headed to Chiang Mai via China since it is not super easy to get anywhere from Kathmandu. We arrived in the morning, tired and a bit groggy, and headed to our hotel. We always try to book hotels with pools and the kids were excited about being able to swim. We spent a couple of days exploring the city. We love the street food (crocodile meat!), Thai Iced Tea and the night market. Its always fun to explore the city. 

One thing we did that was fun was visit the Tiger Kingdom outside of Chiang Mai. It is a mix of zoo and hands on learning. It is situated a bit outside of the city. The grounds are beautiful and the roads good to get there. This was particularly fun for Josiah since he loves animals and particularly predators. He was able to pet a baby white tiger and was so pumped! Sienna and I opted not to go in a cage with the tigers. Brooklynn was able to touch a baby lion and Jeff went in with the medium tigers. All the tigers here are not sedated and have been rescued for some reason or another. The baby white tigers had all been rejected by their mothers for deformity reasons. Some of the deformities can be corrected so the veterinarian on site is working to help them heal correctly. 

After our sightseeing, the wedding festivities began. We loved being able to see our sweet friends get married and enjoyed meeting up with friends, new and old, from around the world! It was so fun to see friends from our hometown in Thailand. What a fun time we had at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. We loved the amazing food, restaurants, traditional Thai dancing, fireworks (!) and friends at the wedding. The reception venue was along the river and at the end of the wedding, fireworks were set off in celebration of their marriage. So, take that sparklers. If you want the real deal, get married in Thailand.  

Chiang Mai was a real refreshing time. We saw friends, enjoyed the city and were able to enjoy some of the best food around the world! We set off the next day for Vietnam. Vietnam, here we come!