Sawadee Kha!

After 29 hours of traveling we arrived in Bangkok, Thailand this morning!

The trip itself began at 4 am Monday morning for both the Thailand and Cambodia teams. We gathered together to say farewell to the Togo and Haiti teams then loaded into vans and began our flight in Kona, Hawaii. In Honolulu I had my first experience with customs, and from there we flew on Chinese Airlines 10 hours to Tokyo, Japan. After spending 3 months in warm Hawaii the 50 degree weather of both Tokyo and Taipei (where we spent a 5 hr layover) was shocking and had all of us wrapped in scarves, sweaters, and sleeping bags during the wait. Finally the terminal filled and we all piled into another HUGE plane for a 4hr flight to Bangkok, Thailand! And I'll just go ahead to say that whenever it's available- I highly suggest Chinese Airlines, the service and comfort was wonderful, and if you are fluent in Chinese it'd be even more so I'm sure haha! We finally arrived in Bangkok at 1am, Wednesday the 15th where we were greeted by a fellow YWAMer and taken to the Nancy Ross Training Center (YWAM, bangkok) where we slept without interruption for several hours! -such a blessing!

This morning we got up for orientation and were given a briefing on the cultural norms, taboos and given a quick language lesson before going to lunch and then exploring the area for several hours. I've heard from so many about the delicious food here in Thailand, but I can truly give testament to it now - We feasted at this little restaurant called the Turtle Shoppe and as good as it looks it was even better!


We spent the day exploring the area and enjoying a little time to recoup, still with the Cambodia team, and enjoyed a "scavenger hunt" where we had to explore the area, going to a mall, the 7-11, exchange money, find the post office, and venture into the market place. It was quite an amazing experience and full of new clothes, foods, peoples, sights and smells. Something to comment on are the temples and shrines set up all around where the people leave offerings and gifts to appease the idfferent gods. Idolatry here is rampant and I'll post again on the topic, and some pictures, later.

Our team will part w ays with the Cambodia team here in about and hour as we are jumping on a bus for 8 hours to Chiang Mai! Many more pictures and stories to come! So until next time, May He Bless you and Keep you in His loving embrace!

Love Always