Always a few days behind

As diligent as I've intended to be with the blog posts, it seems like I'm always a couple of days behind. 

We are now in Chachoengsao (if by the end of this trip I can spell that by memory, it will be an accomplishment).  This is where we will spend the remainder of our trip.  It is a small city just east of Bangkok. Truly Thai, not a touristy thing about it.  But before I jump into our time here, I'll finish up with some photos of our last vacation spot. (Talk about touristy!)  We were north of Phuket in a town called Mai Khao and we stayed at a gorgeous resort called the Mai Khao Marriot Beach Club. Thanks to Kevin, who searches tirelessly for good deals, we were blessed to experience a place like this. (Although I must say, I missed our little cottage on the island a bit.) Both our vacation spots offered unique perspectives on Thailand's southern beaches, and we loved every minute of each!

 





 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Memories of Koh Yao Yai

We left the island of Koh Yao Yai 3 days ago. It was a wonderful, quiet place that hasn't been inundated by Western culture like many of the other southern islands. We were also lucky enough to do a day of 'island hopping' to some nearby uninhabited island jems.  Amazing!  I'll let the pictures do the talking....

The place we stayed...

Our cabin

View of the resort from the water

Keeping the critters out at night

The owner

The pool

The pool with the Andaman Sea in the background

 



 The local village...

Residential Construction

Exploring along the main highway
  

Local children.  So excited to see Caucasians.



Our favourite restaurant.  With our friend Edie.
 

 Island hopping...

Our long boat



A great day thanks to our driver.

Life on a small Thai Island

We arrived on the small island of Koh Yao Yai yesterday afternoon.  It is a small, quiet place. Relatively untouched compared to many of the surrounding islands.  There's so much to say about this place, but I don't want to bore you with words, so I'll say more with pictures. (Although I'm realizing that the photos I'm taking with our SLR are large and don't load very fast, but the quality is better than with my phone, oh the dilemma.)
Our journey to this island began with a 30 minute boat ride from the mainland of Phuket.  While we were waiting for the boat, we found some wild monkeys hanging around.  Camille and Peyton were excited at first.  Then one of the monkeys decided to jump onto my backpack before leaping to Peyton's backpack.  I think it was all in good fun (monkeys are curious, remember George??), but the girls no longer think monkeys are awesome (not loose ones, at least.)

 

Upon arrival at Thiwson Resort (an intimate resort of small huts), we were given a tour of our accommodations. The huts are awesome, complete with mosquito nets around the beds and outdoor showers.  The fun began when we discovered a new iguana friend in our shower. I even caught it on video! (tried to upload it into this blog, but it was taking forever.)

 

 

 

 

We're really enjoying our time here.  Island life is very laid back.  It's amazing to witness how the people here focus on the essentials.  They build the shelters they require (basically a roof over their heads, nothing fancy), they and raise and grow their food, they spend time together and most importantly they live with smiles on their faces.

 



 



We're here!

After 22 hours in the air and 2 lay overs, we arrived in Bangkok. The trip was long, but thankfully uneventful. Our goals to sleep strategically in order to minimize the jet lag, failed miserably (you can't force your kids to sleep on command!), but surprisingly after a decent night sleep last night, we're feeling pretty good.

Today was spent exploring Bangkok. It's a big, busy city of more than 8 million people. The people are very friendly and the weather is HOT! Crazy hot and humid. (But we will not complain about 45 C and very curly hair.).
We started the day with fresh pineapple, watermelon and papaya from a street vendor (so good.).  Then we took the train to the Chao Phraya River (runs through heart of Bangkok)and hopped on a tourist boat to see the city from the vantage point of the water. Bangkok is known as the Venice of the East. It's interesting to see the combination of million dollars hotels next to collapsing shacks.

 

 

Our first stop was Tha Tien Pier.  We hopped off the boat and headed to Wat Pho, one of the oldest temples in Bangkok. It is home to the 46 meter long, reclining Buddha. The architecture and details of this temple are amazing. After our temple tour we wandered the  markets,tried the local cuisine and successfully avoided getting run over by a tuk-tuk.  Eating coconut ice cream out of a real half coconut, was probably the high-light in terms of food.  And of course, who could resist going to 7-eleven for slurpees. (7-elevens are everywhere).

The heat and lack of sleep finally took their toll, so we headed back to the hotel for a swim.
All in all, a good day in Bangkok.  Tomorrow we fly to Phuket for some beach time.

Bake Sale Success!

Today the Zone 56 kids (grades 5 & 6) at our church held a bake sale fundraiser for our trip to Thailand. It was a great success!  The kids were so excited to share their wares.  They came bearing cookies, cupcakes, brownies, bread, cinnamon buns, caramel corn, squares, zwieback, home made noodles, pies and more.  It was an amazing spread. Thank you to everyone who donated and to the kids who ran the event like pros! Also, thanks to Sonia for organizing everything.  Over $1200 was raised.  We can't wait to share this money with the people of Chachoengsao.

-Tracy

We're getting ready for a journey...

This is going to be a journey.  A journey of faith and adventure. In 10 days we leave for Thailand.  A place we have never been, a culture we don't know and a language we can't understand.  But we are excited!  God's called us on this journey and we are open to what He has in store for us.

Why Thailand?  
Good question.  Last Fall our friends, Wendy & Darcy Ens, started planning their mission trip to Thailand through MB Missions with the support of their home church, La Salle Fellowship. 

Jack, Brianna, Darcy, Wendy, Luke & Katie Ens

The call was to go to a small city called Chachoegnsao (about 1 hour east of Bangkok) to work with Dave and Louise Sinclair-Peters (full time missionaries who have been church planting in the area since 2000.) The work would include assisting with VBS programs, teaching ESL, and supporting Dave & Louise in anyway possible. Wendy, Darcy and their family were content to go on their own, but thought a team would make the trip even better.  (Insert the Dyck family.)  We were unsure at first.  So many questions. How would we get the time off work? How could we fund this? Could we take our girls out of school for a month?  Would this trip make best use of our skills? But as we talked and prayed about it, we realized this was an opportunity we couldn't say no to. We are still unsure about what our exact tasks will be, but we are eager to roll with whatever is thrown our way. (Our new motto..."We'll fly by the seat of our pants!"  Easier said than done for a couple of planners.)

What's Next?

• March 23 (Tomorrow) -  the Zone 56 class at our church will be holding a fundraising bake sale.  Proceeds raised will go towards supplies for the Hope Centre (the main mission location where we'll be working in Chachoegnsao).

• April 1-10 - We'll be doing some personal family traveling in Bangkok and Southern Thailand

• April 11 - April 30 - We will meet up with the Ens's in Chachoegnsao and start our adventure with Dave & Louise

• May 1 - Travel back to Winnipeg

We look forward to posting on a regular basis so that our family and friends can enjoy this journey with us! 

-Tracy