THAILAND!!!

So Eric and I officially had our first Thailand adventure! I say first because I hope we get to go back someday. It was basically everything I would want in a vacation: the right balance of active things and relaxing, culture, good food and alone time away from the kids! We got to feed elephants, go ziplining, do a sunset stand up paddleboarding tour, see lots of temples, hang out on the beach and enjoy super cheap delicious food. We especially enjoyed drinking fruit smoothies and eating Roti (Thai crispy crepes with nutella or chocolate and banana and sweetened condensed milk...so good!) pretty much every day. All in all, I was honestly very surprised at how smoothly the trip went. The jet lag was not nearly as bad as I expected and we didn't have any minor disasters. Here are some other things that surprised me about our trip:

• Chiang Mai was very smokey! We didn't know this but apparently, our trip fell directly in the middle of Burning Season which is when farmers in the surrounding areas burn their fields to prepare for the next round of planting. Sooo it was smokey especially out in the mountains like on the day we were with the elephants.
• Chiang Mai is actually a relatively small city and Old Town where most of the old temples are is very walkable. I didn't realize how many temples there are all right close to each other. It was super convenient. 
• There is graffiti everywhere!
• Food was not very spicy. I was a little worried going in but honestly the whole time we were there we were never served ANYTHING that was too spicy for me! I don't know if they just looked at us and were like, "oh they look white lets tone down the spice" or what but it wasn't a problem even with street food.
• It was more touristy everywhere we went that I expected. I was surprised especially about how touristy Koh Lanta was because I had read that it is a little more off the beaten path and not so crowded but it still felt pretty busy and touristy to me. 
• We didn't have a problem with mosquitos at all! I was honestly super shocked by this one. We had prepared with mosquito repellant bracelets and bug spray but I felt like we barely needed them as I barely saw any mosquitos even down in the islands.
• On Koh Lanta everyone rents their own moped to get around. We rented one too for about $13 for two days. It was super convenient but the days we were down there it was very windy so that was uncomfortable on the moped (hello dust and sand being constantly blown in our eyes!). 

And now for pictures! I will break it down by days (for the most part) because there's a lot:

Day One: Explore Old Town on foot:

The mangoes in Thailand were delicious!

We found the church in Thailand and were able to attend Sacrament meeting. A nice missionary from Australia translated for us which was great! 

We LOVED our hotel: Amata Lanna Village. It was like the perfect little oasis inside of Chiang Mai. And the breakfast they served every day was DELICIOUS especially the mango sticky rice. 

Day Two: Elephants!

We got to feed the elephants bananas, pumpkin, watermelon, and cucumbers. Also we made them these sticky rice balls out of tamarind, banana, rice and I think some vitamins for them. 

We also got to walk with them down to the river and bathe them in the river. They were so chill and it was fun to be with them. 

Day Three: Ziplining!

The area around Chiang Mai was definitely in its fall season and a lot more brown and yellow in general and less tropical than I expected but still pretty. 

You can kind of tell in this picture how smokey the sky was. 

This was supposed to be a pretty waterfall but because we were there at the end of dry season there was pretty much no water in it. 

Day Four: Down to Ao Nang and Railay Beach for SUP:

Railay beach had the most amazing beautiful cliffs! 

But yes, it was crowded with tourists! 

You get to and from Railay beach via long-tail boat which was cool.

Sunset SUP tour! It was beautiful and fun- definitely a highlight of the trip.

It was easier than I expected to stand up and I never actually lost my balance but I was slow when standing so I knelt for most of the time.

Days Five and Six: Beach days in Koh Lanta

In Koh Lanta we mostly hung out on the beach. I also got a very relaxing $8 pedicure and foot massage and we got a couples massage which required me to strip to the waist down right there out in public on the beach! Haha I was little surprised but good thing I'm not too shy! I just rolled with it haha. 

The best sunsets!

We went down to Bamboo beach one of the days and we were just relaxing under these handy shelters when suddenly I heard mooing! There were two lost cows that just wandered through. So random. I felt bad for them because there was obviously nothing for them to eat down on the beach! I hope their owner found them! 

We found these fun little tidepools that had tons of bright green crabs in them! 

Day Seven: Back to Chiang Mai:

Apparently, this temple dates back to the 1500s! 

While we were gone the kids stayed with Carma and Travis and with Blake and Shannon. We tried to talk to Levi every night before he went to bed. We missed them a lot but the kids had fun with their cousins.

Maren and Emery really hit it off and had a blast being together!