Chiang Mai, Thailand. Part One

Internet has been in and out so will make this quick.  We are staying at the Mountain View Guest House in Chiang Mai.  It's right in the old city where everything is and we have a deluxe room with AC for about $35/night.  The people are very friendly here.

Thailand is different than the Philippines in a few ways.  Thailand has more of a unique culture, very Buddhist, many tourists, amazing food, less English.

Geckos everywhere.

There are temples everywhere.  Within a five minute walk from our guesthouse, you can visit at least 4.

We have been loving Thai food.  Our first meal was at the guesthouse but we have quickly realized that the best food is in the night markets and on the street!  A great meal costs just $1-$2.  The boys are starting to miss their regular food from home.  Gary and I are loving discovering new foods every day.  Last night when the kids went to bed, Gary ran across the street and spent $3 on an assortment of fun foods we haven't tried yet and we ate them on the patio:)

Koen talks to everyone he meets.  They have no idea what he's saying and he doesn't even realize that they don't understand.  We are loving our mango smoothies.  Love them.  Just $1 each for fresh fresh mango smoothies.

Outside of the city is a moat and wall.  Here we are just walking outside of it.  I believe rule #7 of travelling with kids is to take transportation instead of encouraging them to walk km's in 30+C heat :)  

Nya trying on a traditional hat.  Everyone loves her.  Everyone touches our kids all the time and the boys are getting sick of it.  Nya loves the attention.

This is what downtime looks like for our family.  I cannot wait for us each to have our own bedroom.  Three weeks is all I can take hanging out with my family 24/7.  Nya has become even more tiring.  She wakes up every 2-3 hours to feed and I have to because otherwise she will wake everyone else up with her screaming.  She is up by 4:30am for the day so Gary usually takes her for a walk from 5-6am so I can sleep.

You can see kai's name everywhere because it means `egg' in Thai.

Thai Ronald McDonald.  Just one McDonalds here.  There are a LOT of 7 11's.

We went to the Night Bazaar for shopping and food.  It's a little hectic with three kids and not my favourite.

We took a tuk tuk there and Gary loved how wild he drove.  It wasnt' my favourite as I just held on to the kids as tightly as I could!

A sort of date night.  Half hour to drink a beer just downstairs.

I had a traditional Thai massage at Fah Lanna Spa just a 5 minute walk away.  It is highly recommended on Trip Advisor and totally worth the $7 for a half hour Traditional massage:)  She was crawling on me and stretching me in ways I've never stretched.  It was amazing.  I booked an hour long one for Gary too ($14).  I think I may need one more before we go after carrying Nya around so much.    The boardwalk leads to all of the massage rooms.  There are some amazing deals for 3 hour treatments but it's not fair to leave one of us with the kids that long!

I would say that if you come to Chiang Mai, get a traditional massage and eat at all the food stalls!

One of our favourite things was the Sunday Night Market.  We could walk there in 15 minutes.  The kids loved their smoothies, we had more amazing food and bought some great souvenirs.  It's very touristy but great finds.  It is not fun doing that in 30+C with the kids so Gary went again in the evening and then when he came back, i went again too.

All of Nya's bug bites have turned into welts.  You can see how small they start and then how big they get.  They are all over her head and arms.

Gary tried to organize what restaurant we went to and we took a tuk tuk all the way across the city to realize it was a 2 minute walk from our guest house.

I bought fisherman pants at the market...one size fits all!

We had a lot of good food! Gyoza, sushi, pad thai, Khai Soi etc...

The Sunday Night market is above...

Kai wanted sushi so badly.  They had it all laid out and you could just pick whatever pieces you wanted instead of ordering a whole roll. Just 5 bhat per piece. 

Kai ordering a mango smoothie.  He likes being Mr. independent now.  He is doing really well on this trip...besides some moments of really weird behaviour (dances, sounds etc that maybe a 6 year old would find funny?).

Probably my favourite thing I've eaten....chocolate roti. So amazing.  Deep fried roti, fresh and warm, drizzled in chocolate sauce.

And a sneak peek of what's ahead....we visited the Elephant Conservation Center 1 hour south of Chiang Mai yesterday.  I'm very hesitant about these things because I don't want to support something that is mean to animals in any way...looking into it, this seemed like the best option.  Above is Koen feeding sugar cane to an elephant and then we each got a ride (not Nya, couldn't be trusted on there!). 

I'm dreading the 24 hour trip home.  Four flights.  It's not the boys, it's Nya.  I wish I could give her something to sleep but gravol does not work on her.  I might try Benadryl.  Seriously, the plane rides are brutal.  I come up with lists of all the things that I'd rather do than go through another ride with her and then I come up with things that are actually worse to try to make it better.  In the end I just end up praying out loud looking like a crazy woman.  If you ever see a parent of three kids, one being a toddler, on a plane, tell them they are awesome, okay?  

Today is pretty low key as we will be going to a local pool and then eating at two amazing places:)  Tough life.  The boys were playing soccer in the parking lot in a thunderstorm yesterday, pretty cute.  Oh yes, that is one huge thing about where we've been...there are no places to play for the kids!!   Tough for our high energy bunch, hence the swimming today....

Have a great night.

Love, Team Chapman in Chiang Mai.

From Bohol to Cebu to Bangkok

We had three travel days in a row.  Not ideal but not much of a choice.  Each one was approx. 4 hours. I do believe I will have a bunch of tips for travelling with kids once this is over!  Travelling with three kids is not that hard.  One of those kids being Ms. Teething Shrieking 14 Month Old Monster Nya  is hard.  I ask myself daily whether the exhaustion and frustration is worth it and it is :)  

Just a few last photos from Bohol, Philippines...

{Kai: Can you believe we got a coke?}

{This is about as much `love' that Gary and I get on this trip due to always having a kid attached to us.}

{This was the beachfront area of Bohol.  It's about 25 dive shops with restaurants (and massages!) in front}

{This is just a glimpse of how popular Nya was.  The Filipino's LOVED her and every worker on the beach would say `Hi Nya!' as we walked by.  Here are some tourists from China taking Nya's photo.  People took photos of our kids and with our kids all the time and I don't think they even asked.  I have a feeling there are a lot of pictures on facebook of our kids.  Koen was so great about talking to everyone, he does it at home too but people found it especially cute here.}

{Eating on the beach, who cares if they make a mess!}

{Fun bugs everywhere}

{Interesting vegetation everywhere}

{We get an icecream or shake daily now...keeps them motivated on the long walks}

{Where I bought a pearl bracelet for Nya}

{Good bye beach!  We loved you and will miss you!}

{We went to visit the Tarsiers at the sanctuary.  I don't think as many tourists go to the sanctuary but I felt much better about it as they are not in cages and they were free to roam.  We also met `Mr. Tarsier' there (Carlito) who has worked so hard for so many years to protect them}

{This is the light they shine at night so that bugs are attracted to the white sheets for the Tarsiers}

{We only saw three but that was more than enough.  A guide must take you through and you cannot talk.  Any kind of noise stress is difficult on them, they are even known to commit suicide.  They are nocturnal so it was cool to see this one awake.  We didn't stay too long as I was fearful Nya would emit a high pitched scream.}

{They are pretty cool creatures, closely related to lemurs.  They are the inspiration for Yoda and also some characters on Madagascar.}

{We went to the fast ferry to take our two hour trip back to Cebu.  It is a fast, fast ferry.  Apparently they show horror movies on it often but we `lucked' out with a different terrible movie}

{When am I happiest? When Nya falls asleep on a travel day.  I don't move.  My body screams in pain but it is worth it.  Gary says he has never seen me with such big bags under my eyes.}

{We had less than 24 hours in Cebu to pack up, say goodbye to our friends Jen, Andrey and Ella, and then fly out to Bangkok.  I loved having their place as a home base.  It just felt like home to us.  Jen and Andrey really showed me a thing about hospitality.   I did not feel like an inconvenience once (and our kids def. had their moments!), and they were so welcoming and provided us with so many memories and the comfort of home.  Such a great gift.}

{One highlight was a few hours before we left.  Jen and I did a Jillian Michaels workout in the heat of the day.  We had fans on us, apparently blocked by Kai's butt here, and it just felt so good to get a workout in!  Jen made some amazing chocolate peanut butter protein shakes afterwards.  Jen, you are awesome.}

{Ella holding baby Nya.  Ella LOVES babies and I can't wait for her to be a big sister one day!}

{Our last meal together...we got Mr. Liempo's!  Pork ribs. YUM!!}

{Koen loves a good mango pit!}

{Team Chapman and Team Sawchenko}

{Jen and Ella took us to the airport one hour away and after a minor plane delay, we were on our way via Cebu Pacific to Thailand.  Cheap airline.  Not super awesome but cheap. I'm realizing in many photos that my hands are very full.}

{After the 4 hour flight in which Nya vomited on both Gary and I.  All three of us were very stinky.  Kai also got sick on the plane.  Koen made a friend from China and they pretty much giggled the whole time together.}

{We spent the night in Bangkok at an awesome hotel.  I got it off of agoda.com.  It was more than 50% off so totally affordable.  For less than $90 we had two full rooms, two bathrooms, AC, pool, breakfast included and airport shuttle to and from.  So great.  It's the first time we had a separate room from the boys on this trip!}

{One tricky thing is the floor is tile everywhere.  This is not ideal for accident prone Koen or little Nya.  Koen had three head injuries in one day.}

{We are up by 5am every day.  Not by choice.  But we get to explore the city while it's cooler out and we are first to the breakfast and pool!}

{Noodles for breakfast!}

After an early morning swim and breakfast, it was back to the airport for our one hour flight to Chiang Mai where we will be staying for one week.  I'm very glad that we are doing more than one country but I totally wish we had another adult to help out with Nya when Gary and I just want a little break.  Oh well. For now, we will just continue to pray for patience!!

Plans for this week?  Eat yummy food, visit the night market and Sunday Market, see the elephant sanctuary and ride an elephant, ride a tuk tuk...maybe get a massage and relax a little?

I'm already so nervous for Thursday and our long trip home.  The boys are so easy with their snacks and games...it's our little Miss that I'm going to need some serious prayer for!

All right, time for some more Thai food!

Love, Team Chapman in Chiang Mai.