This story actually began in September of 2022. I was talking to my son, Demian, on a Sunday and told him that I was investigating taking a cruise around Thailand so I could see where his wife, Nok, was from but they were running about $5000 a person. He then told me that Nok goes to Thailand for amonth every year in January and said, “Why don’t you go with her?” I told him that I didn’t want to stay that long but Nok and I could talk about how we could work it out. Needless to say, we worked out a plan for me to go with her but only stay for 12 days.
I started this exciting adventure by flying to Chicago, IL on January 8th, two days prior to the trip to Thailand, so I could spend a couple of days with my son Demian first. It was nice to get to visit with him and see their apartment which had a spare bedroom for me (and other visitors). It also had an elevator which I could use up to the 9th floor and a really nice view of the city. While I was there, he took me to see the house they’re in the process of buying. It’s a cute split-level house with a pretty big yard for their two dogs, Molly and Leo.
This is a picture of the house.
Nok and I boarded our flight to Bangkok at 5:00 PM the 11th, it was a long flight with a 3 hour layover in Tokyo where we walked around a bit and ate something before getting back on the plane for the flight the rest of the way to Bangkok, it was a 20 hour flight! We had a 7 hour layover there in Bangkok, we did some looking in the windows of the shops and we each got a massage while we werethere, which cost $25 for an hour. We then caught our flight on a smaller plane to Udon Thani. We had passed the international date line, which meant we lost a day, so it was January 13th when we arrived inThailand. Nok’s sister, Dan, picked us up at the airport and dropped me off at the hotel Centara around 5:30. It’s a nice hotel, next to a shopping mall.
Nok, Dan, their dad, and his wife picked me up around 7:30 and we went to a restaurant for dinner. Some more relatives and friends joined us at the restaurant, so we ended up with a table of 12. They did the ordering of the food which was put in the middle of the table then passed around and we shared likea meal at someone’s home. They did a lot of talking in Thai, and Nok tried to keep me informed. Once she told me they thought I was pretty when I was young, I frowned a little and she laughed and said, “No, that’s not how they meant it.” They are a very nice and friendly group.
On Saturday, the 14th, I got up early and had breakfast at the hotel, then went back to my room and showered. After my hair dried, I walked over to the mall that was next to the hotel; it was a lot bigger than it looked from the street. I saw a few stores, but I was getting pretty tired after only walking around for half an hour, so I walked back to the entrance, where I had seen some wheelchairs.
There didn’t seem to be anyone around to ask about renting one, so I pulled one out and was struggling to get it opened when this nice lady asked me if she could help. She spoke a little English and asked if she could push me around the mall. I told her that would be so sweet, and we left my walker next to theother wheelchairs and took off. I told her I was looking for a silk scarf for my friend Beverly and we investigated numerous stores looking for one, to no avail. She told me that Chaing Mai was the bestplace to buy silk, so we gave up and she took me back to get my walker, she then walked me back to the hotel. I can’t believe how sweet she was.
At around 1:30, Nok and her family picked me up and we drove for an hour to Nong Khai to have lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant on the Mekong River, across from Laos. I took some pictures from the restaurant.
The Mekong River
We then went to a large street market and walked around, I bought a tee-shirt and an enamel elephant,which was fun, but all of the walking made my arms and legs really hurt. I got back to the hotel around 7:30, exhausted. Sunday, January 15th I had my usual breakfast at the hotel again, then walked around the area a bit, Nok and her family get started quite a bit later than I do. At 11:30 Nok, her sister Dan, Dan’s daughter, and Dan’s boyfriend’s son came and got me. We drove to a Buddhist temple in the hills. The temple was up a very steep hill, it was a very hard climb for me, but I made it part way up, but then there were steps going the rest of the way up to the temple.
There were some benches on the leveled off area before the numerous steps, so I just sat down and waited for them to go the rest of the way up and then come back and get me. While I was waiting, I saw a bunch of people crawling under this huge rock on their stomachs. I found out that doing that was supposed to bring you good luck and wealth.
We started our hike back to the car, I saw there was a rail along the path that I could hold on to on the struggle to get back down that steep hill. That evening Nok’s Dad cooked us dinner at his house. He’s a good cook, he even made me a portion that wasn’t too spicy. The house was interesting, the kitchen was outside. That was the way they kept the house from getting too hot while they cooked. Before we left, they gave me a gift, a really pretty cape, wasn’t that sweet?
Picture of his outdoors kitchen
On the 16th we left Udon Thani at 8:00 AM. We thought it was going to be an eight-hour drive to Chiang Mai but it took us 11 ½ hours, over narrow winding roads through the mountains and jungle. We went to what I thought was a strange part of town to a hotel that appeared to be in an alley but once inside it was a really nice hotel. On Tuesday, the 17th, we drove to Chiang Rai which was only 4 ½ hours away. That was so much better than the 11 ½ hours yesterday.
We visited the White Temple, which was very elaborate and beautiful, but it was all white. I think it would have been a little more distinctive if there were some contrasting colors in there. The place was renovated by an artist named Chalermchai Kositpipat, with his own funds, and completed in 1997.
Picture of part of the White Temple
Me and their Dad
The entrance
Nok at a neat stone sculpture waterfall
We then visited the Blue Temple or Wat Rong Seua Ten which means “the House of the Dancing Tiger”. I enjoyed how colorful this temple was, but it wasn’t as elaborate.
The House of the Dancing
Tiger
One of the most amazing things about the area is that the minute you leave a city you’re surrounded by jungle again.
We drove up into the mountains again on Wednesday, the driving here is so weird. The roads are only two lanes but when a car wants to pass the car in front of him that car edges to the left (they drive on the left in Thailand instead of the right like in the US) and the on-coming traffic edges to the left creating a third lane in the middle for passing, isn’t that a kind way to drive?
There was this huge silk shop that was on our way, and we spent an hour or so there. I bought a silk scarf for Cristel, Beverly, and myself there. They had some really beautiful stuff.
On the 19th of January we drove for 9 hours to the city of Ayutthayo, a city not far from Bangkok, where we checked into the Krungsri River hotel. We could look out our windows in the hotel and lookdown on the Chao Praya River, it was beautiful to see the river and city from our rooms. We went out for dinner around 7:30.
Chao Praya River
On Friday the 20th we did a lot of sightseeing which made it a really exciting and fun day. We drove around a lot of temples and ruins. Nok told me how many of the ancient buildings were destroyed when Myanmar invaded Thailand. One of the first places we stopped had some elephants we could have ridden but we just got some neat pictures of them with us.
The elephants
When we left there, we drove to an area called Wat Ratchaburana, which is an ancient Buddhist temple. One structure I got a picture of was a huge structure with a lot of steps. Nok and her Dad walked up all the steps and took pictures of the pit inside where prisoners were kept.
Many steps
Temple
We stopped in at the gift shop when we were walking out of the temple. I bought a cute bag with an elephant on it and a t-shirt. We went for lunch at a boat noodle place, Nok said it’s what the city is famous for. We then drove to Bangkok.
We saw a lot of beautiful sights in Bangkok
Nok at one of the temples in Bangkok
I flew back to America on the 21st. It was a very enjoyable trip; seeing Thailand and getting to spend time with Nok’s family.