Our last days.

The mighty Mekong River. Looking from Thailand into Laos.

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Visa Runs are stressful! 

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The Laotian People.

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We had the opportunity to help plant rice in Fang, these farmers have a hard job to do. I promise to eat every grain of rice from now on.

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The highlight of our trip was defiantly meeting up with Tyler's friends. After going to Laos we headed down to Chiang Mai. Below is Bird and his wife Gahlong. Bird served his mission at the same time Tyler did, they had some crazy times together.  Bird took an entire week off of work to drive us around. He taught us all about different Wats and religious views, he took us to the best fabric shops and tailors in Chiang Mai, they not only took us to the best places to eat, but taught us how to make our favorite dishes, we have never ate so good. We had such a blast and were so grateful for the kindness of our friends. 

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We went on a hike that Bird used to go on when he was younger. There was no such thing as trails. We were scaling cliff sides, swimming back and fort across the river. Climbing over rocks, walking through fields of crops and patches of sticker bushes. Doing all this while it was pouring rain. Falling into the river with phones in our pockets etc. It was quite the hike. 

 

Bird (and all other Thais) believe that if your head gets wet, you will get sick. So we solved that problem!

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ELEPHANTS!

What is a trip to Thailand without getting to know some elephants...

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 We had to make a stop at the local wood carving shacks. This place was pretty neat, so many cool carvings. My favorite part was watching the artists do their thing.
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Meat Bymon. Bird and Gahlongs youngest. He was so scared of me! :(

We assumed it was because of my blinding white skin and blue eyes. I look strange indeed.
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Bird's mother sells curry pastes at the local market. So everyone helps her out by preparing the ingredients. Fresh coconut! Tyler will be the first to tell you its a lot harder to peal a coconut then a carrot. 

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After all our hard work we had an ORIGINAL feast!
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Fresh (and cheap) fruit. I MISS IT!
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One of our favorite things to drink was coco-yens. Coco as in chocolate iced drinks and nampans (fruit smoothies). They are sold on every street, in the back of trucks on the side of scooters, everywhere! A refreshing treat on those hot hot days.
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Trying all sorts of deserts! Beans as a treat? Hmm I wasn't so sure about this one.
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Bird was a wonderful tour guide. He has studied religion so he knows a great deal. He used to be a monk before he became a member of the LDS Religion. It was so neat to hear all about these temples.
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A trip to some old museums and historical sites. 

Owning a museum is hard, this guy is tuckered out!
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Being a monk must be hard work too. Maybe its the heat that makes everyone so sleepy?
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Your average truck. They pack these vehicles to the brim with crops. I loved loved loved to see these trucks driving down the road. I was pretty hesitant to be snapping pictures of everyone but Bird told me they love to have their picture taken, it makes them feel important. Such pretty words to a photographers ears. 
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Fresh Sugar Cane. These stalks made for a delicious sweet drink.
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After a wonderful week in Chang Mai, we took the night train back to Bangkok. We had a blast!
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We arrived in Bangkok early in the morning with empty bellies. So we had to get our cow neo moo ping. This is considered breakfast in Thailand. When we first arrived to Thailand we went to this same stand and I was too nervous to eat meat off the side of the road. Now I laugh at my silliness and eat stick after stick!

You can wear whatever you want in Bangkok. Obviously. Yikes look at that outfit!

Every time we ate this meal all the Thai people would laugh at us. The thought it was so funny that white people would eat like they did. This lady loved us, not only because we gave her a lot of business but because Tyler could speak Thai. I even asked her if I could take her picture.. In Thai. I was so proud!
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There is good food and then there are chicken feet. Tyler was eating this meal just fine until I saw what he was eating. I  had to stop eating my fried egg I was so grossed out, then he got weirded out and lets just say we had to go somewhere else and get a second dinner.
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The center of downtown Bangkok.
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Back with our friends! Karaoke is a big deal over here. We rented a room with instruments and microphones, ordered dinner and sang our hearts out. What a fantastic night.
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Dinner on the river. Thailand has many rivers that are used for transportation. Our friend Oat got us a good deal on some tickets for a fancy dinner on a boat. We had live transvestite entertainment. The views were amazing and the company was exquisite. This was our last night in Thailand and it was the perfect way to end our summer. 

We decided it was a good idea to buy new wardrobes. They are so cheap! Tyler had a suite, some slacks, and a shirt made for him all that cost around $125! I had a dress made and we purchased a lot of other inexpressive things.
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We are so grateful that we were able to have this experience. We worked really hard to get ourselves out there and we are so glad we did. I loved this summer! Spending so much time with Tyler was amazing. We grew so much and were able to take a step back from our lives and reevaluate them. We made all sorts of realizations and learned so much. Especially how fortunate we are to live the way we do. This is just the beginning of our traveling and I'm ecstatic to spend my life seeing and experiencing the world with this boy of mine.

PS 

I have SO many pictures, even though our trip is over I will be posting more and more photos! :)