Back to Work

It's pretty amazing. Everyone in China is on the move during the New Year holiday. A HUGE migration.

Train rides for our students can be 19-24 hours, standing up because they couldn't buy a seat. Of course, some live closer to Xi'an or can afford airfare, but most do not.

(Our classrooms are new and nice. The heat is turned off on March 15, but students are used to wearing their coats in class.)

Amanda DeLange

This is Amanda. She has been a mainstay in our branch. An amazing woman, the one who founded Starfish Foster Home; we wrote about it here. While we were traveling we learned that Amanda had gone to the doctor with some problems. In fact, she was hospitalized. It's not good. It's not good at all. She's having chemotherapy. After our trip we told her we had learned to make Thai food and she asked us for some, so that's what we did on Wednesday.

Bankok English Speaking Ward

Nice to be in a normal church meeting in a country where we're allowed to talk about the Gospel.

Actually, there are Thai speaking wards, but this one was English speaking, so members were from Cambodia, India, England, USA, China, Ghana, etc.

The Gospel is so new in these countries that these people are pioneers. Touching stories of their faith. One man drove for two hours with his sons to get to church. One family fled their country because the father's life was threatened, one of their sons kidnapped, etc. He had to abandon his prosperous business and escape with his wife and children.

Lijiang

On our winter travels we were out in the old city of Lijiang, on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau.  You can see the mountains in the background.  Wonderfully picturesque!

Fish for Dinner

Our last day in Krabi, Thailand before heading to Bangkok and "home" to Xi'an.

We docked on the bank of the river at one of the fish farms. We could choose our fish--grouper and crab--and they cooked it and served it for us right there. Yummy!

One of the men pulled a blow fish out of the water and we watched it puff up right before our eyes. I was worried at first that he expected us to choose it for dinner, but he was just entertaining us.

Koh Phi Phi

From Krabi we took a cruise for a pleasant day trip to beautiful Koh Phi Phi islands, where we could swim and snorkel. The popular destination meant lots of boats and lots of people, but it was still gorgeous scenery.

Krabi Rivers by Longtail Boat

Our driver took us out of town on one arm of the river, where we saw vestiges of Old Town docks. Then we cruised around the sea.

Later, we returned to Krabi and the fish farm via a different river, past miles of mangrove trees with their roots intertwined.

Orstel and Roger

We wanted Kay to come with us to Krabi, but he wasn't sure he felt up to it, so we were delighted when he came along.

We spent a fun day on a longboat with our own "pilot." Then he took us back to our hotel and we picked up Kay, 77, Roger's longtime friend.

Then the pilot took us up a river lined with mangrove trees to "fish farms," where we could pick our own fish and have it cooked for us. We all thought it was great.

"many more monkeys, many more drums"

Near our hotel on the beach in Thailand, our taxi driver stopped so we could see this monkey. When Rog tossed him a part of a cookie, the clan began to converge--from everywhere! : )

"Ya's Cookery School" - Thailand

What a good time we had learning Thai cooking from Ya, our happy, kind, helpful teacher.

We loved the cool breeze in the open air pavilion as we chopped and stirred and cooked. We were surrounded by greenery.

We began with a knife and a pestle. "Bang, bang. Chop, chop." We smacked the garlic or lemon grass or ginger with a pestle. After it was crushed, then we chopped it as directed.

She described her early life in the Thai highlands. "My Papa', him teacher, a gentleman. My Mama', little bit fighting."

She says it's OK for ladies to be tough when grounding spices in a mortar and pestle. If not, young men won't be impressed. "Him thinking we not strong. Cannot take care his son!"

Bangkok, Thailand - Royal Palace

Our visit to the Royal Palace, although on a hot, sultry morning, was well worth it. "Not to be missed," we were told, and we agree. People are required to dress modestly because it's a sacred place, ie, no shorts, tank tops, etc.

Interesting to encounter monks. They actually get royal treatment, such as special seating in the airport waiting rooms, etc.

Kunming to Bangkok

We left our tour group in China and headed for Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday to stay with Kay Turner, who has just moved there to live near his son, Mark. We loved staying in a local neighborhood instead of in a hotel. It seemed to give us more of a local flavor.

We went to eat at this neighborhood outdoor eating place across the street. Rice noodles and vegetables. After lunch we walked over to get pedicures and to pick up groceries. All three of us came home on the back of scooters.

Li River - Guilin

Near the city of Guilin we boarded a river boat and began a 4 1/2 hour cruise. It was the famous misty mountain cruise that we see in pictures.

It turns out that there are miles of these mounded hills in the area. The river just happens to pass through part of them.

Marvin, our guide for the week, said we were lucky to have a rainy day to create the classic misty look.

When it got too rainy, we came in off the top deck to visit with our BYU friends or to eat lunch.