There were some repercussions to flying the local "budget" airline for our trip to Thailand. It all began with the malfunctioning and confusing website (Trae nearly threw the computer), followed by long lines, and a confusing shuttle ride from the airplane. But it was worth it to get to visit beautiful Chiang Mai! Chiang Mai is a city in the northern mountains of Thailand with a quaint old town and delicious food.
We spent the first couple days in relaxation mode. We found a local breakfast spot and ordered a table full of mango and yogurt, Thai coffee, pan fried eggs, and mango and sticky rice for desert. The mango and sticky rice was the best we'd ever tasted. Sweet, creamy, with a touch of salt. It was so delicious that we had to reteach the kids lessons on sharing food, taking slow bites, and eventually just divided the plate and dedicated our portions so we could eat at our own paces instead of trying to compete with these two pre-teen monsters who seemingly hadn't eaten in days.
We rested and swam after a late breakfast. Trae and I went for a traditional Thai massage. It's the first time I had ever gotten a Thai massage. It's a mix of pressure points, light stretching and snuggles. Trae laughed as his experience was much different. He describes his therapist grunting and breathing heavily as she did things like place him in a full Nelson as she tried her best to maneuver his body into stretch positions utilizing her 110lb frame.
We then wandered into old town in search of the large central park and a place to throw a football. The city center had narrow winding alleyways. We passed local folks eating dinner in their outdoor living rooms in front of the tv, posh hostels filled with young Europeans, and outdoor laundromats next to ancient temples and shrines.
Upon arriving at the park, we discovered millions of blooming flowers, first entering through an orchid tunnel and then encountering a giant flower elephant hill. They went on and on and lit the whole place up with bright color and beautiful fragrance. It felt like we were intoxicated or in some fairytale, depending on your developmental phase. I found a sign for the 47th annual Chaing Mai Flower Festival. "Do you think this is it?!" I asked Trae excitedly. "Sure seems like it" he said in his calm matter of fact way.
Grayson discovered the basketball courts which were filled with groups playing new (to us) sports. One group played volleyball with their feet, launching themselves into side kicks to spike the ball over the net. We later learned it was called sepak takraw. Another group stood in a circle and played with an oversized hackie sac, attempting to kick the ball into a big hoop hung above their heads (hoop takraw). Utterly impressed and mesmerized with newly discovered ball sports, GB sat and watched while the rest of us walked the flower gardens, and Poppy and I took way too many floral photos. We each had our "double rainbow" moments of awe in our own ways.
We ended the night the way our day began- a very large meal (mango smoothies this time) and full happy bellies.
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