{p,h,f,r} - Thailand

taking a moment to find joy in the little things

There really isn't anything little about a trip to Thailand, but the trip was HARD. I had to find joy in the little things to get me through this experience. 

{pretty}

There were so many beautiful flowers in Thailand - I'll be doing a separate post of all the flower pictures I took next week, so if you are interested in seeing a wide variety of different flowers, be sure to come back. 

Our friends live on 20 acres of an old 100 acre mango orchard.
We enjoyed walking around and exploring the property a bit.

We spent the last few days of our trip in Phuket - an island in southern Thailand. This area is Thailand's paradise, unfortunately there is so much tourism and they've (in my opinion) ruined their paradise.

sunset over the Andaman Sea

{happy}

We met our Compassion child, Orm, on our first full day in Thailand. I'm so happy we met her, but it was not a fairy-tale meeting by any means. You can read more about the details and our time with Orm here.

Despite the hard times, there were a lot of happy moments and memories made on this trip. The girls loved riding in the back of the pick up truck - everyone does it in Thailand. They loved the speed boat ride, swimming in ponds, lakes and pools, snorkeling in the Andaman Sea, riding horses and seeing friends. 

{funny}

Thailand has some interesting potato chip flavors. Both the lobster plate and sweet basil chips were too spicy to eat. Other flavors we didn't try included oyster, salmon and scallop. 

We saw several of these "vehicles" near the Thailand/Burma border. It's powered by a generator and moves pretty slowly, but it's much cheaper for the villagers to travel this way than by car or motorbike. 

What can I say? Squatty potties are an adventure in and of themselves.
You squat, pee and then rinse the toilet with the water. This was one of the nicer ones we saw.

I had really hoped we'd get a chance to ride an elephant, but instead my girls rode a goat! 

Almost as exciting.

{real}

One of the things that struck me most about Thailand was how much these people - this country - needs God. Every person needs God and every country is full of people who choose not to believe. But Thailand is 94% Buddhist and the idolatry of Buddhism and animism is apparent everywhere you look. The kind of Thailand is highly revered, and he's been a good king, but even he gets worshipped - there are posters and shrines to him everywhere, too.

There are also many ethnic refugees who have been forced to leave Burma by the Burmese army. We had the wonderful opportunity to cross into Burma (illegally) and meet one group of Karen people. Some have left Burma and now live in Thailand, others live near the border, but on the Burma side. They have nothing, yet they welcomed us and extended hospitality to us by feeding us. I'll be writing more about this experience later. 

I've mentioned a couple times that this trip was hard...it was. There were 10 flights, 20 hours of driving, extremely hot conditions, mosquitoes, a sick child, a hurting back, a difficult language barrier, large tourist crowds, funny smells and tastes, disappointments, unmet expectations and more. Yet I saw and learned things about Thailand that I will remember forever. Things you can't learn from reading a book. I met people who are giving every day of their lives to help the oppressed. When I compare my life to theirs, I feel lazy and useless. 

I have many more stories and photos to share...I hope you'll come back to hear them.

I'm linking up with Life Through the Lens, It's the Little Things, {pretty, happy, funny, real}, Little Things Thursday