This past month has been made up with lots of traveling! I’m so grateful to have been able to see so many parts of Thailand!

Border One: Laos

Last Tuesday, we embarked on a Rotary trip to Chiang Khan, a city in Northeastern Thailand (also known as the Isan region), along the Mekong River. We left Phrae around 9:30 AM, to join the Rotarians coming down from Chiang Mai because Phrae is on the way to Chiang Khan. The bus ride took 10 hours, with all of our stops along the way. We got lunch in Uttardit Province, picked up our friends in Phitsanulok, and stopped at 7-11 every hour. The atmosphere was fun though, they had lots of karaoke on the bus.

Before making it to Chiang Khan, we stopped at Phra That Sri Song Rao, a temple built in 1560. We ate dinner in Chiang Khan, which included lots of rice, spicy fish soup, and deep fried shrimp with a sweet and sour sauce. All of the seafood was from the river. Then at 9 PM, we finally checked into our hotel, which was made of cute little cottages.

On Wednesday morning, we woke up early (at 6 AM) to give food offerings to the monks. Buddhists believe that almsgiving grants good luck, especially for the new year. We all dressed in traditional Thai outfits (my jean jacket isn’t traditional, but it was 50º outside 😉 After this we had a nice, warm breakfast, and I finally got to eat toast. I was excited because my breakfasts in Thailand aren’t special, and are typically a dish that can be eaten for lunch or dinner too.

Our next stop of the day was a skywalk overlooking the Mekong River. It was gorgeous, and we got to see Laos across the river. After a lunch of more fish, we went on a boat ride in the Mekong. We technically crossed the border in the water. It got pretty hot in the afternoon (85º), so we cooled off with some coconut ice cream.

At night, my exchange student friends and I did an ugly t-shirt exchange. We each got assigned a person to find an ugly shirt for, and traded them. The shirt I received was incredibly ugly, but I also received socks with my face on them haha.

On Thursday, it was time to go home already. To make the long journey more enjoyable, we stopped at many landmarks. There was a very pretty flower garden. There was also another temple carved out of teak wood, on the top of a mountain. After many more 7-11s, we made it back to Phrae at 9 pm. My favorite road trip treat is coconut water and fried bananas!

Over the weekend, I didn’t do a whole lot, except rest from the week. On Sunday, I played tennis with my host family. I saw a caterpillar outside our house! It was so big, and very hungry 😉

Chiang Mai

I went to school Monday-Wednesday, and then I headed to Chiang Mai with Brian’s host family for Thursday and Friday! We got to explore so much of the city. On Thursday, we went ziplining in the vast forests, on the longest zipline in Asia! Afterwards, we visited a giant mall, that had lots of western stores. I found beard papa, my favorite treat from katy Asia town, so I was very excited!

On Friday, we visited a temple. The uncle of Brian’s host mom is the lead monk of the temple, and had a birthday celebration. For the celebration, lots of families gave out free food to all who came to visit the temple, as a way of making merit for Buddha. With Brian’s family, we gave out Moo Ping (Grilled pork skewers) with sticky rice, which is a popular thai breakfast meal. My job was turning the skewers on the grill. Then, we visited a cute artsy village, where I found lots of cute handmade gifts!

Border Two: Myanmar

On Saturday, I got to join my rotary club on a trip to Mae Sot, a city on the Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) border. During our 5 hour journey, we stopped at a gorgeous gold Burmese style temple. They even had mannequins of monks to receive donations (they were kind of creepy though haha) We also visited a market on the border, the shops were in Myanmar, but we were in Thailand

We also visited See Faa Cave (light blue cave) and a produce market. It’s currently avocado and strawberry season.

The main reason for the trip was to spend 24 hours on a floating party raft/boat. All 48 people joined the boat trip. The boat had beds and bathrooms for everyone, and a big dance and karaoke area. The sunset and sunrise were beautiful. At night, we docked at an island in the middle of the lake, and there were goats and a family of cats sleeping on it!

In the morning, we had hot chocolate and watched the sunrise. On the way back to shore, we stopped at an island with a temple at the very top. Then, we made it to shore and drove 5 hours back to Phrae.

The Next 2 Weeks of School

These last 2 weeks have been a very calm, and relaxed time. I’ve had school both weeks. In my thai weaving class, I made a decorative hair stick with a horse and flower that I made. I also made an embroidered fan. I also cooked khanom pîng, which is a delicious coconut shortbread cookie. I got to try another dessert, roti with chocolate! Other than that, school has been pretty uneventful.

We only have 3 weeks left of school until summer break. Then, I will not have school again until May. Luckily, we have lots of plans for these 3 months off. Rotary has two trips, one in march to Chiang Rai, a city that’s very far up north, and then Bangkok in April. My host family will also be taking me on an overnight hike during break. April is also the biggest Thai holiday– Songkran, which is like the Thai New Year. Everyone celebrates by shooting water guns at each other throughout the streets. It’s a nice way to cool off from the very hot Thai summer (but still not as hot as Houston).

I’ve also officially hit 6 months today! It’s bittersweet to see how quickly time has passed. I only have 4 more months in Thailand 🥹 I made a video for my Houston rotary district showcasing my year so far, along with advice for future exchange students. Here’s my video, if you’d like to watch.

https://youtu.be/auW9ankBmKM?si=ZDqdFWj1nAmog85P

I can’t wait for summer break, and getting to see even more parts of Thailand!

More adventures coming soon,

Emma Kate