atop of thailand

Sorry I’ve been slacking on the blog… been rather busy, I have a ton of pictures to sort through, and I’ve had some lousy internet connections. Spent last week in Chiang Mai - this time around with the family, and it was just as enjoyable as the first time. We had a bit more time on our hands than when I was with Nate, Lisa and Lan, so after visiting the temple atop Doi Suthep and riding elephants again, we took a Thai cooking class, a trip to Doi Ithanon National Park and spent a bit more time exploring the temples of Chiang Mai. The cooking class was a bit on the basic side, but fun nonetheless. We cooked up some delicious pad thai, tom yum kung, sticky rice with mango, various curries and a couple other dishes. We basically cooked and ate all day long. Doi Ithanon National Park, which boasts Thailands highest peak at 8400-some feet, and the King’s and Queen’s Pagodas also made for a worthwhile day trip. We climbed to the top of the peak with our trusty taxi driver Pongsak, who drove us around all week, and taught us a few words of Thai in the process. Now we’re in Siem Reap, near Angkor Wat for the weekend before spending most of next week in and around Bangkok. I already have a ton of pics from Angkor, but still have to sort through them. All in all, not a bad way to round off 2009.