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A Thai Tale: The story of Lady Mook and Lady Chan
When I was visiting Thailand, we kept passing a statue to and from sightseeing in Phuket that immediately peaked my interest. It was two women, both stern-faced with their swords raised, holding hands and looking off into the distance. There are always flowers adorning the base and small offerings are often left to honor these two women. I became curious about the pair after seeing them after a few days of driving on the island and finally into our second week I decided to ask our driver if he knew of their significance. “It’s a wonderful story of courage and friendship that has become a symbol of the people of…
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My Favorite Moments of 2014
2014, what a whirlwind! I had several one of a kind experiences this year and I think I spent a lot of time pinching myself making sure I wasn’t dreaming, exploring new places, meeting new friends and enjoying life has a way of seeming unreal. It has been a treat to go through TONS of photos of the past year and I’ve collected a few to share some of the stand outs. My day as a Maltese falconer By far and away one of my more favorite memories of this year. While in Malta I decided to take the Maltese Falcon story to the next level and go to the…
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Snapshot Sunday: Thai Temple
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Snapshot Sunday: Thailand in Motion, My video diary premiere
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Snapshot Sunday: Thai Sunsets
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Elephant Nature Park: Pachyderm Paradise
She gracefully swings her trunk over along the thick, gray, wrinkled ear of another elephant. Â They stand next to each other in the field, tapping gently with their trunks, communicating through noises they send through their long noses. Â The elephant is talking to her friend in a way she can understand since she is unable to see. Â They lightly trumpet to one another, the calls are low pitched squeaks. Â Our group stands and quietly watches them as they chat over their lunch, like a couple of ladies at a cafe for brunch. Â It is such a treat to see elephant behaviors in a space that is more like their natural…
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Best of both worlds: Vacationing and Volunteering
Love the satisfaction and helpfulness you feel when you have completed a volunteer project? Craving some vacation time away from the office? Â Voluntourism, or volunteer travel, combines your need for a break away from the mundane to an exciting place while simultaneously filling that humanitarian instinct. Champion a Cause Do you have something that’s important to you? Â Show you care and find a group, a travel company or non profit that offers a program for you to be able to help build a house, help a sick or endangered animal or rebuild a community after a natural disaster. Â If nothing comes to mind right away, no problem! Â This may be…
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A Day in Old Phuket Town
Old Phuket Town Old Phuket Town has it is an intoxicating mix of cultural influences that will keep you lingering, envisioning when the streets were full of Arab, Malay and European traders coming into town to barter for local tin and rubber.  The tin trade brought in the Chinese immigrants who heavily influenced the classical European architecture and coupled together it creates the Sino-Colonial (Sino-Portuguese) surroundings that brings you back to old days in Siam. Sino-Portuguese Architecture Sino-Portuguese?  It’s that old world style architecture that you’ve always loved but didn’t know about.  The buildings exude a life of their own, their worn exteriors have years of stories and smog built…
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Don’t Worry Be Krabi
I ventured from the Gulf of Thailand to the Andaman Sea to check out Krabi, a province in the southwest of the country. Â Most of the region is devoted to tourism so there has been an influx of visitors to their beaches and national parks in recent years. Get out your geography books boys and girls! Â I’m constantly getting to brush up on my knowledge of land masses and this is no exception because Krabi is an archipelago. Â An archipelago, if you remember, is a group or chain of islands and the word is a mix of Latin and Greek translating to “chief sea”. Ao Nang I used Ao Nang…
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Celebrating Chinese New Year in Thailand
Lunar New Year I’ve been to many Chinatowns throughout my travels, but there is something a little more exciting being in an Asian country during an Asian holiday. In Thailand, the most noted Chinatown is in Bangkok, but I happened to be in Chiang Mai during the Chinese New Year and was delighted to be able to immerse myself in the sights, tastes and sounds celebrating the lunar new year, or spring festival. The streets in Chinatown were full of vendors selling all different types of foods and drink. Street food here is inexpensive so you want to come with some cash and an empty stomach so you can taste…
