Home Sweet Home

Finally landed in Honolulu and I have to say I'm glad to be home. Experiences abroad are fun & adventurous but when all is said and done, there's no place like home.

Back in Narita

Hallelujah!! That was a fiasco! So f---en stressful, you wouldn't even know! After this I can pretty much handle any situation, thank you very much!

We had to go eat some good Japanese ramen while waiting for our flight.

Jasmine restaurant

Now this was really good! Since lunch was so good we went back for dinner after I did my laundry, Ryan & dad went for a swim & Nikki did her full body massage. I wanted to go too but by the time I finished my laundry, it was too late, shucks!

Thailand airport

Checked out okay but our taxi ride was something else. Haha

Yay! Happy to be trying to go home today. Doesn't look good for standbys.

Delta - no seats
United - no seats
Thai airways - have to purchase ZED fares. ($93) to Narita
Yes, got seats...on our way to Narita. Ryan. & Nikki will try again tomorrow or stay until Tuesday.

The airport lines are nuts!
Here's a beautiful dragon at the airport . Didn't have time to shop in the boutiques. Only had enough time to exchange money and get to the gate.

It's been a crazy morning!

Back in Bangkok-Jasmine Hotel

Nice accommodations! Cheaper than Pagoda but nice or even nicer than the Hyatt!

Check out our view from the 17th floor!

Getting some renovation ideas for home too!

Back to Bangkok

In here lies the challenge. We have our flight back, had to book a last minute hotel room, going to request an early check-in, will probably go trekking around Bangkok one last time after we get more baht, gotta check the loads and hopefully we can get out to Tokyo. Otherwise, we'll have to stay another day. (Would that be a bad thing?). Flying stand-by can be stressful but it's of course the best price!

Sightseeing in Chiang Mai Markets again!

Shopping again, don't get me wrong, I don't mind shopping but my feet mind it. I've been up since 5:30 am, went riding up in the jungle on the neck of a big ass elephant and being in this hot sun & humid weather can be draining. Wanted to drink some beer but I remembered what happened in Tokyo, (don't ask) so I decided to stick with my water. Yep, call me a party pooper but it's okay, it's safer.

Now it was time for their baths!

George pretty much bathed our elephant himself! I was too grossed out to get in the water. Not only was it dirty, the elephants were taking a shit in the water. I bet you it was full of pee too! To top it off we had the biggest one! We took showers right after, they served us a Thai lunch and then I took a few scenic shots.

And we're up and off on the trail!!!

The first shot is my view from on top of the elephants neck, that's the top of her head. Looks like she likes to roll around in the dirt! The guy in the gray shirt is my mahout, (the elephants trainer). Halfway (30 minutes) we took a break to let the elephants rest and riding partners switched out. George was nice enough to let me sit up front again. Don't think I could stand sitting on his backbone.