Chiang Mai Weekend

We got up on Saturday morning and prepared to leave Bangkok.  We would have loved to have lots more time here as there is SO much to see and do.  We are already trying to figure out a way to return to the 18 million people of  Bangkok!!

Simon drove us to the train station that lead straight to the airport and we enjoyed a 15 minute ride OVER the city of Bangkok.  Everyone at the train station and airport were very friendly and helpful and we were soon boarding our flight to Chiang Mai.  We had been placed on “exit rows” in the plane and were invited to board first…..I was actually the first passenger to enter the plane!!!

We flew for about 1-1/2 hours, arriving in the city of Chiang Mai where we were met by Mark and Anne Osborne.  They are another couple that we knew when we lived in Australia  and we haven’t seen Anne in 25 years, although we spent a few days with Mark in 2003.  They are currently in Chiang Mai working with the Summer Institute of Linguistics and partnering with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

We drove to their lovely home on the outskirts of the city…..

….VERY different from Simon and Vera’s 11th floor apartment in downtown Bangkok, but equally as nice.

We relaxed with them during the day and tried to catch up on all of the news from our families and mutual friends.  That evening a group of people came over for a Bible Study and Prayer meeting and it was fun to meet people from Canada, the US and various parts of Asia.

Sunday morning was another relaxing time and then a visit to a local house church.  The congregation was made up mostly of students from a local Bible College.  They were very respectful and gave us chairs to sit on while the rest sat on the floor.  They also turned a fan on and pointed it toward us.  It was much appreciated and MUCH needed!!!!

The service began with wonderful singing.  We were given songbooks that were written in Roman letters and looked like this…..

…while the locals sang from these pages…..

It is a beautiful script!!!

I mostly followed the words by looking at the guitar chord changes that were noted above the words. 

After the singing, two of the students talked about trips that they had just been on.  Mark did a wonderful job of translating for us so that we had some idea of what was happening.

Then the pastor spoke, mixing Thai and English so that we could follow along as well.  The service lasted about 2-1/2 hours and then we spent some time talking with various people afterwards.

We decided to grab a quick meal and headed to a place that the Osborne’s frequent…  Here they are with youngest son, Matthew….

I enjoyed a spicy chicken and rice dish while Michael enjoyed a Curried Noodle bowl which was very spicy.

After dinner, we traveled to the center of old town to the Nighttime Walking Market.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate so we didn’t get to spend a lot of time there, but I could have shopped for DAYS and never seen everything.  Doesn’t this look like a fun stall…..

We enjoyed a couple of buskers that we saw.  The first was a musical group comprised of 4 young, blind men….

…..and this guy was truly a traveling musician, complete with motor scooter….. 

On the way back to the car, we stopped at a small Roti (remember that this is fried bread) stand and had a wonderful time interacting with this fascinating couple….

They were from Pakistan and graciously answered our questions!!!  The final product was a super thin pastry stuffed with thin banana slices, fried till crispy and drizzled with sweetened condensed milk……

Can you say YYYYUUUUMMMMMMMMMMYYYY!!!!