Christmas at the firehouse!

13 hours from San Francisco to Tapei

Tapei to Bangkok

Last flight landed on Koh Samui.

This is where we had breakfast every day. It is very good. \240 They have lots of variety’s of food. Some fruit is specific to Thailand!

This is the first time we went on the beach in Koh Samui! The water was warm, beautiful, and comforting!

This is the view of Koh Samui from the airplane. The landing was like a roller coaster!

This is Hannah doing a hand stand on the beach and my aunt and I were going in the water! Our family loves the water!!!!

The money in Thailand is different than in the United States. The money in Thailand is called the Thai baht. Did you know you have to do math because you have to convert currencies. For example, $1 U.S. = ฿ 30 (Thai Baht).

Here we are eating ice cream rolls. It is made by pouring fresh cream along with fresh fruit on a freezing cold plate; then they chop it up, mix it up, and roll it up and put it in a cup. It was very good!

This is a restaurant called Covo Tams. The restaurant i s on the beach and it is very nice . You may not see us but we were dancing on the beach and playing in the water! The restaurant was amazing and i think we all loved it!!!!!!

This fruit is called a mangostine. It is called the queens mango.... many years ago Queen \240Vicoria of \240England tried the fruit and proclaimed “ a 100 pound sterling for anyone who can bring me this fruit”. Unfortunately, \240this fruit cannot be imported or grown in the United States.

Fresh seafood is sold at the markets every day.

Pillows on the beach? Awesome!

These are our new friends that we met at the resort! They were really sweet and kind. It was cool because we had to show hand movements of what we meant because they \240spoke German!!!❤️🌎 The girl’s name was Annalena; she practiced her English.... and we learned some words in German!

This is my crazy hair after many days of swimming with my hair braided. My hair was a crazy mess and took a lot of conditioner to make it normal again!!!👍😀🤣😂😅😇

On the way to dinner, we came across a scorpion 🦂. We also came across a couple of snakes 🐍. \240It was cool. There are many different insects and animals here!

This is a game called escape break. \240It was really fun and quick!!! The game was a series of puzzles the we had to solve. \240 There are different themes and \240we ended up doing two escape breaks while a rainstorm was happening. \240You have an hour two escape.

Puppies at a local Thai restaurant. \240Thai dogs are often found wondering on the streets, but these puppies are treated more like family pets.

Oh, this again! \240So, \240this is a Thai Chile pepper. \240It is very, very spicy . Ava and I tried it and it \240literally burns your tongue 🔥. We are warning you- do not try a Thai Chile pepper.

This is my family pealing off the wings of a cricket 🦗!!!! Interesting fact, crickets can pinch so if you ever try to take their wings off, they will try to pinch you, and it will surprise you!!!!!💫🤩

This is Hannah and I petting a baby chick that just hatched 🐣! The baby chick was super sweet, but didn’t have any other family besides it’s mommy! But we are still waiting and seeing if the other eggs \240will hatch 🐣!!!!

This is a water buffalo and I decided to ride it. \240

We are at my grandma’s farm and we had to wear these hats because we could get a really bad sunburn.

This is a rubber tree. A rubber tree provides rubber that can be used for all types of different things, like tires. The white stuff in the coconut shell is rubber, so this is how it goes; \240you cut/slice into the bark \240(like you cut your skin and it bleeds). You continue this process on one side of the tree \240and then the other. \240Then start again because the first side will have grown bark again.

This is us on our way to the airport for our flight to \240Uban \240Ratchatani.

This is Hannah and I on a fancy bus on the way to an airport to fly out of Bangkok.

Waiting for a ferry !

This is a typical palm reed hat, used to protect farmers from the harsh sun and heat.

We loved them!

Most people use mopeds to get around Thailand and Cambodia.

This is us takeing a picture of scorpions, snakes, frogs and other snacks! Many foods here are exotic to Westerners.

This is my family. \240Wr are taking a picture in front of Angkor Wat. \240

We saw lots of monkeys 🐒 in Cambodia 🇰🇭. So Hannah’s dad said to take a picture by the monkey, and it didn’t go so well... he chased Hannah off with a warning hiss!

This is a statue of the Buddha. The temple Angkor Wat was originally built as a Hindu temple and converted over the years to a Buddhist temple. Most people in Southeast Asia are Buddhist.

There are miles of relief carvings here! All nearly a thousand years old!

The eighth king ordered that the faces of Buddha be removed from the temple! Many others were removed to sell to western tourists, or destroyed by other countries during war.

For over a hundred years the temples have been under archeological restoration.

These are monkeys feeding on some fruit. \240They will dig in the garbage cans and take out anything that seems edible. \240

In Cambodia and Thailand, \240the bathrooms are very different. \240Toilets are openings in the ground, so you have to squat to do your business!

At the time the temple complex was built, it was bigger than London, England at the same time in history!

It is the world’s largest religious monument.

Posing like one of the many sculptures on the temple walls.

Elephants making their way through the temples.

The doors were built short to some entrances to remind visitors to kneel when approaching a burial shrine.

A monument to one of the buried kings.

People still pay their respects here with offerings of food, money and often a cup of tea

Hot! 30 degrees centigrade in January! If you want to know how hot that is... multiply by 2... then add 30 to get Fahrenheit.

The temples were found by a French archaeologist and explorer over a hundred years ago. The jungle had almost completely covered it. The local community knew of ruins here.. the scope of what was uncovered is astounding!

Tree roots wrapping their way around.

Last days here. Tomorrow we pack up for our long day of travel home! A great adventure.

Cow 🐄 hides are cut out to make a shadow! They help set the background for traditional folkloric dancers.These were shown at a very great restraunt in Cambodia 🇰🇭!

This is me, with my Aunt Izzy. \240We had \240the chance to take a picture with the dancers. \240This was just after the rain dance.

The picture with the lady’s hand that is stained blue, that is betel nut which is \240like chewing tobacco. Many people in Thailand chew it.

Elephants are considered sacred in Thailand and Cambodia.

These are typical people from villages in Cambodia. The picture was found in one of our rental places. \240

This is a house that we rented while in Cambodia.

A Sala is a shaded area in most Thai and Cambodian homes. This was the sala at one of our rentals. \240 The tuk- tuk was in front of it.

This is our tuk tuk driver, \240Mr. Bunlorng.

Heading home- long journey ahead of us.

Waiting for our final flight 🏠

A stop in Taipei, Taiwan on our way home.

11 hours or so from Taipei to San Francisco... 2 hours through US customs and getting our luggage... two more hours of driving home. Total travel time from Cambodia to Modesto was 27 hours.

A well deserved sleep! Finally home! 😎

Yay