the Thailand Pyros
On January 11th, a group of very excited Pyros met at YVR to begin their trip to Thailand. They called themselves the Thailand Pyros. The 16-hour flight did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm but free wine on the flight helped with sleeping! They arrived in Bangkok in the early morning hours of the 13th.
After a one night stay in Bangkok, they jetted off to Chiang Mai, the hometown of Alexx and Viyada, the terrific hosts for the trip. They were greeted by Alexx and whisked off to The Riverside House Hotel, their home for the next week. They had fun riding in the TukTrucks (larger than the tuk tuks) and after a couple of hours of relaxation, met up with Viyada and were treated to a fantastic Vietnamese dinner.
Dinner was followed by a trip to the Saturday night market (one of many in the city) where they had fun shopping.
The next day, Alexx once again picked the group up and they toured some temples, known as Wats. One of these temples was made using the repousse technique, so much work but very beautiful.
Alexx arranged a repousse workshop for them for the following day, as they were all so taken with this technique.
Lunch was at a beautiful restaurant where they had their first taste of cooked morning glory. Who knew a weed could be so tasty?
After lunch, they all headed over to Alexx and Vi’s gorgeous home. You could tell Alexx lives here by all the glass beads that lined the pathways. Of course, his studio is to die for.
The group then trekked over to his well designed and set up teaching studio where they all drooled over barrels and barrels of glass and beads.
A “free” day was next and Cathy, Pat and Barb opted to go to the Maerim elephant sanctuary. So much fun and love. They enjoyed feeding, hugging and bathing the elephants. They even got to smell elephant poop-not as gross as you would think!
Others went shopping, sightseeing and relaxing around the pool. Others chose a different elephant day-also feeding/hugging and bathing them. You could tell by their smiles that this was a highlight of the day/trip. Next, they went white water rafting and to visit a “long neck” village. The day ended with a trek up the Sticky Waterfall-amazing!
Two others of our group took a Thai cooking class. It was a big hit and they can’t wait to try the recipes at home.
The day wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Alah Hill Tribe Silver store. Lots of jewellery and findings at great prices and they did some damage to their pocketbooks, for sure!
Four of the group took a tie-dye class and made a scarf and tablecloth.
Shopping in Chinatown was an experience in itself. And with Chinese New Year being celebrated, everything was so colourful and vibrant. It is the year of the rabbit (Trudy’s year).
A week flew by and the group was on their way back to Bangkok. Along with Alexx, they checked into The Tide Resort hotel (a beach resort in Chon Buri, about 90 minutes outside of BKK). Because it was Chinese New Years and a Sunday, there were vendors and people galore.
More shopping…..
The next day they went to Monkey Hill. Great view of the whole Bay (Gulf of Thailand). Monkeys everywhere-hold onto your hats and cameras! And if you came too close to the babies, the parents would certainly let you know. Never knew monkeys had such big and sharp fangs.
Off to the aquarium next. Many beautiful and interesting fish. The jellyfish were mesmerizing.
Nongnooch Gardens in Pattaya was next on the agenda. 400 acres of plants/flowers and life-sized dinosaurs. The gardens were amazing and it was best to take a bus tour around to see it all. An amazing fact, the gardens were started by one woman and is still owned by one family. 3,000 employees work there and all the watering is done by hand!
The last 4 days were spent in downtown BKK. They became quite adept at using public transit (both an above-ground train system and a subway) to get around.
Shopping, cycling, eating and more shopping-then before they knew it, it was time to go home.
Many thanks to Alexx and Viyada for hosting and organizing.
