Turkey Shooting

So after our short time in Laos, we headed back into our home away from home, Thailand. We took 3 forms of transportation and 6 different vehicles to get to Khon Kaen, our next destination. We took 4 different buses, a tuk tuk and a very full share-taxi. After quite a bit of searching on foot, we found a lovely hotel for two nights.

We had just missed the culmination of the silk festival, but a full day in Khon Kaen was on the way. One thing we have found throughout our travelling in Thailand is that we are attracted to malls. I know this sounds really weird, but it's true. I think it is a little bit of the comfort of feeling like we "could" be at home with some familiar shops, the lure of the air-conditioning, and the prospect of being able to see a movie.

Well, this particular mall had something a bit different of offer: cosmic bowling! We decided to give it a try as it was cheap entertainment. We thoroughly enjoyed laughing at ourselves demonstrating our poor bowling abilities. But, I was in for quite the surprise at in the ninth frame of our last game. All of a sudden, I bowled a strike...yippee! Then...another...what the heck? Next, I bowled a third strike, and I got a turkey! For those of you who are not bowling experts, this means you got three strikes in a row, something I had never done before. As a bonus, a turkey appeared on the screen after the third strike is complete. Later on I pondered, maybe the little bambino was giving me some good luck.

After the highlight of cosmic bowling, we headed to yet another temple. We were pleasantly surprised by this glowing gold Wat. We were not able to enter the temple grounds, but were happy just gazing at this beautiful architectural wonder.

We also got a glimpse of some young monks having fun staring at the white people gawking at their temple. They were glad to share some genuine smiles with us from a classroom upstairs. The actual name of the school was a little hard to pronounce, see below.

Try to write this on your resume!

The next day we headed back to Bangkok on the most luxurious VIP bus we had been on since the start of our travels in Thailand. We were in heaven with loads of leg space, a surplus of cool air rushing out of the vents, and even some decent food. The highlight was a seat that had built-in back massage! The hours passed quickly.

One thing on the list to accomplish while we were back in Bangkok was to see a doctor. We correctly assumed they had more up-to-date facilities compared to some of the smaller places in Thailand. I was very nervous for this appointment, but John calmed me. I was very happy after the visit with the doctor. It went extremely smoothly, and he gave me some good recommendations about the pregnancy. To boot, it was very cheap. I was glad to have that over with, for now at least!

The next day, before the crack of dawn, John left for Cambodia, while I stayed in Bangkok. I was unable to travel there because one of the areas is at high risk for malaria. So I was on my own for 5 days, until we met up in Vietnam. Well during this time, I didn't do a whole lot. I rested a lot, saw some movies, visited a few sights we had missed during our previous visits in Bangkok, read everyday, and realized how much I missed my other half.

Well now we are in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, soaking up the culture of a new people and country. We are excited to travel and possibly do some volunteering or work here for a short period of time. All is well and we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Peace and love,
Nadine