The Long Road Home

We drove several hours back to Tel Aviv, packed everything into 5 check in bags and 4 carry on items, returned the rental car, and boarded the airplane without a moment to spare. 12 hours later, we were in New York clearing customs and grabbing bagel snacks for our next 6 1/2 hour flight back to San Francisco.

Asha asleep on the plane


We couldn't find anyone to pick us up, so we somehow were able to consolidate baggage enough to take 2 BART trains, a caltrain, and a Hwy 17 bus back to downtown Santa Cruz.








After each transfer of our towering piles of luggage onto the next train/bus we would give each other a high five and shout, "Team Brown!" It was actually a wonderfully bonding experience and we decided to take public transport every time we fly from SFO. Our housemate Alison picked us up from downtown, and within minutes we were home sweet home!!!

We still aren't sure what those bites/hives were about, so just in case we left everything outside the house for de-contamination.
Ian is going to bug bomb the non-washables in our tent, and I'll be doing loads of laundry continuously for the next week or so..

We had a wonderful and rich time in Israel, and now we are back in our wonderful home with the four wonderful aunties. We love it here. We also miss our dear friends in India. Ian is in full power work mode, getting his iphone app business off the ground so we will be free to take trips like this more often. We are open to whatever God has for us and thankfully content with where He has us now. We are blessed!!!

Rainbow Revisited

Our last day in Israel, we packed up our things and headed back out to the gathering! We knew it would have to be a quick visit, but felt it was well worth it and figured a hike would do us good before sitting down in a car/airplane for over 24 hours...

The moment we arrived was sweetness through and through. Everyone embraced us and said how much they missed us and wondered what had happened to us. We felt so loved and appreciated! They had been looking for someone who knew Cate to give some shekels from the magic hat for purchasing a huge mosquito net for the gathering, and had even been using sesame products separately the whole time we were gone in case Cate returned, as she was allergic to sesame. I was able to pray with one of the Mamas and her child who had been on my heart the whole time. I passed out some stickers and had some sweet connections with friends old and new. We finally met one of Cate's good friends and her daughter about Asha's age who had arrived after we left, who we had been wanting to meet up with the whole time. We felt at peace, like we had ended this chapter well and had a perfect closure to our time in Israel. We ate our final meal at the food circle and then hiked out singing spirituals and smiling contageously. We were now ready to start our long journey home...

Back to Galilee

We were getting pretty lonely in Jerusalem without Cate and Chinua, and we were really missing the four aunties we live with back in Santa Cruz. We were ready to come home. But we still had a couple more days before our flight, so we headed back up to the Sea of Galilee. This time we stayed at a nice simple kibbutz guest house called Nof Genosar that was clean and restful...Just what we needed for the final leg of our journey.

Asha riding the luggage cart at Nof Ginosar


We took a day to visit the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus gave his sermon on the mount and Capernaum (Hebrew: Kfar Nahum) where Peter's mother in law lived and Jesus made his home base during most of his ministry.

The ancient villiage of Capernaum




View of the Sea of Galilee from Peter's home



On our way up to the church built above Peter's home and the ancient church there, a group of Indian tourists came through. Asha was so excited to do the "namaste" to them and receive a multitude of namastes and blessings and smiles and photographs in return!



Inside the church




Walking among the gardens at the Mount of Beatitudes


A Family Portrait


After these adventures, we took a trip to the city of Tiberias for dinner and free internet access. In the parking lot, we ran into Elad, one of the rainbow elders. He saw us and said, "Oh this must be a divine appointment!" as he needed help to jump start his car. We found out that the gathering kept growing after the full moon and was still going on full power, which gave us a wonderful idea...

Jerusalem and Eilat

Ian and I were stoked to spend a day with Chinua and Cate in Jerusalem before their flight back to India. Chinua took Ian on a whirlwind tour of the city:



Tower of David




Ancient Temple Walls


The Wailing Wall




Dome of the Rock


Before saying goodbye, we all went out for lunch at Lena's (a hole in the wall place famous for its hummus) and then to Jaffa's sweet shop for dessert...




After saying goodbye to Cate and Chinua (sniff, sniff - we REALLY miss them!) we headed down south to Eilat on the Red Sea. There we stayed at the coolest little Christian hostel called "The Shelter."







Oh yes, one thing I forgot to mention earlier. The night we arrived at the rainbow gathering I started to break out with hives or bed bugs or some pestilence sent to torment me night and day for weeks. My legs and arms were covered with itching, burning, evil little wounds that made daily life incredibly...challenging. It was a battle not to scratch my skin off and scream and complain and be a super grump the entire time we were there! They kept spreading and in Jerusalem they started to spread to my face and chest. Not good. I frantically sounded a call to prayer to my family and friends and while we were in Eilat they seemed to begin a slow process of healing rather than spreading. Thank you Jesus!!!




We also met up with Leilah's good friend Racheli. She took us out snorkeling and (bless her heart!) watched Asha so Ian and I could go out together. AMAZING!!! The moment we put our faces down into the water it was full of life!!! Asha really wanted to go scuba diving with Abba, so he took her pretty far out with the snorkel and let her see fish and coral. She was so excited!




We also took Asha to an aquarium there in Eilat that is comparable to the one in Monterey Bay. She was able to see all the fish we saw down there and so much more:




They had HUGE sea turtles and rays and sharks and even a fish we had never heard of before...

Behold the "frecked frogfish"



We spent a few days enjoying the restful sanctuary of The Shelter and then made our way back up north to Jerusalem. We stopped by Sde Boker again to see Leilah one last time. Oh how we love that girl!!!!






With Sita, Leilah's Nepali neighbor. Asha shocked her by doing the "namaste" and speaking Nepali


In Jerusalem we stayed once again at Petra, our favorite seedy little overpriced hostel by the Jaffa Gate. We learned from another guest that Mark Twain had once stayed in that very building. It wasn't a hostel at that time, though...



The view from our room



Our little yogi



Cuddle Momma time



We visited a couple museums our last day in Jerusalem. Ian watched Asha and took some sweet pictures in the courtyard while I walked through Yadvashem, the Holocaust Museum. It was a heavy experience, to say the least. What a contrast to find their smiling faces at the end. It forced me to face the dark side of human nature once again as well as see the many blessings I so often take for granted...

Place Jesus Born!

When we first told Asha we would be going to Israel, we explained that it was the place where Jesus was born and spent his life. She was so excited to go to the "place Jesus born!" and our entire trip she would point to a building and say with confident excitement, "Jesus born...right THERE!"

Well we never did make it to Bethlehem, but we did get to visit Jesus's home town of Nazareth. One of my favorite memories of our trip is from the church there commemorating the annunciation of Mary. It is a modern building that incorporates structures from previous eras and includes an active archeological site. Along the walls of the church are a series of mosaics of Mary and Jesus contributed from all over the world, each with utterly different style and texture and flavor. I loved the creative, multicultural family of Christ that it portrayed. And the service that was currently being held inside when we walked in happened to be an all Indian congregation! It was so beautifully Messianic...that He would be a light to the whole world, drawing people from all nations to worship the God who had revealed Himself to and through Israel. Who else but Jesus could bring fulfillment to this prophecy?





As we left the church, the sun was just about to set and the clouds and colors were glorious:

Welcome Home!

Once we had confirmation of the site, we headed out with Cate to the Golan hills across the Sea of Galilee. We loaded up as much as we could carry to prepare our camp and then hiked along a trail marked by piles of stones and colorful rainbow ribbons. The sun was going down and we were exhausted by the time we arrived at the welcome center, but a cup of hot chai and a warm "welcome home!" greeting by a beautiful rainbow sister from Germany helped to revive us. Everyone there urged us to spend the night at the welcome center as the climb down to the main camp was long and difficult and full of thorny bushes, but we decided to press on. It was the new moon, so no natural light was available to help us find our way. We asked directions at the chai tent half way down, but the directions were so vague and complicated that the man there decided to guide us down. We whacked our way through thorn bush after thorn bush. How thankful we were for our guide, especially as our little crew multiplied with more and more people who had been wondering around lost in the thorny abyss. We crossed a river at the bottom and finally made it to the main circle. We spread out our sleeping bags and crashed for the night.

The next couple days were busy building our camp. We needed a spot big enough for our big family tent and Cate's individual one. We found a perfect space between two trees and Ian (my eagle scout hero husband!) tied up tarps to give shade and rain cover for a community area between our two tents. We cleared the ground of thorns and thistles and other pokey things and then set up our tents:



Aside from the endless variety of thorn trees and bushes, the location of the gathering was ideal. It was in a valley with a flowing river for washing and water supply, and we could see the Sea of Galilee between the mountains from our camp site. We also discovered new shortcuts back up the trail to the car, making the journey much quicker and easier.

Food is prepared, served, and eaten communally at a rainbow gathering. Those with the inspiration will focus volunteers to create a meal, and if more are needed then the call echoes through the camp, "Help in the kitchen!!!" As things are coming together, the call goes out, "Food Circle!!!" An hour or two later, another call is heard. "Food Circle...NOW!!!" This last call is repeated once or twice until the circle forms and becomes focused. Everyone holds hands and sings songs together before the food is served. Everyone brings and cleans their own personal eating dish and utensils. After the meal, a "magic hat" is passed around the circle along with a particularly happy song and dance to collect offerings to help replenish supplies for the kitchen and community.

Here is a view of the kitchen tent and main circle fire from the welcome area above:



Here is a closer view (cameras aren't so welcome at gatherings so we didn't take many pictures)






Food Circle:



Every once in a while we would hike back up to the car for supplies or to make a trip. Here are some of our creative carrying maneuvers:

Christy carrying a heavy load Nepali style...

Asha riding in Abba's back pocket...


Our dear friend Chinua flew in from India and also joined us at the rainbow. Both he and Cate have been to the Israeli gatherings for years now, as well as the annual "Peace in the Middle East" gatherings in Turkey which are closely related. We have heard of these gatherings for years, but now it was exciting to actually be there ourselves and be part of their community. Chinua is an amazing musician, so the moment he arrived everyone begged him to play. We sat around the fire singing praise songs and spirituals for hours. It was so heavenly! People joined in, dancing and singing. After one of the worship songs, a young girl who had been dancing spontaneously said, "Praise de Lord!" Chinua also sang Yeshu bhajans (Indian style devotional songs to Jesus) around the night fire circle. Sometimes I only heard them from my tent, but when I was there at the circle I blissfully joined in and sang with all my soul. So sweet!!!

The most memorable and terrifying event of the gathering in Asha's experience was...the helicopters. Loud, scary military helicopters that came too close to our camp. The valley was strategic for training pilots through rough terrain that is uninhabited, so throughout the day and often at night they would swoop low into our camp and back, two by two, leaving a terrified toddler burying her face in her hands and clutching her Mama or Abba for dear life. We have been back home for a few days now, and she still talks about it all the time and runs to us trembling at the slightest sound of an airplane in the sky.



Rainbow gatherings usually build up until the full moon, and then thin out from there. We knew a big thunder storm was on its way, so the night of the full moon we quickly packed up and escaped just before torrents of rain made the steep climb impossible. We didn't even have time to say goodbye. We had to hurry, especially since Cate and Chinua had a flight back home to India to catch. So we slipped away in the night. It was sad to leave so silently. There were people we wanted to connect more with and pray with and sing with, but we had to trust these new friends in His hand. Perhaps next year's rainbow gathering, maybe the next Turkey gathering, maybe one day we would see them again... its a small world after all :)

Making our way up

After a couple nights in Sde Boker, we made our way north toward the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) for the rainbow gathering.

There are some signs on the highways in Israel that we don't see back home:



On our way up, we camped out by the Dead Sea and took a dip in the thick salty water. It was fun for a few minutes, until Asha accidentally went partially under the water and then screamed at the top of her lungs for a good half hour. Every single person on the beach glared at us with hatred and condemnation. I scanned the crowd for at least one sympathetic soul but none was to be found. Not so fun. Asha finally recovered, but we avoided the Dead Sea from then on...



When we arrived at the Kinneret, there were still questions about the location of the gathering so we camped out and waited until we had final confirmation. Here is Asha with our tent:

Reunion at Sde Boker

Our friend Cate (who we visited in India last year) picked Ian and Asha up at the airport in Tel Aviv. All hostels and homes were totally booked that night, so the only option was for them to drive south several hours to our dear friend Leilah's home in the beautiful desert community of Sde Boker. Two days later, I drove down to meet them. Yay!

Leilah is there doing graduate work in soil and water science. Here is Leilah with her current research project:



Breakfast at Leilah's: the most amazing spiced apple oatmeal ever!!!



I am personally not so much a fan of the desert, but the geography here was stunning. Ian urged me to see the sunrise my first morning and it was like stepping out into another world with its desert cliffs and nubian ibex...

They're on a plane...and I'm not!

Ok, imagine this. You are all packed and ready to go. You arrive at the ticket counter with time to spare and confidently present your tickets and passports, anxious to get through security check so you can get that bagel and cream cheese your daughter has been begging for and relax at the gate together in excited anticipation, waiting for your flight. Everything goes smooth for a few blissful seconds, then the bomb drops. The airline attendant looks confused and points to your passport, "It's expired."

Now every time I prepare for a big trip, this sort of scenario goes through my head. All those last minute tragedies like a forgotten ID or ticket issued in the wrong name. But this time it was no anxious thought...it was reality. I was stunned. I looked at my well worn passport and alas, it had expired two months ago.

I tried to diffuse the frenzy of panic and humiliation and hopeless thoughts, I struggled to trust that God had a plan in the midst of this and for some reason in His sovereignty had allowed me to make such a simple yet catastrophic mistake...oh it was a struggle!

To make a long story short, Ian and Asha continued as planned onto the flight while I scrambled to get an appointment at the passport agency and a new ticket to meet them as soon as possible. It was all so sudden, I hardly had a moment to say goodbye to them. Before I knew it, they were gone. On a plane. Far, far away. Oh Lord, help!!!

And help He did. My parents offered to pay the cost of the extra flight I had to purchase. I was able to get a crisp new passport the next day. And I am scheduled to board the plane tomorrow morning... Thank you Jesus!!!

As for Abba and baby, I have received several snippets of news. Asha slept the first two hour leg. Good! They had a sweet bonding time the second leg. Fantastic! I did not know there were so many legs to their journey, but seems they had at least three yesterday. There was a long delay somewhere along the way, and they arrived in Atlanta too late to catch their connecting flight to Israel. They spent last night in Atlanta and the entire day today in the airport. Asha napped an hour and a half on the floor, then woke up and cried for me for about 20 minutes :( Then she saw someone with my build and hair back in a bun, and she thought it was me for one comforting moment... Then she realized it wasn't, and really broke down. Oh how my heart breaks to scoop that little muffin up in my arms! Thankfully Ian was able to calm her down with airline pretzels and that was the last I heard from them, other than a quick note to say they were boarding the plane at 6:30 this evening and would be in Israel in about 8 or 9 hours.

Lord willing, our next post will be from the Holy Land!


That tragic moment:




Asha the world traveler



Waiting to board the plane



Hidden blessing - Abba/daughter bonding time :)

Israel

Stay tuned! we're leaving in the morning. We'll be there for a month. We may not post pictures till we get back (mid Nov.).

-- Love,
us.

Home sweet home!

We left Delhi on the afternoon of New Year's Eve and celebrated the new year on the plane just outside Taipei. We then went back in time to arrive in San Francisco about 6pm the same day we left and celebrate the new year once again. Pretty weird. We are still adjusting from the time warp, seeing as it is past 4 am and we have been up working on this blog since midnight...

Many thanks and apologies to all of you who have followed our blog and found it going nowhere for long stretches of time. Traveling with a baby, slow internet connections, the constant adjustment of traveling and trying to just be present where we were are a few of our favorite excuses. Your prayers for our travels despite our lack of communication have held us up. We had an amazing adventure and have returned feeling much healthier in every way. We are so very grateful!

Pahar Ganj

We left Goa with renewed spirits and ready to face the urban sprawl of our last stop in India: Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. Unlike many other more savory areas of the city, this narrow street of shops, guest houses, aggressive street vendors, beggars, dust and cows is a dreaded hub for budget travelers in India. We were surprised to find ourselves really enjoying our time there, however, and learned that we wouldn't even mind living in this kind of urban environment. Downtown Santa Cruz, perhaps?










Ajay Guest House, an old favorite. This is where we stayed.

My friend, Haog. He is officially a refugee from Yugoslavia and supports himself by selling incense along the traveler trail. He has faithfully sent me at least two postcards annually for the past 6 years.

Sunset in Arambol

The villiage where our friends live is filled with travelers with children. Every evening, they all come out for fire dancing, juggling, watching the sunset, and playing on the beach. We loved singing worship at sunset while the children played in the sand and water.

A Tropical Christmas

Early Christmas morning



We celebrated in the morning with our dear friends. They read the Christmas story from our favorite children's Bible and then opened gifts.


Baby loved her presents from the kids - a wooden snake and some ankle bracelets!



We spent the rest of the day preparing for a Christmas party that evening. We invited everyone we had connected with in the villiage and had a sweet time of feasting and singing worship and carols.


Mama making chai and baby waiting for a taste...


for dessert we had an amazing apple pie, chocolate cake, and chai. Yum!

Merry Christmas!!!

Villiage Life

We stayed with our very dear friends in the small villiage of Arambol. After weeks of depending on restaurants for food, it was lovely to be able to cook and share home*made meals once again. Each weekday, we would have a Scripture meditation time together from 11am to noon. After that, we ate a communal meal that we took turns cooking each day. It was deeply nourishing to both our bodies and souls.


It didn't take long to get in the groove of villiage life there. The "bread walla" rode his bike through town every morning selling small buns of fresh baked bread. He had a tiny horn that announced his presence and roused us from bed at around 6am every morning for our daily fix of these tasty little rolls. A tiny shop down the road sold fresh eggs, milk, curd, a few vegetables, and some other basics like rice and flour. The main area of Arambol is a good walk down the beach. Here there is a strip of seemingly endless tiny clothing shops and restaurants that cater to hippie tourists.



We also rented a scooter for a couple days to make trips outside the villiage.


The closest town is Mapusa, where they have a bustling outdoor market on Fridays.

The Beaches of Goa

In Varanasi, we tried to keep baby off the ground and away from the water. Goa was much cleaner and safer, so she loved her freedom to play in the sand and sea.




She was also fascinated with the fishing boats and nets that lined the beach every morning.

Leaving Varanasi

Our flight from Varanasi to Goa was delayed, so we spend half the day in the airport taking pictures and having a picnic in the grass outside. This was the first sign we saw posted as we walked into the airport.

Being watched. Baby had a constant stream of families and children checking her out.

Baby on her port-a-potty

We were impressed by this detailed list of 84 prohibited hand baggage items. It includes portable power drills and saws, hand grenades, hatchets, dynamite, bullwhips, cattle prods, and numchucks.

Pack the pickle!

Baby studying the safety procedures before take off

Textures of Varanasi

Faces of Varanasi

The locals










The travelers

Baby at play

Baby found many ways to keep herself entertained in India. These include...

Playing in Auntie's garden

Cricket


Playing with antibacterial soap foam. She always begs for more. I love it :)

Touching random animals. I am not so happy about this one...

Straws, beads and cameras...



Playing with food, of course. Her favorite foods here so far are scrambled eggs, bananas, rotis (indian breads), rice, nuts, chai, banana lassi, and juice.

Baby also found a new best friend. She followed him around with stars in her eyes....

We're on a boat

Another highlight of Varanasi was hanging out with our precious, beautiful Aussie friends.



Our families took a boat across the river one day to play in the sand:




After sunset, we took a boat ride along the ganga singing Yeshu bhajans and sending candle-lit prayers floating down the river.

Ashram Sundays

There is a beautiful Yeshu (Jesus) Ashram in Varanasi where we met weekly with other believers living there. It was a sweet time of worship and connecting with friends new and old.

After the main gathering, we met together with a smaller group of friends and fellow travelers for a meal at our friend's home next door.





Singing Yeshu bhajans (Indian style worship songs) in the garden there was a taste of heaven. Here is the chord sheet to one of my favorites, Om Prabhu Yeshu Ji:

Our friend also baked us fresh brownies and cookies and shared her precious dark chocolates from Germany. Bless her heart! Leaving her place we always felt like we had just been hugged...

Goats with Cloths

One of the first things we noticed when we went for a walk in the city was all the goats...with cloths. We asked why and were told, "to keep them warm, of course!" How silly of us for asking...

Welcome to India!

We arrived in Varanasi on the night of our fourth wedding anniversary. We spent our first night at the beautiful "Palace on the Ganges" hotel and really appreciated the clean, hot shower.

We found that baby especially loves warm bucket bubble baths:

Tashi Delek (Tibetan greeting)

We spent our last couple days in Nepal staying with a Tibetan family in a Tibetan community called Bhoda. One of our dear friends teaches English there and lives on the floor above the Tibetan family. We enjoyed it so much we wanted to stay there a few extra days, but it was too late to change our flight...


Here is a typical Tibetan family room. This is where the whole family sleeps as well.

Here is our dear friend from the states who now lives in Bhoda. He cooked us an amazing Indian lunch our first day there. Our first home-cooked meal since leaving America!

Nepali Pariwar (family)

One of the highlights of Nepal was a visit to our dear Nepali family's home in a villiage just outside Bhaktapur. Here is baby with my amazing Nepali Daju (older brother) who is a famous actor/producer/singer/politician:


A family picture:

Nagarkot

After a few days in the city, we found a peaceful villiage about an hour from Kathmandu where we rested up and watched the sun rise and set over the himalayas...



There was a hotel worker's strike that began the day we arrived, so we were some of the only tourists around. Here is where we stayed:

Baby goes shopping

She loved riding on the rickshaws...
Baby picking out material for a new sari...

She also loves jewelry. This was her favorite shop...

Our favorite rickshaw walla

Friends on the streets of Kathmandu...

Baby learns Nepali

Baby took her language learning very seriously in Nepal. Mom is very proud :)

Flying into Katmandu

Flying into Katmandu (on Nov 20th):

This was Abba and Baby's first view of the Himalayas.






Nepali Farmland.


"Yay, We're in Katmandu!"


(and not stuck in Thailand :))

Scuba Diving in the Thai Islands.

Well, this is our last post for Thailand... And I'm very glad to be saying this because if we had waited many more days, we would still be in Thailand. Looking at the news, the main airport in Bangkok is closed (where our flights were out of). And has been closed for over a week . That makes this parting picture at our boarding gate really special!



We spent 4 or 5 days on the Thai island of Ko Lanta. Momma went scuba diving for the first time and after coming out of the water said "I can see how one can get really addicted to this!" That made me (Abba) really happy as Momma is excited to go scuba diving when we get back to California.




Thai boats on the mangrove shore as we are leaving on our boat to the dive spot.


Mamma's first Dive spot. Abba and baby went snorkeling while Momma was in the water.





When Momma was up for lunch between her two dives, I went snorkeling again and got down 10 meters on a breath. That was exciting.



Here someone threw a fish bone in the water and all these fish came up to nibble on it.


These pictures are from Abba's dive. He got down over 100 ft. This is Hin Daeng -- supposedly one of the top 10 dive spots in the world. Often there are very large manta rays and whale sharks to dive with. But not this time...






Nemo. We also saw Dori, Nemo's friend.


These are 1 to 2 meter barracuda. I swam with them for a good 20 minutes. This was my favorite part of the dive.


A sea cucumber (this one is about 18 inches long). The beaked parrot fish takes bites out of the hard calcium corral, and the sea cucumber eats it's poop. From the sea cucumber's poop comes the powdery white sand of the thai beach.





purple soft corral, an eel, 2 other small fish.


Red soft corral.


There was a beautiful quick rain storm on the way back to port from the dive.


Then there was a beautiful sunset!



Final words to the divers on the boat back in port.

Bangkok: Khao San Road

In Bangkok, we stayed at a guest house just off of Khao San Road:



Here we met budget travelers from around the world, many en route to other countries in south and southeast asia.
While walking to an Israeli restaurant one morning we discovered a wonderful new friend. Can you guess what it is?




We were told it was a Slow Lawrence, an animal found only in Thailand.



Baby kept squealing with delight...so loud the little guy got scared and started sucking its finger. Seriously...

Bangkok: Fast Food

One of our favorite snacks from the streets of Bangkok was Pad Thai. These amazing little carts whip up the tastiest rice noodle goodness in a matter of seconds:

Catching up a Little...

Some of you have been worried about where we are and if we are being held hostage by terrorists in Bombay, so here is a current update to calm all fears. We arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal about a week ago and have been taking refuge in the tranquil mountain town of Nagarkot. There we basically just took it easy: rested, prayed, read books, watched the sun rise (over Mt. Everest) and set. It was just what we needed! We have lots of pictures, but will post them once we catch up with photos from Thailand...

Island Life

We spent a couple days in Bangkok and then headed for the coastal villiage of Ao Nang. Here are some pictures from our first sunrise...







There are cats and kittens everywhere in Thailand. Baby is in heaven!!!

Next, we took a boat to the island of Koh Lanta. More pictures and stories to come once we get them downloaded from the camera...

Elephant Trekking

We have been promising baby an elephant ride in Thailand for weeks now. A few days before we left for our trip, I was telling her how we were going to India and Nepal and Thailand. As soon as I said "Thailand", she did the elephant sign! Here are some pictures from our trek...





Elephant poo poo.

We Made It!

On the plane. This long exposure shot says it all. Mamma and Abba trying to sleep, and baby wanting to play :) All in all, we had a super smooth travel experience. Baby loves to fly - she has been jumping up and down clapping with joy during most of our landings!




Baby did sleep for some of the flight. How we wished these bassinets came in adult sizes...



During our layover in Taipei, baby was mobbed by a constant flow of women pinching her cheeks and laughing.

Here we go!

I am not a proficient blogger and have never traveled to this extent with a baby, so we will see how this travel blog goes. It might be more of an occassional twitter here and there with some pictures. But one thing I can say for sure already is this: our baby can't wait to get on an airplane. She flew a couple weeks ago and has been talking about it non-stop ever since. As soon as we stepped off the plane, she was doing the "more" sign. All day long she makes the sign for airplane and the "vrooooom!" sound effect along with it. She wakes up from most naps doing the airplane sign. She does it to Abba the moment he gets home, wanting him to fly her around the house. She does it while we are at the grocery store. She does it looking out into the sky. And she does it every time she catches me on the computer, with her big grin and expectant eyes, begging me to show her airplanes taking off on youtube one more time. I think this little lady is ready to travel :)