Laos, Bangkok, Korea, and Home

Even though we had two months to begin with, travel time was growing short so we decided to bypass the overland trip through Laos and across southern Thailand and opted for a flight from Luong Prabang to Thailand. We ended up flying Lao Air, in spite of their less-than-stellar reputation for safety. Luckily, I was able to do a brief visual inspection of the plan as we walked across the tarmac to board and I could see for myself that the duct tape on the wings seemed pretty secure.

We only had a short time in Bangkok with Mary but we spent a great day along the Chao-Phraya River. The lady sitting next to Maya in the photo below even shared her sweet rolls with Zak and Maya. We visited the pottery-decorated Khmer-style Wat Arun, enjoyed some cocktails at a small restaurant on the Chao-Phraya River, and prowled the shadowy-warrens of the Amulet Market. We also visited the Golden Temple at Wat Saket and hit the touristy Kaosan Road market where we picked up a variety of souvenirs. We went into nearby Chinatown for dinner on our last night in town. Zak was feeling pretty chipper on the walk over but started feeling a bit peckish when we got to the restaurant and the meal progressed. We decided to cab it back to the hotel and Zak really got the cabby’s attention when he leaned his upper body out of the cab at a red light and projectile vomited all over the median. Zak continued to be ill in the hotel as the kids and I packed up, (in a bag) in the back of the cab on the way to their, in the airport as we waited for boarding passes, etc. I was a little worried they wouldn’t let him on the plane while he was violently ill but, luckily, he seemed to have depleted himself by the time we got to the gate and he and Maya passed out pretty hard for an hour or so until we got onto our 1:15 a.m. flight. We all slept well until we arrived in South Korea the next morning. Mary would be following on a later flight.

We had a long-layover in Seoul so the kids and I got to spend a great day kicking around in Seoul. It was cool there, brown grass, bare trees but above freezing and no snow on the ground, quite a change from the heat and humidity of Bangkok. We spent the day in the Insa-Don area of Seoul, a cute little warren of narrow lanes, art galleries, old tea houses (one in which birds flew around freely), hip little shops, etc. We had lunch at this great restaurant called Sanchon. The owner/chef learned his "temple cooking" during his 18 years as a Buddhist Monk. The cuisine is all drawn from fresh vegetables gathered in the country's woods and mountains. The restaurant itself was spectacular but the food was amazing. We just followed a small group heading back down this twisty narrow little lane and stumbled on what I would be willing to bet is one of the best meals you can get in all of Korea.

George and Carol met us at the airport back in San Diego. Dad had made a very clever poster with drawings of the different events we did on the trip. The kids both promptly ran off to their respective friends’ houses. 24/7 with Dad and sibling for two months is enough for anyone; now I know why some animals eat their young.