Today was our final day together as a group. And what a day it was!!!! It is after 2:00 a.m. here in Thailand and the last few of us from the team just returned from Bangkok after a very full but great day. Here’s a quick rundown of what we did today. At 8:00 the group met and started loading up the van. A number of the group planned to split from the group in Bangkok today and go on with their individual travel plans. Unfortunately we misjudged the amount of luggage that would be traveling with the group today and it quickly became clear that the group and the luggage were not all gonna fit into the van that we rented. Our on-site organizer and all-around good-guy, Richard, came to our rescue again. He somehow managed to round up a school van and a driver – all within about 15 minutes. The second van took the luggage and met us in Bangkok. We loaded people up into the first van and headed out for the day’s adventure. A little frustrated but things always manage to work out.
Our first stop in Bangkok 
was the Grand Palace. I take teams here every year as part of the cultural experience. The Grand Palace is a huge, 35-acre complex of elaborate and ornate buildings that date back to the 1700s. The place is stunning and we get quite the history lesson along the way, although it can be difficult to understand our guide oftentimes. It was a very hot day but I was glad the sun was out because, as you’ll see from the pictures, the place fairly sparkles in the sunlight and is quite breath-taking.
After the palace tour I always take the teams on a hike to my favorite restaurant. The food is fabulous and reasonably priced. We then headed for the boat ride down the can
al. This is another adventure I take teams on every year. The canal is very busy with tourist boats and barges. The water was especially high this year because of the heavy rains – and muddier than ever. But the breeze was cool and welcome in the intense heat. One of the favorite stops on the ride is the fish farm where big ugly cat-fish type fish swim at the surface waiting to be fed bread. It’s very entertaining. In addition the boatman usually stops for at least one vendor to pull up in a boat alongside ours’ to try and sell their souvenirs. It’s yet another good cultural experience for the team.
Following the canal ride we drove to Mission Hospital where Faye Walters met us and helped us navigate to the Amarin mall where she knew we could get some good bargains. Along the way we stopped at the train station and said our first goodbye to a team member as Jason Bush left us to go travel through Chiang Mai for a week
. We spent a couple hours at the mall then drove to the Patpong night market, as I always want the teams to experience this. And they always have the most fun at these. The traditional night market (Suan Lum) has been torn down so this was the first time to go to this particular market, but it proved to be very much like the one in Chiang Mai and had everything we were looking for to take back to our friends and loved ones at home. At the market we said goodbye to Leah Robinson who’d met up with her friend that she’ll be staying with for a few days.
From the night market we next went to the Nasa Vegas hotel where we said goodbye to Omar, Melinda, Spring (who’ll rejoin us for the flight home), Jennifer, and Lexie. The last few of us, Kofi, Dora, Vie, Lorraine, and I loaded back into the van and headed back to the university. It has been a very long day but it went well and ended well. I can’t say enough about what a great group this has been. One of the most productive and successful trips ever. Many new friendships were formed here. Thanks to FaceBook, e-mail, and other forms of communication I know many of these people will continue to keep touch over the years. People really bond during experiences like this. It’s just been a great trip with great people.
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