Hello, my family and I decided to go on a trip to the other side of the world. We started November 1, 2014. We are going to a lot of places and so far we have been to Dubai, Nepal, Thailand and are now in Laos.
When we were in Dubai we took a five hour tour of the city. We were only in Dubai for nine hours because the flight was a stopover to Nepal. Dubai is really, really hot. People who live there have to remember to take their important things out of the car when they get out, or they will melt. Mr. Milmine mentioned an indoor ski hill in Dubai and we went and checked it out. It’s the best place to have fun, keep cold and drink hot chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, I tried camel milk chocolate. I thought it tasted almost the same as chocolate from home. I liked the museum, with the statues that looked so real and we also saw the 7 star hotel, Burj Al Arab Hotel.
Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. It’s really busy with so many people, motorcycles, cars and big trucks. You have to be a really good driver to drive in Kathmandu because there isn’t much space on the streets with all the traffic and the people. When people park they pull their rear-view mirrors in so the don’t get hit. Everyone is honking their horns when they drive. Stray dogs are on the street and sometimes cows and even monkeys are too. Most roads are dirt roads so it gets pretty dusty. Lots of people wear masks because of the dust and pollution.
We went on a two day trek when we were in Nepal. It was great. We saw a lot of nice mountains like Fishtail and we played volleyball and soccer at night with our guide and porters. They were so much fun and really nice. After that we went in a small plane around Mount Everest. It was so cool. I actually got to see the real Mount Everest and went into the cockpit of the plane.
After our trek we went to Chitwan National Park for a few days. We went on an elephant ride. The elephant was huge and had paint on its face because it was decorated for a festival. While we were riding on it the elephant would grab small trees with its trunk and pick them up. We saw a rhino in the jungle too. When we took a ride down the Rapti River we saw crocodiles and later we went to visit a Tharu village by ox and cart.
Our third country to visit was Thailand. Our first stop was Bangkok. We stayed in a really nice hotel where the movie, The Hangover Part 2 was filmed. Bangkok has McDonald’s! But one of my favourite Thai food restaurants was called Tealicious Cafe. I liked the duck and the springrolls. My sister and I liked riding around the city in tuktuks. They are motorbikes with seats on the back and are used like a taxi. The drivers are crazy! We went to the floating market, took a cooking course, went to the movies (if you go to the movies in Bangkok order original popcorn and not cheese popcorn!!), swam and played tennis and rode the ferry along the river. I even went geocaching in Bangkok!
My family and I went to the islands for a week. It was really hot. We made friends with kids from Australia and played in the water a lot. I took scuba lessons, it’s so cool to breath underwater and we went snorkeling too. We had to be careful around the sea urchins. The sand at the beach is white and soft like powder. I liked chasing the crabs and found a giant clam on the beach.
We went to Chaing Mai, a city in northern Thailand. We bathed an elephant and gave him bananas and sugar cane. We visited hill tribe villages and went down a river on a bamboo raft. In Chaing Mai we talked to monks and asked them a lot of questions. I found out that they wake up at 4:30 every morning to meditate and chant. They get their food by donations from people and can’t eat after lunch until breakfast the next day. They have shaved heads and wear robes and can’t play sports. We also went and saw Thai boxing. Brynn and I even had the chance to get into the ring. One other thing we did in Chaing Mai is volunteer at an orphanage for a couple of days. We went there when the kids were having their snack, after they came right up to me, my sister and Mom and grabbed our hands to go play. They smiled a lot and liked me and my sister, even though we didn’t understand each others language.
Sometimes I miss home but I’m glad I get to see different parts of the world. I know I’m lucky. I’ll keep you posted on more adventures soon.