swimming monkeys!

We rushed to our room to get changed and prepare for the boat ride to see the swimming monkeys! The room had four beds (check plus since there were four of us)! Three beds on one wall, and one bed across the room... perfectly separated for boys and girls :]. We were picked up by the boat within minutes of getting changed, and we hopped in ready for our adventure.

The fullness of Your grace is here with me
The richness of Your beauty's all I see
The brightness of Your glory has arrived
In Your presence God, I'm completely satisfied

The beauty of our resort area was unbelievable.  Above is a bungalow in the middle of the water. We were on an inlet from the ocean, and there were several of these huts out in the middle of the water. To the left you can see the beginnings of a mangrove forest. It was just the four of us in a boat, about to head between two islands in the distance. The guide didnt say much, so we werent really sure what was coming.

Our token monkey! This was the one who we came all this way to see... one monkey! It was in the trees taking a peek to see what we were up to in the boat. Then we saw another one. and another one. and another one. before we knew it there were 30-40 monkeys on either side of the bank, running to keep up with the boat.

Once they realized that we had bananas, they were swimming in the water ready to catch a banana. Dont worry, they didnt swim right to the boat and tackle us for them. They waited patiently for us to throw the bananas in the water. I still cant believe it. swimming monkeys!

They went bananas over us! haha (I had to say it!)

Look carefully and you can see the baby monkey in the background.

Monkey family. baby monkey gets a banana!



I posted the video I took of the ride above. Keep in mind that I have had no training in videography (sp?), but at least you can see the monkeys in action. Hope you enjoy it!

 The biggest thing to take away from this part of our journey was that we were in between islands and feeding wild monkeys. These monkeys were not tame and kept in cages like at the zoo. WILD monkeys in their natural habitat, awesome :]. I couldnt get on this boat and see swimming monkeys without thinking of our Creator. Yeah, he did create such a vast universe to include adorable monkeys such as these- and that is remarkable. He also knew the condition of my heart, and knew my fears about being in Thailand. So He sent me monkeys. swimming monkeys. Filling the hearts of His children is what He does best.

For You I sing I dance
Rejoice in this divine romance
Lift my heart and my hands
To show my love

We were still driving by monkeys, but we had thrown out all of our bananas. Then our driver started heading toward the bank. You will have to watch to see what happened. (PS- I had no idea that I sound sooooo country... Ive got more southern draw than a architect in Mississippi).



The mud was really weird. Like quicksand, if you stood in one spot, you sunk further down. At one point I thought it would be a good idea to go over to the other side of the boat and take a look. First, half of my calf went in the mud. On the next step, my entire thigh sunk in the mud- not kidding. Have you ever tried to step out of mud up to your thighs without outside help? It is actually really hard without sinking deeper into the mud.

Our driver and our cruiser. You know it looks like a pretty swift boat, right? Josh noticed that the top of the boat was yellow, like a big banana, and was afraid the monkeys would jump us from the tree view. But, no monkeys jumped on the tarp, and none got really close to the boat either. They were definitely watching us while we were planting though, and I wouldnt have decided to eat one of the bananas in front of them on the bank- thats for sure!

We were very satisfied after feeding monkeys and planting mangroves on the island. Heading back out to sea with big smiles and full memory cards!

On our next stop we got to see cranes. This is where we tried out the mud-skid board. Its like a surfboard, but for mud. It's hard to explain... about 6 inches to a foot below the water was a mud bar. Similar to the mud on the bank, remaining still in the mud would cause you to sink, so you had to put one knee on the board (which was held up by the mud) and use the other leg to push the board and you around the water. It was actually quite fun!

Steve was actually really bad at it, but he was the first to go! You can see the proper form from him in the picture above.

Oh yeah! You can see that my entire leg is muddy... and this was only the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed the skid ride! We each got to take a turn on the skid, but none of us had mastered it as well as our guide. He glided through the water like it was no big deal. Im sure he has had plenty of practice showing people how to do it. After we were done, we were supposed to sit on the edge of the boat and clean ourselves off. The guide was giving me the idea that he needed to get back into the resort, so I tried to hurry... which actually just made me fall right back in the water. whoops!

Then this happened.

Look carefully and you will understand what just happened. Josh took a huge clump of mud out of the water and threw it on me. You can see the look on my face is one of total shock. And steve is CRACKING up in the corner of the picture. So we have a mud fight in the boat. Im not sure what the guide thought about this, but he didnt stop us. Then I got a water bottle poured on my head. We had a great time, but you should know that revenge is sweet in Thailand.

After we threw some mud. We had a great time out on the sea, but our tour was over and it was time to head back to the hut. No problems there, we all desperately needed a shower!

We took a shower and then the resort delivered our kayaks. haha, they delivered our kayaks like they were complimentary toothbrushes! We spent a few minutes paddling up and down the river before dinner. Then we went to dinner and had the buffet (I wasnt impressed at all). But apparently the spices are a lot stronger/fresher outside of Bangkok because Steve and Johnny were actually crying. At the end of the day we were full and getting eaten by a lot of mosquitoes while we bonded until midnight. We went to bed (after an exhausting day) in awe of all the wonders we got to see that day. We woke up the next morning still in disbelief of the previous days events.

A deep deep flood, an ocean flows from You
Of deep deep love, yeah it's filling up the room
Your innocent blood has washed my guilty life
In Your presence God, I'm completely satisfied

 Our wonderful bungalow that costs us each 500 baht ($16) to stay the night! We headed back to the train station and realized that the next train didnt leave for three hours, so we decided to visit Ampawa Floating Market in Samut Songkhram (a very popular tourist attraction in the area).

Most of the boats are actually restaurants (or they are selling some type of item, mainly food). All along the side of the market there are benches and tables where you sit and eat your order prepared in the boat. The market was really crowded, so we decided to eat in an actual restaurant, but it was definitely a sight to see!

A very interesting place that many travelers in Thailand (western and asian) come to visit. Then we got Popsicles! mmm, mine was Jackfruit and milk.

After we got done eating at the floating market, we headed back to the train station. There were no tuk-tuks or taxis in sight so I was worried about how we would get back to the station. I was in a slight freak out mode until the policeman blew the whistle less than a foot from my ear and then my patience was GONE.  The whistle burned through my ear for the next five minutes or so while we frantically searched for a way back to the train station. Luckily we hopped in the back of a pickup truck that took us to the train station just in time to catch our ride! A ferry ride, another train ride, and a taxi ride later, we were safe and sound back at the mansion.

I went into the weekend feeling lonely and missing home pretty badly. It's not that the trip made me miss home less... But my Savior simply understood my pain and brought me to a place to cheer me up. To show me that in the midst of everything, I can find joy in something. To remind me that He is in control of my days on this earth, and He promises that I am here for a reason. I am in Bangkok to find Him. And I end up finding Him more and more beautiful everyday.

For You I sing I dance
Rejoice in this divine romance
Lift my heart and my hands
To show my love...

 The song indented throughout this post was Phil Wickham's Divine Romance. Thanks to HG for giving me so many wonderful Christian tunes... I couldnt make it through some of the hard days without a good jam session!



Josh created a wonderful video of this entire trip. Watch it to recap everything that I have said, just from a different perspective. He has the market over the train tracks as the train goes by, and more monkeys, and other stuff I think you'd like!