2023 NWC Thailand Conservation Expedition
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Blog 11
Written by Connor W
We started the morning with an Asian-style breakfast of pad thai, fried rice, sunny-side-up eggs, and other baked goods. We then took a short walk to Patong Beach, where we did a few reflection activities. We each wrote a letter to ourselves in 3 years, discussing anything from what we gained from this trip to remembering it. We then each talked about our roses and thorns on this trip and started to realize that the end of our trip was soon. After we left the hotel, we began our drive to the airport, stopping at a small souvenir shop on the way. Once we arrived at the Airport, our journey back to Bangkok started. After a short flight, we drove to the Bangkok Christian Guest House, our final place of sleeping for this trip. Once we dropped off our bags, we returned to the road to eat our last dinner in Thailand. For dinner, we went back to the same place we did for the first night. This time, rather than eating family-style, we all ordered our meal. After we were all done, we sang a happy early birthday to Sofia and had a cake with candles for her. Finally, to conclude our night, we went to our final night market. However, to get there, we had to take a sky train and a boat ride. There, we walked around in the Disney area and bought souvenirs, and even embarked on the Mystery Mansion ride. Just as we were ending our night, it started raining, along with lightning and thunder. Without a doubt, walking in the rain together back to the hotel was a great way to conclude our trip. Now we start on our journey home!
Blog 10
Written by Jack S and Shylah M
Today, we had our first breakfast at our hotel in Phuket. Shylah had some cereal, fruit, a mini muffin, and some mini pancakes. Jack had a latte, another boiled sausage, strawberry yogurt, and a warm croissant. We then packed our daypacks and made our way to a boat dock. Everyone boarded a nice tour boat and we journeyed off for our fun day. On the boat, we enjoyed cookies, fruits, and some drinks as we sailed across the beautiful blue Thai seas. There were massive limestone rock structures all throughout the water. Everyone was star struck. We continued to admire the water and eventually, we made it to a canoe area. We got into groups of 2 and professional canoe drivers lead us through the relaxing water. We went into small caves inside the rock formations. It was slightly dark, but super cool to sea. It felt similar to a disney ride. We had to lay down or else we would hit our heads inside of the caves. Within the formations, there were cool shapes and animals that we could spot like dogs, hearts, piranhas, and a buddha! We finished our canoe tour and went back to the boat. Then, we went farther out at sea to swim in a safe location. When we arrived at the second stop, everyone jumped in. The water and surrounding islands were all so beautiful, but we were all shocked about how salty the water was. After some sick flips off the boat, we headed over to the James Bond Island. It was named this because the island was featured in the 1974 film. As we got off, Connor was dragged off by ladies selling items and the rest of us went to the main attraction, the big rock in the middle. We took some pictures then decided to jump in the water again. Far out in the water there was a huge jutting rock formation which we swam out to in order to take some flicks. Then, Bo called us over and we made our way back to the boat. On the boat there was an assortment of chicken wings, rice, mixed veggies, onion rings, and fried carrots waiting for us. We all piled our meals onto our plates and ate as we rode to the next island. For our final island of the day, we stopped a good deal out from the shore which made some of us swim to the beach while others kayaked. Arriving at the shore, we climbed a few rocks to take, yet again, instagram pictures. Once we were satisfied, we used our means to get back to the boat and we were off. It was and hour or more of talking until we finally docked in Phuket. We then took a long drive to a beautiful sight where we managed to see the sun set, and Connor and Jack even managed to hike down the cliff all the way to the water. Then Bo called us back and we made our way to the second to last dinner we would have in Thailand. It was a delicious combination of seafood, rice, and chicken which we all dived into. Not only was the food incredible we were also right on the beach so our view was fantastic as well. Then it was back in the car for us as we headed back to our lodging. We had a debrief of what was to come of our final day and the flight back to Bangkok. Then we each retired to our respective rooms to get ready for the end of our trip.
Blog 9
Written by Xochitl C and Sofia H
Today, we are headed to Phuket! We started our morning at 6 AM. First we headed down to breakfast with our packed bags, ready to head to the airport. Breakfast consisted of toast, fruit, pancakes, eggs, sausage, and rice. After breakfast, we went to the van and departed for the 3.5 hour long drive. We took very good naps and occasionally stopped at a gas station to have a bathroom break. We finally arrived to the airport! We gathered our stuff from the bus and stepped into the airport ready to go. We soon checked our bags in. We proceeded to walk and noticed there was no security! We were so relieved. While we walked down to our gate, we noticed lots of yummy foods, and the one that most stood out to us: McDonalds! We got our meals and noticed the boba stand. We got a variety of bobas (called pearl teas here) such as green tea, milk tea, strawberry, and more. We were lucky to get to rest in the lounge while we waited, so we brought our food back to the lounge and enjoyed it. A few minutes later Bo and Becca told us our flight was ready to go. Our group packed into the plane and luckily there were not too many people! We all sat near each other. Some people took naps or listened to music, while others read or played games. The flight was very short, just 1 hour and 5 minutes, and before you know it we landed in Phuket! We arrived to the town of Phuket, where we were warmly greeted by our van drivers and tour guide. We went on a delightful drive to Old town, where we were given an hour to explore in small groups of 3-4. We took this opportunity to immerse ourselves in souvenir shopping and treat ourselves to ice cream. Next, we met up outside of a temple before embarking up a winding road that led us to the top of a mountain. It was there that we encountered monkeys, some of which possessed rather aggressive looking behavior. While their presence was surprising, we experienced a moment where one of them hissed at Jack. We still managed to capture photographs against a backdrop of the town, ocean, and a clear sky at a breathtaking viewpoint. Afterward, we reunited with our group and proceeded to a restaurant surrounded with lush vegetation. Here, we embraced the opportunity to savor a variety of different dishes, including inky squid soup, whole cooked fish with intact eyes, fish meatballs, mushroom soup, and white rice. At the end of our meal, we had some mango sticky rice. Then we made our way to a vibrant night market. With an hour to spare, we had the chance to explore the diverse offerings in small groups once again. The market was alive with live music, captivating jewelry booths, an array of culinary delights, fashionable clothing, and ice cream. This marketplace had a similar environment to a flea market. Then we drove to our hotel to check in for a rest after a long airport and adventuring day.
Blog 8, Part 2
Written by Aaron S. and Becca Sheffield (Program Leader)
After we got ice cream we went to the elephant museum at Somboon and did a scavenger hunt to learn a ton of info about elephants, both Asian elephants and African elephants and their differences. After the scavenger hunt we made elephant poop paper, using their poo to boil it down and then dry it out on screens to make the paper. We also cit some watermelon for the elephants. We got the chance to watch the elephants eat from a distance, and then they walked down the road to bathe in the river with their mahouts while we watched from above. The reason this sanctuary is “hands off”, meaning people only observe from far away instead of touching or feeding them, is because this sanctuary wants them to live a life as close to wild elephants as possible so they are not stressed or on a strict schedule. After saying goodbye to the Somboon team and Malee and Kammoon, we went to OurLand for the last time. We played some really fun (and tricky) games with Jacob and then had a dinner together of chicken, veggies, and of course rice. Then we sat down to reflect on our trip together and talk about what we want to remember and learn from this trip. We had a very sad goodbye with the OurLand team full of hugs and “See you later”s before heading back to the hotel to rest before a VERY early morning the next day to head to Phuket.
Blog 8, Part 1
Written by Vero C
Today we woke up at the Pavilion Resort and went to eat breakfast in the outside eating area with a beautiful view of the mountains. The breakfast was toast, fruit, eggs, sausages, french toast, and cereal. Then we got ready for our day and went into the vans. It was an hour drive to get to the Somboon Legacy Foundation elephant sanctuary. We met many of the guides and volunteers and we watched two videos introducing the sanctuary, their objectives, and more information on elephant treatment. The first video had us in tears because it showed clips about how awful elephants were treated for tourist enjoyment. Then the guides took us around the grounds to see the two elephants there (Malee and Kammoon). They are both in their eighties and they’re quite geriatric. They’ve been best friends for over 20 years! This sanctuary only takes in older elephants. After looking at the elephants, we stirred a mixture of sticky rice over a fire for the elephants to eat. We then hitched a ride on a truck and took a short five minute ride to a banana tree farm. The mahouts (elephant caretakers) cut down some of the banana trees and we carried them to the truck for the elephants food. We had to wear the provided tshirts and sun hats in order to protect our actual shirts from stains and our faces from sunburns. Then, the truck took us back to the sanctuary and we watched the elephants eat the trees. We learned that they actually don’t eat the leaves; they eat the trunk because it has lots of water. Older elephants have mostly lost their ability to tell when they’re dehydrated, so it’s important for them to eat the banana trees to get the water that they need. While we were watching them eat, our friend Thanathai popped by to say hello and to give us some Thai snacks. Thanathai is another 9th grade student at New West and he and his family were in Thailand for the summer! We had a delicious lunch at the resort that the sanctuary was stationed in and we ate rice, coconut soup, tom yam, vegetables, fruit, and…french fries with ketchup! Afterwards, we got some ice cream.
Blog 7
Written by Jake B and Bo Somboon (Program Leader)
This morning we woke up to the sound of a speedboat driving around our house boat. Over night we had beached ourselves and we would need to push and pull our way out. After waking up and getting dressed I headed down to help push the boat from the sand before eating breakfast, and after we could only budge it a little we decided to let it be and eat until the tide rose to take us off the beach naturally. Breakfast today consisted of fruit, ham, sausage, toast, jam, eggs, and interesting juices (cucumber, orange, radish juice). After eating I spent the next several minutes wondering where to put my dirty dishes and contemplating how to brush my teeth. When I was done contemplating I headed to the dirty dish bowl and brushed my teeth. Then, we sat down and learned more about the human elephant conflict, as well as the history of elephants being held in captivity and the practices being used today to keep them there. After that, me and Jacob decided to play chess in which he annihilated me instantly before playing another round with Citlali watching. During our chess game the rest of my fellow kiddos were playing a game (Spoons? Blackjack? Quidditch?). Quickly after beginning our fantastical chess match our game was cut short by rocking our house boat and going to shore. After snuggling a cute dog we hiked up a trail to our van which we spent our next forty minutes driving in to go to Elephant Haven sanctuary. We got out of the car to be greeted by six giant Asian elephants standing less than twenty feet away from us. After overcoming our initial stupor, we listened to Khun (a member of the OurLand team who used to work closely with the elephant handlers there) tell us about their names ages and personalities. After taking a few thousand photos we went to prepare them some delicious snacks made out of rice, rice husks, tamarin, and banana as well as chopped up watermelon. After getting a little dirty making the rice balls and cutting up watermelons it was time to feed the elephants. An elephant is no small creature, they can eat 400-500 pounds of food a day and weight anywhere from 6 thousand to 10 thousand pounds. Keeping this in mind we started to feed our four legged friends who greatly enjoyed grabbing food out of our hands with their trunks, before they got full and walked away. After they started to walk towards the jungle we got to go with them and do a wonderful jungle hike! During this we got to observe their natural habits such as eating, applying dirt (natural bug repellent), bathing, and defecating. When we were done walking with them we got to learn how to play dtakao and competed with and against the locals (we did terribly). After that we headed back towards where we started and relaxed near a cool lunch area where we ate delicious food and almost beat Jacob (a member of the Ourland team) at chess and got souvenirs supporting the mahouts. After all this we headed back to the pavilion resort to get ready for the rest of our day via van. We had a quick pit stop at the hotel and then went to our cooking class. After a 40 minute car ride to downtown Kanchanaburi for our cooking class at ON’s THAI-ISSAN Restaurant. On, who was our master chef, had prepared a flower garland for all of us which is a Thai tradition for welcoming us to her restaurant. On‘s restaurant is one of the best vegetarian restaurants in Kanchanaburi. Everyone got to learn how to cook different Thai dishes. (MS.Thompson cooked TOM YUM SOUP, Shylah cooked TOMKAA (coconut soup), Jake cooked THAI CURRY FRIED RICE, Veronica cooked PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE, Becca cooked THAI EGG FRIED RICE, Aaron cooked SOMTAM (papaya salad), Sofia cooked MUSSAMA CURRY, Connor cooked PAD GRA PRAO, Xochilt cooked PAD TAI, Citlali cooked PAD SEE IW, and Jack cooked PAD BPRLIEOW WAAN)
The cooking class was super fun. We had Thai music on and did Thai dancing during the class. ON also cooked a lot of Thai food for us to eat at dinner and of course cooked one of the most popular Thai desserts, Mango sticky rice with coconut milk on top.
We enjoyed all the food that Khun ON prepared for us but we couldn’t eat all of it because there was a lot of food on the table. But we all tried our best to eat everything. Khun ON also showed us how to cook the sweet sticky rice at the end. The process is very easy –
Step 1. Sticky rice 2. coconut milk 3. a bit of salt. 4. use the heat to mix and ready to go. After that, we made our way to the Kanchanaburi night walking street market. Just after 10 minutes we arrived at the market, and there were so many foods and a lot of different souvenirs. We wandered off in groups of three or more and adventured into the throws of this local market. There were at least a hundred different food stands scattered around, all cooking delicious local cuisine. I personally was excited to buy a nice pair of jeans from a local vendor for a cheap 400 baht (12$) and got a cute rat statue for my siblings birthday and a anime figurine for my friends. After wandering around a little more we all got some nice jewelry and headed back to the entrance of the market where we took turns hitting a gong (and scaring ourselves) before heading back to the hotel. When we were back Bo gave us the debrief for the next day and we made our way back to the hotel to get some rest and get ready for our last day with the elephants and the Ourland team.
FUN DEE KRAP :D
Blog 6: June 16, Part 2
Written by Aaron S.
We then got off the bus and got to eat lunch. The lunch consisted of pad mama, pad see ew (noodles and veggies), and watermelon. The pad see ew was very thick but tasted very good along with the pad mama but wasn’t as thick and had a little more of a kick to it. After lunch we got onto the bus and went back to the resort. Once we got to the resort we packed our stuff and got ready to go to a Thai school near our host village and play some games with Thai kids, along with learning about how elephants would sometimes break the pipes during the summer to get water. After the school we headed off to 7-11 to grab drinks and snacks. Then the bus took us to Sai Yok national park and the house boat we were staying on for the night. We got to the house boat and settled in, then put on our life jackets and drifted down the river until we reached the waterfall we could go under. After we went under the waterfall we docked the house boat and we set out to explore the beach. We went back to the boat to eat dinner. The dinner consisted of fried rice, tom yum soup, chicken cashew, chicken wings, and mushroom soup. After dinner, we all gathered around the table and played games such as Uno Dare, Go Fish, Chess, and Spoons which got very intense and the winner of Spoons happened to be Citlali. Then we all went to bed sleeping with the sounds of jungle around us.
Blog 6: June 16, Part 1
Written by Jake B.
This morning we woke up at the pavilion resort. At 8 A.M. we headed down to breakfast at the pavilion. On the way there we got to see more of the beautiful hotel and all the surrounding jungle. When we got to breakfast, we were greeted with fresh eggs, toast with strawberry jam, ham, sausages, fried rice, and fresh coffee and orange juice with ice cold water. As we were eating we got to listen to acoustic Hotel California on the guitar and the chirps of the birds around us. At about 8:30 we began to head to our rooms to get ready for the exciting day. At 9 A.M. we went on to start our day off by heading to our two vans (one for me, Bo, Aaron. Jack, and Connor and one for Shylah, Veronica, Sofia, Xochitl, Citlali, Ms Thompson, and Becca) where me Connor, Jack, and Aaron reclined our seats very far back. During the car ride we all had a great time relaxing (and in my case writing this) and looking out the window at the miles of mostly undeveloped nature, part of which we would be exploring today. We got off and were greeted by Pi Nom and walked a little bit down a beaten path through a banana farm to a rustic shack. After arriving, we learned about agriculture and how monocropping affects the soil of land. Then, we split off into two teams (team one was me, Citlali, Xochitl, Jack, Veronica and team two which was Aaron, Conner, Sofia, and Shylah) to go do different farm work. My group started off by working with getting cow dung and bringing it back to the shack for composting. To do this, we got into a small tractor together and went through the beautiful fields of Thailand to be greeted by the ever more beautiful piles of poop. Me and Jack had to hoe all of the poop into clumps because Veronica lacked the necessary poop hoeing skills needed, and then the rest of our group along with the courageous Ms. Thompson scooped it up into the back of our tractor. After that, we had the joyful and jubilant experience of riding back with the manure to shovel it into big holes where others would grow plants for the future, and then switched with team two. After switching with group we had to learn about how to properly compost which required two of us to chop up banana trees into smaller pieces and the rest of us needed to scoop different pieces of biomatter into bins for the compost. After a while of me and Jack chopping up banana trees we switched so me and Jack were composting and Citlali and Veronica chopped banana trees and Xochitl took a break while watching us. Me and Jack found some cool bugs in the leaf pile with Pi Nom, which Citlali did not like. After we were done with composting we got back on the bus to went to eat lunch at a place near the river.
Blog 5: June 15
Written by Shylah M
We started off our bright morning with a delicious Thai breakfast consisting of toast, eggs, fried rice, pad Thai, pomelo fruit, and sausage. After we ate, we prepared our day packs and visited the village’s bee sanctuary. There, some of us put on protective hats and we all got close to a large bee colony, where they were using smoke to keep the bees calm. We learned about the benefits of bees within the human-elephant conflict while enjoying some of their fresh and sweet honey. After spending some time with the bees, we ventured off into a peaceful tree nursery. At the nursery, we got to learn about different plants and the stages in which they are grown. Eventually, we sat in a circle and began to pour dirt into small black bags for the tree saplings. When each bag was 3/4 full, we placed some baby plants inside, then topped it off with some more dirt. While doing this, an adorable bull frog popped out of the pile of dirt! Everyone had a great time and we were able to make lots of bags full of plants. After all the bags were finished, Jake and I got to water the freshly done baby plants. We made our way back to our host community village and got into groups of two to plant banana trees. I worked with Veronica and we took turns surrounding each mini tree with lots of dirt. Each group was able to plant around 4 trees! After a busy morning filled with planting and an assortment of wildlife, we enjoyed a delicious lunch of chicken soup with noodles, vegetables, and some eggs. For our sides, we had rice, a chicken dish, and jack fruit. We finished our lunch (many said it was the tastiest meal of the trip so far) and packed up all of our stuff to go to a new place to stay – The Pavillion Rim Kwai Resort! After settling in and relaxing for some time, we met back up with the Our Land Team at their eco center. At Our Land, we got the opportunity to play lots of fun games, including hula hoop racing, hula hoop levitation, coin toss race, and story of stuff (thinking about where our food comes from and all of the long processes it takes to get to us). After playing all these games we settled down for a competitive game of spoons. There stated to be tons of bees so we were a bit distracted as we ate a scrumptious dinner of chicken, watermelon, rice, and vegetables. After dinner, we made our way back to our new hotel and consumed some delicious ice cream! To end the night off, we played a fun game of telephone where we could only act-out the word. We finished up the game as it got dark and got ready for our exciting day on the house boat to follow our night of rest.
Blog 4: June 14
Written by Xochitl and Citlali C.
This morning, we indulged in a breakfast spread consisting of sticky rice sans coconut, succulent pork and chicken skewers, eggs cooked to perfection, toast adorned with an array of flavorful jams, fried rice, and a piping hot cup of coffee to kickstart our day. Equipped with our trusty WISHC essentials – water, insect repellent, sunscreen, hat, and clothes – we dove into a thought-provoking discussion on the farmers and elephant conflict, exploring potential solutions to this pressing issue. Our transportation for the day was a vibrant school bus adorned with colorful art, which took us to a rock dam where we worked as a team to pass rocks into a wired crate for the foundation of our dam. Then we had a refreshing treat of mango coconut ice cream, while Jake and Xochitl opted for a sparkling soda. We then embarked on a thrilling river adventure, taking the plunge and jumping off a tire. Our next stop was the eco-friendly Our Land Eco Center, where we changed into dry clothes and indulged in a game of chess and card games. We were then introduced to a variety of snakes, including the Burmese python, reticulated python, white-lipped pit viper, and monocled cobra. Sofia bravely volunteered to be a test dummy, demonstrating how to wrap an arm in case of a snake bite. We even had the opportunity to hold the snakes, with the exception of Xochitl since she was NOT interested. After a bumpy but energetic ride back in the truck, we sat down to a scrumptious meal of chicken soup, fried rice, white rice, and spicy chicken and bamboo. We then reflected on our highs and lows of the day before engaging in a lively game of spoons, culminating in a restful night’s sleep.
Blog 3: June 13
Written by Connor W. and Jack S.
Today, we started our morning with a delicious Asian breakfast consisting of fried rice, eggs, chicken soup, and more! We then hit the road for 3 hours, traveling from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi. Once we arrived, OurLand, the group we will work with for the next few days, prepared a beautiful lunch containing of rice, fried chicken and mushrooms, pad see ew, Asian soup, and fresh fruit. After lunch, we sat down in the conference cabin to learn more about what would come in the next few days, such as floating down a river and making a check dam. Then came info on OurLand, how it came to be, and the mindset they wanted us to have while staying there. Once orientation was concluded, it was time to head to the river. We all piled back into our respective vans and took a short ride. When we arrived at the dock, we had a debriefing about safety and all the exciting wildlife we would see on the river. We put on our life jackets upside down, creating something similar to a diaper, and jumped in for our river float down to the OurLand sanctuary. The water was a great temperature, and the currents pulled us along together. Soon, we were all joking, taking funny photos, and having a good time. After 40 minutes, we arrived at the OurLand dock, where we started our hike to their headquarters. On this hike, one of the OurLand leaders, Jacob, taught us more about how the elephant is a “keystone” species, meaning the ecosystem needs it to survive. We even saw elephant foot prints. Eventually, we arrived at the main base. Then, as we waited for dinner, some of us played card games while others challenged Jacob in chess. Finally, we all smelled the dinner and excitedly got ready. For our last meal of the day, we ate a vegetarian meal, including watermelon, rice, fried corn and zucchini, egg, and cabbage salad. After we had finished our dinner, we all went back to the card games and played spoons (which still has yet to be completed). Then, we gathered around the campfire for one last meeting. At the campfire, we talked about what expectations we wanted to have throughout the trip, which we wrote down on a whiteboard. Then as a fun bit close to the end, we immediately saw scorpions glowing under a black light and got to look for them around the area. Once the campfire ended, we all tiredly got into the vans to head home. At the cabins, we settled down and began to prepare for a new day of excitement.
Blog 2: June 12
Written by Veronica C and Sofia H
Today, we started the day off by having our first breakfast at the Christian Guest House. It consisted of toast with toppings like jam, butter, or peanut butter. The drinks were orange juice, tea, coffee, and milk. There was also sausage and eggs that some people like Jack and Connor willingly ate. After breakfast, we had orientation and went over our itinerary for the following days to come. During the meeting, Bo taught us how to say a few basic words in Thai like hello (sawadee) and thank you (kop kun). Then, we had a few minutes to gather our belongings and we soon headed out for a packed day full of adventure. We stopped for lunch at a traditional Chinese/Thai restaurant. We ordered a variety of noodles with meats and vegetables, and soups. We left the restaurant with full stomachs and followed Bo to the sky train. The sky train was like the metro, but much cleaner and quieter. We then walked over to the long boats and met up with Prem who was our guide for the day. She took us on a boat ride through the city’s river which had beautiful views. We passed through the canals and got a chance to look at many Thai houses. We even saw huge dragon-like creatures that we were told were lizards. The boat took us to the temple Wat Pho. We explored the grounds and learned about the Buddha. Our tour guide taught us about Buddhism values while it started to rain. We had to take our shoes before entering one of the temple rooms. As soon as we walked inside, we saw a large altar with a Buddha statue at the top and flowers and golden decorations below it. Then, we walked to another room (we had to take our shoes off again) that contained a massive Buddha statue laying on its side. Everyone took pictures with its abnormally large and straight toes. Afterwards, we walked back to the boat that took us to another temple. This temple was called Wat Arun. There was beautiful architecture that took 300 years to build. One of the towers is about 70 meters tall! That’s taller than all of us combined! We had time to explore the tower and take pictures. We saw many traditional Thai outfits. Then, we went back to the boat and it went so fast that we got splashed. We got delicious boba on the way back, then we came back to the hotel to freshen up and then took the underground subway to get another mall with a big food court. We got cards that had money on them which we used to pay for our food. There were many food options, so we got to choose what we wanted to eat. Vero and Sofia got delicious chicken with rice. The others got things such as pork, soup, salad, and mango sticky rice. We all got smoothies, too. The mango was the best. Then, we took the underground subway back to the hotel. We took a quick stop at 7-11 to get bottled water, then we had a debrief in front of the hotel before we said goodnight and recharged for the 3-hour road trip to our host community tomorrow.
Blog 1
Written by Becca Sheffield, Walking Tree Program Leader
Hello from Bangkok, Thailand! The group arrived safe and sound today after the long journey, and took in the city as we headed to our hotel for some time to relax and settle in. In the evening we walked to the shopping complex nearby to exchange money at the bank, and then sat down for our first Thai dinner together! In Thailand it is common to share food at meals, so we ordered an assortment of classic Thai dishes and all got to try some of everything. Tom yum (spicy soup) and pad thai were popular favorites, and the drink menu gave us lots of exciting and flavorful iced tea and smoothie options to choose from. After our delicious meal we stopped at the 7 Eleven to grab desert and extra snacks (squid-flavored Lays included, for some) before making our way back to the hotel for an early night so we can be well-rested for our day of exploration around Bangkok tomorrow!