Thai New Year and Trip to the North

This past week has been Thai New Year (called "songkran"), so we had a few days off school. We decided to drive up north and visit our Khmu friends, and try and escape the heat by heading for the mountains. We took Melody and Kat (friend from language school) and loaded up the pickup, and headed off!

It was great to see Pastors Sohn and Khun (pictured) and their families, and to worship with them on Sunday, and to just hang out a bit. Below is a picture with Khun's family, plus a few local kids! Kat, Melody, Jason, and Bob.

This is the traditional Khmu hut the Khun built next to his house for guests. We actually slept in a different one, because it had a ceiling fan! Not much sleep though, because the crazy roosters started crowing at 2 a.m.!!

Songkran has been called "the world's largest water-fight". We experienced it first hand. People either stand on the sides of the road and sling water at passersby, or they pile into the back of pickups with trash cans full of water and soak anything and everthing they see! This goes on for about 3 days. It is really fun, but sadly also dangerous because alot of drinking and partying goes on at the same time and there are many accidents as a result.

It was a great trip, and we are thankful for the opportunity. We drove almost 2000 kilometers without any problems, found nice, affordable places to stay, ate some amazing food and had a great time for fellowship with friends. God is good!