Greetings!
Greetings from Thailand! After a long journey (almost 40 hours on planes and in airports), we have arrived safely in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is the first stop on our itinerary that takes us to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and a Cambodian village. After stopping in the Hong Kong airport, and a seven-hour layover in the Bangkok airport (sleeping on cold floors is not too comfortable!), we finally stepped on Thai ground around 8am yesterday. After reaching our hotel and taking a short nap, we attended a Thai cooking class. Our instructor led us through the markets, where we learned about traditional Thai ingredients. Then, at her kitchen, we prepared various Thai dishes, such as spring rolls, green curry, and sticky rice with mango. The names of some of the other dishes I don't know how to pronounce, much less spell, but luckily we each received a cookbook with the recipes. Now we can cook Thai for you guys back home when we return!
Today we had a very "interesting" trek through the hills around Chiang Mai to visit a hill tribe. The guide had promised us that it would be "easy," but this was definitely not the case!. It was very steep and very long--eight and a half hours! There was lots of mud, sweat, a few tears, and pouring rain involved, but in the end we all agreed that it was a great time. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous! Tomorrow we have a day planned with elephant riding, rafting, waterfalls, and much, much more. We will definitely keep everyone updated, and we hope to get some pictures up!
Thank you all so much for your thoughts, prayers, and all your comments here! Halfway across the world, it means so much to stay in contact with you all!
I am going on this trip because I want to develop a deeper appreciation of the Cambodian culture. By opening my eyes and learning to respect the culture, people, and health care system, I will become a better physical therapist. Through cultural exchange, I will bring my knowledge to the Cambodian physical therapists, while they will teach me far more than I can imagine.
...Personal Thoughts on the Journey
Well, we are getting ready to head out to Cambodia early Monday morning. We will first stop in Thailand to visit Chaing Mai which is one of Thailand most cultural villages. We will stay there two days and hike the water falls, visit the night bizzare, see a butterfly garden and possibly ride an elephant. We are so excited about this trip for many reasons. We will see old friends, do some hard work, learn about a new culture, withstand the heat and meet new friends. 
