Udon Thani

Meeting Fa for the first time was one of the best parts of this trip by far. Suppara Mawong, or "Fa" which means blue sky, and I have been writing letters back and forth for 6 years through Compassion Int. It is quite an understatement to say that it was a joy to finally meet her. After our trip to Cambodia, we flew to Udon Thani. Compassion arranged for someone to pick us up from our B&B in Udon Thani and drive us to Fa's village just 2 hours away and even translate for us. We got to visit her elementary school and home. In the afternoon Fa's mom prepared a huge delicious Thai lunch that we shared with Fa's church teachers. Her little brother "Pi" was hilarious. We brought him a toy car from Cambodia and he was rolling it across the table and running around with it whooping and hollering making sure everyone understood that he was the center of attention---which he was. We were so honored to meet Fa's wonderful family. We'll never forget it.

 Fa's parents:

 Her church teachers:

 Looking through some of my old letters that I sent to Fa years ago

These were some post cards I sent her from...it looks like Edinburgh, Chicago, and New Orleans I think.

And look! There's a picture from a long time ago of Andrew Oliver and I with "Welcome Back" signs at Snow Patrol's second concert in Tulsa, OK.

 Back to our B&B. We went for a bike ride to the very nearby lake at sunset. Breathtakingly beautiful.

 One of the B&B owners was a gourmet chef. Yes please. He and his wife are from Belgium and had lots to talk about. We had a great time chatting with them, especially with Tony- the chef- who loved to tell us all the details of how he made each dish. What a character!

 Delicious sandwiches and a Hungarian goulash.

 Don't ask me why, but Tony insisted on including home made french fries and mayo with the goulash. I must say it was a very nice addition.

 Dessert!

 Wow, breakfast!!! What a great trip.