Markets, temples, and elephants: exploring Thailand’s culture

After a quiet bus ride as our team processed leaving the GROW home, we arrived in Chiang Mai. We had booked three days at the end of the trip for our team to debrief together, as well as explore the land we were visiting. While we enjoyed the time together and excursions, I believe most of us would have rather stayed three more days at GROW. It felt a bit pointless to explore when you knew the hardships those we met were facing. Nevertheless, our itinerary was set.

After getting settled in our hotel, we made our way out to the Saturday Night Market. The market took up numerous city blocks of Chiang Mai, with vendors on each side and down the middle of the street for as far as you could see in either direction. There, we found the beloved elephant pants, paintings, elephant statues, and trinkets as well as a variety of food and temples on every corner. There were thousands of people out exploring that evening and it was hot; much hotter than it was in Wiang Pa Pao. The heat in the city was stifling. I’m not sure if it was the heat or the amount of people, or a mixture of both, but I quickly became overwhelmed as did a few other coworkers. We made our way back to the hotel with a few treasures and rested outside on the porch. Eventually, our full group joined us. It was wonderful to have some down time to further connect and relax as a team.

An hour or so later, I began to feel my breath getting shorter and shorter until the point where I was gasping for air. I did my best to hide it with the team around until I couldn’t anymore and walked away from the group into the street. At this point, the gasps were greater, and I was struggling to breathe. I was unsure what to do next. Had my medical issues finally caught up to me here? Why? I worked physical labor all week in the heat, managed many schedule changes as well as the various workings of our group, and was challenged emotionally daily. Now, here, I was finally relaxed and I couldn’t breathe? My body was going to fail me here? I had never had an encounter like this, and eventually it got to the point that it scared me enough where I called for Randy, in hopes he could bring me water. He came out to check on me and immediately his demeanor changed. He quickly assessed the situation and saw my panic, as well as the tears I was fighting off in the corners of my eyes. “I’ll be okay,” I shared. “I just need some water.” My voice was not reassuring. “I’m just trying to decide if I should call an ambulance,” he said, to which I promptly stated between gasps that he wouldn’t dare after he refused to get his calf checked out and I let him hobble around on it for two days. “Okay, I hear you,” he calmly agreed with a smirk. He gently talked me through it for 5-10 minutes, and slowly I was able to catch my breath again. With each gasp getting shorter, I asked him to return to the group. I took a few more minutes to regain my composure, then rejoined as well.

That interaction with Randy was an important moment of the trip for me. I still don’t know why the episode happened or continued to happen in lesser scale throughout the rest of the trip and even when I got home, but Randy’s calm demeanor reassured me. In every episode after that point, I closed my eyes and repeated the words he had told me that night. “You can breathe, I can see you breathing. You are okay.” It didn’t help the episodes but decreased my anxiety significantly. After everyone went to bed that evening, him and I stayed up a while longer to chat. We talked about my ongoing medical issues, which I had shared with him prior to the trip, and he helped me process what happened that night. The words he shared were impactful. “Kayla, your body completed everything you wanted it to do this trip. We weren’t sure you would make it here at all, and yet you completed the physical labor every day all while processing big emotions. You did good. But your adrenaline was running nonstop for the last 8-10 days, as you were determined to not let your medical issues stop you. Now, you are at rest and the adrenaline is wearing off, your body is tired. You completed your mission. You should be proud. You did good. You made it through the hard part, we’ll get you through the next three days.” Tears flooded my eyes on the brink of spilling. His calm demeanor and leadership this trip and the meaningful conversations he initiated with me a few different times left an impact. His reassurance that evening was everything. It was such a blessing to experience the trip alongside him, and I was grateful for the friendship that would follow me back home.

The next morning came early, but our team loaded up in our excursion van as we would do the next three days. Frist, our team kayaked through the jungle, taking in the Thai countryside as we paddled. It was nice to have a day on the river amid the heat and to see more of the farmland. We then completed a cave tour, hiking down into the cool, dark cave to see the formations and unsurprisingly, another temple for Buddha. Buddhism was everywhere here, and you couldn’t turn the corner without seeing a temple. Back in Chiang Mai, we headed to a Muay Thai fight in the city to understand a different element of the Thai culture: boxing.

The following day, our team hiked to the top of a Buddhist temple on a mountain, the Sky Temple. Before we could hike though, we traveled in the back up a pickup as one of the monks charged up the mountainside at a quick speed. It was steep, and a few on our team were a little uneasy, but the views and wind blowing through my hair provided me joy. Our hiking experience was special, as it typically was a very busy tourist attraction. However, due to the fires in the area, they had closed the hike. They reopened it for our group, allowing us the place to ourselves.

After a winded climb up the 540 stairs, we ended at the Buddhist temple, with an incredible view of the mountains. As I stood atop the highest platform and looked over the mountains and temple, I couldn’t stop thinking about God. I always connected with him most in nature. But as I looked around at the Buddhist shrines, I had one thought: they missed the point. Thailand truly was a beautiful country – natural waterfalls, hot springs, mountains, culture, people, and all – but it was filled with Buddhist temples everywhere you turned. They had so much beauty, but yet their culture was broken here. They did not consider the hill tribes who grew up in the country citizens. There was extreme poverty in the rural areas and yet plenty of wealth to fix the problems, but the government did nothing but further the problem. Their religion was prevalent everywhere, worshipping idols of Buddha, but they didn’t know Jesus and they didn’t love their neighbor. They missed the whole point. That thought shot chills through my spine as I peered out over the valley. How beautiful a country and yet, how sad. I stood in that Buddhist temple and prayed they would find Jesus here. Though only 1% of the country was Christian, I prayed the fervent spirit that lived on GROW’s campus would begin to spread throughout the country. I prayed for evangelization, to open eyes and change hearts.

After a quick lunch, we then headed to a national park, where we hiked to see a waterfall and took a quick dip in the hot springs. The hot springs, situated amid the jungle and next to the river, were quite beautiful, though the sulfur smell and the many baskets of eggs immersed in the scolding water made my face scrunch. As my teammates winced at putting their feet in the hot water, I slowly made my way all in the way in from shoulders down. It was hot, but my body was tired and the water felt incredible. After five minutes, when I couldn’t take it anymore, I moved over to the fresh, cool river for a dip. I was hoping the contrast would help my circulation for my poor ankles, which were now swollen enough that you couldn’t see the bones. After walking around in the heat for a week and a half, they had their own heartbeat, and the water provided relief.

The next day, our group had an excursion booked to see the elephant sanctuary. After a two-hour drive, 30 minutes of which were spent winding up a mountain on a very tight road, we arrived. Getting out of the van, there was little in sight. “Where are we?” we all asked. Our driver was on the phone for the next 10 minutes and we wondered around a bit confused at where we were going and where the elephants were. After trying to converse with our driver while he was on the phone, he assured me someone would come and get us. I was getting uneasy. About five minutes later, a man of small stature appeared, complete with a joint tucked behind his ear. “Oh, stellar,” I thought. “What did we get ourselves into? Do we cut our loss and leave?” We didn’t. We followed this petite man down the mountainside, taking in the staggered rice fields unlike any we had seen before.

After walking through the field and across a rickety bridge, we arrived at the Elephant Sanctuary, a scantily built structure in the middle of nowhere. Here, we met the man’s son, who explained to us that his family had raised elephants for many generations. They kept them in their natural environment and did what was best for the animals. Shortly after, they handed us smocks and we each picked up some treats before we were off to see the elephants. It was incredible to see how large they were, and their age astounded me – one was 35 while the others were in their 60s – as I wasn’t aware that elephants lived that long. They were smart creatures, and their trunks tickled as they grabbed the sugarcane out of my hand.

After seeing the elephants, our guide said we were off to see a waterfall, for which we were unprepared. We followed this man through the jungle on an odd “trail”. It was hot, and our group did not have on the right shoes or bring enough water for this hike. But alas, we neared the end and he said we just had to cross the bridge to get to the waterfall. This bridge was a log laid across the river, clearly lacking any handrails. I was unsure if our entire group, including myself, would make it across, and I thanked God for keeping each member of our team safe as they made it to the other side. Our reward was a beautiful waterfall, to which we happily made our way into to cool off. Though the hike was unexpected and slightly concerning as a leader, following this man through a rough path in the jungle, it was an unforgettable experience and one I enjoyed. To truly see the jungle in that manner impressed me, and yet, is not a hike I would want to do again.

After a 2.5-hour drive back to the city, our team spent our a few hours that evening in Chiang Mai before heading to the airport. As we were in line to check our bags to go through customs, we were given a tremendous surprise: Faa and a group of kids came to send us off at the airport. There was joy and hugs as we reunited and yet said goodbye, all in one. It was great to share those 15 minutes with the kids and end the trip with the reason we were there. We were grateful for that short encounter.

After our bags were checked and a few photos taken, we said our final goodbyes. Our team walked upstairs and entered the security line. A few minutes later, the kids and Faa reappeared. They waited on the side and hugged each one of us as we came around the turnarounds. They wanted to soak up every moment possible together. When we finally entered the security checkpoint, we waved goodbye for good, each of us beaming. It was a very memorable ending to a very impactful trip. After two weeks in this land that was no longer foreign, we were going home, and it was time, for my teammates missed their families.