December 10th - Day 1 of Tuk Tuk Tour

I posted the blog before we got back to our hotel last night and took this photo of Poonty (our guide), Yent (our driver) and the two of us. 

They were real troupers dealing with all the issues we had yesterday. 

This is the lack of a view from our room. 

Looking down it’s even better 😁

The front of the hotel. Juniper has scheduled a Grab (uber) to take us and all her bags (she’s been shopping) to the hotel meeting place this morning. 

The hotel is right next to 7 eleven. 

Walking through the market on the way to find breakfast. 

Thailand sparkling water, my new favorite. 

 

We shared a ham and cheese on jalapeno bagel. They are hand rolled and baked fresh daily. It was pretty tasty. 

There was a no parking sign here. 🤷‍♀️

Another pagoda

There are ten people, 6 Tuk Tuks, in our tour and only two are self drive. The ‘A’ stamp on the driving permit messed everyone up. Two couples are only doing 5 days so it will be 6 of us then. Bruce (black shirt - Australian) is the owner of the company and he’s filling in for his son Tom, who’s on holiday.

We have all gathered at the meeting point, and everyone is at least 30 min early.  We have:

Lisa from Melbourne AU

Martin and Sue from Bristol UK 5 days only 

Carol and Stan from Essex UK 5 days only 

Vinai from London UK 

Bronwyn and Kevin from Marlborough New Zealand 

Juniper and Carol from Texas US 

AO is our driver 

The Thai baht is different lengths and different colors for the denominations, making it easier to distinguish. 

We’re in a bus heading to our home base where we’ll meet up with our Tuk Tuks. We have started the tour and it’s 15 minutes early. Yay! Everyone seems to be keen on being on time. 

Checked into our home base for the next two nights. The room and bathroom are massive. 

And we have a lovely patio 

Our Tuk Tuks, they are all named after someone the owner knows and admires. After the training, we will be in J S for the duration. 

They gave us water bottles to fill and keep us hydrated 

We had loads of fun driving the Tuk Tuks around the obstacle course, but I’m glad we’ll have a driver so we can enjoy the scenery and be able to talk to each other. 

After driver training we walked over to the restaurant for lunch. It was floor seating by a pond with koi carp, catfish and tilapia. 

A few people opted for stools 

Cashew chicken and fried spring rolls

A hot pepper sauce that Juniper loved. She’s just like her daddy when it comes to spicy foods. 

I had a kiwi soda and Juniper had Thai tea with milk 

Feeding the fish 

Coffee beans will be harvested now through February 

And we’re off! After lunch, the two self-drivers had to pass a driving test. Then we headed off to a see another temple. 

They are growing onions right now. They alternate between rice, onions, and corn. 

Our driver laughed at this farmers hat. It is quite large. 

Flooding the rows 

We had to stop to let the cow cross over. 

Our little caravan of 6 Tuk Tuks. 

We stopped at a temple so Juniper had to put on a skirt to cover her knees. 

This water is crystal clear and flows from a spring. They believe it’s holy water and people take some home with them. 

Teak trees 

They are working on this temple and have been for many years and will be for many more. It seems the only part complete is the roof. 

Juniper finds a friend just about everywhere. 

Stopped along the road for true northern pork sausage (very spicy!!!) and a deep fried banana which was much needed after the bite of sausage. 

Cooking the sausage and chicken 

Our Tuk Tuk has a cool box and a basket with toilet tissue (because they don’t have it in the toilets) hand sanitizer, bug spray and hand wipes.  

We made one more stop for everyone to buy drinks for their room. 

Our hotel

After checking in and getting cleaned up, we loaded up in the mini vans to go to dinner. 

They just kept bringing more and more food out. 

Chicken and coconut soup with cubes of chicken blood 

Sautéed vegetables with shrimp 

Fish curry

Flaming chicken

It was a nice day, making new friends around the table. Everyone seems very compatible, which is a good thing since we’ll be spending a lot of time together over the next several days. Isn’t it interesting how the days of my advent seem to tie so well to our days here. Today we met people from all over the world, whose deepest need is for Jesus, even though they don’t realize for whom and what they are longing.  

Dear Desire of every nation

Jesus is the “hope of all the earth” as well as the “joy of every longing heart.” Between these phrases are the words “dear desire of every nation.” This phrase may sound a bit unusual, but in it we see the influence of Haggai 2:7. Interestingly enough, this phrase “desire of the nations” also appears in “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” Wesley’s other famous Christmas song, pointing to some special affinity that Charles Wesley seems to have to this verse and title.

This line seemingly quotes Haggai 2:7 from the King James Version (which would have been used by Wesley) and says, “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.” This verse states that Christ is the desire of all nations, regardless of whether they recognize His Lordship over them or not. One of the Christmas truths that this hymn encourages us to dwell on is that although Christ came as an infant, He now rules and reigns over all nations as King (Psalm 22:28).

All peoples, tribes, and tongues are made in the image of God and are created to have an innate (though shadowed by sin) desire for this King to rule (Rom. 1:18-30; Acts 17:26-27). One day, all nations will walk by the light of the rule of Christ (Rev. 20:24). This is part of the great hope we have in Christmas, even amidst great political threats towards the Church in our world.

Jesus the Messiah is the one, the only one, who can answer the need, the deepest need, of every land and every people. He is the only hope of salvation for every tribe and tongue and people and nation.