December 25, 2004

So Merry Christmas to all from Mae Sariang in northwestern Thailand. We have just had a great Christmas dinner and will head back to the hotel shortly but we have had an amazing few days. We arrived here three days ago traveling from Sukhothai to Mae Sot and then to here. The last part of the journey was made in the back of a pick up truck with lots of local people dressed in beautiful colourful clothing and at one point a lot of pretty stinky fish! Along the way we saw some working elephants going down the road as well as goats, cows, water buffalo and lots of friendly children shouting hello as we drove by. We also passed one of the largest refugee camps along the Thai/Myanmar boarder - over 30,000 people live there and while it looked very neat and orderly, bob-wire fences surround it tell the reality of a rather prison-like life. This camp has been there for over 10 years....a hard existence. We met a boy on our way from Mae Sariang that was studying english at the camp school. He said his teacher was from Australia and while it was hard he seemed to like it. He was coming home for a week for Christmas - yes a Christian - there are more in this corner of Thailand than I would have expected.

There was a church in Mae Sot that I stopped in and talked to a missionary there. And when we arrived here I saw a Catholic Church. I walked to it yesterday to find out if any one was holding Christmas services and they told me that while there was nothing at the church in town that they would be going to a village near by that night (xmas eve) and that we were welcome to come. So at 7pm Tom and I arrived at the church and piled into a pick up truck with the nuns and priests and drove 10 k to a village of Karen minority people. We had no idea what to expect - I had been told by a visiting French priest that we would go from 7 to 9pm to the village and have some sort of service but that was about it. When we arrived there seemed to be many motor bikes parked everywhere and as we came around the corner we were surprised to see about 2000 people all gathered for a Christmas eve service outside in the village. There was a church building where a smaller short service was held and then a full outdoor Catholic mass was said while everyone crouched or sat on the ground. The service was in Thai and Karen neither of which we understood of course but they did sing Oh Holy Night, Silent Night, and Oh Come All ye Faithful which we sang along in English too...of course the people around us found this strange but they smiled and the kids stared with lots of curiousity. It was really a special experience. Oh Come All Ye Faithful was sung as we went up to take communion and I sang with gusto. Many people came and shook our hands and said Merry Christmas...a few spoke English but if not it was easy to understand their smiles and hand shakes. After the service we sat with the priests and watch some of their Christmas pagent. The children of the various villages enacted the christmas play and then different groups of children dressed in their tribal dress did various dances. It was very special and we are thankful that we were able to have this experience. We were both feeling a bit home sick for our families and celebrating Christmas with a big Christian family from Thailand and Burma helped ease that feeling and was just amazing, great, incredible.....that about says it.

We were able to talk to many members of our family today and are sorry that we cannot speak to all of our friends in all the corners of the world. Please know that we are thinking of you often!

So while we had been a bit nervous of being so far away on Christmas we were blessed with an unforgettable few days in the hills of Thailand. This is a special corner of the world - we recommend the journey to everyone - especially the six hour truck ride from Mae Sot to Mae Sariang - while long and a bit uncomfortable you see wonderful parts of the countryside and get to ride with some amazing people who will all smile and be curious about you.

We will go from here to Soppong tomorrow and then to Chang Mai for New Years. On New Year's day we will fly to Phuket and on Jan 3 get on a liveaboard dive boat for 5 days of diving before heading out of Thailand sometime around Jan 11 or 12. On to Singapore and then Australia on Jan 17.

Not sure when we will get on again so take care and we will try to update you when we can.

Oh by the by we were able to buy a small tinsel Christmas tree here and I decorated it with one ornament I bought from some of the refugee women. We also hung out a pair of hiking socks for Santa and he managed to put some small things in it for us! Can you imagine - he found us even out here! I took some photos with the tree and will see if can load them next time I am on.

Smiles to everyone! Hugs

Pam