The Real Orient Express

We're home from our great vacation in Thailand. Still haven't completely unpacked from that! These pictures are from the interesting and beautiful trip on the train to and from the airport. For those of you who were wondering if I (Kelli) am actually over here, I included some pictures of me! We were at a slight disadvantage getting tickets, seeing as we had never ridden a train before and we don't speak much Chinese! But it all turned out OK, as we miraculously had English speakers exactly where we needed them, or else sign language worked really well. We had a "hard sleeper" cabin on the way there and a "soft sleeper" cabin (as Brooks likes to say "FIRST CLASS!!!") on the way back. This way we all had a place to stretch out and relax on the long trip. But why sleep when you can see what we saw?!? The views were like something off of the National Geographic Channel. Absolutely breathtaking - mountains, ravines, waterfalls, stuff we never thought we'd actually see with our own eyes. We can't believe this has all existed since the beginning of time, just over here on the other side of the globe! The train also went through the Stone Forest, many miles of amazing rock formations for as far as the eye can see. We enjoyed the trip on the train almost as much as our time on vacation! If the looks of Sidney the Ham suggest anything about the rest of us, it's time to get back home -