Jerusalem

From Bangkok we flew to Tokyo again, and in Tokyo we debated were to go next. We were planning on Europe, but didn't make a couple standby flights in Bangkok and so we did not have as much time. We almost went to Australia, but then I asked Keith what his favorite choice was between Sydney, Dubai, Istanbul, Tel Aviv and London. He responded, "Your last choice would be Tel Aviv, right? because you have already been there..." But it was the opposite, I was ecstatic! I was so thrilled that I would get to show my husband around a place that means so much to me. Fall of 2010 I spent the semester in Jerusalem. It was the best semester ever and I really fell in love with the Holy Land. We had one day at home and I packed all my Jerusalem journals (haha which just ended up being a big pain) From Denver we flew to DC and had a few hour lay over so we took the metro and walked around the national mall. We had a nice picnic in between the Washington Memorial and the White House and then went to the Air and Space Muesum. And of course saw our favorite Ellsworth Plane!

From DC to Newark to Tel Aviv.... we were on our way! Once in Tel Aviv, we realized the car rental would be way more expensive then we anticipated, so we took the city bus, which ended up being a fantastic choice. It was cheap, convenient and fast. Soon we were in JERUSALEM! (Where my heart is always) We walked around new Jerusalem and the Old City.

We fell asleep early every night at the Mount of Olives Hotel (I guess you could say the 4 weeks of jet lag was beginning to catch up with us!) The plus side of falling asleep early is waking up early. The hotel gave us all you can eat breakfast and Keith loved the food. In fact, we would eat so much at breakfast we hardly ate the rest of the day! (although this is a bad representation of the amount of food we ate..)

Our first sight was the Garden Tomb. It is such a special, sacred spot. There is such a calm spirit here that testified again that, "He who died on Calvary’s cross arose again in wondrous splendor as the Son of God, the Master of life and death." I absolutely love this video and testimony of Pres. Hinckley. 

 The we walked on top of the old city walls (Rampart Walk) and hung out at the Austrian Hostel

We also went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place were many people think was ancient Golgotha, where Christ was Crucified, and the sepulchre were Christ was buried.

The Western Wall is a remnant of the ancient wall surrounding the temple! It is one of my favorite spots in Jerusalem. We joined in the Jewish tradition of putting a piece of paper with names and prayers in the cracks of the wall. Here is my hand pointing at our note.

BYU JERUSALEM CENTER!!!!! This was maybe the highlight of our trip. I am obsessed with the BYU Jerusalem center. I think it may be the greatest place in the world. We walked up to the center and I saw the security guard, and he immediately recognized me! I was shocked. It melted my heart, I was so happy. He took us inside for a tour and I saw a few more of my old friends. We saw a video clip, heard an organ recital, used the olive press and got a tour of the Center. Really I cant describe what a wonderful semester I had at BYUJ, it made me miss all my Jeru friends. I refuse to think that was my last trip to Jerusalem. I hope there are many more trips there in the future. I keep pressuring Keith to practice the Organ so we can go on a service mission there when we are older. This is a picture of my special little spot where I would go regularly to listen to the Organ, read Preach My Gospel and write in my journal :)

The Dome of the Rock! Aka the very most contested piece of real estate on earth! When we waited in line for the Dome of the Rock it was a Thursday and so we saw like 8 Jewish Bar Mitzvahs! It was so fun!!

 hahaha I love this photo bomb man in our picture, we didn't even notice!

 We looooved this watermelon popsicle.

We went to most the major sites and churches in Jerusalem. Including the Church of all Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden of Gethsemane is another one of my favorite places, I just didn't do a real good job of taking pictures. (check out this video!) I am very grateful that I got to visit the Holy Land with my husband. Oh Jerusalem, we will never forget you!

Thailand

Thailand was our favorite of all our adventures! After going to church in Dullas, we flew to Tokyo, and from Tokyo to Bangkok. Once in Bangkok, we took a shuttle to yet another international airport in Bangkok and stayed in the airport from about 1 am-5 am. Here is Keith sleeping on the airport floor. Isn't he cuuuute?! He is such a good travel partner. The best!

Then we flew further south to Phuket. I slept almost the entire ride (as I do on pretty much every flight) but when we were landing in Phuket, Keith woke me up saying, "Chelsea, I think youll want to see this!.." Aaaah!! So pretty!

From there we took a taxi, then a 2+ hour boat ride to the PhiPhi Islands. Talk about beautiful.

There we stayed at a little bungalow (only $15)

On the island we enjoyed tons of fruit shakes and Thai pancakes.

And of course, tons of  Pad Thai, my favorite

We went on a few hikes...

Got a thai massages (an hour oil massage for about $8, best 8 dollars ever spent!)

Played in the water...

 One of our days there we went on a sea excursion. Such a fun boat!

Our first stop was monkey beach. I remember hearing about this from several people, and seeing it on the bachelor, and it looked and sounded so fun...and it was, but the monkeys were evil! Keith wasn't even messing with them and one hissed at him, and then bit him! It sacred everyone a little bit, but it was mostly funny. Everyone was taking pictures of Keith and the monkey haha!

                                                        Then we saw Viking Cave

                                                                And then Maya Bay!

 Our last stop was snorkeling. I have never been a big fan of snorkeling and we had 45 minutes to do it. I told Keith to go with the guide and I would join him after 15 minutes (bc I knew I wouldn't need the whole time to snorkel.) About 10 minutes later Keith and the guide come back and tell me they have seen a shark!!! About 5 feet long! I couldn't believe it. I got in the water (brave huh?!) and although I didn't see the shark, it was the coolest snorkeling I have ever done. By faaaar. I went from not really enjoying snorkeling to loving it!!! It was cooler than an aquarium. I have never seen so many unique and bright fish!

Almost the entire time the water was extremely calm, but at one point on the boat ride we caught these huge 8 or 9 feet waves. There was about 15 of us getting thrown around on this little boat. It was 95% fun 5% terrifying. It felt like we were so close to capsizing!

After a few days on the Phi Phi islands we took a boat to Krabi. There we ate some really hot thai food and rode an elephant! It was a great ride too. We even got to go in the water with Urdu (the elephants name) and she was so happy!

They also gave us this crazy yummy fruit, I cant remember what its called. As you can see by the plate, we ate a lot of it!

We flew from Krabi to Bangkok. We spent a few nights in Bangkok. I was not prepared for how huge that city is.  Ive never seen anything like it. It was fun to be in such a gigantic city. One night we stayed at a little hotel outside of Bangkok and also really enjoyed walking around the streets in a not-so-tourist-place. This huge serving of Pad Thai was like a dollar. Yum!

                                 Ah, Thailand was such a dream. We need to go back again.