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20 December 1978 Wednesday. Following a stopover in Kuwait, we arrived in Bangkok. Miraculously Linda's malaria fever had broken; or maybe we couldn't measure it since the air temperature was also very hot. Nevertheless, she felt much better. To be safe we spent the rest of the day relaxing at my parents' home. As my Dad was pastor again for the Evangelical Church of Bangkok on Soi 10 Sukhumvit Road, which he had founded in the mid '60's, we stayed in the parsonage. It was great to be back in Thailand; the first time we had visited since our departure in July 1975.
21 December 1978 Thursday. Before Christmas we had time to go to Hua Hin for a couple of days on the beach. My parents, Wayne and Aunt Minnie, my sister Judy and her husband David (who were in Thailand for a year to manage the Alliance Guest Home), my cousin Larry and his wife Nancy (who were in Thailand for a year or two working with the Hmong refugees fleeing Laos), and Linda and I all went together. Our first stop was at the Rose Gardens about an hour and half west of Bangkok. The resort was
founded by a former mayor of Bangkok who had been a friend of my parents for many years. We watched the cultural show in the afternoon, and then spent the night at one of the Thai style houses there.
22 December 1978 Friday. We drove two hours to Cha'am, a resort town just to the north of Hua Hin and stayed at a nice resort that night. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach and went into Hua Hin for dinner at the Railway Hotel.
23 December 1978 Saturday. We took a boat from Cha'am to Khao Takiep Mountain near the fishing village at Nong Kae where the Presbyterian cottages were located, and where we spent many a vacation as a child. We climbed the mountain before returning to Cha'am and to Bangkok. Linda and I celebrated our anniversary in the traditional fashion by eating at the Swiss Inn at Siam Square and buying jewelry for Linda at Honest Jewelry, owned by Manut, a former English studen of my Mom's.
24 December 1978 Sunday. We attended church in the morning. There we met Barbara, a fellow Dalat alumni, who was now teaching at the
International School of Bangkok. It was great to see her again; the last time was 1966. That evening we went to see a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus at the International Church, which was a Christmas tradition since I was a child.
25 December 1978 Monday. On Christmas Day, we had all the family together to open presents right after breakfast. We all ate Christmas dinner after the turkey was cooked. The rest of the day we relaxed.
26 December 1978 Tuesday. Linda and I toured the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Grand Palace, and Wat Arun otherwise known as the Temple of Dawn on the other side of the Chai Phaya River, and other sights of Bangkok, and shopped of course while my parents were busy getting things organized after Christmas.
27-30 December 1978 Wednesday through Saturday. My parents, Judy and David, Linda and I drove to Chiang Mai to see our old haunts. We stayed at the Rincome Hotel, where we used to eat and use their swimming pool. The waitress at the Ricome Hotel still remembered us from three and a half years earlier. We saw many old friends, including the Morses and
old tribal servants, but not those who we bequeathed our former pets to, so we didn't see our dog Taffy and our two cats Zaney Grey and Orphan Annie. One day we drove to the top of Doi Inthanon to see the end result of my construction project to build the radar station. It was 80 percent complete when we left in July 1975. All in all it was a great time to remember the honeymoon years that Linda and I had spent in Thailand from February 1973 to July 1975. We returned to Bangkok on Saturday so that Dad could prepare to preach the next day.
31 December 1978 - 2 January 1979 Sunday through Tuesday. We attended church on Sunday and the rest of the time in Bangkok we went to the Weekend Market, toured a bit, shopped a lot, and just enjoyed being with family.
3 January 1979 Wednesday. That evening we flew Air Egypt to Cairo, with a stopover in Bahrain.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
I love to hear the story about how your father decided to found a church in Thailand.
Can't wait to read more of your blogs!