My parents came to visit in January after New Year's. It was great to show them my home in Northern Thailand. I met them at the airport in Chiang Mai and did some sightseeing there over the weekend.
The best part (in my opinion) was their visit to my community. It was touching to see how warm and welcoming everyone was.
I'd planned on flying us from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son, but my landlady's family offered to take us back from Chiang Mai. My host cousin drove 5 hours to pick us up and stopped at the must-see places along the way: Pai, Ban Rak Thai (Chinese village) and finally Mae Hong Son.
My parents' visit to Mae Hong Son conveniently coincided with my landlady's son's 10th birthday. (Below is a picture of the 4-year-old son playing with a toy my parents brought from the U.S.)
Usually people in Thailand celebrate by eating the less delicious Thai version of Korean BBQ. However, my land-fam (with my mom and dad in photo below) spent the whole day preparing ingredients for Burmese dishes so my parents could taste real Burmese food. To top off the wonderful food and company, my landlady's family also gave my parents gifts of traditional Karenni products - a Karenni shirt (dad) and bag (mom).
The people in my community are still asking when they'll come to visit again. :)
