Written By Claire G. Suae Sdei from Cambodia! We have now ended our Thailand journey and we start anew in beautiful Cambodia. After having spent 6 weeks in Thailand, it was a very weird experience going to the airport. We arrived and it was go time. We went through security with no problems except a couple of scissors being taken away. We all got through immigration without any problems. And… Read More

Written By Claire C. Lots of Monk No Chat (Monk Chat Meditation Retreat) Hello, everyone! Before we get into the juicy stuff, we’ve got to reflect for a second. This trip is halfway through! How was it six weeks ago that we met at the airport, had those do-we-hug-or-do-we-not-because-we’ve-never-met-but-we’ve-snapchatted-what-do-we-do moments (you know what we’re talking about…) and engaged in awkward small talk about the weight of our backpacks. Look how… Read More

Written By Audrey After two rest days in Chiang Rai, we headed North and took a four-hour bus ride to the small town of Thung Chung in the Nan province of Thailand which is about a forty-minute drive from the Thailand-Laos border. The bus ride left the group feeling quite car sick but the gorgeous, lush, and green mountain views were breathtaking. This past week we stayed at the Sahainan… Read More

A trek in the hills of northern Thailand. What a wild five days it’s been! Leaving our home in Ban Apa, we started our four day trek on October 6th. Our first destination was Ya Fu village. On our first day, we had a one and a half hour trek to the first stop at a waterfall where we got a delicious lunch wrapped in bamboo leaves. Paulina was a… Read More

After an exciting yet exhausting week at our first homestays in Thailand, it was time to say la gon (goodbye in Thai.) We packed our bags, bought some snacks, and our families sent us off to our next adventures. The leadership team, which consisted of Joe, Bryley, and Claire G., coordinated transportation and bought bus tickets to Chiang Rai. The four-hour long journey, although boring at times, was breathtaking the… Read More

Sawatdii kha! After one week of Thai lessons, we can hold a simple conversation, but everything starts with this greeting. Combined with a “wai,” a short bow with your hands in a prayer position, when you are greeting someone older than yourself, “sawatdii kha” (or “sawatdii khrop,” if you identify as male) is the proper “hello” here in Thailand! What a week we have had! It started last Tuesday, when… Read More

Hello from Thailand, Audrey, Joe, and Paulina here, It has been an amazing four days or orientation, eating some amazing food, learning everything we will need to know for how to be travelers instead of tourists. Tomorrow we head out to our homestays, and we are really looking forward to that. Thailand is full of good vibes, and even better food!! These past few days have been a blast! Besides… Read More

Hello Sabai Crew and all who will be following and supporting us on this journey! We are so excited to be writing this introductory blog, less than a week before we will all be meeting up at the airport in Los Angeles to head to the other side of the world. Although the students will be taking on the majority of sharing our experience here, you will be hearing from… Read More

Written By Cari & Brian Sabai Spring Spring 2019 has bid farewell to Southeast Asia. We have had such a journey, it is hard to summarize in a short blog post. Over the past three months, we have been privileged to experience three very distinct and different cultures and countries in Southeast Asia spending the most time in Thailand. In Thailand, we lived with local host families, learned to speak… Read More

Written By Annie When you think of the word snorkeling what comes in mind? Well here is a brief explanation on what I’ve discovered about snorkeling. Snorkeling is the ability to float under water with a diving mask equipped with a breathing tool. I am not an expert in snorkeling, but being able to get out in the ocean was a shock to me because I am not an expert… Read More

Written By Peter A 10 hour by-sleeper-bus journey later and we were in Vietnam, the red banner waving over our small group as we passed through the Cambodia-Vietnam Border. Within only a few minutes it really sank in that we were in a totally different country; the yellow star, hammer and sickle, and a myriad of brightly-colored propaganda posters no doubt boasting the strength of the Vietnamese military and proletariat… Read More

Written By Jess Hello again! For the last 5 days, Sabai Spring 2019 took a break from all the cities we’ve been staying in attend a yoga retreat near the beach town of Kep! We yoga-ed (and much more) with Sarah and her husband, Larry, at the Yoga Barn (yes there was a barn plus two sheep and chickens) as their first ever retreat group. At first our group was… Read More

Written By Jess & Jackie Hello! During the past 2 weeks, Sabai 2019 has been finishing up our travels in Thailand and beginning our adventures in Cambodia! We began our Cambodian adventure 4 days ago in Siem Reap and finally saw Angkor Wat this morning (at 6 am…). While the temples were breathtaking in the morning sun, one of my favorite experiences so far has been our visit to EGBOK,… Read More

Written By Jacklyn Hello everyone! This past week we all went on a 4 day 3 night trek through the jungle outside Chiang Mai. We started off at a orchid farm/ butterfly garden, and then went to cool off at a waterfall. Afterwards we began our trek to the first Karen village where we stayed the night. Day two was a long day of trekking. We finished off the day… Read More

Written By Thao Hey everyone! We’ve been working with the Mirror Foundation for the past five days to build a school for stateless children. It was hard manual work, our bodies hurt and our hands were full of blisters, but it was worth it. We made a lot of progress and had so much fun. Everyone was so welcoming. We arrived at the school for a quick introduction and met… Read More

Written By Eva Hey y’all! It’s Eva, coming to you from Chiang Rai, Thailand. We spent the last 10 days at a Permaculture farm, learning about sustainability and the many different uses of bamboo. Personally, I learned a lot more than that. Seeing how our lovely host, Sandot and his family, lives their life was a one of a kind experience. I learned about myself and how to do the… Read More

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A few photos from activities during the group’s homestays in Mae Rim.        … Read More

Written By Charlie & Annie Swaadii Ka/ Khrap! Hello families, this is Charlie and Annie coming at you with the second blog of the semester! Here’s a quick recap of the homestays outside of Chiang Mai: Monday the 18th, we got picked up at the hostel in Chiang Mai and drove about 40 mins to the Banrai Thai Gnarm Eco Lodge. When we got there, we unloaded our stuff and… Read More

Three days into the Sabai 2019 Spring program and I can already say that this is one of the greatest experiences of my life. As long as you can handle some nausea and jetlag, this trip is absolutely perfect. Chiang Mai is a beautiful city and experiencing this entirely new culture is truly one of the most indescribable times of my life so far. Five stars. Ben… Read More