Visits to Si Saket and a Football match

Last weekend, Rosie and Billie who are also teaching in Thailand came to visit us and see where we live and work. They arrived on Friday night and all went out for dinner. The next day we went around the town and had lunch with P-Pui at the bakery. That afternoon we went to a football match. It was Si Saket F.C against TOT. It was so much fun and my first football match at an actual stadium. We all had to wear orange as that was the teams colour so we borrowed shirts off our friends and set off.

We went and sat with some teachers that we knew and it was right by the drums. We spent most if not all of the game learning the chants and singing along as best as we could.

In the first 20 minutes or so, we scored a goal! The crowed went wild. During half time we were able to go onto the field. It was so weird as we were one of the only farang's there when we went on the field, all the photographers told loads of pictures of us. We felt like celebrities. In the second half we scored another goal. We won the game 2-0.

At the end we went onto the field again to get pictures with the team. We even managed to get one of them to sign our arms.

 For the rest of the evening we went to get food and then chilled at the house. The next day Billie and Rosie had to leave early to get back to Panar so we walked them to the bus station via ice creme and said good bye. It was such a fun weekend and I cant wait for the next football match!

Nakon Panom

During May Thailand has a 5 day weekend. From Friday to Tuesday. We were going to go to the south with one of our friends who also works at the college but that fell through the day before so we weren't sure what we would so. We managed to fill the time though. On Saturday we went with P-Aim to see her cousin become a monk. He had already shaved his head so we went to the temple with him and watched him perform all the chants and become a monk. It was really interesting even though we had no idea what was being said. Afterwards we went with her and her sister to Ubon to go to the second hand market. On Monday we went with P-Aim and her family to Nakon Panom. It was a 4/5 hours drive away. We went in a car with her aunt and two of her cousins. It was a smooth ride but the only problem was that I was in the front and Clem was in the back so we could really chat or listen to the i-pod together. We stopped of in Mukdahan (not spelt right) and went up this tower where we could see the border to Laos and the surrounding scenery. There were a lot of trees. We were also really fit and climbed the stair all the way to the top. It was very tiring and seemed to go on forever. It was really sweet though as we could hear P-Aims dad ahead of us speaking words of encouragement like the floor numbers and that we were nearly there. It was funny as we couldn't see him, only hear his voice.

Afterwards we went onto Nakon Panom. We went to a market where I bought a cool green wooden watch. After the market we went to a temple which was beautiful. We even got blessed by a monk and was given a blessing band which is good. Once we had finished we started the long drive back to Si Saket. It was a really good day and I'm glad we were able to go with P-Aim's family.

It's Freshers!

We had to be back in Si Saket by the 1^st of May. Even though we weren't teaching until the 9^th, the first week of May was the freshers week for the new 1^st year students and the students returning for their 4^th year. On the first 3 days we helped out some of the teachers and the student council with the new 1^st years. It was a lot of fun and a lot of sitting around waiting. The best bit was during the evening on one of the days as we played a load of silly games like massaging people and dancing. On the last night of the 1^st years freshers week, all the students stayed over in the school so when it was dark we all lit candles and sang songs to welcome them in. We then game them all a blessing ceremony which was cool. It involves the teachers putting blessing band (white string made by monks) on the students and blessing them for the years ahead. We never had one when we arrived in Thailand so once we had done the students Clem and myself also went along the line of teachers so we could be blessed as well. Better late than never!

For the students returning for their 4^th year we did the same games and stuff plus one more. It was a game of rock, paper, scissors but a lot more fun. You would start of in pairs facing each other and having to do this small jumping in different directions thing and then do the one, two ,three thing and play one round of rock, paper, scissors. Whoever loses goes behind the winner and they go off to find someone else. As the game goes on, the lines of people get bigger as more people lose. To start off with I did really well, I won again and again, First of all Me and my partner (Nampang) stuck mainly with the other teachers and student council members but once they had run out went went off to find a line of students. They were all pretty nervous to come up to me as I was farang but they did anyway. To start with I was doing well and beating them which the line of people I had behind me loved until one time when I lost. To the back of the line I went. Oh well. It was so much fun though and so simple. On their last night they also stayed over and we did the candle thing and blessing ceremony again.

Well that's about it, that ends Freshers week.

A Week in Ban Meta

First of all, sorry for the immense lateness of this post. It's been a busy couple of weeks.

As you may have read a long time ago, in November the two of us spent a weekend at an orphanage. For our final week of travelling, we went back there to volunteer for longer. We got a bus from Chiang Mai to Lomsak so we could get picked up. The only problem was that the bus didn't get into Lomsak until 2am in the morning so we couldn't get picked up. We were thinking of just staying in the bus shelter and sleeping there if it wasn't scary looking and deserted. When we got there, we found that it was in a busyish looking place with a seven eleven so we didn't mind sleeping there. We didn't sleep there though, instead we saw a guest house and managed to get in and were able to sleep on actual beds.

We were picked up at around 9am and taken to Ban Meta. We were there whilst the kids were doing chores so we had some time so settle in and unpack and wait for lunch. When it came along we had a dilemma. We had been there before so we recognised a lot of the kids but we didn't want to sit with them straight away as we were nervous and they might get a bit scared if we just sat with them so we sat on another table together eating our lunch. We found out though that they remembered us as some of the younger ones poked us as they went to put their bowls away and some even remembered our names! After lunch we started to sort out what we would be doing for the week as we were asked to do arts and crafts with the kids. We looked through our resources and sorted out what we would do. Through out the week we all made,

Kites,

Lanterns,

Masks,

Aeroplanes,

Crowns,

Beaded Jewellery,

Geckos,

Stain Glass Windows,

Origami,

Drawing,

Balloon Animals,

and some other stuff which I cant remember.

We had one group in the morning which was usually the younger ones. Followed by the older ones in the afternoon while the little ones were asleep. It was very tiring. We never really had a break as it was constant teaching and looking after the kids. We relished the times when we had a break! We ended up stopping the late afternoon session so we could have a break and the leave the room we were constantly in. During that time we went to the play area and played with the younger children. A lot of the time I was being given pretend food to eat. I gained a lot of weight while I was there. I had a lot of ice cream made from leaves, flowers and rocks. Delicious.

One evening we also played a massive balloon game. We spent one afternoon blowing up around 100 balloons and after dinner we got all the kids to tie one around one of their legs. When the games started, they all had to pop each others balloons. They all loved it which was good.

One other evening which was one of my favourite was when some of the youngest ones took me back to their house and we watched Scooby-Doo together while they played with my hair. It was relaxing and a lot of fun as my hair kept them all entertained. Once they got hold of my camera, they were off taking photo's. Although for 4-6 year old kids, they were very careful with it which was good. 

 On our final day we had the Sunday service. It was just like I remembered. Very happy and very clappy. Well, you have to experience everything. We left after lunch so we could get the last bus to Khon Kean. From there we wanted to get a bus straight to Si Saket or Ubon but we found out that they had finished. Instead we had to go all the way down to Nakon Ratchasima which was a long away in the wrong direction. We wanted to get home though and did it anyway. We manged to get back at 6am in the morning. That concludes the travels of Look-Kaew and Namchar.

Cooking!

On our third day in Pai, we decided to do a Thai cookery course. We picked 5 different dishes and  able to make them and then get the recipes at the end. I was making Red Curry Paste, Red Curry, Chicken with Holy Basil Leaves, Stir-Fried Vegetables with Mixed Vegetables and Cashew Nuts, Papaya Salad and Chicken in Coconut Soup.

 To start with I made Chicken and Cashew Nuts. It was amazing how quick it was to make. It only took around 20 mins tops. It was pretty tasty too. Next came the papaya salad which was just done in a motor and pestle. After that we made the curry paste. We had to chop a load of ingredients until they were really small. When we thought we were done, our teacher came over and said that they had to be even smaller!

 Some how, I managed to chop them up without making them disappear and we then had to grind them in a mortar and pestle for around 20 mins. My arm was killing me by the end. After that we chopped up the vegetables for the other dishes and went to the market.

 Once we came back we cooked the soup, curry and chicken and then ate them all! I was so full by the end but it was so good and so worth it! Definitely going to make these more often as none of them take longer than 30 mins! What was also good was that Clem and myself made different dishes so we have recipes for even more dishes which is a bonus.

Two Girls and a Motorbike

It was our second day in Pai and as there were a lot of different places nearby that we wanted to see. So we decided to rent a motorbike.

 Clem drove and I sat on the back taking pictures and directing which way to go. It was so much fun. It was actually quite hard saying with which way to go as there were no warning signs. Just the turning which I was never prepared for. We missed the turning for the first waterfall so instead we started off with the Pai Canyon. It was an area of land where natural erosion had created paths. 

Some were easy to walk on, but some were hard and quite thin with a big drop either side. It was really hot so we decided to go on what we thought was a path to make our way back to the start. It was a path to start with. Near the end of what we thought was a path we had to get down on our bums and shuffle down. Clem went first and made it down. She told me that when I put my foot at a certain point I was basically down. The only thing was that when I put my foot there, something gave way and I slid all the way down! Clem could not stop laughing. We made out way up a dry river bed to another path running into spider webs and dodging horrible huge spiders until we realised that we had missed the beginning of the path. We back-tracked a bit going past the horrible spider until we found it and climbed back up. Eventually we made it out. Next stop, WW2 Memorial bridge. 

This was the same type of bridge as the one over the river Kwai, created by the soldier captured by the Japanese. A quick stop there and we then moved onto the Hot Springs. Thankfully, due to our work permits, we didn't have to pay the expensive price that 'farang' have to pay. Instead we get the cheap Thai price! 

 We managed to do that in a lot of the parks which is good as we save a lot of money. The hot springs were weird. In a hot country, why would you want hot springs? As it was the hot season, there wasn't a lot of water. The was a small steam of it though near the beginning and Clem went in for a paddle, and came straight back out again as it was burning her feet. It was really hot. Hotter than a hot bath. We went for a walk until we came across some more pools. The first one was a special mineral pool which I think was a sulphur one as it smelt so bad! Further along was another pool but this time you couldn't go in it. It was 80 degrees. The pool was for boiling eggs! People would buy or bring their own eggs and boil them in the hot spring. We then moved on and had some lunch before going to a waterfall. It took a while to get there and was all up hill but we made it. The only problem was that we weren't sure if we would have enough petrol to make it back down! We stayed at the waterfall for a while. In one part you could slide down the rock into a pool below. Clem went for it but I just stood and took pictures. It was funny as these two little boys made it look so easy and effortless but when Clem tried it, she was all cautious so she didn't hurt herself. 

 Once we decided to leave we made our way back to the bike and wondered if we would make it back to the town. We decided that as we were going to go downhill a lot of the way we would just leave the engine off and coast as far as we could. It was a lot of fun although quite scary as we sometimes picked up a lot of speed. We managed to make it back though without running out so it was all good. That evening we looked around the markets and hid from the storm. The thunder and lightening was incredible as the thunder was so loud and echoed so much. The lightening lit up the whole sky and was actually kind of freaky at times. We sat in the bar area of the guest house to wait it out. With us were the cats and dogs as they were not happy. Eventually it went and we managed to relax a bit more.

Doi Inthanon

For our last day in Chiang Mai we decided to go to the national park of Doi Inthanon. It was an adventure let me tell you. To start with we were told to go to a flower market to get a song-taaew to the town next to the national park. Once we had got to the flower market, we were told that we were in the wrong place even though we could see the song-taaew's driving past. Instead we went to where the buses left the town and got on one of them instead. Now for a day in the national park you would need nice sunshine and such. Well, while we were on the bus it started to rain and joint with that was thunder and lightening. Not a good sign. Once we were dropped of at the town we had to find a way to go the 8km to the park. According to the guide book, we could get a cheap song-taaew to the entrance and then another to the top. We had a bit of trouble with that. When we asked the song-taaew to take us to the entrance, they said that they cant do that but what they can do is take us on a tour all around the park for a stupidly expensive price. Just because we are 'farang', they all think they can cheat and rip us off! After a lot of talking, we managed to persuade them to take us to the entrance for the cheap price. Once there we looked at the waterfall at the entrance and we then found out that the other cheap song-taaew's to take you to the top weren't running.

 We decided to start walking along the road to see how far we could walk and what we could find. About 5 minutes later we came across a hill which we did not want to walk up. Instead we decided to hitch-hike. The first truck that came along just waved back at us but the second truck that came along with 4 or 5 people in let us hop in the back and we were on our way. These people were stopping off at different points so we stopped with them which was good as we were able to see different bits of the park. First stop was a small village which made its own coffee. 

 When we had stopped, we found out that the people who were driving us who I thought was a family, were in fact uni friends who spoke quite English. The next stop was near the top. We stopped off at two pagodas. They were beautiful and we were at the height where you could get surrounded by low flying clouds.

 We looked around and took a lot of pictures before moving on to the highest point in the whole of Thailand. It wasn't as impressive at we had expected. On one side was a nuclear fission research centre with armed guards outside and a sign saying 'no pictures'. I sneakily took one anyway and didn't get shot which was good. The highest point though was in the middle of a load of trees and bushes so even though it was cool and we were at the highest point, all the trees could have meant that we were low down.

 On the way back down we stopped at a waterfall just as it was getting dark.

 At this point we realised that the last bus from the town going back to Chiang Mai was at 5pm and we were going to miss it. We decided that we were going to have to hitch-hike back again! As we were leaving the waterfall, it started to rain. We were sat in the back of the pick-up truck in the wide open. We got very wet! We had some umbrellas so we went to where it was most sheltered from the wind and huddled under them. The only problem was that the water ran to back where we were sitting so we ended up sitting in a puddle of water. One good thing was that the people driving us were also going to Chiang Mai so they took us all the way back. The bad thing was that we spent all of that time in the back and in the rain. Oh well, we had been very lucky having the sun until the end of the park and we were getting taken back as well. We were dropped off near the university so we could get a song-taaew and as we were leaving, our drivers gave us their e-mails and facebook so we could swap pictures. They were so nice and we were so lucky to have met them.

We were then going to meet one of our volunteers friend and their parents for dinner but we were soaking wet. As we didn't have much time though we just went for it. It was a really nice hotel so we felt so bad walking in in our state. We decided to act like we were staying there and we managed to get in without any trouble. A quick trip to the toilet to sort out hair and make ourselves a bit more presentable and we were sorted. The dinner was an amazing buffet which was so good. We spent so long just sat there talking and eating that we were there when they were packing up and trying to hint to us to move. All in all a very good day.