Arrived in Bangkok fine, met Kim at the airport, spent 2 days in Bangkok and it was actually cool! Well cooler than INdia! Saw the grand palace, lots of temples including a 45m buddha, reclining buddha, emerald buddha (he was blue). Saw snake farm and how they got the venom out and then got taken to loads of random places trying to get us to buy stuff including jewellry, tailors (wanted Russ to buy numerous suits ha ha !! and they didnt understand what casual meant) Took a trip to see the floating markets full of tourist tat but good to [View Full Entry]

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My journey to Lopburi went very smoothly. At Auytthaya station I asked someone which platform I should be on for the Lopburi train and she said "this one". It was only a few minutes later that I realised that there was, in fact, only the one platform! To get to trains going in other directions you had to walk across the rails. The Lopburi train wasn't due to arrive until 4pm but got to Ayutthaya a quarter of an hour early. I would never had realised that this was the train I needed but fortunately the girl I'd asked earlier told [View Full Entry]

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So still wandering aimlessly around Thailand. Well Ok thats not strictly true, I have some idea where I'm heading. I stayed in Pai for 5 days. It was actually alot quieter than I had expected, not as much live music going on. But it was a really nice place so I hired a scooter and just enjoyed the scenery. I spent one afternoon at the hot springs where the water is 80 degrees at the source and people take eggs there to boil them! At the bottom there were several mineral pools, it felt like stepping into a bath, not reall [View Full Entry]

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I’m almost there… I can see the flags waving me on at the finish line. The final week of training is coming to an end and I couldn’t be happier. The Competency test was taken today and the language this past Saturday. I actually passed and can now ask for directions to the bathroom! These have truly been the toughest two months I’ve experienced in years and if I had to do it over, I would think long and hard. There have been some very bright and beautiful spots on the horizon and those are what have kept me motivated. You [View Full Entry]

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Sorry about the lull with updating my blog. Two weeks ago we traveled as a group to Bangkok, stayed in a lovely hotel on the banks of the Chao Praya River (any hotel with a western toilet and shower is considered 'lovely"). Gee, how my standards have changed. We were broken into groups of 5 and dropped off at different locations throughout Bangkok and then told we were playing the "Amazing race" and had to locate the PC office on our own. It was a fun exercise being we had others to fall back on. Two days hence, we had to [View Full Entry]

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Sorry to bother everyone but this is really a note to all the new subscribers to my blog......Welcome and sawadii ka! Go ahead and check out my previous postings and await my new entries. I''ll be away from site until next Wed so will not post anything until the following Sunday...sorry to my original fans. I'm delighted to have such a large and wonderful following. I hope I can live up to your expectations. Until next time, sawadii ka sabiidii mai ka.............. [View Full Entry]

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Where has week 5 gone? This week was used for planning a presentation on our (PCT) perception of the needs and strengths of the local Moo. The Moo is like a village and the official government office is called a Tambon. We have been studying Moo 2 for the last couple of weeks, interviewing and gathering information about the occupations, local business, health and education issues. It has been interesting doing this especially with the lack of language skills. The locals are very patient with us and we all laugh a lot. The presentation, to be held in front of local [View Full Entry]

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Good Morning All, This week I thought I'd talk a little more about some of the foods I've been exposed to. Notice I didn't use the word "eaten". You all know me to be somewhat adventuresome but there are some limits when it comes to my palate. Oh, before I go any further, let me apologize for any typo's, misspellings, bad grammar etc. No spell or grammar checks on this blog....I should take issue with that. In Thailand a meal is not a meal unless it includes rice. That means a bowl of rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For us [View Full Entry]

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I have been living with a Thai familly for 4 days (I was looking for a hotel and they invited me to stay at their home). It's been great ! Everybody's so nice and the kids are great ! Going back on the road tomorrow :p [View Full Entry]

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Sunday 22nd At the bus station early having got there by elderly tuk-tuk man, I left Jen and headed off for snacks. As I returned the loudspeakers burst into life with what I assumed to be the Thai national anthem. Everyone around me stopped and stood to attention - I then realised I was stood right by the man raising the flag - so I thought I'd best stand to attention too.. I got bak to Jen and asked her whether she had - she said by the time she realised what was going on it had finished - and some [View Full Entry]

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