Culture Week

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As stated on my previous blog, this week is cultural week. We learnt about buddhism in the first half of the week and then since Wednesday, we have been looking at some of the ways that local people make a living. It has been really interesting, as a lot of the places we have visited are all crafty so we have been able to try weaving from bamboo, making dolls, bracelets out of coconut etc.

Yesterday we went to Tesco in the morning, very stranbge trip, but the Thai people seem to adore Tesco. You should have seen the size of the queue to get into the car park, was like Meadowhall on Boxing Day lol. It was like bliss though, I got to buy pringles and chocolate!!!!! Though the chocolate did not last long in the heat, so my snicker was a melted mess but still tasted good after 2 weeks of rice, noodles and veg!!! Yesterday afternoon we went to a zoo in a nature reserve, the zoo was located on a lake which was gorgeous. There were log cabins on the lake side which looked so gorgeous, so could have spent the night there. We saw lots more tigers and tiger cubs and I got to have a hug with a baby orangutang! However, it seemed to be more interested in my bracelet as it kept on trying to eat it and pick off the beads, it then tried to eat my hair and nick my bag! Why do all Thai animals have a fascination with my bag?? First the monkeys, now the orangutang!!!!

We also went to see a HUGE sitting buddha this week, made out of gold which looked gorgeous! However, in front of the buddha were these rather gruesome statues of people being tortured. Apparently they were the five hells of where people woul;d go if they broke one of the rules of buddhism; no sexual misconduct, no stealing, no lying, no intoxicants and no killing. They were just so graphic, especailly in front of this gorgeous tranquil buddha, very strange!!!

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