Blogs from Nakhon Pathom, Western Thailand, Thailand, Asia

So I'm back in Bangkok for another extended rest period from travelling, and it's taken some six weeks before I found the strength again for a short sojourn outside of the capital. It was the Mother's Day long weekend here in Thailand, so I took the opportunity to visit the famous floating markets in Amphawa and Damnoen Saduak just outside of Bangkok. I'd read about these in LP during my first extended stay in Bangkok around this time last year, and they seemed like convenient day trips, but it has taken me until now to get down to visiting them. It's funny how sometimes the closer they are, the harder they are to visit... I vaguely remember visiting a floating market as a kid, and I vaguely remember it being a looong boat ride down the ... read more

My Thai friend (Mr Chat) arranged a van from a tour agency to take me around in the western part of Thailand. I went to the Rose Garden in the morning, had my lunch at one of the local coffee shop before heading for the Wat Chedi. My Thai driver is very kind and friendly, on the highway he showed me an arch indicated in Thai which I do not know how to read, asking me if I would like to visit this place. "Temple, Temple" he pointed excitedly, but what temple could that be, a narrow road that leads to only he knows what was in store in the village. Then he said, "Hanuman Temple". "Wa Lau Wey!"(Hokkien version for WOW!)....I have never seen a Hanuman Temple before, despite my second trip to Bangkok, it ... read more

Pues estamos todavia en Tailandia. Salimos de Narathiwat hace 5 dias camino a la playa. Hicimos escala tecnica en Nakhon Si Tamarat que esta a medio camino (8 horas de autobus) para que no se nos hiciera tan cansado y de paso ver algun que otro templo y un espectaculo de marionetas de sombras del que dicen es el mejor artista de toda Tailandia, solo pensabamos estar un dia o dos. Llegamos a ver el espectaculo y ese dia no habia. Pero nos quedamos fascinados con la belleza de las marionetas.Nos explicaron por encima como se hacian, como a cualquier otro turista. Preguntamos si podiamos aprender, fijamos un precio y el dia siguiente a las 9 de la mannana estabamos alli como un clavo desosos de empezar la clase. Llevamos ya cuatro dias y mannana acabamos ... read more

Happy New Year Everybody! We are now sadly back at work following our Christmas break. Most teachers in Thailand don't get Christmas off so we were very lucky to have 10 days to escape. The last few weeks passed in a blur of cotton wool, glitter and 'jingle bells' as the children did special Christmas activities. One of the schools we work at is a Christian school so we went to their Christmas concert which was far from traditional! The children wore so much make up - like you would see at a beauty pageant - even the boys! Their clothes and hair were incredible but apparently they start getting ready for events like this from about 2am! The teachers have to be at school from then to help out and some of the students just ... read more