I have now arrived in Varanasi (what used to be Benares), one of the holiest cities in India. Many people come here to die because it sems that Lord Shiva promised that anyone who dies here (within a certain radius) will go to heaven. The place is sacred to Shiva ( the destroyer / creator) of the Hindu trinity. In addition just outside the town is the place where the Buddha preached his first two sermons after having achieved enlightenment, so that place is sacred to the Buddhists (and aslo, coincidentally, to the Jains, because three of their 24 tirthankaras were born there). I read an interesting thing with regard to Buddhism and Hinduism recently. One of my guidebooks says that Hindus did not originally worship idols (or use idols for worship) but only started to ... read more

Yesterday I went to see the Russian Market. This was certainly the best market I've seen in Phnom Penh and there were many things that I would have liked to have bought there. It had a great many types of food and drink on display, including some things I think were eels. These were black and snakelike with cylindrical bodies and lay flat on a sort of plate. Then, as I was looking idly at them, one twitched convulsively and seemed almost to jump out of the tray. The others also moved but it seemd that they were moved by the first one and didn't move independantly. As I watched, shocked by this development and apprehensive lest the eel should launch itself upon me they all lapsed once again into perfect stillness. I looked at the ... read more

On Wednesday I had a bit of a lie in and went down to breakfast at half past nine. Then I wandered around the town a little and had an early lunch before hiring a tuk tuk to take me to Ta Phrom. This meant, of course, that I'd hired the driver for everywhere I wanted to go that day! Ta Phrom is the location that was used in the Lara Croft film "Tomb Raider". That has to be two words - if you spell it as one - as I did just now - it looks like Tom Braider. The temple has been left in its "natural state" without clearing all the vegetation. Of course it takes a lot of work to maintain the status quo if you don't want what's there to be unstable ... read more

The last week went very quickly. Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal but then everyone realised how close it was to the end. Then on Thursday it was the time to award attendance certificates to the TEFL students and decide if they could advance to the next level - while at the primary school national Thank You Teacher Day was being celebrated and the TAs were present for the celebrations. After that,on Friday, we held a big party and had to wake up early on Saturday to do the cleaning up - and then it was all over. At ten o'clock I left the base in a songthaew to the junction and got a minvan to Krabi. Pi Lek, the teacher who teaches English to the 5th and 6th graders, and whose classroom I had been ... read more

Before I came back to Ao Luk last weekend, I first took the opportunity of going to Ao Nang and seeing the beach and mall there. They have a nice promenade all along the beach with several shops and restaurants. They also boast a Burger King and a Starbucks! When I got back I met Matt and Mike who had arrived on the Saturday. They were friends from University and both about 21 or so. They are also teaching at the Primary school with me this week. They are both very nice and friendly people and we got on well. It is odd that they only booked their expedition at the last minute, so when I was already in Thailand they were still deciding where to volunteer. On Monday the three of us walked down to ... read more