We are writing this weeks blog from Chiang Mai, Thailand - our travels have begun having completed our time and visa allowance in India.
Last Saturday we had a lovely time with all our Saturday students at Ekta Vihar - dancing, playing games and then sadly saying goodbye - they are a wonderful group of young people and we miss them already!
Most of them had internship interviews the week before, so we now wait expectantly to hear of the opportunities they may have for work experience.
The Asha staff at Bikaji made their feelings about us leaving quite clear!!
We will be back, tho guys - but you have a few months to recover!!
We have been really pleasantly surprised by Bangkok - its clean, orderly, quiet and very easy to get around. However, our taxi ride from the airport, was a bit of a challenge - the driver had no idea where he was going and spent much of the time on his mobile phone ringing people to get directions whilst driving on the motorway. He then decided that he would try to negotiate a rather high private charge for the journey even tho it was a metered taxi - we weren't having that, (Delhi has taught us well) so we insisted on the meter reading. All ended happily and by the end of the journey, we quite liked him!!
Wednesday and our fun began with taking the Sky Train and Metro to collect all our train tickets for the next few days. The company we booked through, 12Go, was very efficient. That done, we decided to see Bangkok from the river - a brilliant trip took us along the canals behind many of the streets where we were able to see some of the 'real' life, not to mention some of the 'wild life' too.
Now its time to play 'Spot the.....lizards (there are 2 and they are big!), Buddha (its not Ken!!) and the reason Heather also loves Bangkok!!
We have now been to Chiang Mai and are completely 'Wat-ted' out!! We have never been in so many temples (Wat's) and seen so many Buddhas - we are learning lots. We had a lovely opportunity to ask some questions and find out more about Buddhism when a young monk, Som, came and sat with us as we had a drink in a garden. He was really interesting to talk with and as he was studying Humanities at university, he was also interested in talking about Christianity, so we told him about Jesus and what he means to us.
If you have been to Thailand you may recognize some of the places we have visited:
W District Market, Wat Pho, Wat Phra Singh, Wat Mengrai, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Pan Tao, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, Wat Suan Dork. (This has been over 5 days!)
Now we are packing again ready to take the train back from Chiang Mai to Bangkok in the morning.
Ken has obviously been pleasantly effected by the 'influences' of the Wats - he actually uncharacteristically tipped a folk singer playing last night as we had supper! I, however, had an alarming experience, when at the train station. I saw some lovely teak benches to sit on. Ken had gone off to sort some tickets out so I decided to rest my weary feet. A monk was sitting at the other end of the bench and suddenly let out a very loud, shrill, high pitched screech of what sounded to me like "WooohoooTrillywillywillyweeeee"... (it seemed to go on for ages) - I suddenly saw the sign that said, FOR MONKS ONLY!! I shot off and quickly perched on the plastic seats behind meant for the unenlightened!! Won't do that again!!
On Monday, we take a night train to Koh Samui. We are both looking forward to feeling the sand under our feet and swimming in the sea for a few days.
Lots of love to everyone.
Heather and Ken.
Last Saturday we had a lovely time with all our Saturday students at Ekta Vihar - dancing, playing games and then sadly saying goodbye - they are a wonderful group of young people and we miss them already!
Most of them had internship interviews the week before, so we now wait expectantly to hear of the opportunities they may have for work experience.
The Asha staff at Bikaji made their feelings about us leaving quite clear!!
We will be back, tho guys - but you have a few months to recover!!
We have been really pleasantly surprised by Bangkok - its clean, orderly, quiet and very easy to get around. However, our taxi ride from the airport, was a bit of a challenge - the driver had no idea where he was going and spent much of the time on his mobile phone ringing people to get directions whilst driving on the motorway. He then decided that he would try to negotiate a rather high private charge for the journey even tho it was a metered taxi - we weren't having that, (Delhi has taught us well) so we insisted on the meter reading. All ended happily and by the end of the journey, we quite liked him!!
Wednesday and our fun began with taking the Sky Train and Metro to collect all our train tickets for the next few days. The company we booked through, 12Go, was very efficient. That done, we decided to see Bangkok from the river - a brilliant trip took us along the canals behind many of the streets where we were able to see some of the 'real' life, not to mention some of the 'wild life' too.
Now its time to play 'Spot the.....lizards (there are 2 and they are big!), Buddha (its not Ken!!) and the reason Heather also loves Bangkok!!
 |
| Spot the lizards |
 |
| Spot the Buddha |
 |
| Spot the reason |
If you have been to Thailand you may recognize some of the places we have visited:
W District Market, Wat Pho, Wat Phra Singh, Wat Mengrai, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Pan Tao, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, Wat Suan Dork. (This has been over 5 days!)
Now we are packing again ready to take the train back from Chiang Mai to Bangkok in the morning.
Ken has obviously been pleasantly effected by the 'influences' of the Wats - he actually uncharacteristically tipped a folk singer playing last night as we had supper! I, however, had an alarming experience, when at the train station. I saw some lovely teak benches to sit on. Ken had gone off to sort some tickets out so I decided to rest my weary feet. A monk was sitting at the other end of the bench and suddenly let out a very loud, shrill, high pitched screech of what sounded to me like "WooohoooTrillywillywillyweeeee"... (it seemed to go on for ages) - I suddenly saw the sign that said, FOR MONKS ONLY!! I shot off and quickly perched on the plastic seats behind meant for the unenlightened!! Won't do that again!!
On Monday, we take a night train to Koh Samui. We are both looking forward to feeling the sand under our feet and swimming in the sea for a few days.
Lots of love to everyone.
Heather and Ken.
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