Bamboo House Kanchanaburi

... I didn't get up the next day till 5.30pm, bodyclock still in a mess. Needless to say I had missed the free hotel breakfast (I had splashed out on somewhere relatively swanky after the previous 'hotel' and the bedbugs) but was just in time for the Premier League football which combined with a fair few beer Chang's filled the rest of my day.<br><br>Two days in Bangkok was enough for me as I had seen the sights before, so very early the next morn I headed to Kanchanaburi, famous for its ...

... some tigers which was quite cool. We had to take a 20min boat ride to get to out accomodation which was a floating hut on the river (very cool), amazing to wake up to. Day 2 saw us take a trip to kanchanaburi national park, which housed a set of seven waterfalls each more impressive than the last very rewarding jumping in to the cold water after a 5km hike up a very suspect path if you could call it that. Back to bangkok to start heading north.<br><br>see next installment ....<br>

... is students, there needs to be chaperones. That's where I came in. As a homeroom teacher of a class of freshmen, I was basically required to attend this retreat. Leading up to this weekend, I was really dreading the retreat. There is just something about spending my weekend with 123 freshmen that really doesn&#8217;t appeal to me. But actually, it was a really great time.<br><br>The retreat was held at a place called "The River Kwai Village Resort." Now for any of you history buffs or ...

... of a new level. Of course, I wasted what was left of my camera battery on these theiving monkeys so there aren't enough pictures to do the waterfalls justice!<br>The next day we rode the Death Train over the Bridge Over the River Kwai, as far as Nam Took and back. I appreciate the history behind the bridge, but without that it is just a bridge and it is just a train. Maybe I'm just bitter because we ...

... fish massage. In Bangkok and other major cities in Asia you pay a substantial amount of money for the services of these small sucker fish. Seen as I will be learning to dive in a few weeks time I thought this would be a great opportunity to reduce my fear of fish. ( I'm also not that keen on swimming so God only knows how this diving malarky is going to work out). With baited breath and clenched teeth I slowly lowered my feet into the water ...

Ok, so to catch up on the month that I've spent here so far. I have been- On a 7 day trip with Pat's good friends - Peter, Herma and Stefan from the Netherlands On a 2 day trip with some young Germans from Cologne Developing and making first steps in our local youth guide training program Getting the office ready Developing the website, promoting and marketing our project Teaching English Studying Thai Our office Our office is ...

... hill behind our house one night to watch the sunset which was beautiful. The Saturday before we left Dada's to go to Chaam we visited another Neohummanist run children's home in Sangklaburi run by a Didi. It was very different - they had about 160 children living there and obviously have much more money than Dada. It was good to see all the work that had gone into the home although it didn't quite have the same 'family' feel as at Dada's - it felt a bit more ...

... WHATS THE POINT?? but noone was around so it wasnt too bad. except for some giant ants and a centipede that took a quick peek. creeps.HA.. pun! sorry. went back to the hut to find a disco barge of elderly thai women drifting by. got han and hol up and we waved. they started to take pictures. it was hillarious. the barge then turned round for more photo opportunities, which was nice for us. we had a little dance whihc seemed to be the funniest thing most of them had ever ...

... more! We thought that was it, until Tong was directing us up the back of the cages and we were carrying the bags of fruit Tong had bought at the market. Up at the back of the sanctuary was Bam Bam, a black Zodiac Bear who was rescued when she was a cub and given to the Temple to protect her from poachers! She is absolutely gorgeous and really smart and eventually we got to go in the cage with her and hand feed her. She is Tongs adopted daughter, as Tong ...

... were but it was quite narrow and could not handle all the tourist going in 2 directions, so sometimes I was forced to walk on the wooden part near the side and the wood was not bolted in place well.. the planks were all loose... I really thought I was going to fall through and end up in the river... But I didn't and the view was fantastic!!!! After we had lunch on the river the food was simple but the view was breath taking.. the river reminds me of the one in the ...