The beach at last!
Trip Start
Feb 04, 2008
1
25
105
Trip End
Jan 19, 2009
Cha-am,
Thailand
Monday, March 31, 2008
we had just been told that Dada intented on leaving the orphanage at 3am to head for the beach at Cha-am.
So debs and i packed up all our stuff as we wouldn't be coming back, sniff, and it was early to bed - having all placed bets on what time we actually expected to be leaving taking into account the effects of the aforementioned Thai-time!
On waking just a few hours later we all seemed to get our stuff together along with extra bedding, as we'd be sleeping on the floor of a local temple when we got there, pretty swiftly. We headed down from the volunteer house to see what the state of play was with Dada and the kids fearing the worst.
Amazingly it all seemed to be going very smoothly. The extra truck which was being driven by a local man on the proviso that his family could come along for a free holiday had arrived on schedule and the three vehicles had nearly been loaded with all the bags, sleeping mats and... oh yes, the children!
We added our stuff to the top of the main truck and after another 40-50 minutes of dallying we where on our way - smack bang on 4.30am (my predicted time
It's 3am and we're almost ready to go
. i wished i'd actually put some money down now!)About 15 minutes down the road the inevitable happened. Someone had forgotten something! Unfortunately it was us and we had left the bag containing our I-pods, passports and all our cash lying on one of the dinning room benches - Whoops!
Fortunately after informing Kik (pronounced Gik - one of Dada's 'helpers' who amongst other things had helped with most of the paperwork for the trip, was learning how to teach the kids from the guys at Whispering Seeds and was generally the go to guy to get things done if you know what i mean) of our error and following a quick phone around to the other vehicles we discovered that one of the mothers had spotted it and picked it up. Phew - we didn't have to turn back and so i retained my glory in predicting the correct departure time!
When we arrived at Sangklaburi we dropped Erin and Janelle off as they weren't going to be joining us at the beach. They were waiting till about 6 or 7am to get a bus back to Bangkok and carry on their travels from their.
So after a hugs all round and waiting a couple of minutes for Martin who was suffering from the dreaded "Wee-Bum" we were on our way again.
It was strange driving through the predawn twilight squished into the back of a pick-up all trying to get comfortable enough to catch another few minutes shut eye - no chance for me as i was stuck at the end with the drivers kids who i didn't know well enough to push over!
It was probably the first time any of us had actually felt cold in weeks.
We stopped again after an hour or so at a petrol station to discuss tactics on how to position the 2 or 3 kids whose papers may not have been 100%..
Bye bye Snow White
. we decided to split them up so we headed of with an extra bod in our van - obviously at my end!We drove on into the day and eventually stopped for lunch and supplies at Kanchanaburi after having been waved through the checkpoint everyone had been worrying about without us, in the back, even seeing it!
Supplies consisted of big bags of rice and rubber rings for the kids. And where do you go when you need supplies? Why you pop down to your local Tesco of course! Although in this case it's a Tesco Lotus which subsequently we've seen all over Thailand.
After grabbing a few bits we drove a couple of hundred yards down the road to a little veggie cafe that Dada knew. Using the excuse that there wasn't enough room - which there wasn't! - Debbie, Chelsea, Angie and I sneaked back down to Tesco to buy buckets and spades for the kids (and a snorkel for me) and possibly, quite by accident you understand, er... fell... into a kfc.
Moving on, swiftly, we drove on into the afternoon and soon arrived at Ratchaburi where some of the older boys had been studying at the local Yamaha music college. After some milling around they decided to join us so we continued south with an extra 4 people - just to make up the numbers you understand.
Oh! I forgot to mention - On the way to Ratchaburi Dada, who was driving the lead van with most of the kids in got pulled over by the police. We passed him at the side of the road and pulled over a bit further up to see what the outcome would be
Aircon heaven!
. After much pointing, kicking of tyres and getting in and out of the van we were back on the road. Fortunately Dada had only received a 500THB fine for an overloaded roof and something about not having a drivers license...Finally - after a couple more fuel/toilet breaks and a quick stop to put the roof on our truck when we finally caught up with the storm we'd been chasing - at about 4.30pm we arrived in Cha-am.
Cha-am is known for being a popular weekend resort for Bangkok's movers and shakers, fortunately arriving on a Monday afternoon all was quite. We pulled into the ??? temple were we would be staying and unloaded the kids and the bags - five minutes later we were off down to the beach (about 100 metres away) for a late afternoon dip!
Dada had divided the kids up into 6 or 7 groups according to their age and swimming ability (bar about 2 kids they could all swim better than me, even the 2 year olds) and then assigned a volunteer to keep en eye on them.
My group contained 7 of the older boys (10 - 12yrs) - Moung Kong, Eh, Ekachai, Pit Chu, Kaput and, i think Mai Pai.
Anyway it's neither here nor there as after about 13.6 seconds all the groups dissolved into one and the kids ran screaming and laughing, across a road, to the beach.
Once at the beach they proceeded to find every living thing the could...
hermit crabs - I've never seen so many. you could literally put you hand in the water and grab 10 every time.
Fish - we'd already experienced the kids uncanny ability to just grab these out of the water at Ban Mai
Clams - they set about digging huge holes in the sandbanks to get at these little blighters
...and put them all in plastic bags or bottles
What's goin on 'ere then?
. Each child walking around with their own portable aquarium of slowly suffocating sea life. After this is was soon explained to them by martin and Dada that this wasn't quite in line with Neo-Humanist thinking and there was a blanket ban on the removal of any marine life from the beach.After an hour or so of playing in the surf we rounded them all up and took them back to the temple so we, the volunteers, could get our stuff sorted. We were all staying in a single hall. We'd brought a few mats and some thin mattresses from the orphanage so we were keen to make sure we got a comfy spot! Debs and i mad a nice little bed on the left hand side of the hall making sure that our feet were not facing the Buddha and the end, a grave social faus pas.
Dinner was somewhat delayed, about 9.30ish and so afterward we all crashed out ready for the next days fun and games.
Debs and i got into out pre-made bed but it was soon clear that the general rule for the kids was to just pass out wherever they stood, no mat, pillow or cover...and then wake up in the night and all move around so they were lying like pick-up sticks... and then do it again so they had their foot on your forehead or their elbow in your spleen!
We awoke, even though i was desperately trying not too, to find the kids up and about playing with their toys and generally running riot. It seemed that the kids had been up for a while and were keen for us to take them down to the beach for a bit before breakfast - I think Dada had underestimated the amount of time it was going to take to prepare meals for 70 odd on his own
Secret Agent Idodo
. So we got ourselves together grabbed the inflatable rings and headed down. "what time is it anyway?" i asked one of the other volunteers. "Oh, it's nearly 7 now" they said. "it's not even 7!!" what the hell am i doing i thought.We spent the whole day, in between meals, fooling around on the beach. I bought a couple of bigger spades so i could build myself a 'real' sand castle but, well it was quite hot and i hadn't had much sleep so i may not have finished it. I had a rest and an hour later both spades were in two pieces so i gave it up as a lost cause.
I had been suffering from an ear ache for a few days so on the second morning i took myself off before breakfast (Dada was still having trouble with the timing) to see if i could find a doctor. I borrowed the push bike (a great looking machine but one where the connection between the handle bars and the front wheel was dubious at best. I looked like a guy driving in an old movie - constantly steering left and right just to go in a straight line) that Amit had hired for a few days and wobbled off down the seafront.
I rode, or rather weaved, down the main seafront road and came to a couple of pharmacies both of which where closed. Odd, i thought, until i realised that i'd got used to getting up early and it was actually only 8am. After going round the block nearly all the way back to the temple and then back again i finally saw a guy who was just opening his travel agency and he told me to head out to the main highway (about a mile) as there was a doctors there
Worn out
. So off i headed and sure enough (after passing another surgery that didn't open till 5.30pm!) found the doctor he was talking about. It was closed and didn't look like it was going to open anytime soon, with it's shutters and grills down and various cars and bikes parked in front of it.I went into the shop next door, an opticians or nail salon or something, and asked the very helpful girl at the counter if she knew what time the doctors would be open. She wasn't sure but made a phone call, to whom i don't know, and said that it should be 9am. I thanked her and as it was by now 8.45 decided to hang out and wait.
9am came and went with no signs of life from the surgery. I saw the girl watching me through her shopfront and after making eye contact and shrugging to her she jumped on the phone again to her mystery friend. She came out a minute later and told me that the Doctor had gone away for a week so wouldn't be opening.
A little put out, sweaty after my hour or so ride and still in quite a lot of pain i explained the situation and she dived back inside to 'phone a friend'.
When she came back she'd drawn me a map of how to get to the hospital. It was only about another mile so i thanked her and told her if needed my eyes tanned or my nails waxed or whatever it was she did in the next few days i'd definitely come back to her.
Off i wobbled and good to her map about 10 minutes later i came across the hospital. Finally i thought, i walked inside and was amazed at how many people you could fit inside
It's raining it's pouring
. I squeezed my way through the various connected waiting rooms until i found an English speaking nurse and explained my problem.She said that i'd have to travel to Petchaburi, the regional capital about an hours drive away, to see an ear, nose and throat specialist! I explained that that really wasn't necessary and any doctor would do so she said i'd have to come back at 1pm when the hospital opened again after lunch, it'd be much quieter then.
Off i headed again deciding to see if i could head back round to the temple the other way and make it a circular journey. After about 10 minutes of my clown like riding i arrived back at the temple - i'd been riding for nearly 2 hours to find out that the hospital was directly behind the temple, RUBBISH! Never mind i rode through the gate to discover breakfast just being served.
To make a long story short (too late) I headed out that afternoon and after going from the check-in queue to the waiting-to-queue-to-see-the-nurse queue to the queuing-to-see-the-nurse queue to the queuing-to-see-the-doctor queue to the queuing-to-see-the-pharmacist queue and with a little assistance from 2 of the biggest ladyboys, in fact biggest Asians, that i've ever seen (just to clarify they were telling me when to move queues as i couldn't understand it when the nurses called my name) i was all sorted with all the antibiotics, painkillers, ear drops and antihistamines could possibly want. All for just a fiver too.
The rest of the day and the next one were spent pretty much the same way as the first with the addition of a couple of Frisbees, a volley ball game or two and a mammoth shell necklace making session using some of the things the kids had been allowed to bring back from the beach.
During this time lots of young, 10-15yrs i'd guess, Thai boys arrived at the temple to become monks for a few days
Buddha's bedroom
. This is something that every male Thai Buddhist is expected to do at least twice in his life. Once when he is a boy and then once again when he is a man. I was told that a man was not allowed to marry until he has done this.It was very amusing to watch all these trendy Thai teenagers arrive with their families only to be sat straight in a chair and have all their lovely hair (they all look like they're in an ad for some Wella uber-hold wax product, you know the sort) shaved of with a cut-throat razor. There was not a little blood too!
They seemed to recover quite quickly ad were soon running around in big gangs with their new matching do's and orange robes.
On the fourth day, having checked out a couple of nearby guest houses we announce that we would leaving after dinner. When it came time to go there were lots of hugs, no tears mind, and farewells and gifts from a couple of the kids before we jumped in the back of the pickup for the last time (well not quite) and martin dropped us at out new home. Typically Dada had gone walk about with Harrish, Tippawan and the other older girls and was nowhere to be seen. We called him and he said he was stuck at a local fair waiting for the girls to come back. We couldn't leave without saying goodbye to Dada so we said we'd come back the next day to see him.
We did just that the following morning, waiting till most of the kids had gone to the beach, and found Dada slaving over a giant vat of rice as normal
Straight to the beach
. There were thank yous on both side, some hand shaking and a picture and then we where off again. We'd timed it just right as martin was just heading off to the beach again with some of the stragglers so we jumped in the back of the pick-up for what was definitely the last time and headed along the sea front.Debs and i spent then next day on the beach on our own sunbathing, no going in the sea for me with my ear, and complaining about home much food cost.
It was very strange to be away from the kids and Dada. It was partly a weird freedom "i can have beer again!!" and partly a weird loss of direction "what shall we do now? dunno." I guess it was like a mild form of institutionalization - had it only been three weeks? it felt like a life time.
The next day we pulled ourselves together and jumped on a bus bound for Bangkok. We were sad to leave as even though Cha-am wasn't great it was where the kids and Dada still where and so where the orphanage was. Anyway we were going to see our friends the next day so we didn't have time to be too sad.
Comments
WeeBum
I didn't like the way you managed to use the word 'squished' shortly after the weebum statement.