Finally back in Na Kae!

Wheew! Finally after much fuss I am back in Na Kae with Caitlin!

Everything was sorted and ready for me and Caitlin to come, then there was a big fuss created by Mae Sai and me and Caitlin were going to have to stay there, then there was more fussing and now finally we're back in Na Kae! Hannah and Katie are moving to Lampang instead of Mae Sai, but they both seem happy about it so all is good!

We both start teaching again tomorrow, a bit nervous because now we're into proper lessons - I can't just get them to make name cards, I have to actually teach!! I'm not actually too nervous though, I have my trusty lesson plan and flashcards all made up and ready so hopefully my lessons will follow it!

Me and Caitlin got taken to a canoe race yesterday which was fun, there was a big market there too but neither of us brought money - probably a good thing because if we'd had money we would have bought stuff!

Me met a guy called Tay who was friends with the last two volunteers, and on Saturday we're going off to Sakhon Nakhon to see him and his friends and staying there for the weekend which should be fun, beither of us have been to Sakhon Nakhon (except to wait at the bus station for 2 hours at 4.30am...) so it'll be good to have a look around.

This month's missings

Wow, 3 posts in 1 day isn't bad!! It's after the 25th of October and even though it seems like only a few days ago that I posted the last one of these, it's time for me to note down everything I've missed this month.

Mum
Dad
Ailsa
Alan
Caroline
Cheese!!!!
Cheesecake
Cake in general (Thai cake is still a bit odd)
Marmite
Bovril
Ice Cream that doesn't cost a fortune
My Wicked stuff (call it a shrine if you will...)
Tormenting Alan with Defying Gravity (still whistling it in the shower are we?)
Fruit Juice
Sandwiches!!!!
Free internet (although that's actually a good thing because it means I don't spend forever online!)
The Polish Healthy Foods Shop I pass on the bus on the way into Dundee (it's a weird thing to miss I know, don't ask me why!)
The smell of new clothes (the clothes at the market don't have the same smell)

Partner Swap!!

Just a quick update to say that I am swapping partners! I'll be staying in Na Kae, but Hannah is swapping with a girl called Caitlin, and we'll be travelling down in Na Kae in the next couple of days.

Me, Hannah, Caitlin and her partner Katie all felt that we would get on better in our projects with te other person's partner, and after contacting project trust and our reps in Thailand, eventually they agreed and let us swap.

I can't wait to get to Na Kae and show Caitlin around everywhere, and it'll be great introducing her to the crazy people of Na Kae!

Me and Caitlin!

Chiang Mai and trekking!

Wow, the last three weeks have flown by!!

I can't believe it's already been two months since I left Scotland.

The language course in Chiang Mai was really good, and I feel much more confident speaking to people in Thai now. I still haven't mastered the tones, so I have to be careful that I'm saying the right thing, but I think I'm getting there! On the last day of the course we had a small exam, and everyone passed with really high marks which is good - and we all got a pretty certificate!

As I mentioned in the last blog post, we went on a 2 day trek in the jungle over the second weekend in Chiang Mai, and it was absolutely phenominal!!

On the first day we got picked up at 9am and driven to a small clearing to have lunch (veggie fried rice!), and then we started the trek. After walking for about an hour we came to a huge waterfall which was beautiful. We all got changed into our swimming costumes and started exploring! It was actually quite cold at first, but after you'd been in for a few minuted it didn't feel cold at all. We got to go behind the waterfall, and a few of us - me included - decided to go underneath the waterfall to get out instead of going the easy way. It was so fun, but felt really weird! It was a bit like those waterfalls you get in some swimming pools, but much, much heavier!

Afterwards we walked for another 2 hours to what Rambo (our guide) called the village swimming pool - a big lake-type thing with a rapid slide!! It was so much fun. The slide was literally a lot of rapids, and at first Rambo said it was too dangerous for us to go down but we convinced him otherwise. This was definitely my favourite part of the trek, I've always wanted to swim in a pool like it and the rapid slide was like the one you'd see in a film and think "wow, I wish I could go somewhere like that!".

We then went on to the village that we stayed the night in and had dinner - curried potato, chicken and rice - it was delicious! I hadn't realised how long it was since I'd eaten potato! Donna, you would not survive here! :P Rambo built a campfire and we all sat round it and chatted for a bit, and played some of those "remove 2 matchsticks to create a..." games. Ther were really hard! I think we all went to bed pretty early, but the people in our cabin were kept awake by dogs coming in and out and fighting and howling and sleeping next to us all night! We had mosquito nets so they didn't sleep right next to us, but I woke up with a pretty large dog sleeping slumped against my leg. But there was also a cute little black kitten that made up for it :)

The next day, we went elephant riding, which I think was one of the scariest things I've ever done! About 5 minutes into the trek, a stray dog approached the baby elephant that was tagging along with us, and it's mother (with Hannah Jelley and Clara on it's back) went crazy and tryed to charge at it, shrieking. It's trainer tried to calm it down, but it started to back into the other elephants, and then Clem and Rosie's elephant started to join in by also going crazy. Luckily the elephant me and Caitlin were on was a bit further behind and didn't really seem to understand what was going on. The elephants eventually calmed down but it left everyone a bit shaken. Near the end of the elephant ride, we went down quite a steep hill and realised that our elephant (who we named Tusky) plods very hard. I thought I was going to fall off a number of times! All in all it was fun, but I don't think I'd do it again for a while! We then went to another waterfall pool, which was really fun. Although, me, Chess and Cameron did lose our grip on the wall trying to swim against the current and had to be rescued by a bamboo stick... Rambo is quick as lightening though!

After this, we went canoing which was insane! I was in a boat with Billie and Caitlin, and we hit nearly every tree that was hanging over the water. We found out quite quickly that large spiders like to live in trees, and when you smash in to them you get covered in very confused jumpy spiders...

Finally, we went bamboo ranfting which was loads of fun. It was good to have a guide doing all the work while you sat on a raft and watched the world go by!

It was a fantastic weekend and I have loads of photos to put up, which I will add to this post and to facebook in the next few days, I forgot to bring my card reader to Chiang Mai!

The last week of the language course has been a bit of a blur it's gone so fast, but we did go to a museum on the last day which was nice. Our tour guide was a ladyboy, and her English was flawless! It's unnerves me a but when a Thai person's English is better than mine... :P

Chiang Mai

So, we're all in Chiang Mai for the Thai language course (minus two of the original 20 who have already gone home :(), and so far it's been great! We've been here for a week (arrived on the 2nd), and we're here until the 23rd.

So far the course is going well, although I think it's fair to say that I'm not the most natural linguist among us! Ah well, any Thai is good Thai, and I'm getting through the lessons alright, it's just remembering what we've learned the days before that's hard!

The markets here are AMAZING, so many times I've had to say to myself "Naomi, do you really NEED a lantern?" to stop myself from buying everything I see... and there are so many, there is a huge Night Bazaar on every night, plus a Saturday Walking Market and a Sunday Walking Market which are both enormous.

It's so great to see everyone again - we all went out on Friday night for Cameron's birthday which was brilliant fun, and we went to Doi Suthep temple today which is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery, so I had to hi-jack Caitlin's. I forgot to take my battery charger with me to Chiang Mai, so I'll have to buy some more somewhere. I've been so organised up until now!

Next weekend we are all going on a 2 day trek which should be brilliant - we get driven about an hour away, and have lunch at a waterfall pool where we get to swim, we do a 3 hour trek, ride elephants, build rafts and do canoeing, plus we spend the night in a hill tribe village. Can't wait!