Wow, New Year in Thailand is crazy!! Caitlin and I had planned to spend the weekend on Koh Chang with the rest of the volunteers, but we decided that instead we would stay in Na Kae. Pippa invited all of her family and friends round for a party at her house, and we though that we can have New Year on Koh Chang anytime and it will be pretty much the same, but this is probably the only opportunity to spend it in somewhere like Na Kae.
The Party started on 29th December when Pippa's brother, Non, arrived from Bangkok. It takes us about 12 hours on a bus to reach Bangkok - he made it in his car driving in less than 5. Thai driving is pretty crazy! Anyway, he arrived at about 3pm and we welcomed him with whiskey. It was really nice to sit outside Pippa's house with her family and some of her friends from the village talking (or rather trying to understand what was being said) and enjoying ourselves. After a while, at about 9pm, we moved from Pippa's house to a house down the road where there was a karaoke machine set up and more people from around the village. Caitlin and I had planned to sing a couple of songs, but just before we were meant to sing one of our friends got very upset so I went to make sure she was okay, meaning that Caitlin did it solo!! Very well done, too! After this we went back to Pippa's house for the night.
The party continued until around 2nd January, and involved a lot of meeting fantastic people and having fun. On 30th December we spent the afternoon at Pippa's family's farm. They have a rice field and a large pond for fish farming - it's really beautiful. The evening was spent again with lots of people from around the village, and some more of Pippa's family who arrived from Bangkok.
Of course, the big party day, and night, was 31st December. In the afternoon Pippa took us to her friend's house, quite close to Ban Phon Sanuk. Her friend is married to a Russian man who lives in America, and she speaks really good English. She is also absolutely crazy and lovely! It was great to meet her and her family - She has the most adorable children too - her daughter has just been a model in a Thai parenting magazine, there are a good four or five pages of photos of her in it. We were only meant to stay there for a couple of hours but we ended up staying a lot longer. Both Caitlin and I definitely want to see her again.
We made our way back to Pippa's house a little later than planned,and got there at about 6pm to see Non setting up the karaoke machine. Karaoke is huge in Thailand, a party is not complete without it! It's actually a lot of fun - I don't think I would ever get up and do karaoke in the UK but here no one cares what you sound like, it's all about having fun! There was lots of delicious food and, of course, whiskey. We stayed outside for hours talking, laughing, singing, dancing, eating, drinking and generally having a fantastic time. After a while, Pippa's friend who we had met earlier in the day came with some other people which was fantastic, and we went along the road to another of Pippa's friend's houses! She really is one of these people that just knows everyone! Again there was karaoke, and we sung a few songs. One of our favourites to do now is "I Will Survive" because it is so much fun. Back to Pippa's house, and the party continued until about 5am when we finally all made our way to our beds. It was an absolutely brilliant day/night spent with the most amazing people, and although it was a shame to miss seeing the other volunteers, I am definitely happy that I spent New Year in Na Kae.
The next couple of days were filled again with music, dancing and karaoke. All day and night there was music coming from outside Pippa's house and people sitting on her deck eating and drinking. It was really nice to be able to spend so much time with people. :)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
No comments:
Post a Comment