Rakhi: Since we last wrote, we’ve been all over the place, on numerous buses, night trains and flights covering hundreds of miles and three different countries…

Our first stop after leaving our swanky apartment in Bangkok, was Chiang Mai. Our first Thai night train experience was great and after a few beers, a game of scrabble and whisky with a gang of Aussie teachers we had a soundless nights sleep and awoke in the hills of Chiang Mai.

I think most tourists go to Chiang Mai to go elephant trekking to hill tribes and every hotel or guesthouse offers packages for such trips. Joel and I however, were not really interested in either so instead, we did a Thai cookery course on an organic farm where all ingredients are freshly grown and pesticide free. It was great to learn how to cook some of my favourite Thai dishes.

After Chiang Mai, we night trained it back to Bangkok in time to meet Mr. Haynes at the airport. To allow him time to recuperate from the long flight and retune his body clock, we stayed in Bangkok in a hotel with a rooftop swimming pool for the night.

In search of a week of beach bumming and half mooning, the next evening, we began our long journey on a night train south. This time, to occupy ourselves during the long-17 hour- journey, we played a series of games and introduced Luke to the delightful taste of ‘Sangsom’ rum and soda. Again, we had no trouble getting to sleep but Joel and Luke found it hard getting up the next day! Our train journey only took us as far as Surrathani, the jumping off point for the island of Koh Phangan- our final destination. After 17 hours on the train, Sangsom and a rocky 4 hour boat ride, we were nearly green by the time we finally arrived. That wasn’t the end of the road however… The hotel we’d found on the internet didn’t live up to our expectations so after much arguing with a songtaew (taxi type thing) driver we headed along the windy, bumpy roads to ‘Sunrise Beach’ on the south of the island where most of the action is. It took us a while to find anywhere to stay but eventually we landed some bamboo huts a stones throw from the powdery white sand beach.

Koh Phangan is well known world-wide for its legendary Full Moon parties. There wasn’t one while we were there but there was a Half-Moon party (any excuse) in the jungle. I’ve heard so much about the Full Moon and it sounds like most tourists in the whole country descend on the island, get wrecked, ripped off and leave. The smaller and more underground Half Moon parties are for locals as much as tourists and the decked out jungle makes for an interesting location to paint your face in crazy UV patterns and dance till the sun comes up!

Once we’d recovered from the Half Moon, we took a boat to the neighbouring island of Koh Samui. We landed an amazing, centrally located apartment on the most famous strip of beach with air-con, a kitchen, satellite TV, a beautiful bathroom, two bedrooms and a swimming pool for the bargain price of a fiver each a night! We were made up and it served as a great base for us during our time on the island.

A higlight of Koh Samui was going to the beautiful Angthong National Marine Park- a collection of forty or so pristine islands all surrounded by beautifully clear water. Joel and Luke had fun jumping off our boat and I had fun trying to snorkel. That is until we’d got quite a way out and Joel told me he’d seen a sea-cucumber. I’ve never swam so fast in my life and got nowhere. It seemed to take ages to get back to the shore and in my panic I swallowed copious amounts of salt water!

Whilst we were on Koh Phangan, me, Joel and Luke signed up for a beginners Muay Thai class. It’s a national sport of Thailand, an extra brutal form of boxing in which pretty much anything goes. It was really good exercise but best of all, I got to practice some round-houses on Luke! Our class inspired us to watch how the professionals do it at a match on Koh Samui. We managed to get a great deal (or so we thought) on ring side seats. The bell rang for the first match and to our utter dismay, two boys no older than 10, walked into the ring and began trying to kick the s*&t out of each other. It wasn’t really what we expected and it left a bad taste in our mouths.

It was ace to see Luke, even if I did have to put up with him and Joel wearing their skimpy speedos all holiday!

The day after Luke left, Joel and I began our great rush around SE Asia! In two weeks we went from Bangkok to Phnom Penh (Cambodia) to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat to Saigon (Vietnam), Hoi An, Hanoi and back to Bangkok. It sounds like a lot but I think we made the very most of our time without missing out on things we really wanted to experience.

Phnom Penh and Siem Reap- Cambodia:
I found Cambodia completely rugged but totally endearing. In some ways it reminded me of places in India. Cambodia’s main claim to fame is undoubtedly the temples in and around Angkor and the whole country capitalises on this aspect of their heritage. The temple complexes are in the north of the country and the nearest city to them is Siem Reap. It’s a very touristy place but laid back in ways I imagine Khao San Rd in Thailand may have been 20 years ago. Angkor was a city with Angkor Wat, a temple, at the heart of it. Surrounding Angkor Wat in all directions are other lesser known relics from the Khmer empire. Thanks to a handy Angkor guide book we self-tailored a three day cycling tour to our main areas of interest. Of course, Angkor Wat itself is impressive and deservedly a Wonder of the World but the other lesser known ruins are amazing also.

Two in particular that stand out in my mind are The Bayon and Ta Prohm. The latter is an atmospheric 15th century temple which lay undiscovered until a Frenchman stumbled upon in many centuries after the fall of the empire. It remains in the same state that it was found; engulfed by the thick surrounding jungle and twisted tree trunks. The Bayon which was built in the late 12th century is a temple whose most distinguishing feature is a multitude of gigantic stone faces- quite eerie.

What I found incredible about Angkor was the sheer size of the empire and the detail that went into the construction of the buildings and temples. The fact that they have survived today is amazing. I was surprised to discover that the temples are homages to Hinduism and that the bas-reliefs surrounding Angkor Wat and the Bayon tell some of the most famous traditional Hindu stories.

Saigon, Hoi An and Hanoi- Vietnam:
I loved the French influence in Cambodia and it was as prominent in Vietnam. Baguettes, yummy coffee, cheese and wine. I’m sure the Viet Minh didn’t see it like that though.

It was fascinating to learn a little about the history of Vietnam and understand the reverence with which ‘Uncle Ho’ is held. In Saigon, we went to a museum dedicated to him and to the work of civilians who fought against France and later America in order to gain independence. We also went to the infamous CuChi tunnel network constructed by the determined villagers. These tunnels have been surgically enhanced for tourists but even so they were too small for me. Joel was braver and made it through a stretch if the network, I got the fear and had to come out after a minute or so. I can’t believe some villagers actually used to live their lives down there.

On the way to the tunnels, we stopped off at the Cao Dai Holy See in Tay Ninh. Cao Daism is a belief comprised of three teachings (Buddhism, Christianity and Confucianism) and the temple in Tay Ninh is the main headquarters of the religion. The temple itself looked like something straight out of Disney World with bright colours, plastic figurines and massive eyes (The all seeing eye- God’s left, apparently). We arrived just in time for a service. What I saw and heard is probably the most surreal thing I have ever come across. Lots of people dressed in robes accompanied by a group of chanters and singers. It’s too detailed and strange to go into now and the pictures say it better than I could.

After Saigon, we took a plane to Hoi An where the saga of the coat is the most prominent thing that happened. Non-stop rain meant that we couldn’t do much but we did stay in a beautiful converted Chinese tea house and even though we got bitten to shreds by mozzies it was worth it for the uniqueness of the guesthouse. Hoi An is beautiful- lots of faded yellow facades- hangovers from French colonialism and you can eat like an emperor for less than 2 quid. One of the town’s selling points is the monthly ‘Legendary Night’ when the streets by the river come alive and you are entertained with traditional games and music. Legendary Night came and Joel and I found a spot in a restaurant overlooking the river and waited…and waited…and waited… and walked home to find one small group of men playing Chinese checkers.

Having worked our way from Saigon in the south to Hoi An in the middle of the country, our last stop on our whistle stop tour was the northern capital city of Hanoi. Joel took us on an excellent walking tour of the old quarter where we were staying and slightly further a field to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum and The Temple of Literature- Hanoi’s first ever university (for men only- pah). We also went to see a traditional Vietnamese water-puppet performance which was fun.

I liked Vietnam very much- you have to have nerves of steel to get across the roads as cars and motorbikes come at you from every direction but once you make it, you can get a beer from a roadside drinkery for less then 5p!

After 6 months of being in Thailand, Joel and I have less than 6 hours left here before we fly to India. I can’t describe how excited I am at the prospect of seeing my parents and Joel’s parent’s next week when they arrive. And, just seven weeks from now we’ll be back in my beloved Manc with all our friends and family! I’ll really miss Asia once I’m gone, I’ve definitely found that I’ve that adopted some very Asian habits; mainly last-minuteness!

Joel: And now, the end is near…we’re back in Bangkok for one final hoorah before a flight later today takes us to Delhi where we’ll be reunited with Rakhi’s parents. She hasn’t seen them since we left Manchester in May last year so I think it will be quite an emotional occasion for her. For the last five weeks have been constantly on the move and since we’ve been on holiday we’ve neglected this blog a bit. But since today is our last day in Thailand, it seems right to wrap up things up here and now.

So, where to start? We’ve done and seen so much since we finished school it’s been one helluva vacation. The week we spent in Chiang Mai was pretty cool. It’s a funky little city in the north of Thailand, slightly tourist-centred but lots to do and see nonetheless. We did a great cooking course up there at a little country farm growing organic produce so now we’re well versed in knocking up Thai treats - from curries to spring-rolls to coconut and banana deserts. Also, we met up with me ol’ mate Ken’s little brother Sean, who’s been living up there a while, and we were given a tour round some local watering holes. Quite impressed with how in he is with the bar girls in his locals, I must say. He took me on a top night out and I staggered home in the wee small hours pretty battered. I’d say he got his revenge for the times I used to challenge him to shotgun contests when he was about fourteen. Nice one Sean.

We came back down to Bangkok to meet Luke and spent the next two weeks out on the islands in the gulf of Thailand. Really top to see him – and in such good shape too. It appears he’s been putting in a fair bit of gym time. We went down to Ko Phangan – the party island - on the night train (during which time Luke somehow became champion of our five event Olympics by winning the decisive winner-takes-all poker tournament) to catch the half-moon party taking place there. Unlike the full moon parties that take place on the main beach, these twice monthly affairs take place at a small complex in the jungle. Rakhi found some neon face paints, the vodka red-bulls slipped down well and soon we were up on the podiums. I had a really good time despite falling asleep on a bench and having to hitch a ride back to our place on the back of someone’s motorcycle. Definitely memorable anyway. Also on Phangan we tried our hand at Muay Thai (kick-boxing) and worked up a sweat in an hour-long class. Desperate as I was to round-house Haynes in the knackers, we didn’t reach the combat stage, a touch disappointing but kind on his crown jewels I suppose.

After some serious beach time we hopped over to Ko Samui and couldn’t believe our luck in negotiating a last minute deal on an swanky apartment right on the beach. Two bedroom, two TV’s, luxury bathroom, well-equipt kitchen, all for a fiver a night each. Sometimes it clearly pays to ride your luck and just turn up somewhere. More serious beach time was had, Luke had yet more massages, and we had a great night out a Brazilian bar called Zico’s, hooowahaha, even the name makes me shudder, that culminated in some sexy Brazilian dancing and drunken bongo playing and cocktail heads the next day. We made it to some Muay Thai boxing but were appauled to discover the first bout was between two young boys (about 12?) who were urged through three rounds of battering each other by the locals. Pretty disturbing actually. I knew there was a reason I’m not a big boxing fan.

The highlight was a day-trip out to Ang Thong marine Park, perhaps the most beautiful place I’ll ever visit; stunning natural scenery, beautiful turquoise waters and sandy beaches. Luke and I jumped of the top deck of our boat, swam amongst the fishes and we all tried a bit of snorkeling (Rakhi most reluctantly). As we cruised back to port and the sun hung low in the sky, I really did look around and think how there can’t be a more beautiful place on earth. Truly breathtaking.

Back in Bangkok with sent Luke off with a trip up to the rooftop Vertigo bar and a shopping trip around the cities hotspots. He managed to squeeze a final massage in before his flight and it was sad to wave him off after such a great holiday. The down side of being out here has always been not being able to spend time with friends and family. It’s a pretty big downside and I know I don’t want to be so far away for so long again.

Since then we spent three day at the Angkor temples in Siam Reap, Cambodia – another truly wonderful spectacle – ensuring we were there for one sunrise and one sunset. The sunrise ws tough but we made to a temple on a hill over Angkor Wat just as the sun was coming up. We explored the area on bikes for the most part and, despite the distances I reckon this was the best way to see the area – good exercise for us pair of out-of –shape blobbies too. Compared to Thailand, Cambodia really feels like the wild-west. In Siam Reap I saw only one properly paved road and generally the streets were pretty filthy and difficult to walk down. It was cool though. We had time to explore the capital, Phnom Penh, where French influence is pretty strong. I didn’t see a single baguette in Thailand but they’re sold on every corner over there. And all the roads are tree-lined avenues. Definitely a cool place to relax after our Angkor cycling. A somber trip out to the killing fields where Pol Pot exterminated so many Cambodians provided a striking history lesson. This part of the world has a pretty nasty recent history. It occurred to me that many Cambodians might look at today and, despite being so desperately poor, feel they’ve never had it better.

Then on to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it used to be known. After a boat trip to take us across the border, we arrived in this behemoth of a place. Our guest house was lovely and we did a great walking tour of the city, but the motorcyclists make being a pedestrian there pretty tricky. Now even Bangkok seems completely sane. Slowly but surely, Rakhi and I mastered the slow-walk-through-heavy-on-coming-traffic technique. Hearts in mouths, we realised this was the only way to get across these crazily busy streets. On one day, we went out to the tunnels of Cu Chi, a part of the old Vietkong tunnel system used to take on the Americans during the Vietnam war. I had a crawl through a short section, about 30m, and have to say, I would not be happy living there in peace time, never mind not knowing if you’ll ever see daylight again as the ground above you is bombarded with heavy explosives and Napalm. Interesting to go out there though, and to see some of the traps they set to kill American soldiers. Pretty gruesome but you have to respect their resilience and ingenuity in the face of such a power.

The next stop, Hoi An, is a lovely little town full on nineteenth century buildings but also far too many tourists. I was pretty disappointed to be honest. We found a really interesting place to stay – an old tea house and we were able to while away the rainy days in coffee shops and bars playing pool (Rakhi’s now brilliant – in Siam Reap I just pipped her 10-9 in a mega-tournament!) Unfortunately, my strongest memory of Hoi An may be of going to pick up the coat I was having made only to discover the fabric wasn’t the one I’d been told it would be, the grain ran the wrong way and it was very shoddily-made in all aspects. They refused to give me my deposit back saying they would remake it for me in two hours (which wasn’t good enough since I couldn’t trust them to make a mess they’d tried to sell me this coat) I had to bore them into submission by very reasonable repeating my request for over two hours until they’d lost two customers who’d overheard me and I’d driven everyone there, including myself, mad and finally got them to give me back 75% of my deposit. So I have no coat, but two absolutely superbly made shirts from another place where the tailors were lovely, very skilled and very professional.

After Hoi An, we headed up to Hanoi, the capital, for our last four nights. I thought it was a great place. Now a little more used to the motorcycles, we had a good wander the old town where all the roads are named (in Vietnamese) after the thing that’s traditionally sold there. So there’s a tin street, a shoe street, a rope street, a Buddhist shrine street etc. It was kind of like I expected Saigon to be; all old higgly-piggldy buildings and dark back alleys, really interesting to explore. We checked out the famous water-puppet theatre where puppeteers in waders and behind screens use underwater sticks to control puppets on the surface of the water to tell traditional Vietnamese stories. It was well worth the visit – the music was great and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. We found some top bars and quality little restaurants around the town as well. Saturday night was spent in a club on a boat called Solice which was rammed and on our last day we walked up to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum which unfortunately was closed while his body is being touched up in Russia. We had a walk round the complex though. Another lesson in history.

On top of all this we’ve been to countless temples, palaces and museums in the last month, all helping me to build a picture of what’s been going on in these here parts over the past few hundred years. The countries certainly have troubled histories. I’d say they deserve a much more peaceful and prosperous future.

So, now back in Bangkok. Our six-month Thailand stay has really affected me, as least as much as my time in Korea did. This world is a big crazy place full of lots of crazy people. It’s been so interesting to see how other people live and discover what other people feel is important in life. I’ll miss it. Especially the price of a nice cold beer.

Until next time.

Rakhi: Earlier this week, I finally met up with my Thai-Indian Bangkok family whom I hadn’t yet met. My mum has a pretty big extended family and I don’t know all the second-cousin, once removed blah blah terminology so I can’t explain exactly how we’re related. Actually, it doesn’t really matter because I feel like I’ve known them forever.

They are absolutely lovely people and have shown Joel and myself amazing kindness, taking us out for dinner, having us over for dinner and most significantly insisting we move out of our guesthouse… into their empty 43rd floor apartment in the famous State Tower overlooking the Chao Phraya River! It’s actually just a stone’s throw from the plush hotel we stayed in for Joel’s birthday with even better views. At the top of the tower on the 62nd floor, is one of Bangkok’s (and the world’s) best bars and restaurants where none other than the King of Thailand dined last month for his son’s birthday. I feel very lucky.

Since leaving Takhli and recovering from Joel’s shock snake confession (if I’d have known, I’d have packed my bags and been off in a flash! Good on him for keeping it from me), we’ve been pretty busy traversing the streets of Bangkok in the name of various chores. Yesterday, we received our Vietnamese and Indian visas without any hitches and nearly everything else we had to do is done and dusted now as well. All that’s left now is to get Joel doped up on prophylactics! Thankfully, the last time I went to India I had ten year booster jabs so I’m still covered for most things.

On Monday, we’ll be swapping our luxury condo for a sleeper train and heading to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. It’s supposed to be a beautiful state with lots of wilderness and greenery. It’s also famous for treks to remote hill tribe villages- something utterly voyeuristic which doesn’t really appeal to me (with thousands of tourists traipsing through every month, how authentic can they really be?). I read that unless you sign up for one of the treks offered at every guesthouse, some of them will evict you- we’ll have to be on our guards.

And, after a week in Chiang Mai, we'll be returning to Bangkok to meet Mr Haynes- I can't wait. It's great being unemployed!

Joel: It’s a fantastic feeling knowing I don’t have to go to work tomorrow. Or the next day, or the next day. Or for the foreseeable future in fact. I’m really excited now we’ve finished working about what we’ve got planned for the next few months - it’s going to be a right old adventure…

The plan is: this week we’re in Bangkok. We’ve got a fair few things to sort out. Yesterday we went to the Indian Embassy and the Vietnamese Embassy with visa applications, Hewlett Packard HQ to get a quote on fixing our computer’s broken drive, Panthip Plaza: Bangkok’s equivalent of Seoul’s Yongsan – a huge electronics market specializing in computers - where we got a replacement drive for half the price HP wanted, then to our Thai Bank to withdraw all our cash and effectively close our accounts, and then to the Emporium shopping mall to meet Rakhi’s aunt, Anupa, who lives in Bangkok with her family and who invited us over to meet the gang before taking us out to dinner. They were all really lovely and extremely generous in true Indian family style. I think we’re going to be seeing a bit more of them this week. We might be paying a visit to Alisia’s (Anupa’s daughter) school, a prestigious International School in central Bangkok – very different from where we’ve been working – for a tour. And they’ve very generously invited us to spend the rest of our time here in a beautiful apartment they own overlooking the river – they even took us there after dinner last night to show us the place and it’s pretty swanky. They really are very lovely and generous people.

Today we had more preparation to do for our big trip. We had to pay a visit to the Mediakids office to sort out a few final things and then put our big cases into storage for six weeks so we don’t have to lug them everywhere with us. On Friday, we should get both of the visas we need and then we should be all set.

Our big plan is this: next week I think we’re going to head up to Chaing Mai, it’s quite a journey so we’re going to get overnight trains. We’re going to stay up there for almost a week and then head back here (overnight again) in time to get an early taxi to the airport to meet Luke on Monday morning. He’s over here for two weeks and I know he’s pretty up for heading out to the islands so I reckon we’re going to have a great time while he’s over. After that, Rakhi and I are going to go on a two week trip through Cambodia and Vietnam before heading back to Bangkok for a final time to get our flights to India. We’re going to stay there for seven weeks, initially with Rakhi’s folks in Delhi (my parents are coming out for a visit too!) Then we’ll fly back to Manchester - just in time to catch the tail end of the Christmas market in Albert Square, so we shouldn’t feel it so necessary to put on our own fantastic, world-renowned home market again this year.

As I expected, our last two weeks at Takhliprachasan absolutely rocketed by. When it came to our final day, I did start to feel a bit choked as some of the students gave speeches of thanks and presented me with gifts and cards they had made. We also had to make appearance in the broadcasting room and were beamed live into all the classrooms as we were presented with gifts by the director. The teachers also gave us gifts, as did our lovely neighbours who’ve been so helpful over the past four and a half months. We took all the gifts back home to our by-now cleaned and barren house and sat in our hammocks to open them. From the director – a king shirt each! If I’ve not already mentioned, all Thais absolutely adore their king and wear a yellow shirt bearing his crest every Monday at least and every day of their lives at most. Rakhi and I bought one each when we first arrived and have entered into the tradition every Monday. Only a quick look at the labels showed mine was an XL size and Rakhi’s an XXL. Do we really seem so big to these people, we thought. Then the gift from the English teachers – aaaah! A king shirt each. How thoughtful. Hang on, again – XL for me and XXL for Rakhi. Cheeky buggers! Is this a wind-up. So…on to the parcels from our next-door neighbours. Need I go on? Two more giant king shirts. So with those we already had making a grand total of eight. Er...king shirt anyone?

Rakhi has a bite to eat with the neighbours as we say our goodbyes.

As we sat there in our hammocks one last time, I decided it would now be okay to tell Rakhi about the snake I found in the kitchen. She didn’t believe me at first but then realised that 1) it wasn’t impossible and 2) if I had found a snake I wouldn’t have told her because she would have freaked out – so I would probably keep the such a thing a secret until the day we moved out, which I did. It wasn’t alive. I found under the sink while undertaking a creature check when we got back from Krabi two weeks ago. I reckon it must have got trapped in there, been unable to find any water and then, in the incredible heat, died of dehydration. It was a bit shriveled but a snake it was, about the length of the distance from my elbow to my fingertips. Glad I didn’t have to face it alive really. Could’ve been nasty.

I have one last lunch in our favourite roadside Pad Thai spot.

Rakhi: This is my last week of work THIS YEAR!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO! (Sorry, I don’t mean to rub it in, I’m just VERY excited).

There are some things that I’m going to miss about my school and Takhli but I don’t feel as emotional as I did when we left Korea as we’ve only been here for a comparatively short amount of time. I will miss the Thai English teachers at our school though. They’ve all been unbelievably kind and helpful and I feel very lucky to have been placed here. We’ve just been out for dinner with them and I’m told there are more treats in store for us in our teacher’s class tomorrow.

As for the students, it’s really only the very good and very bad kids that stand out- I teach over a thousand students and each only once a week so it’s impossible to get know them well. As this week is my final lesson with each class, I’ve been saying my goodbyes. Today after my 2/12 (genius class), the students wanted a group photo with me in front of the school- it’s a nice memento. Even my 5/1 (very, very low level, affectionately referred to as ‘5 slash Bonehead’) who are normally completely unenthusiastic said their thanks and goodbyes and told me that they’d had fun.

Whilst I’m glad of the contrasts between living in rural Takhli and ginormous Seoul, one thing I’ve realised about myself is that I’m a city girl through and through. However, It’s been amazing and challenging living in the middle of the tropical Thai countryside; I doubt I’ll still be scared of the tame dogs or little weenie house spiders we get in England when I get back! My most appreciative thing about living and working in Thailand though is that Joel and I have gotten to see a side of the country that most of the many tourists who come here don’t get to.

Some of my favourite things about teaching in Takhli are…

Watching students being stopped in their tracks to have their hair shorn off by a teacher. Or, if said teacher is interrupted by a phone call, the students accompanying friend relieves him of the duty.

Mai pen rai (pronounced: my bell eye) roughly translates as ‘It doesn’t matter.’ It’s a popular Thai saying and I hear it many times a day. Nothing gets Thai people down and nothing irritates them because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad. It’s good when it means I can leave school early for lunch or early to get to Bangkok on a Friday. Or, when classes are unexpectedly (for us) cancelled. On the whole though, working in such a relaxed, free environment is like a breath of fresh air.

Thais LOVE to eat. I don’t understand much Thai but I don’t need to, to understand that the main topic of discussion in our English office is FOOD. Mmm aroi ma ka? Mmm aroi (‘Is it delicious?’ ‘Yes, it’s delicious,’ both totally overused phrases in our office). The teachers are serious eaters. It’s great when the teachers give us food or when they take us to a restaurant because we get to try all sorts of food that we wouldn’t get to otherwise and that you don’t find in the spick and span, clinical looking Thai restaurants in touristy places.

Living in a tiny neighbourhood and in particular, living next door to Pi Tien who’s our neighbour. She’s a character and together with her husband, she’s really looked after me and Joel. She speaks very little English but damn it, she tries! They oil our gate, water our plants, fix our lights, they got us a washing machine, she’s taken me to the market many times and made me taste all the food. Earlier this evening she told me that any time we’re in Thailand we must stay with her, the same goes for our families too.

Riding around on our motorbike- I don’t think we would have got one if we were living in a bigger city with public transport options. It’s been fun and now we have to sell it, Joel is particularly gutted. I don’t think he’ll miss dodging the crazy, wild dogs, chickens or cows though!

Actually, now I’m writing this, I’m starting to realize that there are LOTS of things that have been incredible about being in Takhli and teaching at my school- too many to write about but it's all up there.

We’ve been very lucky (incidentally, that’s what lots of students think my name is!), I’ve had fun and since all the teachers and students keep telling us how much they really want us to stay, I’d say it’s been a job well done!

Sawat dee ka Takhli.

Joel: Ao nang turned out to be the perfect place to relax for a while. In the two weeks we were away, we ventured out to Ko PhiPhi and Ko Lanta and while the former was too busy and hugely disappointing the latter was deserted with very little to do. Which wouldn’t necessarily have been a bit thing – I only really wanted to relax and get through some books – but we really wanted to stay somewhere with a few different places to eat and a decent beach so we spent most of our break in the coastal town of Ao nang. I really liked it there actually. We found a lovely guest house next to the town’s Irish pub and there were loads of places to choose from for dinner – particularly Thai sea food places. Mmmmmn!

If a picture tells a thousand words I’ll save straining my fingers and post these instead:





So now we’re back in Takhli with only two weeks left of our contracts. We’ve got loads to sort out: selling the bike, pills and jabs, a big clear out of Rakhi’s wardrobe etc. but by the end of next week we should be ready to move on.

Oh, and the English play. Well, to cut a long story short, we set off at five in the morning in order to arrive at the school in Phitsanulok for the start of the competition. It was a terrible day with rain absolutely lashing down and when we got to the school we couldn’t believe the crowds. The finals of many other school competitions were being held in the same place and students from around seventy schools were competing. When we finally found our way though the crowds and rain to the location of our competition we discovered it was a tiny outhouse already packed with people with the first performance underway. The words "brewery" and "piss-up" were beginning to feature prominently in my thinking. As it turned out we were to go on last of seventeen schools…so the long wait began. Some of our students had a nap, I somehow stayed awake through some of the most excrutiating versions of Oliver Twist and Cinderella and such like surely to ever have been witnessed, and by around four it was our turn. It was easily the most interesting of the plays put on and the seven students did an absolutely five-star job. I was beginning to think we had no chance of winning though when the only non-Thai of the judges (an old Canadian guy) stood and went to the lav as our play began and didn’t return till it was finishing. Maybe I was the only person there who was taking this thing at all seriously. Anyway, after little deliberation the results were announced – everyone had won! Well, not quite everyone, sixteen of the seventeen teams had won. Have you ever heard anything like it. And yet, everyone (almost) was celebrating with their fellow students. I really have never come across anything like it. But then the Thais were happy. And surely that’s what mattered. Everyone’s a winner baby! Ooooh yeah!

Rakhi: For various reasons, we've had a bit of a departure from our blog...but now we're back...

Since we have some time off school (some of the students are sitting a military exam so school's closed) Joel and I have come to Krabi, a province on the south-west coast of Thailand. It's absolutely stunning here and thankfully the heavy rain which greeted us last Sunday has calmed down enough for us to be able to enjoy the spectacular coastline beaches as well as some of the surrounding 132 islands off the mainland.

We've based ourselves in the town of Ao Nang which is considered to be the centre of the tourist scene. Thankfully though, as it's the low season at the moment it's nice and peaceful with a good amount of amenities close by, not too many people and a laid back, relaxing atmosphere.

Krabi was one of the most affected areas by the 2004 tsunami. The region which is completely tourism-dependent found it difficult to get back on it's feet. Even now, people are reluctant to travel to this area of Thailand but it's the best thing you can do to help people rebuild their livelihoods. The Phi Phi islands (a group of 6) which lie south of Krabi are regarded as the "Jewels of the Andaman Sea." Only one of the islands Phi Phi Don is inhabited and it was this island which was worst affected by the tsunami which destroyed most of the island at the height of the tourist season.

The Phi Phi islands are said to be among the world's most beautiful and "The Beach" was even filmed on one of these islands. Since it's so easy to get to there from Ao Nang Joel and I realised we couldn't miss the opportunity to visit a slice of paradise. So, on Tuesday morning we woke early to get a 1 and 1/2 hour boat under moody skies and choppy seas to Phi Phi Don where we planned to stay for a week or so. As soon as we stepped off the boat, we were harassed by people hawking accommodation and the heavens opened.

If other places in Thailand suffer during the low season and other places along the Andaman Coast are quiet because of fearful tourists after the tsunami, Koh Phi Phi Don is not one of them. Joel and I searched for an available room but prices, of even the most basic toilet free rooms were a complete rip off. Eventually, we managed to find a place that was just about okay to lay our heads. The guesthouses, resorts, cafes and restaurants in the built up Ton Sai area of the island are so numerous that they're practically on top of one another and you have to weave through each of them to get anywhere. All this coupled with the number of tourists and extortionate prices made me feel like I was at a Butlins Resort not the idyllic island I was hoping for.

The next day, the sun finally came out and I caught a glimpse of the beauty of the island; clear turqoise waters and white sandy beaches. Plus, left over fag butts, beer bottles and noisy long tail boats ferrying people around the island and disturbing the peace. I'm sure this place was once amazing and there must be little nooks and crannies of beauty away from the main tourist area but in my opinion, tourism (whilst being great for the local economy) has turned this place into a Paradise Lost and I was wholly disappointed. After just one night on the island, Joel and I headed back to Ao Nang.

In and around Ao Nang, there is so much to do. Krabi is famous for snorkelling, diving and rock climbing one of the many karst formations that jut out of the sea. Feeling adventurous, Joel and I went sea kayaking and snorkelling around Ko Hong, a group of islands blessed with white sandy bays and crystal clear water. We actually only went kayaking around the bigger of the collection of islands where you can paddle through gaps in the cliffs and into a lagoon in the interior. In the middle of the lagoon there is a sandy bank where the bed is covered with star fish and you can see beautiful birds in their natural environment. It was breathtaking.

After kayaking, we stopped for lunch before heading to another three tiny islands where we relaxed and read for a bit. Our last stop was 'Paradise Island,' top of the list for snorkelling. Both of us donned our gear and headed underwater for a swim through schools of stripey tropical fish. Joel, braver than me went further out where he saw more beautiful and brightly coloured fish and some coral.

We've taken lots of photos but they don't do this stunning area justice. I'll upload them when we get home.

Joel: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a double bank holiday, and last week we made good use of our four day weekend by making a trip out to Kanchanaburi near the border with Myanmar, the location of the bridge on the river Kwai. It was a bit of a trek having to go into Bangkok and out again but we arrived at a little guest house on the river late on Friday evening, just in time for last orders in the restaurant. Rakhi’s just finished reading the famous novel named after the bridge and although I’m aware of the significance of the place, I’ve not even seen the film, so it was great that after breakfast on Saturday we could check out the nearby Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, a fantastic museum detailing the history of the construction of the Death Railway from all perspectives. I kind of thought that after leaving Korea I might have heard enough stories about the brutal Japanese but not to be. It seems as pressure began to be placed on the officers to get the thing finished, the conditions in which the Allied POWs were kept became utterly hellish. There were plenty of first-hand accounts from those who’d suffered and survived as well as those who hadn’t and plenty of artifacts to give observers an idea of the torment and agony suffered. Next to the centre and visible from the windows is the huge Allied War Cemetery. We gave that a miss.

In the evening, we took bikes from our guest house and peddled up to the bridge in anticipation of a nine o’clock light show. There was no light show, but instead at one end of the bridge the local Thais were having a huge knees-up with a stage, a band and plenty of energetic dancing. We made our way along the sleepers to the centre of the unlit bridge (imagine the restrictions in the U.K. on walking along such a famous railway bridge at night. I love living in a place where I’m not always treated like an infant!) and couldn’t quite take it all in. “We’re on the bridge on the river Kwai! Woo-hoo” I’ll just have to read the book now.

The next day, we took an early bus up to Erawan National Park, home of a seven tier super-spectacular waterfall. It was a gorgeous day and although plenty of Thais had had same idea as us for enjoying the bank holiday, it wasn’t too busy and everyone we did see was having a great time. The waterfall was stunning. It was a bit of a hike up to the top tier and we worked up a bit of a sweat in the heat but it was well worth it. We took a swim in one of the plunge pools, had our feet nibbled by foot long fish and sat for a while on the rocks underneath the waterfall itself. Absolutely breath-taking.

It’s now Monday morning and I’m back at school after what amounted to something of a working weekend (which is fine every so often). On Saturday, Rakhi and I travelled to a different school to give some lectures on Phonology to a group of Thai teachers. We’d worked pretty hard preparing it (Rakhi particularly) and when the day came, it all seemed to go really well. We’d made it quite interactive with lots of games and exercises and, despite having to be at school on a Saturday, I think the teachers really enjoyed the classes. They gave us pretty good evaluations anyway. A credit to Rakhi I’d say.

And yesterday we both came in to school for a final big rehearsal day for the English play. The six students were more than happy to come in on a Sunday, which kind of shows me how much they want to win, and we spent four hours going through the script in terms of pronunciation and stressing and moved on to tweaking some of the action. After four hours we ran the whole thing and I’d say it was in pretty good shape. We’ll have a final dress rehearsal on Wednesday and if they can remember the two most important things, “Loud and clear, loud and clear…” I’ll be quite happy. On Thursday, we’ll be getting up early to make the three hour trip to Phitsanulok for what I’m now told is the final of the competition. If we win, we’ll be invited with the other three regional winners to perform at a festival in Bangkok in September. Anyway, I’m not counting my chickens. I’ll try to get a video camera this week to film it and, come Thursday, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed .

Rakhi: Making it back into Thailand wasn't the end of the whole visa saga; On Thursday we met with one of the Mediakids reps at Immigration in order to get our new Non-B Visas which entitle us to remain in Thailand for another three months as teachers. Whilst I got mine without a hitch, Joel wasn't so lucky. A letter from the Education Department confirming Joel as a teacher, had his passport number down incorrectly. The Education Department were contacted and after half an hour of waiting, an amended copy was faxed to the immigration office. Phew! Joel and Pai (the company rep) stepped up to the scary immigration lady and laid out all the necessary forms in front of her. This time however, the Education Department had Joel's name spelt wrongly. This further error was the final straw for the Immigration lady and she told Pai that we'd have to return the next day to try again. Luckily, since Joel had already shown his face, signed the necessary papers and handed over his passport and the fee, he didn't have to go back after all.

So, everything was pretty much done and dusted and it was still Thursday morning. We'd told our school we probably wouldn't be back until Monday and they were fine with that since we had nothing to do because of the exams. We took advantage of our new found freedom and hot footed it to the infamous Pattaya about 2 hours south of Bangkok. Pattaya is one of the most touristy areas in Thailand, people go there for numerous reasons but the main pull is the fact that it has one of the largest red light districts in the world. The number of old, wrinkly foreign men with young Thai girls on their arm was obscene. Whilst we slept in Pattaya, we actually spent the rest of our time on the island of Koh Lan about 45mins away by boat. Because of heavy tourism, the abundance of jet-skis and boats, by Thai standards, I'm sure it comes near the bottom of the list of idyllic islands. I can't wait to sample more secluded and less trodden ones later but for the purpose of last weekend it was great and lying on the beach on Friday afternoon certainly beat being at work.

From now until the end of our contract we have an abundance of free time. This coming weekend is a long one because of a religious holiday so we have next Monday and Tuesday off. There's another long weekend in a couple of weeks followed by a two week holiday, two weeks at work then finito! This weekend we're planning on going to Kanchanaburi Province in the west of the country. The province is most famous for the Bridge on the River Kwai but all the scenery there is supposed to be green and lush so I want to do some exploring. I've also managed to locate a guest house that offers a morning cookery course so I'm going to sign us up for that too. Hzaar to Thailand- The Land of Holidays!

Joel: We're now back in Bangkok after a pretty unusual day in which we spent approximately one hour in Cambodia. I really don't understand it myself, but it seems, due to new regulations, we were required to get new visas and the only way we would be permitted to do this was if we left the country and re-entered on new tourist visas. So, yesterday morning we came into Bangkok (the kids have exams all week so we won't be missed) and today we rose bright and early, caught a bus at 6am, slept most of the four hour journey and arrived in the Thai border town of Arunya at about 10:30. From there we took a tuk-tuk right to the border and were dropped within walking distance of Cambodia. Fortunately, after reading about other people's experiences making this bizarre journey, we had prepared ourselves for the various scams. First we waved away a young chap offering to kindly help us through passport control. Our first real potential problem though came in the office itself when, after stamping my passport and nullifying my current work visa, the immigration officer informed us that they didn't have any of the temporary tourist visas we needed to reenter Thailand today. If true, this would of course mean we would be stuck in Cambodia until further notice. After explaining our situation and asking them to have a brief phone conversation with one of the reps from our company, it seemed there maybe something that could be done. But first, we would have to deal with immigration of the Cambodian side...

Immediately on leaving the Thai immigration office, I was beckoned by a Cambodian uniformed official on the side of the path who wanted to see my passport. As he looked, from out of a hat reappeared the chap who had innitially offered to assist us when we stepped out of the tuk-tuk. I'm sure we look very western and maybe appeared as two giant walking dollar signs in these peoples eyes. He soon explained how much the Cambodian visa and stamps would cost if we wanted to be saved from the long cues and, unsurprisingly, this was quite a bit more expensive than it should be. We smiled, held our ground and told him we didn't mind waiting. When we made it the the visa office, there were no queues, just a bunch of bored officials, smoking joes and looking tough. Anyway, to cut it short, these guys filled in the paperwork for us for no more than the fee and tip we expected and soon we were free to waltz back over to Thailand, praying we would be allowed back in. I let our rep, Pai, have another quick chat with one of the officials and fortune would have it there was something they could do, they did have tourist visas after all, no idea what that was all about. Soon we were playing scrabble on the coach back to Bangkok. We celebrated having dealt with a pretty brutal day by taking advantage of happy hour in Bangkok's Hard Rock Cafe. I didn't even mind a bit of Bruce Springsteen on the jukey.

Cambodia seemed pretty different from Thailand. From just hopping over the border we saw complexes of super casinos surrounded by people living in extreme poverty. Just the contrast between the officials on each side spoke loads about where each seems to be in terms of it's development. When we head into Cambodia later in the year we'll have to be careful. Then again, tomorrow we have to go to the immigration office in Bangkok and exchange our new tourist visas for new work visas. What a system, hey?

Our other news: The English play has made it through yet another round. Rakhi and I didn't go with them but a week last Sunday they won another round. They will now be taking it to the penultimate contest in a town called Pitsunalok. This will be in August and, if they get through, the national final in Bangkok will be waiting. I always said I only hoped they would find the project enjoyable but now it seems clear that they really want to win. I suppose it's my duty to help them so once exams are out of the way we'll be having some more rehearsals and working on their pronunciation.

Aha, and I almost forgot, something quite out of the ordinary happened just before we left Takhli. As we prepared to leave the house, as usual, I gave my trainers a little shake before putting them on. As I laced them up, I felt there might be some small objest in my left trainer. I'd had this feeling the day before too, but had been too busy to take it off to see whether there was a stone there, or maybe my sock was twisted, I don't know. So I removed it and shook it again. To my horror, out fell a small, dried-up frog, a frog that a clearly nipped in there at least a day before and then been smothered to death my foot over the course of a day or so. Then, as Rakhi and I were taking in the true horror of the little blighter's horrible fate, I felt a movement in my other trainer. Surely not, I thought, and quick as a flash I took off this trainer and shook it out too. Sure enough, out jumped another, bigger frog, a frog just saved from the same fate by the discovery of his little brother. Frogs in my trainers! I felt pretty awful. Life in tropical Thailand realy does get everywhere.

This weekend I think we're going to head to the beach. After nearly three months here we've not been to a proper Thai beach but now, with a few days off, we can hit the sand and hopefully soak up the sun. Mmmmmn.

Rakhi: So, everyone was a winner at Sports Day with each of the teams collecting at least one prize for their amazing efforts. I still can't get over the scale of the event!

I loved Sports Day. I loved getting up in the morning, going to school, taking in a game or two, then heading home after an hour or so! Since we didn't have to be at school, on Thursday, Joel, myself and Shane decided to go on a day trip to the neighbouring province of Lopburi. Lopburi dates back to the Dvaravati period (6th-11th centuries AD) and so there are countless old ruins and museums housing Dvaravati artefacts. However, one thing none of us could find information on was why the old palaces, temples and buildings had gotten into such a state of disrepair in the first place- mysterious.

The juxtaposition of the old orange and pink tinged, crumbling ruins and modern facades make Lopburi look quite striking but they're not the only reason Lopburi is famous in Thailand. More than any other place in the country, Lopburi is besieged by a large population of wild, mischievous monkeys who terrorise the city's residents and sightseers! I had read that if the monkeys see you eating something they'll snatch it out of your hands. Once, when we were visiting some friends, Joel and I saw one cheeky blighter appear out of nowhere, grab a bottle of Sprite from the hands of a passerby, swing back up to his perch on a telephone line and greedily swig out of the bottle! Shane couldn't really care less about the ruins and was more interested in monkey spotting, when we finally caught sight of a troop of monkeys hungrily feasting down an alleyway he was thrilled. Whilst marvelling the troop, none of us noticed that another gang had sniffed out the nuts that Shane was holding and were eagerly coming towards us- we had to leg it across the road!

On Friday, we headed to Bangkok for Shane's birthday which was rung in in a quirky little bar called Cafe Democ- so called because it's windows peer out onto the art deco Democracy Monument (somewhat ironic given the current state of affairs in Thailand) in the Banglamphu area of the city. Shano had a little too much Thai whiskey and went a little bonkers, it was his birthday though so he's forgiven. The plan was to stay in Bangkok until Sunday but on Saturday, Shane woke up with a weary head and decided he wanted to hot foot it down to a nice sandy beach for some R+R. We said our goodbyes and Joel and I headed back to Takhli where the rest of the weekend was spent in our hammocks!

Yesterday was another working Saturday (unpaid I might add) for Joel and I. We were roped in to helping interview students for a scheme which sends them abroad to different countries. The first I heard about it was on Wednesday when I returned from teaching a class to find a T-shirt on my desk in the staff room. Looking obviously puzzled, one of the Thai teachers came over to me and explained that it was for Saturday. 'For Saturday?' There was obviously a breakdown in communication somewhere along the line.

Not to worry though, because another last minute revelation was the fact that next week the students have mid-terms. This means, that Joel and I won't be teaching for a whole week! What the mid-terms are on I do not know as it seems that the students hardly ever have classes because of this festival or that event. I'm not complaining though. I think all the teachers have some duty or another, whether it's supervising students or collecting exam papers. Joel and I have a more important mission to undertake however...we have to get new visas since our current ones will expire at the end of this month. The system here is confusing to say the least but in a nutshell, we have to leave he country, re-enter on a tourist visa then go to Bangkok to get a non-immigrant B visa. Pi Apple suggested that we should do all this while the students have mid-terms so we don't miss any classes. Therefore the plan is to go to school on Monday and Tuesday, then spend the rest of the week travelling in, out and around the country to get our necessary papers. We're hoping to steal a few days at the beach if we can!

Rakhi: Yesterday was the start of 'Sports Day' which is actually three days long rather than just the one. For the students, it is without a doubt the highlight of the school calendar and they have been preparing for what seems like months.

This morning, Joel, Shane (who is staying with us the mo) and I headed into town to watch the 'Opening Ceremony' which consisted of thousands of costumed students and a brass band taking part in a huge procession through the town up to the school. It really was very impressive, the students have gone to a lot of effort.

Once at school, each of the houses, (Red, Green, Blue, Violet and Yellow) assembled themselves for their performances and Joel and I could finally see the cheers and dances that we've heard them practice every lunchtime for the last month. They looked very professional as each dance was choreographed to perfection and all the cheerleaders were beaming with enthusiasm. It's hard to pick a winner because they were all so good. Also as part of the ceremony, the brass band played a cool medley of tunes as well as the kings anthem, there was an Olympice style torch and there were fire breathers too. This sports event certainly isn't reminiscent of Sports Days when I was a youngster and I think the British Government and country would have a fit if it learnt that students were twirling batons of fire and swallowing petrol. This ceremony could definitely give The Olympic one a run for it's money!

After a couple of hours, it was time to let the games begin. Joel and I caught a footy match between the Green and Blue teams where there was one promising young lad from the Green side of town who was clearly the star of the team. This lad managed to score in the first half due to a goalkeeping flop and even though the Blues were determined and feisty in the second half, they missed a great opportunity near the end leaving the Greens to steal the game.

Last Saturday, Joel and I were kindly invited on a tour of Takhli by some of the Mattoyam 6 girls. We were going to meet Shane in Bangkok but he was delayed in Hong Kong waiting for his Indian Visa so we went out with the students instead. Our first stop was the Phet Takhli Caves- a series of caves within the Ban Chon Duea mountains. I was really impressed with the girls because not only are they as hard as nails and unafraid of everything, but they also know their way through pitch black caves. Inside the cave there were no lights (we had torches), no staircases or built in bridges etc... The cave was not doctored for tourism in any way so we had to scramble over rocks, squeeze through crevices, stoop under boulders and stalactites and bob from flying bats. I can't believe that I did it and all without flinching!

Our next stop was Wat Khao Phuka, a mountain top monastery with a stairway leading to its peak. At the top, there's a huge buddha and a beautiful domed temple overlooking Takhli which is painted with buddhist murals and houses what is supposedly buddhas footprint. The girls lit a candle and some incense and invited us to pray in front of the footstep with them. They recited a chant in Thai which we repeated line by line and then we placed the incense into a shrine near the footprint.

The third stop on the tour was a snake farm. There were three huge golden snakes, I'm not sure what they were as I didn't get close enough to find out.

After lunch at a bustling noodle shack we went to the last place of the day. The Chan Sen Museum which details life in the ancient city of Cham Sen in the Thawarawadi period and showcases artefacts and relics uncovered from that period. The girls are so nice, all day they clutched at their dictionaries trying to find the best way to describe something; It was so nice of them to show us around as I really gained a better geographical and historical understanding of the area.

Since Shane's staying with us at the moment, we thought we'd head into Bangkok together this weekend so we can celebrate his birthday on Saturday and so that he can easily get transport off to another part of the country. I think we're going to take him up to the Banyan Tree, the bar that we went to on my birthday with amazing views of the city- any excuse to go up there again!

Joel: Last week brought about "Friends, Episode 2: The One Where The Real Competition Starts". We spent a few hours on Tuesday and Wednesday tweaking things and on Friday travelled north to Nong Bua to perform the play in the second round of the English Drama Competition. It was a top day. There were loads of other things going on to see: Thai plays, brass bands, a scrabble competition, fruit carving - the sun shone and there was a real festival atmosphere. Fortunately for us, the plays from the other schools weren't up to much (two Cinderellas, I mean!) and we won without breaking a sweat. In fact, the actors were brilliant. They've really got into it now and all the visual comedy means people don't hve to understand all the language to enjoy it. There will be a short break before round three which for us means another school trip. Woo-hoo! Bring it on.

Arm, Su and Ome: or as I'm sure you've guessed, Ross, Rachel and Chandler.

The students wait nervously for the results.

Joe cools down with an iced coffee.

This week at school no-one has wanted to study. Tomorrow, "Sports Day" begins, a three-day sporting festival this seems to more closely resemble the Olympics than a conventional school sports day. All the students have been practising chants and dances every day (including weekends) for about a month, missing many my lessons in their quest for perfect synchronisation. I hear a torch will be lit to get things going and a procession including a full marching band will begin making its way to the school from the towns railway station at eight in the morning. I'm sure the whole thing will be pretty spectacular. With all the preparation, it bloody well should be!

Joel: It's Sunday and now Rakhi and I can relax after one of the most hellish days of my life. Yesterday we helped out at an English camp at our school and it was a day of utter horror. The last camp we did was run by Mediakids, the company we work for, and since the team are so experienced and slick, the result was a weekend that I'm sure carried with it quite a bit of magic for the young students. Kevin, the guy who emceed, is a master of his craft and all the kids were absolutely buzzing the whole time. There were silly games, fun chants and a great party atmosphere in the evening. This time, the school thought they could save a bit of cash by hiring a Filipino guy they knew to organise and emcee the show and rope us in to help out. We didn't really want to do it without the Mediakids boys and from the start we warned them that unless the camp was well organised and slickly run it could be a disaster - which, despite our buckets of sweat and enthusiasm, I feel like it pretty much was.

The guy they got in was called Benchz (no, I'm not sure about the "z" either, he pronounced it "Bench"). This chap insisted on calling me "sir", Rakhi "madam" and Ting, the Chinese teacher, "Miss China" for the entire day despite me suggesting to him, for at least the first ten times, "My name's Joel, you can call me Joel". You gotta try and remember people's names, man. He talked at the kids in a monotone voice using the most complex expressions he could muster and of course was met with blank expressions and bored kids. He was utterly disorganised, the materials he had prepared were strewn with inaccurate language and he clearly did not have a fondness for kids; each time he grabbed a young arm and dragged a kid up, I cringed. And all of these cracks he tried to cover over with a smarmy smile. Despite some expected last-minute requests from the Thai teachers, Rakhi and I insisted that we still wouldn't be able to come along again today and I'm pretty sure now we'll need the time to recover. I'm not sure how much money the school saved, they paid us twice what Mediakids would, but I'm sure now they realise the importance of having people to run things who are organised, light-hearted, a bit god-damn charismatic, like kids and make things fun! Okay, rant over. It was a long, long day.

Many things have happened to us this past two weeks. Last week, I had the joy of not having to teach any classes and instead rehearse an English play with some of the students from the top matayom 6 class. Despite the concept of competitive drama seeming utterly ridiculous to me, it was a great opportunity to do something fun and hopefully interesting with a group of the best students. Saying that, rather than choosing a piece by Billy Shakespeare, I decided to go with an episode of "Friends", more specifically, "The One Where No-one's Ready" or rather, the one where Joey puts on all of Chandler's clothes at once. Anyone who says they haven't seen this farcical masterpiece is a liar.


Joey: You said you wanted the chair. You didn't say anything about the cushions.
Chandler: The cushions are the essence of the chair!
Joey: That's right. I'm taking the essence!

So, I adapted the script, showed the students the episode (which I downloaded, I don't have the box-set lying around) and set about knocking it into a prize-winning piece of theatrical gold. To be honest, the students are so good that despite not usually having the opportunity to speak English, they understand most things I say and more than a couple of them demonstrated a fair bit of dramatic flair. The six actors and I spent a few hours a day for four days in the rehearsal room and with the help of Rakhi, Joe (the older Dutch guy who teaches at our school) and a few of the girls from the same class, we got props and a set together and on Friday travelled to another school in the area to perform in the first "round". With only one other entry, and a score from the judges of 555 out of 600 we made it safely through and will be heading further afield on Friday to the next round, where seven new competitors await. Of course, despite my scoffing at the idea of competitive drama, my sometime competitive nature (really? you cry) means that I'm already imagining we're all in a film about how a group of Thai students wow the world with their stage version of Friends. I hear whooping and cheering and the Eminem track from Eight Mile and have visions of the gang of us dancing round with a trophy like Nobby Stiles. Life is very confusing for me at times.

Chandler, Phoebe, Rachel, Ross, Joey, Monica and the Introduction Guy...clearly!

Also this week, we moved house. We moved into Fritz's old house on Wednesday. It's much brighter than our old place which allowed in pretty much no natural light. This place has a lovely veranda area where we can hang the hammock, a creature-tight kitchen that's beautiful and clean and Rakhi isn't too scared to go into, and bright light streaming through the windows of every room. We were putting a bit of a brave face on the old place really, it was a bit depressing. Our only concern about here was that there's no washing-machine, so we paid a visit to the owner who works in our school and yesterday she went out and bought a new one which she's going to bring over today to fit. And you can't argue with that.

Last weekend in Bangkok, we went to one of the big lady-boy cabaret shows (that's a big show, not big lady-boys... scary!) Since these performances are famous worldwide, I kind of expected a sell-out show in a buzzing theatre full of folk drinking cocktails around little tables. Instead, this huge theatre hosted an audience of perhaps only thirty to forty. The drinks were expensive and the show lasted hardly more than an hour. It was good fun though and needed to be done while we're living here. The performance was mixture of lip-synched ballads and big, high-kicking camp classics. Although the performers were clearly at different stages of their transformation there was only one who I was convinced was a girl. She looked just like Monica Lewinsky (which is perhaps why I dreamed I was out drinking with Bill Clinton last night) and I could see her giving many a man that Begbie moment. A slightly sour taste was left after a fun performance when, as we left, we were forced to pass a line of the performers who were all enthusiastically beckoning us for a photo opportunity and obligatory tip. The ticket price was huge for a one-hour show, girls. I suppose the show is most popular with tourists and they must make a bit from them, but it all seemed a bit undignified.

Next weekend we're going to go back into the city to meet up with Shano, our old pal from Korea. He packed in his job in Bucheon and is now just checking out a few places round Asia. Rakhi spoke to him the other day and he's in Hong Kong at the moment but he's decided to come and meet up with us in Bangkok. It'll be nice to catch up with him.

Rakhi: I'm finally taking a well earned break. Joel and I had an early start yesterday as we had to come to school early to do the 'Morning Greeting.' The Morning Greeting is a load of tripe that's been written into our contracts. Basically, we have to stand at the school gates for half an hour and say 'hi' to all the students that walk past. Thankfully, we only have to do it once a week but it's still a waste of time.

As of yesterday, all the Thai English teachers in our department have had to attend a three day seminar in a neighbouring city. That means that the rest of us have had to cover their classes. Yesterday I was busy from 7:30 am until 12pm, I had a break for lunch and then I had to resume teaching for another two hours. It doesn't sound like much but I can tell you that teaching 50 minute classes with over 50 students who don't speak the same language as you can be pretty tiring. I haven't had to cover any classes today so I'm enjoying the three hour break I have before my next class!

Our English department is starting to resemble the United Nations; there are 13 Thai teachers, two teachers from Holland (Fritz and Joe), a Chinese teacher (Ting), Joel, myself and I'm told that there's a teacher from Korea on the way too. The Thai teachers are ace but they are 'feeders!' Their favourite pastime is definitely eating! It's astonishing the amount of food that gets consumed in the English room in one day. There's a spare desk in the staff room and when teachers come into school in the morning they deposit things on it for everybody to eat. Throughout the day, snacks are always left on my desk or given to me in person or both and at least once a day I'm called over to try something whether I like it or not.

Last Sunday, the daughter of one of the teachers got married in Bangkok so we were all invited to the wedding. I was hoping it would be a buddhist ceremony but as she was marrying an American guy, the wedding took place in a church. My agony was prolonged when the vows and passages from the bible were read in both Thai and English and then the priest gave the couple a lecture on how to be husband and wife. The reception was held in a lovely hotel, there was lots of delicious food and we got to spend some time with the teachers outside of school so that made it all worthwhile.

The most exciting thing that's happening in Takhli at the moment, is that Joel and I are moving house. Fritz recently moved to a brand new house on the other side of town and Joel and I were toying with the idea of doing the same. However, we decided that moving to a new house makes no sense as it will be totally unfurnished. Fritz is staying until next year so he can justify spending money on a bed, a fridge and other furniture. We're just here for another twelve weeks so it's pointless forking out money. There are fully furnished houses around but they're not really much better than the place we're in now. Also, there doesn't seem to be an in between; places are either empty or furnished and full of the owners crap and clutter. Our place is alright but it's very depressing as natural light doesn't get in since the property has a big covered caged bit at the front. Also, I really don't like the kitchen, I never go in there since we have all sort of creatures crawling around and getting in through the gaps in the roof.

After, looking at a couple of houses we came to the conclusion that the best solution could be to move across the road into Fritz's house. His house is more airtight than ours so he rarely gets any creepy crawlies, it's more modern, there's aircon, a nice clean kitchen, internet connection, a nice outdoor area and best of all LOTS of natural light. Fritz has to pay two months rent at his new place since our company have paid for his old place in advance. If we move into Fritz's it's all sorted so we don't have to pay anything ourselves. The owners have even said that they'll install a washing machine for us. There's only one snatch... Fritz moved out of his place because there are eighteen caged dogs just behind his house and sometimes he finds it hard to sleep because of the barking. That's not the only reason though, he doesn't care much for the area we live in either. Last night, Joel and I did a trial run of Fritz's place to see whether the noise was really that bad. We slept like babies and found there were no disturbances at all also, whilst it's not the nicest area, it's safe and we have a bike now so can get anywhere in town easily. I think we're going to move in after school today.

This Saturday, we have to do another English camp at our school. This time, it's with the Prattom (elementary) kids from another school in the area and we only have to work on Saturday. We don'h have the expertise of Mediakids staff to guide us this time and I don't think that there's an experienced camp leader- I hope it goes okay.

Rakhi: This week has been a strange week at school. One reason is because earlier in the week, classes were shorter or cancelled altogether so that students could practice for 'Wai Kru' (why-crew) or 'Teacher Day,' today. This morning, the entire school piled into the school gym and the surrounding courtyard to pray and listen to some monks chant. Once the monks had finished, I was invited to go with one of the teachers to offer the monks some food. It is believed that doing this will earn you some merit for your next life. Then, there was a ceremony where students handed out beautifully arranged flowers to their teachers who in return are expected to bless their students and pray for their success.

One of my Mattoyam 2 classes picked me to give their flowers to and another class selected Joel. A representative from each class came up to the front of the stage where we were sitting in a line, bowed down in front of our feet and then handed us flowers. It's nice to know that we're amongst a society where teachers are so respected but at the same time it felt unusual having a teenager bow at my feet. I do feel very privileged to have been part of the ceremony and feel that being a teacher here rather than just a tourist allows a real insight into Thai culture and customs.

Another unusual thing about this week is that Joel and I, but mainly Joel, have been doing an English play with the best students from Mattoyam 6. It's for a regional competition and we were only told about it last Friday. Since Joel has so much expertise in this area he's taken control of the whole thing and he's been doing an excellent job, I'm very impressed with him. He's adapted and simplified an episode of Friends and has been directing the whole thing too. We were told that the first round was taking place tomorrow but then we were told that we had gotten through the first round because only one other school had entered, then we were told that it is actually this Friday again! So, we've been working at it whenever possible, I've managed to skip some classes and Joel's pretty much had somebody cover all of his. I've been surprised by the abilities of these students, not only have they remembered pretty much all their lines in such a short space of time, they're also acting convincingly and all in another language. I hope it'll go well tomorrow and they get through to the next round.

Last weekend was really relaxing and full of great discoveries. On Saturday, we went to the capital town of our province and also it's namesake, Nakhon Sawan. There really isn't much to do there; the star attraction of the area is the massive hypermarket 'Big C' where it seems the residents of the whole province, our students and teachers congregate at the weekend. There were so many people there who recognised us even if we didn't recognise them. In such a small town like Takhli everybody knows our business and we were sure that come Monday morning everybody would've known that we'd been to Big C...we were right. As we don't have a fully equipped kitchen, we invested in an electric BBQ which we've already made so many delicious things on. Now, we're planning on having a big BBQ in a couple of weeks time and inviting people from the neighbouring provinces.

Even though Nakhon Sawan isn't really much to shout about, if we hadn't gone, we wouldn't have got the bus back and we wouldn't have made the excellent discoveries we did...Firstly, a Western slash Thai restaurant less than 15mins from our house and secondly a sports club! I noticed both out of the window and as soon as we got home that evening we got on the bike and went for dinner at the restaurant and the next day we went for a swim at the sports club. The restaurant has a menu written in English and has things like steaks, fries, pizzas and salads on it. The sports club is newly opened, has a two tiered driving range, a tiny gym and a beautiful outdoor pool surrounded by palm trees. It seems Takhli isn't as remote as I first thought.

This week has been achingly hot- about 40 degrees everyday. I've heard rain's on the way and I hope it is because it should clear the air and cool things down. I've never known such intense heat before. Thank goodness we have air-con.

Joel: The highlight of my weekend was getting the opportunity to spend time with my fabulous girlfriend on the momentous occasion of her twenty-fifth birthday. A distant second was getting the opportunity to meet these boys.

I found out last week that Barnes and Rush were going to be in town to play in the Bangkok Masters at the national stadium, so I decided to treat Rakhi to a visit as part of her celebratory weekend (I had to convince her that for me it was the equivalent of what meeting Cantona would be for her, all-be-it with a rapper-come-presenter and a wiry scouse goal-machine in place of a swaggering gaul.) We watched John's team, the Samui Happy Elephants, throw away a two goal lead in torrential rain to go out on penalties. The highlights for me were Rushie's run and cross for the second goal and Barnes' penalty in the shoot out. Check this out:

Right in the corner! Unsavable. You don't lose skills like that.

All in all, it was a top weekend. We stayed by Lumpini park, a huge patch of green amongst the skyscrapers, in an area we hadn't really explored before and it proved to be a top location. The massage was quality, helped to ease my aching joints, and the Vertigo bar on top of the Banyan Tree hotel truly was amazing. It reminded me of how scared I was standing on top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. Seriously giddy. Dinner was beautiful and we were tipsy enough to sneak up to the roof top of our hotel for a cheeky midnight jaccuzzi. I really hope Rakhi had a fun time.

It's now Tuesday night and I'm starting to feel normal again. Rakhi's birthday's certainly take their toll.