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!