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!