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!