Thursday 9 February 2012

I've seen things...

Nearly 3 weeks have passed since I departed for my little volunteer adventure in Thailand, and it has gone far too quickly. Now, I’m near the end, I guess it’s time to reflect!

At various times in this whole process I wondered whether 3 weeks would be too long (would there be enough for me to do?!) or too short (can I achieve anything in that time?).

To answer the first question, 3 weeks definitely isn’t too long, and to answer the second question, there is enough time to achieve something.

I always thought 3 weeks was a safe amount of time as I figured what could possible wrong in 3 weeks?! I also thought it would give me a good amount of time to ‘scratch’ my international development/working abroad/travelling ‘itch’ (and I couldn’t get any further time off work!).

However, as I near the end, the last few days have been a mixture of mild frustration, satisfaction and realisation.

I started the week well aware that I was running out of time, and I needed to suggest my plans/ideas on how to improve things ASAP, so I could agree them and then implement them. Unfortunately, the planned meeting on Monday was delayed until Tuesday (Monday was very hectic and everyone was busy – the busiest I have seen the office!). This was mildly frustrating (although fully understandable), but, I started to panic that I wouldn’t accomplish anything in my time here – as Tuesday was the last day all the relevant staff would be in the office.

Tuesday was more productive and satisfying, I managed to explain my thoughts, plans and suggestions…and the main points were agreed with, understood and accepted - which was a relief - and should hopefully make things easier for the Foundation and the accountant. In the evening I had a BBQ with Ralf and his family, and we went over some final bits and pieces for my review/report – the evening was very pleasant and the meat glorious! For the second time, my watch got stolen from me by a kid (Ralfs Daughter this time!) – they seem fascinated by them (it’s only a cheap Casio!), I think it’s because no-one seems to wear a watch in Thailand – which may explain  the phenomenon, which I’ve started affectionately calling ‘Thai Time’…

Definition: Thai Time
Meaning: An agreed time, which can mean a completely different time.

Here are some pics of my 'business meetings' with Ralf...



Since then, there has been realisation that it is easier to suggest improvements than implementing them - especially with a limited time frame – as tweaks, adjustments and unexpected issues arise. However, I am satisfied the main ideas are in place and will be taken forward and there is scope for a future volunteer to finish what I’ve started.

I feel I have developed and gained experience over the last couple of weeks and managed to undertake tasks that I wouldn’t usually get the opportunity to do. I also feel like I’ve learnt about a different culture – relationships before business,  ‘Thai Time’, that Asia is a lot more family orientated etc. I’ve also learnt that the English (or just me) are lazy when learning new languages…I think we just expect everyone to speak English. I have enjoyed trying to communicate with people with limited English, through smiles, thumbs and pointing (I think ‘thumbs up’, may not be as universal as I expected and maybe I need to develop a new smile). I have renewed desire to learn a new language, I just don’t know which one, I’ve spent the last 3 weeks with Germans and Thai’s…but I’m not sure how useful these languages are globally!

So, I have one day left, today we went out for lunch as a farewell, and I was given a traditional North Thailand scarf and a Karen (local hill tribe) bag…from what I hear, the scarf will be useful when back in the UK, I have also got a token to stay in a nice hotel in the centre of Chiang Mai for one night! I felt a bit humble receiving the gifts, as I fear I have got more out of this experience than them, and everyone has been so kind to me! 

Luckily, I don’t think 3 weeks is enough time to miss much about the the UK – although, of course, I miss my mates, family and work. I thought I would miss Football and going for a pint more, but maybe, just maybe there is more to life than watching football down the pub with mates?! Naaaah!

I would like to reiterate how nice, kind and welcoming everyone has been at the Foundation, and the Country as a whole. I’ll miss my morning wave and ‘sawadee’ with the locals, the glorious food (I can’t imagine eating a meal that doesn’t include Rice or Noodles!) and the warm weather. I think the Rain Tree Foundation is a worthwhile cause with lovely people, so I  hope I keep in contact with the staff, and I plan to continue to help out from the UK (but I bet everyone says that!).

So…go on, make a difference, donate a water filter or foster a child http://www.raintree-foundation.org/index.php/sponsoring.html…I’m going to (and I’ve seen their finances!).

If you’re thinking about volunteering through AfID…just do it - if you know me, feel free to contact me with any questions, if you don't know me, feel free to contact me with any questions!

Finally, I’ve realised, the problem with scratching an itch is that you want to keep scratching it*!

Fin

*This isn’t a reference to the two, three, four mosquito bites I have recently acquired.

Sunday 5 February 2012

Kayaks, Songthaews & Automobiles…


A long weekend has just finished, my legs ache, I’m tired, and I am sunburnt. However, I also had fun, learnt a lot more about the Rain Tree Foundation, saw a lot more of country, and may have fallen in love…with Thailand!

A lot of the weekend was spent on the road or in a river!

First we travelled from Chiang Mai, to Mai Sarieng (200km south west), stopping off to create some fruit baskets as gifts…and later for lunch! The plan was to go to Mai Sarieng, and to visit some of the Childrens Homes in the area - to help form some links in the area and to see if there was anything the Rain Tree Foundation could learn from how these homes are run. Also, all the volunteers were meeting here, for a bit of rest, relaxation…and work.

I won’t write a report about each of the childrens home visits…but I will summarise the highlights!

Firstly, for some reason, I was delegated the job of giving the fruit basket gifts to each of the Children homes owners, which sounds easy enough, sure, but maybe I put too much pressure on myself, as I was panicking that I would; give the gift to soon, give the gift to the wrong person, drop the gift (fruit is heavy!), but my biggest concern was how to ‘wai’ when carrying a fruit basket in one hand! I think I did OK, although I wished I had dressed for the occasion…




The second home we visited, was very small, but very well run – the kids put on a little performance for us, and sang us a song! Ralf talked to the kids, and it was clear he was in his element when doing this. One of the kids, whilst younger, had been at one of the children projects that the Rain Tree Foundation runs, and it was good to see that since he graduated from the Rain Tree Foundations project, he was now doing well elsewhere!


We also had to introduce ourselves, firstly, I don’t think they understood what ‘accountant’ was…as Ralfs translation looked very much like an imaginary abacus! I also said I liked football…they wanted to know which team I supported, and I am ashamed to say I lied, as I said ‘Manchester United’…not my beloved AFC Bournemouth - I figured this would be easier, but I have been riddled with guilt ever since. As we left, I was asked if I wanted to play soccer the next day…I panicked again, and pointed to my knee to feign an injury  - as we wouldn’t have been around for KO and I only had walking boots with me (not to mention I’m rubbish!).

The next day, the plan was to go kayaking along the Yuam River, approx 30km from the Burmese border! However, there was a parade/carnival in the town in the morning, and this was delayed, so we went to visit the remaining children’s homes.



Once we got around to kayaking it was very enjoyable - the scenery was amazing, and just how I had imagined rural Asia – I did keep expecting to hear Ride of the Valkyries and the sound of helicopters though! As a Man, I decided I didn’t need to put any suntan lotion on, this was a mistake. I did jump out of my kayak at one point and go for a paddle swim, this wasn’t a mistake, as it was lovely!



We then travelled back to Chiang Mai, via Menachorn and through the mountains - we had to go to Hot Coffee to speak to some of the children who had been misbehaving, and I was given the task of clearing a bees nest! We then had one more stop to make in Mae Chaem, where we got caught up in a big ‘Cotton’ festival was taking place!  The journey took about 6 hours in total, and was tiring, but was compensated by the beautiful Thai countryside! The journey also gave us plenty of time to talk about the Rain Tree Foundation and its plans.


With 6 days remaining, and the last two weekends being spent up in the Mountains (which I wouldn’t change)…my Chiang Mai bucket list hadn’t progressed much. However, I had one free Sunday left, and I planned to use it! The mission – Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, this mission was successfully completed, and I think you’ll agree, it’s pretty spectacular (I definitely didn’t get sunburnt again)…




All the volunteers were in Chiang Mai, so we all met up in the late afternoon sun, and went to the Sunday Walking Street, which was very busy and had lots of stalls (and food), I used this time to buy some friends and family some pointless gifts that they will probably don’t want, and definately won’t use, it also turns out that my ‘bartering’ skills are not very good!


I had been on my feet all day by this time, and it was getting late, so wanted to get back to my guesthouse, as per usual, the Songthaew accepted to take us back to the guesthouse (I showed them the address on the guesthouse’s ‘business card’), but then had to stop, make lots of phone calls and ask a petrol pump assistant where it was. If he had asked me, I could have told him (by which I mean, I could have pointed a lot!).

Anyway, after a long enjoyable weekend my last weekend in Thailand was over. I feel like I’ve just got to the stage where I feel quite comfortable with the country, the people and the Rain Tree Foundation, but annoyingly I only have a week left, and feel like I have a lot left to do…I think my plans to spend a few days on a sandy beach relaxing at the end of the placement  may have to be on hold for another holiday!

Thursday 2 February 2012

I read the news today…


So, I’ve been busy since my last blog, but I’m afraid there are no tales of fried insects or bamboo rafting - the week seems to have gone far too quickly!

I’ve more or less been working all week, so I figured it was about time to do the standard ‘day in a life’ post…

3am-6.30am: I get woken up by one of the following:  Cockerel #1 or Cockerel #2
7.38am: My alarm goes off. I have a superstition not to wake up at a time that ends in a 0 or 5 – to my horror, I’ve recently discovered my Mum has the same superstition. Ironically, I also set all my clocks 3 minutes fast, so it’s all pointless!
7.38-7.55am: Shower, clean teeth, cover myself in ‘Jungle Fever’ (no, not a new range from Lynx, but insect repellent), put clothes on etc. In the UK I clean my teeth in the shower (ingenious time saving ploy)…but the Shower holder has broken here, so I can nooooooo do that.
8:00am: Cycle to work.
8:01am: Avoid dogs!
8.10am: Arrive at work and set up!
8.11am: First Cup of Tea.
8.16am: Second Cup of Tea (let me know if im going into too much detail!)
8.17am – 12pm: Work on the various tasks and talk to Staff!
12pm – 1pm: Lunch, this is my favourite part. Everyone sits around together for lunch – I don’t think I’ve had a bad lunch yet. No eating sandwiches at the desk like back home!
1pm – 5pm: Continue with tasks.
5.30pm: Go home! I usually go for a cycle around the area, a different direction every evening.
5.42pm: Avoid dogs!
6.30pm: Have dinner. I’m usually pretty tired by this time. I usually walk down to the local shop to get some food. To prevent developing a rice belly, I usually get various snacks from the shop - I’m trying to try every different chocolate bar and cake – so, I may still get a ‘belly’, but I won’t be able to just blame the rice!
7.00 – 9.30pm: Either; go for another wander, chat to the guesthouse staff, read, do some exercise, do some more work, or catch up on the football news from back home!
9.30 – 11pm: Fall asleep at some point.
11.03pm: Wake up, panicking I haven’t locked the door.
12.02am: Wake up, air conditioning isn’t on, it’s too hot.
1.34am: Wake up, air conditioning is on, it’s too cold!

Monday evening I decided to go for a jog. I looked at my watch, and decided I would run for 10minutes, and then turn back. I hadn’t seen any ‘joggers’ since being in Thailand, in Brighton, you can’t move for them!  An old man started jogging with me when I ran past, I smiled and ran off, as a) I didn’t want to start a Forrest Gump situation and b) I didn’t want to give him a heart attack! Anyway, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the run lasted longer than I expected (I definitely didn’t get lost/go round in circles), as the map shows, I was close to doing my planned loop, but then inadvertently took a wrong turning and added 2 miles to my run!




I had 40baht in my sock, that I planned to buy dinner with at the end of my run…but then, whilst approaching the stall, I realised the feet are considered the lowest and dirtiest part of the body in Thailand…and whipping my money out of my sock would be impolite, rude and a cultural taboo (even if I hadn't just gone for a run!)…so, I went home first and changed my money. I decided to throw the 40baht away!
The next day, I started to feel a cold coming on…I think the mixture of getting pretty hot from the run, then having the air condition too cold messed me up a bit! 

After work on Tuesday I was shattered…but in the evening I had an epiphany on a way to progress with one of the tasks…so I worked on that!

This evening (Thursday!), after my daily cycle, I went to the local market. There is a food market nearby every night, but tonight there seemed to be more stalls, so I popped on over. I’m glad I ate before I went, as otherwise I would have tried everything in sight! It was pleasant walking around, and there wasn’t another ‘farang’ (Westerner) in sight. I didn’t buy anything, but it was pleasant.



I then decided to check out the interesting temple nearby…




Tomorrow I’m off into the mountains for a couple of days, to check out some potential work for the Rain Tree Foundation, and to meet up with the other volunteers for some canoeing!
As mentioned earlier, the time is flying by, and i'm enjoying myself, but I have a nagging fear I won’t be able to achieve everything I want to in the time I have left, we will see…

Sunday 29 January 2012

Don’t go chasing Waterfalls…


Day 7

My head ached a little, just a little. It transpires Chang is 6.4% in Thailand, not the lower percentage that I am used to in England!

The plan for the weekend was to accompany David, his family, and Cliff & Jackie up into the mountains, and to Hot Coffee (a resort owned by The Rain Tree Foundation, to help support their adjoining children's orphanage). The resort is in the Maenonchorn area of Northern Thailand, which meant travelling through the Doi Inthanon National Park.

First things first – Cliff and Jackie are lovely people! They set up a charity called Josie’sDragonfly Trust, about 5 years ago, when their Daughter - Josie - died of Leukaemia, at a tragically young age (16). After months andyears of treatment, nothing was helping, so Josie decided that enough was enough, and that she was going to enjoy her final moments, instead of suffering them in a hospital. This led to the Dragonfly Trust, which uses its funds to help brighten the difficult days that many young children & teenagers experience when living with cancer - they do this by giving young children and teenagers suffering from Cancer a ‘cash gift’, so they have some money and independence to enjoy themselves and to take their minds off their illness.

Obviously ‘cash gifts’ cost money…and money doesn’t grow on trees, so feel free to donate some money to this wonderful cause, to tell others about it, or visit their website to buy some jewellery or dragonfly products - Josie designed the Dragonfly necklace whilst ill!

The Dragonfly Trust have organised some fundraising treks/trips in Thailand, and thus why they wanted to do a ‘dry run’ and see some of the places this weekend. A part of the trip involves each fundraiser donating money to buy a Rain Tree Foundation water filter, and then helping the villagers install them. So it’s win, win, the Dragonfly Trust raise money for their wonderful cause, whilst aiding one of the Rain Tree Foundations wonderful causes!

So, we headed into the mountains and away from Chiang Mai (my head was still aching!), our first stop was the Vachiratharn water fall in the Doi Inthanon National Park. A lovely waterfall, I think you’ll agree...


Whilst here, some Thai Muslims (a minority religion in Thailand) asked to have their photo taken with me and Cliff - I’ll confess this has happened to me once before - whilst in Spain, Madrid to be precise, some Spanish girls asked to have their photo taken with me, and then went back to join their family at their table, to this day I don’t know why, I've always assumed they mistook me for Brad Pitt, so I’m going to assume this is what happened this time as well! Anyhow, they got their photo, and I managed to get one back!

We then headed onto Hot Coffee at Maenachorn. Here, we met with 3 other Rain Tree Foundation volunteers, Lara and Linda – who are helping to look after the kids and teaching English at the local school, and Jessica – who is helping to run Hot Coffee, as well as helping out with the kids. The kids were all at a sports day, so we all went Bamboo rafting!


When we returned, we looked around the Childrens home, to find out what the kids do and understand the project more.  Some of the Kids are orphans and some of them come down from the tribes for the school months. There is little education or opportunities for the children up in the hills, so the project provides the children with some basic education and language skills. The kids go to school from about 8am – 4pm, then they return to undertake various activities around the home i.e. gardening, cleaning, woodcraft etc then after dinner, they have another English lesson. Although this sounds like hard work, it’s not as hard as they would be working if they were with their Tribes – where they would be getting no education. As well as the volunteers, there are also ‘Host Parents’ living on site.


Day 8
It is supposed to be ‘colder’ in the mountains, and I’ll be honest, for the first time since being in Thailand, I felt a little Chilly in the morning! However, still warmer than 95% of the year in England!
I had decided to have a bit of a lie in, partly to shake off the remaining jet lag/mild hangover, and partly because I was comfortable!

I had some free time in the morning, so I got talking to one of the workers at Hot Coffee – Rut, who is from the Karen Tribe, and can speak some English. Sensing I had some time to kill, he took me to see a local church/prayer room near the Childrens Home/Hot Coffee, a few of the kids said ‘hi’ and shook my hand, others stared and kept their distance. I spoke to some of the locals, who were all friendly, smiled and laughed a lot – I’m pretty sure at times they were mocking me! I think they thought it was strange that I am 26 and have no wife or children!


On the way back into Hot Coffee, one of the kids was playing Takraw on his own, so I thought it would be nice to play with him. This probably ruined his fun, as I wasn’t as good as him, my excuses for this are as follows: the ball was smaller than usual, it was made of rattan and I’m not used to playing some kind of football/volleyball/tennis hybrid!!

After this, we heading back to Chiang Mai, stopping off for lunch on the way. Davids two kids had got more used to me during this trip, and decided to spend the whole day attacking me with the dragonflies that Cliff and Jackie had kindly given them, also at one stage they tied my hands together and declared at various stages that I was their prisoner/pet/a pirate. I’ve decided that entertaining two kids for a day and a half is knackering...which is why I’m 26 and have no children!

All in all I had a pleasant weekend, which went quickly. It was nice to meet Cliff and Jackie, and I hope their fundraising trips are successful.

Although tired, when I got back I decided it would be nice to go for a cycle around the local area, whilst there was still a little sun left (and to help burn off the copious amounts of Rice I have been eating). As per usual, this lasted longer than I had planned (I definitely didn’t get lost/go round in circles), I was relieved once I had found my ‘homing device’ – the Ping River. Many of the locals said ‘hi’  on this trip and it seems they live quite contently away from the mod cons of the modern world, and I felt envious…but then I got back to my guesthouse and Skyped with my family, and I thought how great the modern world and its mod cons are!

I don’t like Cricket(s)…I love them!


Day 5

The cockerel kept me company for most of the night (I’ve decided to name him ‘noisy’), but at least this gave me time to think about what I was going to do, and to put a plan of action together in my head.

Ralf has leant me a bicycle, so I cycled into work, making sure I avoided the dogs! Most of the staff were out; at various seminars, delivering water filters, or visiting the villages. So I was able to knuckle down and get on with the task in hand.

I spent the day trying to summarise the various sources of financial transactions the organisation has, so I could produce an overview and understand the Foundations finances a bit better. I also began producing some project budgets, a cash flow forecast – which should all lead to me improving their ‘accounting system’ (this is my plan of action!). I’ve enjoyed doing all of these things, as It’s recently become a fear of mine, that the longer I’m an ‘auditor’, the harder it would be to do ‘day-to-day’ accounting tasks (no matter how basic) - so being able to use more of the skills I learnt whilst gaining my qualification has been reassuring.

I went out on my own to get lunch, I walked past many food stalls, but was waiting for a busy one. I was also preparing in my head what to say, I fancied some fried rice, which in Thai is ‘Khao pet’, (pronounced ‘cow pat’), and for some reason or another, I just couldn’t gather the confidence to go up to a food stall, in a foreign country and ask for ‘cow pat’! Thankfully, a local took pity on me, after doing a loop (and looking hungry and lost), I approached a food stall…but before I got round to pointing to some food, a local said ‘hello’ and then asked if I wanted to eat, which I did…she then proceeded to order for me…I got back to the office, with no idea what I had in my ‘doggy bag’. I opened it to find some noodles, veg, soup, blood sausage and some chicken on the bone…I put the last two items in the bin, and had a lovely noodle and veg soup! For dinner, I went to the local village shop and bought some bread and cheese!

I haven’t bought any DVD’s to Thailand with me (as I can watch films anytime!), so after eating my lovely cheese sandwiches (and doing some more work!), I thought I would see if I had any films on my laptop - as it was too late and I was too tired to do anything else – It turns out I only have one film on my laptop…Love Actually...I have no idea how this got here!! Anyhow, in a hot foreign country, I ended up watching a soppy Christmas rom-com - my favourite bits include: Hugh Grant dancing, Andrew Lincoln declaring his love for Keira Knightly via ‘dummy boards’, the story involving Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, and the story with Liam Neeson and his son – so most of it. Afterwards I did some press-ups, and looked for football scores on the internet to counteract what had just happened!

Day 6

I spent the ride to work thinking of the various ways I could declare my love for Keira Knightly.

The day was spent continuing the tasks from the day before. I also began my attempt to put a new ‘accounting system’ together (just an excel spreadsheet) and writing process notes, to show how it would work (with examples) and why it would make things easier! I’ve never done anything like this before…im not sure how it will end up!

Thankfully someone in the office went out to get lunch!

Stefan and Thomas asked if I would like to join them for a drink in town in the evening. At first, I declined, as I had an early(ish) start on Saturday morning, and I know that a few drinks, can easily lead to a few more drinks! However, after some rather gentle persuading, I quickly changed my mind – I figured it would be rude to decline their offer/I fancied a beer/they are both nice people. So we went to the Tha Pae Gate area of Chiang Mai for some Chang lager, some of their other friends also turned up. I then lost a few frames of pool to Stefan, before we played (and lost) a couple of frames of ‘doubles’ against some Belgium travellers (I fear I may have been the weak link!)!

Some bar snacks were ordered whilst we finished our beers, what to expect; Crisps? Peanuts? Pork Scratchings? No, nope and nada! Instead a plate of ‘fried Crickets’ was served up – now, I don’t know what made me try these, I wasn’t hungry, there was no pressure for me to try them, but I did. To be fair, they didn’t taste of much (just salt), and if you didn’t look at them, it could have been anything…until you get a wing stuck between your teeth - which is a stark reminder you are eating an insect!!! All in all it was a pleasant evening!




Wednesday 25 January 2012

The Task...


Day 3
I think jet-lag caught up with me during the night, as from 2am – 5am (7pm – 10pm) I couldn’t sleep, then, just as I nodded off…the cockerel started!

Ralf greeted me in the office and instantly put me at ease, after some introductions and drinks (it’s already a running joke that I keep drinking Tea…which seems to be a purely British obsession!), we started to discuss the Rain Tree Foundation and the scope of my ‘assignment’. I won’t go into too much detail, but to cut a long story short, the Foundation is growing, and what was once a simple organisation consisting of a few projects to help Children, is now an expanding organisation with lots of different projects helping various groups of people. This is what I am to assist with, to help get an overview of the organisation and its finances, and potentially suggest improved ways to record transactions and how to account for certain items. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure if I can achieve everything I would like to (due to a lack of skills and time!)…but I’ll give it a go, and I already think there would be plenty of work for another volunteer to come over and finish/start.


For lunch we had noodle soup, and my penchant for spicy food, seems to have gone down well with the locals!

The afternoon was spent talking to Ralf and David, and it’s amazing how many barriers etc are in place that can prevent NGO’s carrying out their work.

After work, we (Me, Ralf, David & Stefan) went to a Horse centre (literally minutes from our office), where Ralf & David’s family were enjoying drinks and cakes. It was a pleasant way to end the day, although, when I ordered a Tea, I was given a comically large mug…everyone else had normal size cups! I also had the best tasting snack ever, I can’t remember what it was called, but it appeared to have chocolate, fruit and custard in it!

By this time, I was feeling shattered, so decided I would walk back to my guesthouse (approx. 15mins), quite a few of the locals said ‘hi’ and smiled as I walked by, which relaxed me. Closer to home, one older local came to talk to me, after surprising me with a ‘hello, how are you’ I responded with my standard; ‘Swadee Krap’,‘wai’, smile and thumbs up, we then talked for about a minute, what we talked about, I have no idea – as we had both used are understanding of each other’s language in the opening exchange -  but we did lots of smiling, gesticulating and pointing, he then started laughing and gave me a big pat on the back, before wandering off. This gave me a bit of a buzz, and I started to think that a guesthouse in the middle of nowhere and out of the tourist centre isn’t so bad!

Day 4
I walked to work with a spring in my step, partly because I felt more relaxed about the assignment, but mainly because some small dogs started chasing me!

The day was spent going over the organisation further, finalising the objectives and understanding the figures a bit better. There was a lot to take in!

The other workers and locals keep complaining how cold it is, I know it’s all relative, but the first few days here have been warmer than the majority of our summer - I’m not sure I’ve seen a cloud in the sky yet - not, that I am getting any time to work on my tan!

In the evening we all went out for a meal in a fancy restaurant on the outskirts of the city. I’m not sure what the theme of the place was, but I felt like I was in I was in a scene from the Flintstones Movie – waterfalls for taps?! Once again, I ate far too much, but the food was soooo nice and there was lots of it.

Once I got back, I thought of all the things I need/want to do, and how little time it seems I have (mild panic set in!). But I figured I would start with some of the smaller tasks, and see how far I can get through them! I nodded off into a peaceful sleep...until the cockerel started in the early hours!

Tuesday 24 January 2012

And so it begins...


Day 1

I arrived in Chiang Mai after a surprisingly pleasant (but sleep deprived) 13-14 hour flight. David (Office Manager) picked me up at the airport, and we went for some breakfast with his family – which was nice. After settling in to my guesthouse, which is peaceful, clean and cheap (I don’t think there is anyone else staying here!)…I decided to ‘stroll’ into town, this ‘stroll’ ended up lasting around 2 hours (I definitely didn’t get lost/go round in circles) and resulted in a sunburnt neck! Needless to say, I quite enjoyed it, within minutes, I couldn’t ignore the glorious smell of food anymore, so I picked a busy looking restaurant and ordered my first Pad Thai! I inadvertently walked ‘The Saturday walking street’ on a Sunday during this jaunt…I doubt that counts as a tick on my bucket list though!



I had agreed to meet David and his family for dinner, so I hailed down a ‘tuk-tuk’ to carry me home…I got mildly concerned, when it headed off in a completely different direction to which I expected, but I figured, ‘he probably knows Chiang Mai a little better than me’…after about 5 minutes of heading North, he stopped and said he didn’t know where he was going and hadn’t heard of the place (I had shown him the guesthouse’s business card)…after 10mins on the phone, he decided he did know where it was and we finally got back in time for my dinner appointment.

Day 2

After a nice night’s sleep (my first in over 24hours), it was time to go to the office for my induction (I travelled in style on the back of a moped!), the office is based in an old lepers colony/missionary, and there is a skin hospital, retirement home and many other businesses based there. I met the office staff, using this as the perfect opportunity to impress them with  my ‘sawadee’ and ‘wai’ (the traditional Thai greeting)…the office consists of; David, Stefan (Project manager), Pe (Accountant), Wanida and Noi (Office admin) – all of them were nice and welcoming. Ralf, the director/owner of Rain Tree Foundation was away on business (this had been communicated to me prior to my arrival), so after brief introductions and talking about the organisation with David, we went out for lunch.

I then had some free time, so decided to attack my ‘bucket list’, I decided it was too late in the day to attempt Doi Suthep (a large hill which overlooks the City), so I headed for the ‘Old City’ and Wat Phra Sing…which took longer find than I thought it would (I definitely didn’t get lost/go round in circles), the Wat (Temple) is one of the main attractions in the city, and the buildings are surrounded by some pleasant gardens (See photos!). I then decided to head to the Ping river, before heading back into the Night Bazaar (another tick!)…which was just getting busy, and where I will return to buy gifts at a later date! I was feeling hungry by this point, and decided to risk a busy street stall for a Pad Thai…it was amazing (I still have the taste in my mouth as I write this!).





So, now all I had to do was get home, right? Once again no easy task! After my ‘tuk-tuk’ experience, I decided to play it safe and get a licensed Taxi, but, the same result…he had noooo idea where it was, but he made some phone calls and finally decided he could get me there. I departed from my usual ‘cab driver chat’ for this ride, and had a nice conversation with Mr. Saringkarn Nogoon…or Bobby (his English name), it turns out whilst at University he used to fight in Muay Thai competitions, and had 21 fights, winning 16 of them and losing 3…I didn’t correct him on his maths, as my current kick boxing record is F 1 W 0 L1!!

So, Two days in, I think I’m slowly adjusting to Thai life and customs, which is slower than the UK, but also more cheerful and relaxed! I’m looking forward to getting properly started tomorrow, and seeing what I can do to help. I also think that once I am a bit more settled, I will move to a guest house in Chiang Mai, so I can relax and mingle in the city more.