Back on the road

As I open this post im sat on a bus going from Sukothai to Chiang Mai. Since he arrived in Thailand Dave and I have been to Pattaya, Lop Buri and of course Sukhothai. Pattaya was again a crazy time, although I had my first proper run in with the police which was a load of bullshit, I know all about the police here and how corrupt they are and I've been lucky to avoid it up until here. We were riding our motobikes along Jomtein Beach and came accross a make shift pull over spot directly aimed at tourists, they asked us to produce our international driving license which I do own but didnt have on me, Dave didnt have one so basically we were told that if we didnt pay a 500 baht fine *cough* bribe we would have to go to the police station so we just paid up to avoid hassle. Afterwards we figured it wasnt so bad, it wasn't extortionate money but it didnt end there. In the evening we were still riding around and were on our way back to the hotel where we made a wrong turn, we did a quick U-Turn, something that is perfectly standard and perfectly legal as far as I know but just as we were to enter the main road again a policeman on the corner whistled us to stop. I was not up for paying any more money so I just ignored him and drove past but Dave unfortunately got grabbed on the arm and was a 1000 baht lighter before he was on his way. Pattaya really pissed me off this time by its police conduct, im not sure I'll be returning anytime soon.

Following Pattaya we headed to Lop Buri, the infamous monkey city where I had also been once before. We had decided to stop over the night here to break up our journey up north. When we arrived we found a cool looking guesthouse but unfortunately the last room had just been snapped up by the people before us so the helpful young guy at reception gave us a map and directions to another one just down the road. later on we went back to that guesthouse to drink at their bar then headed to a Thai bar filled with lots of friendly locals. On the way home though I managed to trip over the ridiculously uneven pavement and sprained my ankle pretty badly. In the morning the pain was agonising so I went to the drug store to get some cream and pain killers to fix it,  the lady couldnt speak English and I ended up walking out of there with bloody Trammodol, 10 pills counted loose from a huge pot put into a small baggie, these were given to me with no instructions so its lucky i knew what they were, these are pretty strong painkillers. Then we went to see the monkeys one of which pee'ed on me from a powerline then we headed further north to Sukhothai taking the train to Pitsanulok to change the last distance by bus.

Upon arrival to Sukhothai we jumped in a tuk tuk and headed straight for the 4T Guesthouse, a place I thoroughly enjoyed staying before. I have considerably more hair on my head now but after showing the staff some pictures they remembered me which was nice. We spent three nights here and during that time we relaxed by the pool, explored the old city on motobikes with another girl we met from Belgium, and on the final day I was able to meet up with one of my students from the English Camp we had in Chantaburi. He and his friend run a small market stall selling t-shirts so I swung by to have a chat and buy one.

So I am still on the bus, its the same bus I took before (which was arduous to say the least) and again im sat on a shelf at the back this time though theres two mattresses instead of one but the bus keeps stopping and adding more people. This time though the air con is not flooding the place so it's not so bad. I kinda need a pee though I hope we stop soon we got a few hours to go yet.

Scares and Excursions in Surin

I've been here in Surin now for just over two weeks, I've been working at the Surawhittyakarn School doing my last English Camp (for the time being anyway) We are teaching Mattayom 6 students which is the equivalent to the British 6th form so the majority of the students are 18. The school has 4000 students so its pretty big, we have had to run five, two day programs to enable us to get through all of the year. The school is one of the best in the city and houses some great minds, I have been working with students who will soon be going on to university to study: medicine, pharmacology, engineering and more, they are a seriously good bunch with a great sense of humour! All of the other camps I've worked have been for a maximum of three days but with this camp It's been considerably longer, we've been staying at the pretty decent "Petchkasem Grand Hotel", the thing that pleased me the most when I encountered it was the soft mattress on my bed, it's something I had been without for a long time.

We have been working from 9am until 4pm each day and have been free to do whatever in the evenings. The first night we went out, Will and I decided (of course) to find some bars, after a few drinks we thought we should head back as we had an early start the next day. The problem was we couldn't remember the way back to the hotel or even the name of it. Whoops. Feeling somewhat tipsy we decided to try and retrace our steps, we came accross some familiar looking places but ended up after some time just walking around in a circle. We kept walking until I spotted this very dark, very sketchy looking road come alleyway and I had the bright idea that it was a good shortcut to get where we wanted to go. You're very unlikely to be mugged or attacked in Thailand like you are in England so I wasn't scared of that but why, oh why, did I not think of the wild dogs that could have been, and were lurking down there. Shortly after entering the road thats when the barking started, what we had stepped on was a canine territory I'd wished we never. We thought we play it cool and just keep walking as at that point we couldn't see the dogs, maybe they were barking at something else (we hoped). It then became much louder and it was very aparent that it was getting closer, there was no chance of us running back so we had to bolt it to get to the end. The faster we ran the louder the ferocious noises became, I quickly checked behind me and saw at least four dogs chasing us but assumed there to be more. My heart was pounding and the adrenaline was pumping, there were no other people around in earshot so if these creatures caught up with us we were in some serious shit. I was running in flip flops which is almost impossible so I made the decision to kick them off to enable me to gain more speed, from here we just kept running as fast as we could until we reached the main road at the other side. It was here that the dogs stopped chasing us and we were safe, it was also here that the realisation of what could have happened sunk in, my heart was going a million miles an hour and it took a while for us to catch our breath. We were now out of immediate danger but I was minus shoes and we still weren't in any better position, the street looked vaguely familiar but again we still weren't sure. We continued to traipse the streets all the while my feet collecting everything Surin's streets had to offer. That day seemed to be the day the cockroachs were out in full force, it was pretty rank. Finally we found what we were lookin for; the hotel. Yay! I gave my feet a thorough wash and went to bed, that was enough exitment for one day.

After working the first five days we had the whole weekend off to explore,  naturally we went to find motorbikes as its the ultimate way to do it. We didnt really have a destination so just headed off out of the city to find some inspiration. After an hour or so we started to encounter some incredibly rural areas, the most rural parts of Thailand I've seen to date. As we rode through the village we got some strange looks coupled with some amazing smiles, it was certain that these folk did not encounter farang too often if even at all; they were all highly curious. After riding on through ducking and weaving all the chickens and cows we continued our journey until we spotted a big Buddha statue on a hill, this was obviously now our destination so on we went up the hill to check it out. When we reached it there was the most spectacular view from the top. After taking it all in we continued, in the close vicinity was a number of other interesting places, we found a replica of the Buddha's footprint in a peculiar looking building and a nature trail which we took by foot and nearly got lost in. It was then time to head back, sunset was soon upon us and we knew there wasnt a single streetlight for miles and miles. We made it back to a main road in time, what a fantastic day!

The following day we headed off again, it was much the same although this time we went much further. We came across another village and found a place selling beer, during our refreshment I quickly checked my GPS app to discover we were closer to Cambodia than we were to Surin so we thought we'd head to the border to check it out, we'd also heard of a big market there and wanted to visit that too. As we got closer it dawned on me that I wasnt carrying my passport and there are always police checkpoints in the border town areas. The worst that could have happened is I would of had to of paid a 1000 baht fine (£20) but I didnt really feel like doing that, that sum of money has been lasting me days recently. In any case we thought we'd risk it; might as well. The roads towards to the border were incredible, almost brand new, we picked up some serious speed and it was a mega rush. After an hour riding we reached the market and stopped to check it out, there was lots of stalls and I picked up a couple of Buddhist charms, one for me and one for Sorn my friend from Streetlamp who had kindly given me one a few weeks before. When we were finished with the market we headed the last short distance to the border itself. Almost immediately we encountered an immigration checkpoint although it looked very quiet and it was quite possible the policeman was asleep. We decided to just caine it straight through with no intention to stop, it worked out just fine. A bit further down we passed another and did the same thing, again all was perfectly fine. Then here we were at the border itself, it was a much smaller crossing to that of Poipet and immensely less chaotic. We had only come to quickly observe as we didn't want to push our luck our luck by sticking around too long so we turned around and headed back,  it was again the most excellent of days.

My impression of Surin has been entirely welcoming, it epitomises Thailand's slogan as "The Land Of Smiles" there are some great very friendly people here. It's not a common backpacker destination so should I not have had work here I probably would have never have visited. Tonight is our last night here so we're off out to have a few drinks, im looking forward to heading back to Ayutthaya now as I will be meeting my friend Barnsey who arrives in the country tomorrow. I will be moving out my apartment in a few days to continue my travels and start a new chapter.

Happy New Year 2014

Its been a while since I last posted and in between that time I've done many a thing including another English Camp, this time in the Surat Thani provence down south. We stayed in authentic Thai accomdation where showering involved a bowl and some very cold water from the tap. It was simple, soap yourself up, fill the bowl from the tap and chuck it over your head a few times. Since my last post Christmas has also come and gone, I had a brilliant time celebrating with my best friends, although it was very different to how we celebrate in the west it was still great. We hit Coffee Bar on Xmas Eve and then headed to Bangkok Christmas Day staying at one their friends apartment (Boss) who I'd not met before. I was surprised actually because Thailand is a heavily Buddhist country but there were still many decorations around and in the malls certain places had classic Christmas songs playing which was a nice touch; they seem to really love this holiday. The highlight of Christmas for me was when Fai gave me a present on Christmas Eve, I wasn't really expecting anything but what she had made was a diary documenting some of our experiences and her thoughts, I was so overwhelmed by it it made me well up considerably, it was surely one of the best things I had ever received. She speaks pretty good English but to write it down is much more challenging so I know this would have taken her a long time to make, she had also decorated it with pictures and doodles. A lot of thought went into this and I will treasure it for life. The diary was presented to me with some homemade cup cakes with candles, it was perfect.

After having a wonderful Christmas it was time to start thinking about NYE. I originally had a few ideas but decided it would be good to stay in Ayutthaya, a place I had grown so much to love. I ended up spending my night at Streetlamp, they had so kindly requested the pleasure of my company and wanted me to be the announcer for the night, welcoming everybody, introducing the bands etc (and of course to sing as well), they also tasked me with the biggest and coolest job of all; the countdown! In exchange for this they offered free food and free alcohol all night.. sorted! The night was incredible the place was packed out, the stage was set up outside on the street and looked really smart, it was one of the best NYE nights I've ever had. When the countdown was up, it was HAPPY NEW YEAR and the everyone went mad, I gave a short very drunken speech on the mic whilst everyone was out of their chairs and started dancing all over the street, we were setting of fireworks and sky laterns it was superb.

So here we are into 2014; now for a little time of reflection. 2013 was surely one of the most defining years of my life. It was the year I decided to take on a life of travel and adventure for which I can positively say there have been no regrets. 2014 will see me continue my story, meeting new people, visiting new places and having new experiences I never once believed possible. Since being in Thailand I have learnt a great deal about myself and even more that I'm not aware of. I've been able to see and understand more about the country by getting a job allowing me to heavily submerse myself in Thai culture. I am very lucky as the job I've been doing is also something for which I have great passion for, working with children. I have also been able to learn a lot of the language and only plan on learning more, I have no doubt that one day I will live in this country; I really have fallen in love with it!

I have just one month left in Thailand before I move on to Cambodia for where I will stay roughly a month. From there I'm undecided, I originally planned to go to Vietnam and Laos but I'm thinking to cut out Vietnam this time as it would be very rushed. I have to return to the UK mid April sometime to sort out my Visa for the states as I'm returning to work a second year at Camp Awosting (some readers here will not know but prior to coming to Thailand I worked on a US Summer Camp for 3 months teaching guitar)

I have another English Camp (my final camp) coming up on the 5th which runs until the 17th so this is much much longer than anything previous; it will be in the provence of Surin. I arrive back to my apartment on the 17th when on the 18th I will be eagerly exited to see my friend Barnsey who will be turning up to Ayutthaya. He would have arrived in Bangkok the day before. The tentative plan is to first head back up north visiting some of the places I have already been so I can show him. I am looking forward to this as even though I've already been to these places I'm sure to see new things. After we see the north we will be hitting the Islands down south, a territory that will be completely new to me. It's gonna be sweet!

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone, lets make it one where we all work together to make this world a better place for all! x

Pattaya, the "City of Sin"

After my harrowing adventure at Poipet we headed for Pattaya where we had already pre planned to stay for a couple of nights before heading back to Ayutthaya. Pattaya as you will know is an infamous place in Thailand rife with go-go bars, russian mafia and dirty old men with young Thai girls,  all that being said I figured that I couldnt really come to Thailand and not go to Pattaya. We first went to pick up Fais friend Bew and there we were on our way. We had pre booked a hotel at a resonable price, it had a big room with everything you'd expect of a hotel including a swimming pool, it was slightly out of the heart of the city itself but was still directly opposite the beach. We arrived in the early evening around seven and by nine we found ourselves in walking street, the most infamous street of all. At first glance it lived up to its reputation,  there were many a red light, lots of go-go bars, lots of russians and numerous other farang walking up down in a drunken stupor, thankfully though nothing that I would consider inappropriate.

After walking around drinking on the street for a while we headed into a bar, it was of great benefit to me having friends who are are girls as I knew if I got hassled too much I could just say one of them was my girlfriend. The vibe in the first one I wasnt really feeling so we decided to get a few more drinks from the 7 Eleven and walk along the beach. Here there were dozens of freelance prostitutes but none of them were in your face which is what I thought would happen, we just casually carried on walked around and drinking until we found the perfect bar.

My post cuts short here as I really dont need to write up anymore but what I will say is I had a blast in Pattaya and I was sensible. Pattaya from what I saw was a pretty cool place, I didnt see anything like the media portrays for which I was relieved, in fact Im sure I will return, perhaps for NYE.

Visa run to Poipet, Cambodia

With only a few days remaining on my visa it was time to do the dreaded visa run to activate my second 60 days in Thailand.  There are numerous companys set up to arrange transport and everything for you, but from Ayutthaya to Poipet, the border town in Cambodia it's only a 4 hour drive and Fai said she would take me. I thought we should stay one night in Poipet to break up the journey, I also wanted to visit the casinos, such things that don't exist in Thailand. It's coming up to Christmas and I wanted to treat myself. We found our way to the border very easily and I even drove Fais car for some of it. Upon arrival to the border it was ridiculously unclear on what we were supposed to do or where were supposed to go, we thought we would be able to take the car accross but turns out we couldnt. We found somewhere to park and headed to border control stupidly leaving all our stuff in the car, we thought we could go back to get it but no, we got that very wrong.

After finding a place that looked official (there are dozens of fake touts trying to sell you false information/directions) we handed over our passports and got a stamp officially departing us from Thailand. We then found ourselves in no mans land, we weren't in Thailand, we weren't officially in Cambodia, just on a very bizzare stretch of road full of scammers, casinos and duty free markets. It was then very apparent we couldnt go back to the car. Many expletives were said on my behalf, I knew if I was to go back to the car I would have to activate my second Thai visa thus wasting it. It was then at that point that a guy approached us and said Fai could cross back to Thailand easily so she could grab the bags while I wait, I thought that wasnt too bad so off she went back accross the border while I waited desperately. I figured she should only be 10 minutes but over 20 minutes had passed and I was getting very restless. This place was seriously was a hell hole, I thought she might be in trouble. I decided it was time to ask someone whether I could go back accross the border without activating my second Thai visa, perhaps by paying a small bribe. It was a long shot but to my astonishment they said I could and I didnt even part with any cash. Off I went back accross the border, the wrong way, with no paperwork, it was all incredibly sketchy.

As soon as I was accross I ran straight for the car, here I found Fai with someone I thought was hassling her though I quickly ascertained that he was indeed helping her.  I think he was part of the police or army and he came to her aid after she was being followed and hassled by someone else. I thanked him greatly and offered him a couple dollars, without him who knows what might have happened. After we had our bags we headed back accross into no mans land where I now had to work out how to get a visa to let me into Cambodia.

After chinning off the multiple people offering us bullshit fast track visas I found one place that again looked offcial, they had convincing uniforms but looking back I very much doubt they were. I knew the price was 20USD but he was asking for $35. I told him it was too much and I wouldn't pay it, I tried my hardest to have it dropped but only managed to knock off $1, he had me in a vice really so I had to cough up. He then disappeared across the road somewhere with my passport and 5 minutes later it came back with a sticker. Honestly there were no clear directions here on what to do, I understand the basics of crossing into other countries but this process was absurd.

So here we were in Poipet. My thoughts? That it's an absolutely stinking sess pit covered in clouds of dust and rubbish. You could immediately tell it wasnt Thailand, I mean Thailand has its fair share of rough places but nothing on this! We found our hotel we booked where I immediately cracked into an Angkor (Cambodias national brew) I seriously needed it at this point. After getting our heads together we bravely ventured back out to the streets to hit the casinos.

I expected more backpackers to be in the casinos but in fact I was the only one, the vast majority are Thai who come here to gamble as its illegal in Thailand. I had a 3000 baht limit and played a bit of roullete and pontoon (there was no black jack anywhere?!) The croupiers all looked very jaded and bored and I wasnt really feeling it, after a hour or two I ended up making 500 baht. There was free alcohol so I was playing slowly and just taking advantage of that, it wasn't a good of a night as I had envisioned so we headed back to hotel very much ready to leave the next morning.

We were woken around 6am to excessive traffic noise with people sat on thier horns, it was pain staking. After a few more hours of restless sleep we checked out and headed back to the border. It was here I made the fatal mistake of not properly departing from Cambodia before I joined the hour long que at Thai immigration. After finally getting to the front the incredibly grumpy officer said "you not depart Cambodia,  you not depart Cambodia" I was very confused, I figured the que I was in was to both depart and enter me from one country to the other, I didnt see any other place that I was supposed to go first. I now had to go back out onto the street to find where I obtained the departing stamp, after finding what looked to be the right place I got the stamp, went back to the immigration officer where I was luckily able to jump the que, and there I was, back in Thailand. Thank god!

My first visa run I have to say was nothing but a big headache, I think doing it on my own was a good though, if I had gone with a visa run company who would have done it all for me then theres no real challenge. Its also good because I now know exactly what to do when I finally go to explore Cambodia further in early February. What I also know is I will not be stopping in Poipet, I will cross the border and get as far away from it as quickly as possible.

Beach resort in Chantaburi (English Camp)

After a few days off it was time for the next camp, this one was to be at "Had Saithong Beach Resort" in Chantaburi province, about four hours drive from Ayutthaya. I was really exited for this one, not only was I was going to be do something I love but we were going to be on the beach, I had a feeling it was gonna be awesome. We went up the day before and arrived around 3pm, after check in we headed straight into the sea. It was a beautiful, quiet, secluded spot and the water was so warm. The kids were travelling to us from Sukothai, about 10 hours away, they wernt due to arrive until around 9am the next day so the evening for us was very chilled, we got a fairly early night so we ready for them in the morning.

The next day around 9ish two big buses turned up, there were only 72 kids for this camp with mixed ages (12-17) one kid I noticed had bought a guitar which I really happy about, I envisioned a little jam later on. Once they had all got their room keys and dropped off thier bags we started the program. At first I wasnt sure how well they could speak English as they were a little shy and seemingly very tired but it didnt take long for me to realise these were very smart kids and their English level for most of them was high.

After running the normal activities in the morning we had lunch and then briefed the kids on the afternoons outing, we were going to head to "Kung Krabaen Bay" a nature center not too far from the resort. Here they were given instructions of things to find and take pictures of, it was a great afternoon. When we got back around 4pm we had a two hour break before dinner, all the kids and some of us teachers went straight into the sea, we messed around in there until dinner it was a good laugh. After dinner we had two hours of activities which bought us up till 9pm it was then time for the kids to head to thier rooms whilst us teachers had a well deserved drink. A bottle of Hong Thong later I realised it was 2.30am and well and truly time for bed, the bed I had was hard (something I've noticed very common in Thailand) so I "borrowed" some of the cushions from the outdoor chairs to stick under the sheets, it turned out to be a brilliant idea as I had a great nights sleep although it only a few hours.

Day two came the usual drill, up at 7 for breakfast to start a new action packed day. It turns out the hotel staff thought some of the kids stole the missing cusions whereas they were still on my bed, when the room got made up they realised it was infact one of the teachers, it was pretty funny. After the morning activities it was time for our second outing,  this time we had two places to go, the first "Ocean Sea World" to see a dolphin show and then to "Namtokphilo National Park" to visit a waterfall, the kids group assignment was again to take pictures and also create a short video talking about the different places. It was a brilliant afternoon. Upon returning to the hotel it was straight into the sea again, then dinner, activities and bed time. Much like the night before we got another bottle in and got stuck into that. Half way through the evening Save and Non, two of the kids came and found us with guitar in hand, they should have really been in bed but hey, whatever, none of the other kids were actually asleep anyway. They played us some Thai hits which were really enjoyable. The time came for us to go to bed, tomorrow would be our final day finishing at midday.

I felt a bit sad waking up knowing I would be saying goodbye to such a great group of kids. It had only been two days but I'd made a good bond with some of them. After some awesome games in the morning it was time to say goodbye, the last thing to do was to pick one student from our group to give a prize for being the best overall. I gave this to Boss, a remarkable boy who stuck out to me. He thanked me for everything and told me he would never forget me, that truly meant a lot to me, he will grow up to be an outstanding adult, he will go far as will many of the others.

This camp was by far the best for many reasons, the kids, the location, the trips, it was just perfect. One thing I must point out which didn't impress me (in fact which made me a bit angry) was the blatent use of child labour at the resort. The waitresses can only of been around 15 but the worst was the two boys doing labouring work, one maybe around 12 the other 10 at most, I saw him lugging around bricks and stone basically cleaning up after the builders, the work was too strenuous, he should have been at school. Im not naive, I know this stuff happens in this part of the world bit it is not nice to witness.

I hope to visit some of the students again in Sukothai at thier School, I plan to visit there again with Barnesy my friend who is coming over from England towards the end of January. I have one of the teachers contact details and will call him when im in town.

Today im off to Cambodia to do the dreaded visa run. Fai is driving and we're staying at a hotel in the infamous border town of Poipet filled with nothing but casinos.  We're spending one night there then swinging by Pattaya on the way home for a couple of nights. It will be a little Christmas holiday within a holiday. Im looking forward to it (minus the part of dealing with the Cambodian officials of course)

Lop Buri - Monkey City

Having been in Thailand for a while now and having not seen any monkeys yet, I asked Fai if she would take me to Lop Buri, a town notorious for them roaming the streets. Although she's not the greatest fan of them she said she was happy to drive the hour or so journey so I could see them. Upon arrival to the main center you could immediately spot them hanging off power lines and just wondering the street. The only time I'd seen this kind of thing was at Longleat Safari Park in England when I was much younger. This was kind of like that minus the safari park, these were monkeys were free to do whatever they want.

After parking up we headed to the shop as I wanted to feed them something. I picked up a bag of crisps and put them down on the table outside so I could put my wallet back in my bag, within seconds though, out of nowhere a monkey jumps up and snatches them, it was funny to watch as he sat down, opened them up just like a human, and started eating them the same. The shop keeper came out with a bamboo stick to chase it off, I guess for the people that live in the town they can only be nothing more than a nuisance. As the first bag was snatched I stupidly decided to buy another one thinking "I'll keep hold of it this time". Oh how wrong I was. As I was walking down the street a few clocked onto what I was holding so I hid them under my t-shirt, this proved to be futile though as one jumped up on me and had those away too. I decided that I wasnt going to be able to feed them civilly so I scrapped that idea and we headed over to the "monkey temple" where the vast majority of them hang out.

There is supposed to be an admission charge of 150 baht for farang but as I with Fai and her friend Biw they explained I was a teacher and the fee was wavered. At the temple there were dozens of monkeys of all sizes, the bigger ones were somewhat intimidating but the baby ones were so cute. They pretty much ignore you (I guess because I didnt have any food) but after crouching down by some of the small ones a couple jumped up onto my back trying to open my pockets up and pinch the bracelets on my arm the cheecky monkeys (no pun intended) the keeper (if thats what he's called) warned me to be carefull they dont bite and told me to keep a tight grasp on my camera which I'd already figured. I also didnt want rabies so was being extra vigilant with the little buggers. After playing with the monkeys outside we went into the old temple, it was only after Fai pointed it out to me did I see all the bats hanging from the low roof, it was pretty freaky, I wanted to spook the girls but resisted the temptation to clap loudly as the thought of any of them moving scared the hell outa me let alone them. Just before leaving I had a some water left in my bottle which I wanted to give to the monkeys, I had one jump up on my knee and it was so cool to feed it, Fai filmed it and at the end of it another monkey out of the blue jumps up on her to snatch the camera, she kept it safe though, it was all pretty crazy.

After the monkey visit we headed to Pasak Dam, the largest resoviour in Central Thailand, here we fed hundreds of fish scrambling around in the water with a couple dozen large soft bagettes, it was great was fun. The dam is here to not only generate power but to prevent flooding at the place I am currently living, Ayutthaya.

Tomorrow I head to Chantaburi on the border of Cambodia to work another three day camp, since my last post I've worked a three day camp in Ayutthaya with kids that had travelled to us from Surin province. This camp was much diffrent as the hours were considerably longer, rather than the usual 8.30 till 4 this was 8.30 till 4 and then 7 till 9. What was great about this camp though is that we went on field trips to the temples and floating market which made it all that much more fun, but at the same time all that more exhausting. This next camp is the same hours but ive caught up on some sleep now and im ready to rock and roll.