As one sun sets a brighter one rises

I left Thailand but Thailand never left me. I wear my thai pants everywhere and I bite back so many “This one time in Thailand…” stories so I don’t sound like that ‘Gap Yah’ kid.

The summer of 2013 was a nice one, the soundtrack of my flashbacks consists of geckos chattering, tuk-tuks honking and monks chanting mixed with ‘Thrift Shop’ and ‘Get Lucky’. I had the time of my life counting fireflies, sheltered from a monsoon under a bamboo hut with my new friends, strangers I had met that day, laughing at each others accents and hiding from the co-ordinator whenever she came to yell at us for still being out, or being so loud (sorry Nikki… it was too much fun!).

During my time there I ate over 54 bowls of rice and had some of the most absurd, hilarious and enchanting moments- where do I start?

There’s the evening where torrential rain spontaneously burst upon the nightmarket and I, along with Trip, Aisling and Karan-my new friends found ourselves dancing with the locals until the monsoon weather stopped, an hour later and our clothes had soaked to our skin, rain leaking out of our shoes.
Or being woken up at 5am at the temple by teachers who, as it turned out, weren't joking about compulsory morning exercise for staff and pupils.
Last summer was something I laugh about a lot still. Because jumping in a waterfall in your best dress is a memory that can’t be over-replayed.

You can’t explore the world if you don’t open your front door. My experience only confirmed my initial optimism- that most people are good. The kindness shown to me- teachers giving me lifts, locals inviting us over for lunch and waitresses making note to stock my favourite cake as I told them I would return on the weekend, has made me determined that other young people should have the opportunity to experience a new culture while giving something back. So my advice to any young people reading this is to dream big, work hard and take the jump to go to far out places, because my only regret was that July had to end.

Those of you who read this blog last year will remember that while I was teaching English in Thailand my sister was doing an Internship in Washington DC (http://nikitagoestotheothersideofthepond.blogspot.co.uk/). This year…the adventure continues! It seems we will be spending the summer on different continents again, crossing over as I head over to the East Coast to teach Adventure at a summer camp and while I trace her footsteps she will continue mine, doing education and outreach work in China. (I made a cool map, above, which shows how we have crossed over!)

If you like travel journals, are thinking of being a camp counselor, here’s the blog I intend to keep while I’m over the Atlantic: http://i-like-to-be-in-america.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks for reading guys, I feel like you've travelled with me, really. 1470 hits? Woah!

Georgia xx

It's miserable and magical, Oh yeah

Previous blogposts of waterfalls and generally pretty things paint an illusion that we volunteers live in luxury. You could say we live 'la viva loca' or that we 'viva la viva' or celebrate 'la vie boheme' because my memories here are wonderful. But most of us are living 'on a shoestring' so we stay in the cheapest hostels avaliable (as long as it's clean I don't care) but yesterday the sink fell off the wall in the bathroom when I put down a toothbrush. It ain't luxury!

Today's hostel has the benefits of sinks securely attached to the wall (I checked) but the water comes out black so I'm washing and brushing using bottled water. It's gross and it's grim but there's about 30 of us staying here so it's kinda great.

 Walking today with Karan and Ash- we didn't make plans or directions. We wanted just to see the city without a guide or attractions, so walking down backstreets, turning random corners we came across a terracotta garden- full of old broken statues of deities: both Hindu and Buddhist :)

 

 

This reminds me of the Muses from Hercules, Thai style!

 

 This is my favourite photo from today. It was so hot and we'd been walking some time. So Ash and Karan found some shade and lay down. This is their high five in relief of the cool breeze.

Obligatory hipster photo

 

Yesterday everyone went to different restaurants and cafes. I've been here 3 weeks now and had never eaten street food, which is embarrassing considering Thailand has world class food for, like 30p on it's streets. So I walked around and got a pancake, some fried rice (funny how as soon as I leave the foundation I crave rice) and another dragon fruit smoothie. It was one of the coolest things because yesterday was the first day of Buddhist lent so I could taste the incense in the air, gongs were sounding and the drone of chants in unison carried over the yells of vendors and hustle. I kept walking until I found a more secluded area- which was full of locals- always a good sign. I sat (cross legged on the floor of a marquee, thai style) eating my food while a group of novice monks (teenagers) sat about a metre away from me, laughing with each other and passers by and switching their face and posture to reverent and melancholy whenever the older monk accompanying them turned around.

I also didn't bring my camera, it was nice to just experience something without looking at it through a lens.

 

 

 On a completely separate note: Thank you to the over 700 people who have viewed this blog- friends, family, strangers and fellow travellers. My sister, Nikita, is currently in Washington DC, America doing an internship in a Naval museum. For any readers here interested in culture and travel here's the link http://nikitagoestotheothersideofthepond.blogspot.com/ 

 

 

 

Mission Waterfall

Woke up around 10.30am, ate a pancake and then some of the others had already made plans and booked transport to take us to a waterfall. So there I was, drowning my pancake in honey to find plans already made for me! Perfect.

 

So, in the heat of mid day (33 degrees) and the humidity that comes with monsoon season, mountains and waterfalls we made the half an hour hike/trek to the enchanting waterfall in Chiang Rai.

 

Man, it was sweaty. And the altitude was HIGH. And the path is rocky (I mean boulders, not pebbles you had to watch your feet the whole walk). But when we reached the top-

Enchanting

*Insert Hallelujah chorus here*

I forgot my swimming costume. So, here I am, in my best dress, after swimming/frocking/posing/climbing the waterfall. That was fun. Imagine being so hot and so tired and so sweaty and then reaching a paradise. That was the best shower I’ve ever had.

Weekend Adventures!

We get time in the evenings and weekend to do what we like. It’s fun- the girls on my last placement were English, Irish, American, Australian, New Zealand and India so dinnertimes sitting round talking about gun crime felt like a UN meeting with all our different accents. We’ve been visiting 7/11’s (like a corner shop) and stocking up on oreos and things. Oreo is now a food group in my diet.

 Visiting the White temple (Chiang Rai). It is, like it's name suggests, a white temple.

 The Night Bazaar in Chiang Rai. Here's where I bought some pants we all wear out here and it's full of Asian food to try (Sam, Lisa and I got some deep fried banana. You should try it)

 Lilly and I out in Chaing Mai (everyone went out to celebrate Kate's 20th birthday). I didn't know the cocktail matched my dress until it came over. Cute!

We stayed out until 3am. I told Kate in Britain it's still technically her birthday so we should keep celebrating. So we all (Josh, Tom, Alex, Martin, Lauren, Kate, Lucy, Laura, Arthur and I've forgotten a name...) went to nightclubs and rain dances in the street.

 10 of us in a songtao (pronounced song-toe). You can also have two people hang off the back on rails. There's no safety standards in Asia.

 

Behold: This weekend's hostel. It costs 400baht for two nights (almost £9! And it's gorgeous!)