Kanchanaburi...

We left Tuesday morning at around 11:10 for our junior high trip to Kanchanaburi province. In total we had 30 students from grades 7-9 come, four teachers (Sarah, Mike, Colleen, and myself), and p'Sit (Thai staffer, fluent in English and Thai. The trip was arranged by a tour company which made it less stressful for the teachers. We took 4 vans up. I rode with the grade 7 boys. About an hour and a half before arriving, it started pouring. The place we were staying at the first night was kinda secluded and we had to drive through 2 creeks to get there, and since it was pouring the creek had a lot of water in it. We crossed the first creek alright, but approaching the 2nd creek, our driver made a wrong turn and we ended up half way down a steep dirt road. The van wouldn't back up so we had to get out and stand in the rain while the van was pulled back up. Then, while crossing the 2nd creek my van got stuck so we had to get out and push it out. So by the time we arrived (around 6:30 or so) I was pretty soaked. Then we had to climb up a hill on a slippery muddy path so we were wet and dirty. The place we stayed at was pretty nice. The students slept in tree houses and the teachers slept at the owner's house (lots of Thai houses are on stilts, and often much of the house is just a covered porch, so we were basically sleeping outside). Some guy was snoring really loudly next to us (and didn't stop when Mike threw his pillow at him) and there was an asthmatic dog below us so none of us teachers got much sleep that night. The next morning got up at about 7:30, had breakfast and took a shower (shower being a big container filled with cold water with a bucket to pour the water on yourself). After packing up the vans we headed to a waterfall and swam around at the base for awhile. On our way my van got stuck in a puddle and had to be pulled out. We then headed to the border with Myanmar, but it started raining just as we arrived at the viewpoint so we got soaked again. We then headed to a hot springs. Had a good time throwing students into the water. We went to a guesthouse that floats on the edge of the River Kwai for the second night. This morning we went rafting down the river in bamboo rafts for maybe 45 minutes or so but most of us just floated down the river in life jackets instead. We then went to an elephant camp to ride elephants (the same camp I went to back in July with Craig and Michelle). The final event was an animal safari which was pretty brutal because the animals were all running around on gravel. But the highlight was the giraffes, which reached their heads into the safari bus to get the corn that some of the students bought to feed animals. The giraffes would reach in an grab corn that was on the floor. The camels also stuck their heads in and drooled. We arrived back at the school at about 7. I thought how nice it is to be back home, then remembered that this won't be home for much longer. Tomorrow is the last day of school. Weird to think that most of these students I will probably never see again.