kanchanaburi

On Sunday all 20 of us teachers took a 3 hr bus ride to Kanchanaburi Province. We disembarked to snap photos of the famous Bridge over the River Kwai like a bunch of asian tourists, then had dinner on what amounted to a floating disco dance floor... strobe lights, thumping music (strange Thai remixes of old American pop songs), disco ball and all.

Bridge on the River Kwai

driving through Kanchanaburi

The other teachers and I went to visit Moo Baan Dek, an orphanage/alternative school, in the afternoon today. The kids (k-12, i think) live at Moo Baan Dek and most of their education is in practical, applicable skills like gardening (in the organic garden they all work on each morning before breakfast), weaving, construction, etc

Housing at Moo Baan Dek

Despite the complete language barrier between the kids and us, it was great fun wandering around the grounds of Moo Baan Dek with giggling children hanging off our arms and necks, and others running off with our cameras to take photos of one another. (I got mine back with 120 new photos on my memory card, and only a little dirt caked into the buttons).

self portrait


getting a workout


donning hats made by local kiddos

And for lunch...

Fish from the River Kwai, fried with loads of garlic

and on the bus ride back to bangkok...

coconut cream ice cream with big chunks of coconut from a gas station