Its so nice sometimes to get away.It has only been 4 weeks since Koh Chang, but it feels like a lifetime ago. Since coming home, we have had the kids do their midterms, I have corrected all 900 papers and put all the results into our official books, and I have been back teaching my 23 classes a week. I have been quite busy, and this weekend myself and Saadia (my fellow English teacher) decided that we would take a break and head to the neighbouring province of Buriram to stay with friends.
We initially were naive, and thought '1 hour 15 on the bus to Surin, and then another 2 hours on the bus from Surin to Buriram. We should be there by 7pm'. 7pm arrived, and we hadn't even left the station in Surin. Thai buses are the most unreliable mode of transport. They give a time to leave a station, but they don't actually leave at that time. They wait until the bus is full in order to leave. This means that we were sitting on the bus for an hour and a half waiting for it to move. Not a good start to the weekend.
But, finally, we arrived in Nang Rong bus station and met out three friends who took us for a lovely dinner with a stop off in the 7/11 on the way back to their accommodation for ice cream.
The next day, after a breakfast of the most gorgeous coffee and thai tea, we headed off for the nearby tourist site of Phanom Rung. This is a set of temple ruins which date back to the 10th century, and it was built for the Hindu God Shiva. The setting is really amazing, as it is perched on the rim of a volcano on a mountain, and it is really beautiful, not to mention very large and impressive. Although I have to say, if you are nervy with large steps and uneven surfaces, this is not the place for you. We spent the late afternoon sitting in a little cafe eating homemade cookies, brownies and cheesecake (all with no extra sugar which is rare in Thailand where everything is sickeningly sweet) and sipping coffee and hot chocolate. This, followed by a fish dinner washed down with a large beer, was the perfect way to unwind.
We arrived home on Sunday nice and relaxed ... well except for the bus ride back with the incredibly loud Thai music .... and the fact that when we arrived back to the town we discovered my bike had been stolen .... but I personally chose not to let that spoil the weekend. Mai pen rai and all that jazz.
Right now, its back to sorting my travelling plans around Asia for when I am finished my work here in Rattanaburi, which will be in about 5 weeks. A huge amount of tea will be consumed this week methinks. Planning trains, planes and auto-mobiles is thirsty business.
Sawatdiikha.
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