Yesterday we said goodbye to our friends in Uttaradit and took the train to Bangkok. We left at 8.45 am and arrived at 5pm, so it was a long trip but oh so lovely. We passed through the Thai countryside which was a mixture of vast rice fields and low hills, with a sprinkling of small towns and temples. We stopped at many stations during the day and they all had a different charm of their own. The wonderful part of the journey was the train, which was made up of wooden carriages that has open windows allowing the wind to blow through as the temperatures rose during the day. All day long food sellers boarded the train to sell their wares and walked up and down the carriages trying to tempt us. Looking out of the window was a bird spotters paradise, I have not seen so many birds anywhere else in Asia. There were lots of different varieties that flew up as the train trundled past, mostly heron type birds of different shapes and sizes. At one point there were dozens flying in a lazy circle, caught in a thermal that took them high in the sky, it was a spectacular site.

The time went quickly and we were at our station in Bangkok before we realised and had to rush to get off before the train continued on into the city. As we were flying from Don Meung Airport we had decided to stay near the airport rather than have to travel from the centre of Bangkok.

We took a taxi to the hotel, and as usual had to use Google maps to find it as the taxi driver didn't know the address. However it only cost a pound so we can't really complain.

This morning we caught our flight to Nakhon Si Thammarat in Southern Thailand. We left a beautiful sunny Bangkok and an hour later started to land at Nakhon Si Thammarat local airport. As we approached it started to rain and it was very dark, then the rain got heavier and there was some air turbulence. The pilot was struggling to keep the plane level and just before we were about to touch down the pilot suddenly pulled the plane up and we started to climb again. He had aborted the landing to head back up and above the clouds due to the bad weather. So after that bit of excitement we circled for about half an hour to wait for the rain storm to clear then went back down, still with a lot of air turbulence and a very quick throttle back and screech of brakes which had our hands bracing the seat in front. I must admit I felt like clapping the pilot as it was a relief to be back on the ground! We hadn't realised how short the single runway was until the pilot turned the plane around to travel back along it to reach arrivals. As we left the plane we were handed an umbrella to walk across the tarmac just an hour later than planned.

Our host Wanpen , her husband Yong and their 3 children were there to greet us which was lovely. We then had a 70 km drive to their village and school our home for the next two weeks.

Tambon Phipun

We are staying near the school which has about 300 children from 3 to 15 years old.

We are both teaching in different classes this week, rather than together. The children are very friendly and not difficult to teach , however at this school we do not have a Thai teacher to help us which means it is sometimes difficult to get the children to understand us as we speak no Thai.

The teachers have made sure we are fully immersed in the Thai culture, to such an extent that yesterday, our 36th wedding anniversary, we were taken to a Thai funeral to pay our respects. The deceased was the father of a teacher from a different school. In Thailand, paying respect means praying, lighting incense, and everyone eating together (I understand that the funeral can last 2 days). We stayed for a couple of hours and had a very good meal, probably better than if we had gone to a restaurant. I must say it is one of the more unusual places Chris has taken me out to on our wedding anniversary!
But that wasn't all - we were taken to a different funeral tonight, a lady that reached the grand old age of 99. Same format as yesterday with a great meal for all the mourners. (They assure me that there are no more funerals this week). Who knows we may be asked to a wedding next?