Very tiring past couple of days, but finally finished at the orphanage!

From where I left off - got to the orphanage to find out we had a bit of a miscommunication with some Thai builders who were meant to be delivering the water tanks. They didn't arrive til the afternoon so we were stuck til then. Got started on the next project - a larger outdoor toilet block, and cleaned out the old water tanks instead until they arrived.

It was pretty late by the time they arrived so unloaded the cement rings and set them up ready for the next day, fortunately we had got so much done the 1st day so we wernt going to be behind schedule.

Left the orphanage at half 3 and got back and slept. Opting not to go to Thai boxing again as I didnt want to risk further injury to my foot. Felt much better after catching up on some sleep, but woke up majorly craving chocolate.

Went to the shops aiming for just a chocolate bar (ridiculously hard to find in Thailand for some reason) and instead had to settle for a cornetto, chocolate crispy wafer bars and some Thai own brand Oreos. Really all I wanted was just a dairy milk bar! Decided Thai Oreos didn't really count as trying something new so ordered a pork Mao (or something like that) like a big bun made out of something that tasted like really fluffy white bread, with pork and fried egg filling. Weirdly nice!

Back to the hotel and showered ready to go out. Realized I'd forgotten to do any washing whatsoever the past couple of days (still havnt bought any more tshirts!) so had to break into my emergency bag. Very weird wearing something that smelled of home!

Tried a new restaurant called the Burmese inn. (we are about 25km from the Burma border, so there are a few places offering Burmese food) went for a Burmese curry which was a bit disappointing, but filling. Then headed off to the bar for a very funny night out.

Got a very good nights sleep, but still woke up tired. Had our breakfast ready for the last day at the orphanage. Bit sad because of that, but also because we had been here for 2 weeks. So were over halfway through the trip :(

Did cheer myself up on the fact that I've still got 4 and a half MONTHS before I get back!!

Basically the day was spent stacking the cement rings onto each other, then cementing it all together. Harder than it sounds because we had to hand mix the cement but still a very easy day. Finished up and played with the kids for a bit before having a big group photo outside. Lunch was pad Thai in a bag, very tasty (they had made it with loads of peanuts which is how I like it!)

Left back for the hostel, it was a very hot day, about 37. Which is hot even for Thai standards, so everyone just chilled out in the air conditioned rooms. Was apparently expecting rain on wednesday and Thursday, and we saw lightning off in the distance, but it never arrived where we were.

Went and played volleyball after our rest, a really funny game just messing around with all our Thai coordinators (who are amazing at volleyball) before going out for dinner.

Had a special treat of pizza that night! (but we did have to order 2 days in advance so they could get cheese in - I'm not joking!) got a pack of 24 beers in for 4 of us intending to drink them over the whole night, but ended up finishing them before the end of dinner.
Again off to the bar afterwards for drunken pool and chatting.

Woke up fine, the other 3 lads were struggling a lot though. Spent the day rafting at the local river. Had a choice of a proper inflatable boat, a boat made out of 4 inner tubes strapped together, or a bamboo raft. Went for the bamboo raft to start off with. The day was spent having fun in the water - jumping off the rafts, tipping them over, pulling people off etc... Then quickly jumping back on a raft to go over the rockier sections of the river (not quite "white water rafting" but it would hurt to go over on your bum) stopped at a little inlet for our pack lunch (rice in a bag!) before more swimming and chilling out. Walked through the forest for about 100m to get to a clearing where our trucks picked us up.

Back to the hostel, shower and sleep ready for a big night out that night. Everyone bought a bottle of spirit and a mixer, and then played drinking games at the hotel. Then walked down to the bar only to find it had closed. (bars in Thailand only close when they run out of customers, we were drinking elsewhere so it would have been practically empty)

Back to the hotel for more drinking, I called it a night about 1, while the last few that were up went for karaoke. (wasn't drunk enough for that!)

Sat writing this over breakfast, got a free weekend today and tomorrow. Planning to go to a kind of adventure place tomorrow, you can do zorbing, dirt buggies, zip lining and other things. All really cheap too.

Sorry for not updating for a while, I regret it too - it's taken about 2 hrs to write all of this!

Anyway all I can write for now,

Josh xx

Photo is of my Thai boxing shorts! Sexy right?