Chiang Mai

We started our day on the train! The night train was very fun, it was a unique experience. Our seats were turned into beds and a bed was pulled down from above. It was cool! I slept on the bottom, each bed had curtains so you could try to block the light from the aisle way.

We had a 4:30am wake up on the train, we got off at our stop at 5, which was Lampang. We then had to take a bus, for another hour to our hotel. We are staying at the Ratilanna, which is a beautiful hotel. We were all in awe once we opened our rooms. We got to check in, relax for a bit then have breakfast!

At 10 we met at the lobby and hopped into the bus to our first school visit! We visited the Ban Buakkrognoi Community school. It is a UNICEF supported school. Once we started pass the classrooms you could hear the students working in unison repeating everything their peers and teacher were saying. It was different! The school was founded in 2009, but it still faces problems like us. They are short on personnel, the building is not in great shape and the travel for students. There are 5. Teachers for 271 students. They do have teacher assistants and some volunteers. Their school day is 8:30 am until 3:30 pm with an hour break. They have lunch and recess during this time! All the children did their own dishes once they were finished eating and placed them back where they belonged. It was wonderful! The teachers and students were extremely friendly and had great personalities.

This room had no teacher in it and the students were working quietly!

After our school visit we had a buffet lunch. Then we ventured across the street to the Gems Gallery. We saw people working on beautiful works of jewelry. Some of it was extravagant with a lot of gems! Others were made simpler. There were jade statues of Buddah and elephants as well as jewelry. After the gallery we then went to store,(I can't remember the name), that made plates and boxes out of bamboo. Then they laquer it 7 times, and then make designs, gold, egg shells or just paint.

After that, we went to a Thai silk shop! We got to see how silk was made and how they made items. Did you know they boil the cocoon and end up killing the caterpillar?

Towards the end of our day we ventured up the mountain, on a VERY WINDY road to see the Wat Phardhatdoisuthep. We had to take off our shoes in order to enter. It was amazing, I was blessed by a monk, and received a small bracelet. I also was able to write my name on a cloth that is going to be wrapped around the pagoda.

The day was long! We then made it back to the hotel and rested for an hour then we went to dinner. We got to sit by the River! It was kind of like a tapas bar where we shared appetizers between four of us! We had veggies, green curry with eggplant, pad tai, mangos and sticky rice and of course rice! Then we went to the night market! We road the tuk tuk back to the hotel it was fun!

Tomorrow we are going to the elephant camp, and we get to ride elephants!!! Until tomorrow!