Since I last wrote on here we had a long weekend, so 12 of us from Surin and surrounding area decided to escape to Buriram, the next province to the west of Surin. A load of others from Surin, and also interns from all round Thailand met up in Bangkok for a big drinking weekend but at threat point it was only two weeks since we left Bangkok, and we can get drunk anywhere if we want to!!
We took the train to Buriram which took about 45 minutes from Surin station (about 15/20 minutes walk from our apartments which are now known by all the interns as the Ritz, in comparison to everywhere else!) It was great going on the train, much more fun and exciting than a stinky bus which you are never guaranteed a seat on anyway. We went second class, which was still less than £1 for the journey! The seats were comfy and although all faced one direction you could spin them around so you could face each other which was nice.
Arriving at Burirum we checked into our hotel which was right beside the station with a nice pool. 12 of us squeezed into 5 double rooms to save a bit of cash but there was plenty of space to go round. The hotel was really nice and I'm sure I'll be back there.
The first day in Burirum some if us headed to Khao-Kradong Volcano where there were 300 steps going up to the edge of the crater where there is a HUGE golden Buddha. The walk up the steps wasn't much fun at all in the heat, PLUS I had seriously stubbed my toe on the way to the bus station, and it looked like my toenail was going to come off (nice!!) We wondered around the volcano following paths, rickety bridges and the road trying to find out way off before it got too late. We were going downhill but we had no idea to where when we heard loud music coming through the trees. We crouched down and saw an amazing temple. We felt annoyed at ourselves as we only had shorts and T-shirts on, and our shoulders and knees weren't covered (which they like them to be for visiting temples). A monk beckoned us into the area saying welcome welcome. So we walked toward to the temple and around it taking some pictures when another monk came with a key. We took our shoes off and followed him inside. He asked us to wai and then kneel down in front of the shrine, then he wanted a 100baht offering, after which he did a blessing type thing on us. It was brilliant. He then managed to somehow explain to us with his no English and our no Thai that the wall murals were of Khao-Kradong.
The next day we hired a mini van which came to a small fee between the 12 of us and we went to two different ruined Khmer castles, Prasat Muang Tam and Phnom Rung, both were beautiful and fantastic. Four of us experienced some type of seance, or something we don't know how to explain it, but on the way back down to the bus, we came across a circle of people all with their hands on a stone in the middle. One man was saying a prayer/chant type of thing. The people in the circle seemed to be having some weird out of body experience. Some were screaming, some were deep coughing, some were even hysterically laughing. One man had his fist in the air and was tensed up so much that his fist was shaking.
Otherwise, school has been good. I'm getting used to it now and might EVEN go as far to say as I enjoy it. I have taken on four students for private tutoring in the evenings. One on Monday, another on Tuesday, and two together on Wednesday. Good for me as I will make 1200baht a week :)
Have a look at my pictures to see the temples and some photos from school.
Till next time xxx
