Tuesday night, all of the student teachers from Campus 3 and the other foreign staff made a trip downtown for supper. Getting there was quite the task though, since just before school was out it started to pour rain, and as soon as it rains, taxis are difficult to come across. We couldn't find a taxi willing to take us all the way to the restaurant but we found one that would take us as far as the Sky Train station so we took the taxi there adn then the Sky Train to Asok, where we walked the rest of the way from there. We went to a place called Bourbon Street for a "Mexican" buffet. It's not quite like the Mexican food I ate for 3 months while in Mexico, but it was good food, and a nice treat. It was quite enjoyable to relax with the other foreign staff. The ride back in the taxi was an interesting one. The signs you come across in taxis can be quite ridiculous. In this particular cab (it was a large one and 6 of us climbed in) the signs were: no water buffalo, no machine guns, no sex, no dogs, no drinks, no durian (a large spiky fruit that smells terrible when you cut it open), no smoking, and no farting. Quite the odd combination of rules to keep in mind for in a taxi! That and almost being run over by a cement truck had all of us laughing all the way home. Keep in mind that in Thailand, the larger the vehicle, the more right of way you have.
Also on Tuesday, a friend of one of the girls arrived to travel around Thailand with her once classes were out. She arrived late on Tuesday, and I was excited to meet her on Wednesday morning. We went to Siam Discovery and MBK malls after school on Wednesday to see Madame Tussauds wax museum and for the international food court. It was an all around wonderful evening!
Thursday was hard. I was sad that it was going to be our final day with our students, as we were leaving for our flights/buses early in the afternoon on Friday and had set up a movie for our students for the afternoon for good behaviour. Thursday we used the time to finish up some activities that had not yet been completed, and then we took our first class outside to play on the play structures. We laughed and enjoyed playing with the kids for a while and told them that it was our last day. They didn't seem to understand and kept asking when we were coming back. Our second class didn't finish as quickly, and it had rained right after we brought the last class in so the playground was wet. So, for the second class, we played Hangman, Beans, and Simon Says until our time was up. When we left, we were swarmed with hugs and students telling us they loved us and that they will miss us. My cooperating teacher found me afterwards to give me a great big card from my students.
After school, the staff had planned a farewell party for us beneath the gym. We went there and were thanked by our faculty supervisors, cooperating teachers, the key stage leaders, and the director of the school. The director of the school told us that we are welcome to return to Thailand to work for Lertlah again when we finish if we choose to, and he told us that if there was anything he could do to make our stay better, he would. Then they presented us with certificates of completion of our practicum at Lertlah, as well as a frame that included pictures taken while we were teaching and the signatures of all involved in our practicums. It was very sweet, and made me sad to leave. We also were asked to present our cooperating teachers with their certificates from BU that they had been "A Teacher's Teacher" before eating supper that they had provided for us and going off to do some packing. I went to mall Bang Kapi for the last time that night and just wandered around. I got a foot massage, and decided that a massage package from there would be a nice gift for my cooperating teacher. I was happy to find out the next morning that she was quite happy with it, as she gave me a hug and wished me good luck.
Friday morning came, and one of the Thai staff was wonderful and helped me book my bus ticket to Krabi for that evening. We worked on some marking and other odds and ends for the morning while making sure we had all of the paperwork we needed to be signed and ready to go back to Canada. We had a final meeting to discuss how we enjoyed the practicum and what we think could be changed to make it better for the next year. I had to leave afterwards without saying good bye, as I'm not so good with good byes and I knew I was going to have a hard time leaving. I really am going to miss the people there. It was a great experience.
Friday afternoon, I went back to my apartment to finish packing for Ko Phi Phi and then I took a taxi to the Southern Bus Station (which took over an hour and a half). I had to be there early enough to pick up the ticket before 6 pm, however the bus did not leave until 8:50 pm so I spent a few hours wandering around the bus station which was like being in a mall. I stopped at a place and had coffee and read a book for a while and then did some more wandering around. Finally it was time to leave, and I boarded my bus. We watched a movie, which was clearly a Thai comedy and it was all in Thai. There were parts that I understood from the very theatrical acting, but clearly I could not understand everything because it were no subtitles or anything. Eventually, I fell asleep on the bus and I woke up just as the sun was rising. When we finally arrived in Krabi at the bus station, I was met by a pushy cab driver, but he was pushy because he wanted to get us there on time to catch the ferry. He got us there in a hurry and we took the hour and a half long ferry ride across to Ko Phi Phi.
When I arrived on the island, I was tired and couldn't wait to shower and change. There were people waiting from different hotels trying to attract people who had not made a reservation, and to help the ones who had get to the hotels. I met someone from Ma Ney Resort on the pier and he had me take my bags to a cart and told me to sit for a few minutes until he came back. He went to find others, but after waiting for 20 minutes and he still had not returned, I was getting antsy and took my bags and set off in search of the hotel myself. Probably a bad idea. It took a long time to find it on my own since there were no maps of the island around and I had no idea where I was going! It was quite the walk and it was uphill to my hotel. It had a beautiful view because it was up on the side of the mountain, but it seemed far away from everything. By the time I got there I had to sit down and just have a glass of water before I could get to my room. Once in my room, I was so hot that I just showered and then had a nap before going for supper. On my way to supper, a gentleman stopped me and asked if I was interested in Scuba diving, and he gave me an information package. I went off to supper excited by the idea, and decided it would be something fun for me to do! On my way back to the hotel, I stopped by and signed up for the Discover Scuba tour for the following day and went back to the hotel to bed, as the tour left at 7:30 am. I decided to try the spicy papaya salad (also known as "som tam") and a Thai pancake with banana and Nutella. The som tam is very spicy, but I love spicy so I didn't mind at all! The banana and Nutella pancake was a delicious treat as well!
I woke up nervous and excited and set off for the place where we were to meet for the dive. But first I had to find a sewing kit, because the strap on my swim suit has poor timing and fell apart. I found a kit at 7-11 and used a safety pin to temporarily fix my swim suit! I was so excited that nothing was going to stop me! I arrived, but they were still getting set up so they sent us to go and eat some breakfast at a bakery down the street before we went to the boat. I didn't really realize what I was going out to do until I was walking onto the boat. I was still incredibly excited, but even more nervous! It was similar to the feeling I had when I saw the first cable in Chiang Mai when we went zip-lining.
Once on the boat, we met with others who were going on the Scuba tour, the rest of my group was also from Western Canada and so we talked about our travels and how we ended up in Koh Phi Phi. One of the guys in my group was seasick, and was having a hard time on the boat. We sat at the front and went over a few things, like how to breath through the regulator, how to retrieve it if it comes out of your mouth, hand signals that we need to know while underwater, and how to read the amount of air left in our cylinders, as well as how to equalize the pressure in our ears as we descend and ascend.
We were soon suited up and getting ready to jump in. I had no idea just how heavy those tanks were! I remember our instructor had to help us up, and even with his strength pulling us up, the cylinders and gear were just so heavy. I remember he told us once we were in the water that the best way to keep our goggles from fogging up was to spit in them. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not until I watched him do it to his own goggles and realized he was serious! We spent a few minutes swimming around getting used to the regulator and looking down at the fish before he started individually working on the skills: learning to go under the surface, breathing, hand signals, regulator retrieval, and what to do when water gets into the goggles. At first, it was difficult for me to get under the surface of the water and he had to add more weights to my weight belt. It didn't help that the water rushing past my cheeks as I breathed out made me quite nervous and I started swinging my legs back and forth, not thinking that I'm propelling myself back towards the surface. I had difficulty with emptying the water out of my goggles and panicked. Our instructor was patient, and allowed me to swim around on the surface some more, looking down at the fish to try to relax before we finally checked my skills once more and started our dive. I was still quite uneasy and unsure of myself and so he promised to stay close by my side until I gave him the signal that I was OK and told me that I will love it once I'm under the water and looking up at the fish.
Since he was going to stay near me, he took me down to the bottom first. Everything looks so amazing from underwater. There were so many types of coral, and so many colors of fish! Unfortunately, we could not take pictures while we were Scuba diving, and even if we could, they could never capture the immense beauty under the surface of the water. I was in awe, and absolutely fascinated by everything. At one point our instructor pointed up to show me a massive school of little yellow fish swimming over our heads. He asked if I was OK, and I gave him the signal that I was, and we were off to look around! The water was so clear, and the colors below were so vibrant! I was so excited, I let out a little giggle but decided not to do that again when some water slipped into my goggles! I hated emptying them, so I was careful to hold them in place if I smiled again! Our instructor pulled out a small board and a writing utensil and asked what we thought of Scuba diving, and I couldn't help but tell him that I was thrilled to be there!
We resurfaced for lunch and had the chance to take off our gear, eat our lunches, and then I chose to snorkel around for a bit. The water was so beautiful, and we stopped near one of the most popular beaches at Koh Phi Phi Lay (a smaller island). Here I pulled out my camera and took a few pictures, but I wasn't close enough for any to turn out as clear as things looked to me. I enjoyed swimming around, but eventually decided to go back on the boat and be ready for when we decided to jump in for the afternoon dive. Unfortunately, after returning to the boat, my stomach started to not feel very well, and I got the feeling I get before I get a migraine headache. While the others suited up for the afternoon dive, I laid down on the benches on the boat hoping it would pass before it was too late for me to join, but it continued to get worse, so I stayed on the boat. After taking some Advil, I fell asleep but I awoke shortly before the others returned. For a moment I felt alright, but then had to run to the washroom because I was about to be sick! My instructor laughed that I was seasick, but I still don't believe him! I've been out on rough water before and I've never been sick on a boat in my life! But I wasn't the only one. Two of the other three divers had also thrown up, only under the water or just as they surfaced. The afternoon aside, I had a fabulous time diving and hope to have the opportunity to do it again sometime! Only then I hope to not be as nervous, and that I don't get sick!!!
We returned to Koh Phi Phi Don where I went back to my hotel and decided to go have a rest until I felt a little better. I went and had a nap and cooled off before heading down to get something to eat. I wandered around the island looking for someplace interesting to eat, and after supper bumped into our dive instructor, who pointed me in the direction of the rest of our dive group. I wandered around some some more but soon I was exhausted, and headed back to my hotel. I had a shower to cool off (and that worked very well, since there was NO hot water) but I was uncomfortable with the cockroach that poked out in my shower!! The only hotel in my trip where I had found a cockroach was that one.
The next morning I woke up and went for breakfast at my hotel, and asked where to find the View Point, and asked if there was a place to store my luggage until I returned. They pointed me in the direction of the View Point, and then informed me that they would happily bring my luggage down to the pier for me so that I would not have to climb the hill back up to the hotel. I told them that I would be happy to return and pick it up, but they insisted that they would bring it for me. I went on my merry way to find the View Point, supposedly the best place on the island to get a view, and highly recommended by both the hotel and my dive instructor. I remember starting the climb, and it started off with easy stairs but as I climbed in that thirty something degree heat, I remember feeling more and more tired. I was exhausted when I was only half way up and wondered why anyone would want to climb that many stairs. They started to get steeper and narrower, and the climb became harder. At one point, I considered turning around, but by then I was determined to see why anyone would go through that much to get there. By the time I reached the top, I fully understood. There was an incredible view! It was breathtaking and I spent a good half hour sitting at the top and taking it all in. I spent plenty of time taking pictures of this scenic View Point on the island.
After seeing the View Point, I walked back down (and assured a couple on their way up that it was worth the rest of the climb, they said they were almost ready to turn around!) and stopped at a little place for a nice Thai massage. I had a full back massage before wandering my way to the other beach on the island. I'd seen the side of the island where the pier is, but I hadn't wandered over to the other side. The sand was a beautiful white color and felt soft on your feet. The water was warm and shallow for a long ways. You could see through the clear water to see fish swimming around and other little critters crawling on the ocean floor.
Finally I headed back towards the pier, stopping at a little restaurant with a Pirate theme. I enjoyed sweet and sour chicken and vegetables and pirate style garlic toast before heading off to the pier to meet the other girls and find my luggage. When the girls arrived, I told them I was waiting for my luggage so they decided to wait for me on the ferry. It was still early, but I started to get anxious as I waited for my luggage to arrive, and was incredibly upset when the ferry left without me, and my luggage showed up five minutes later. I had to be on the last ferry that left an hour and a half later, and if I missed it, I would not be arriving back in Canada on time, so I waited at the pier and tried to calm myself down while I waited. Taking the last ferry would make getting to the airport on time a tight squeeze and I was trying to figure out how I would do it.
The last ferry had to take it slow across to the mainland since the waves were big and they were worried the ferry might tip. Looking ahead, you could see the big waves rolling towards you, and the ferry would kill the engines. At one point I looked off beside the ferry and saw a shark swimming nearby. It was an amazing sight, but he was gone before I could pull out my camera. I went down below to find my luggage as I saw us approaching the mainland, but my bag was at the bottom and I couldn't get to it. While I was trying to figure everything out and how I would get to the airport, a couple of gentlemen commented that I wasn't going to be able to get to mine until later, and asked where I was from and where I was going. I told them that I'd been teaching in Bangkok for the past few weeks, and was just on my way back to pick up the rest of my things and catch my flight back home. They were upset to find out I was on my own and the rest of my group had left, and that my hotel hadn't gotten to the ferry at the time we had agreed upon. They took pity on me and offered me a ride to the airport. One of the men had a sister-in-law meeting them to take them home, and she lived near the airport. The men were nice enough to even carry my luggage for me! And all they asked in return, was that I add them as friends on Facebook. It was a random act of kindness that I will never forget!
I arrived at the airport a little late, but our flight had been delayed as well and we had to wait awhile before we could board. It was a super quick trip back to Bangkok, and then we went home and repacked all of our bags, trying to fit everything in, and trying to arrange things so that the pictures we received wouldn't break. In the end my luggage was all a couple of pounds overweight, but thankfully, nobody made an issue of it. I spent more time sleeping on the way home than I managed to sleep on the way to Bangkok, but I ended up with a sore neck from it, and found my last flight uncomfortable when I was in the emergency exit and my sit would not recline. In Vancouver when we had to collect our luggage and go through customs, I noticed after I had finished at customs and sent it off to my flight that my zipper was open at the bottom of one of my bags - and I probably would not have noticed if it weren't for my bright pink pajama pants sticking out! But surprisingly, everything made it back to Canada!
I was incredibly excited to see my parents when they came to pick me up at the airport in Winnipeg, and it felt so good to just sit with them and enjoy supper! They do not have email, so it was fun to show them all of my souvenirs and pictures of the trip! As much as I love to travel, I do enjoy coming home, too!
Once on the boat, we met with others who were going on the Scuba tour, the rest of my group was also from Western Canada and so we talked about our travels and how we ended up in Koh Phi Phi. One of the guys in my group was seasick, and was having a hard time on the boat. We sat at the front and went over a few things, like how to breath through the regulator, how to retrieve it if it comes out of your mouth, hand signals that we need to know while underwater, and how to read the amount of air left in our cylinders, as well as how to equalize the pressure in our ears as we descend and ascend.
We were soon suited up and getting ready to jump in. I had no idea just how heavy those tanks were! I remember our instructor had to help us up, and even with his strength pulling us up, the cylinders and gear were just so heavy. I remember he told us once we were in the water that the best way to keep our goggles from fogging up was to spit in them. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not until I watched him do it to his own goggles and realized he was serious! We spent a few minutes swimming around getting used to the regulator and looking down at the fish before he started individually working on the skills: learning to go under the surface, breathing, hand signals, regulator retrieval, and what to do when water gets into the goggles. At first, it was difficult for me to get under the surface of the water and he had to add more weights to my weight belt. It didn't help that the water rushing past my cheeks as I breathed out made me quite nervous and I started swinging my legs back and forth, not thinking that I'm propelling myself back towards the surface. I had difficulty with emptying the water out of my goggles and panicked. Our instructor was patient, and allowed me to swim around on the surface some more, looking down at the fish to try to relax before we finally checked my skills once more and started our dive. I was still quite uneasy and unsure of myself and so he promised to stay close by my side until I gave him the signal that I was OK and told me that I will love it once I'm under the water and looking up at the fish.
Since he was going to stay near me, he took me down to the bottom first. Everything looks so amazing from underwater. There were so many types of coral, and so many colors of fish! Unfortunately, we could not take pictures while we were Scuba diving, and even if we could, they could never capture the immense beauty under the surface of the water. I was in awe, and absolutely fascinated by everything. At one point our instructor pointed up to show me a massive school of little yellow fish swimming over our heads. He asked if I was OK, and I gave him the signal that I was, and we were off to look around! The water was so clear, and the colors below were so vibrant! I was so excited, I let out a little giggle but decided not to do that again when some water slipped into my goggles! I hated emptying them, so I was careful to hold them in place if I smiled again! Our instructor pulled out a small board and a writing utensil and asked what we thought of Scuba diving, and I couldn't help but tell him that I was thrilled to be there!
We resurfaced for lunch and had the chance to take off our gear, eat our lunches, and then I chose to snorkel around for a bit. The water was so beautiful, and we stopped near one of the most popular beaches at Koh Phi Phi Lay (a smaller island). Here I pulled out my camera and took a few pictures, but I wasn't close enough for any to turn out as clear as things looked to me. I enjoyed swimming around, but eventually decided to go back on the boat and be ready for when we decided to jump in for the afternoon dive. Unfortunately, after returning to the boat, my stomach started to not feel very well, and I got the feeling I get before I get a migraine headache. While the others suited up for the afternoon dive, I laid down on the benches on the boat hoping it would pass before it was too late for me to join, but it continued to get worse, so I stayed on the boat. After taking some Advil, I fell asleep but I awoke shortly before the others returned. For a moment I felt alright, but then had to run to the washroom because I was about to be sick! My instructor laughed that I was seasick, but I still don't believe him! I've been out on rough water before and I've never been sick on a boat in my life! But I wasn't the only one. Two of the other three divers had also thrown up, only under the water or just as they surfaced. The afternoon aside, I had a fabulous time diving and hope to have the opportunity to do it again sometime! Only then I hope to not be as nervous, and that I don't get sick!!!
We returned to Koh Phi Phi Don where I went back to my hotel and decided to go have a rest until I felt a little better. I went and had a nap and cooled off before heading down to get something to eat. I wandered around the island looking for someplace interesting to eat, and after supper bumped into our dive instructor, who pointed me in the direction of the rest of our dive group. I wandered around some some more but soon I was exhausted, and headed back to my hotel. I had a shower to cool off (and that worked very well, since there was NO hot water) but I was uncomfortable with the cockroach that poked out in my shower!! The only hotel in my trip where I had found a cockroach was that one.
The next morning I woke up and went for breakfast at my hotel, and asked where to find the View Point, and asked if there was a place to store my luggage until I returned. They pointed me in the direction of the View Point, and then informed me that they would happily bring my luggage down to the pier for me so that I would not have to climb the hill back up to the hotel. I told them that I would be happy to return and pick it up, but they insisted that they would bring it for me. I went on my merry way to find the View Point, supposedly the best place on the island to get a view, and highly recommended by both the hotel and my dive instructor. I remember starting the climb, and it started off with easy stairs but as I climbed in that thirty something degree heat, I remember feeling more and more tired. I was exhausted when I was only half way up and wondered why anyone would want to climb that many stairs. They started to get steeper and narrower, and the climb became harder. At one point, I considered turning around, but by then I was determined to see why anyone would go through that much to get there. By the time I reached the top, I fully understood. There was an incredible view! It was breathtaking and I spent a good half hour sitting at the top and taking it all in. I spent plenty of time taking pictures of this scenic View Point on the island.
After seeing the View Point, I walked back down (and assured a couple on their way up that it was worth the rest of the climb, they said they were almost ready to turn around!) and stopped at a little place for a nice Thai massage. I had a full back massage before wandering my way to the other beach on the island. I'd seen the side of the island where the pier is, but I hadn't wandered over to the other side. The sand was a beautiful white color and felt soft on your feet. The water was warm and shallow for a long ways. You could see through the clear water to see fish swimming around and other little critters crawling on the ocean floor.
Finally I headed back towards the pier, stopping at a little restaurant with a Pirate theme. I enjoyed sweet and sour chicken and vegetables and pirate style garlic toast before heading off to the pier to meet the other girls and find my luggage. When the girls arrived, I told them I was waiting for my luggage so they decided to wait for me on the ferry. It was still early, but I started to get anxious as I waited for my luggage to arrive, and was incredibly upset when the ferry left without me, and my luggage showed up five minutes later. I had to be on the last ferry that left an hour and a half later, and if I missed it, I would not be arriving back in Canada on time, so I waited at the pier and tried to calm myself down while I waited. Taking the last ferry would make getting to the airport on time a tight squeeze and I was trying to figure out how I would do it.
The last ferry had to take it slow across to the mainland since the waves were big and they were worried the ferry might tip. Looking ahead, you could see the big waves rolling towards you, and the ferry would kill the engines. At one point I looked off beside the ferry and saw a shark swimming nearby. It was an amazing sight, but he was gone before I could pull out my camera. I went down below to find my luggage as I saw us approaching the mainland, but my bag was at the bottom and I couldn't get to it. While I was trying to figure everything out and how I would get to the airport, a couple of gentlemen commented that I wasn't going to be able to get to mine until later, and asked where I was from and where I was going. I told them that I'd been teaching in Bangkok for the past few weeks, and was just on my way back to pick up the rest of my things and catch my flight back home. They were upset to find out I was on my own and the rest of my group had left, and that my hotel hadn't gotten to the ferry at the time we had agreed upon. They took pity on me and offered me a ride to the airport. One of the men had a sister-in-law meeting them to take them home, and she lived near the airport. The men were nice enough to even carry my luggage for me! And all they asked in return, was that I add them as friends on Facebook. It was a random act of kindness that I will never forget!
I arrived at the airport a little late, but our flight had been delayed as well and we had to wait awhile before we could board. It was a super quick trip back to Bangkok, and then we went home and repacked all of our bags, trying to fit everything in, and trying to arrange things so that the pictures we received wouldn't break. In the end my luggage was all a couple of pounds overweight, but thankfully, nobody made an issue of it. I spent more time sleeping on the way home than I managed to sleep on the way to Bangkok, but I ended up with a sore neck from it, and found my last flight uncomfortable when I was in the emergency exit and my sit would not recline. In Vancouver when we had to collect our luggage and go through customs, I noticed after I had finished at customs and sent it off to my flight that my zipper was open at the bottom of one of my bags - and I probably would not have noticed if it weren't for my bright pink pajama pants sticking out! But surprisingly, everything made it back to Canada!
I was incredibly excited to see my parents when they came to pick me up at the airport in Winnipeg, and it felt so good to just sit with them and enjoy supper! They do not have email, so it was fun to show them all of my souvenirs and pictures of the trip! As much as I love to travel, I do enjoy coming home, too!
