I arrived in Bangkok on Thursday 22nd of September, at about 3pm. Me and Billie were met at the airport by 2 of the TEFL heaven trainers who took us to our hostel where everyone else was staying. We got showered and settled and then I joined the others for a trip to ko sahn road for some dinner. I was very tired from the long flight so it was a bit overwhelming as it was so busy! But I stayed out and we went to a club afterwards which was a lot of fun and then we got a tuk-tuk back to the hostel. The next day I slept in for a long time, despite sharing a dormitory with 7 other people. Then in the afternoon me and a few of the others got some lunch from a food stall and then got the sky train to the MBK mall to have a look round the shops. In the evening we went for a walk to get some food and ended up walking through a red light district! Then some of the guys bought some fried maggots and ate a few; I refused, which I think was a good idea as they said they tasted horrible. The next morning there were some more arrivals and we all piled into 3 minibuses which drove us to koh Chang island. It took about 4 hours to get to the ferry and then it was just a short boat trip and another minibus trip through the extremely steep mountain roads to our resort.
On a first day here some of us hired kayaks and went across to one of the small islands in our bay. We went all the way round but then one of the boys got stuck in some rocks so we had to have a mini rescue mission to save him. Then we had a swim in the infinity pool and in the evening walked down the beach to the town for some dinner. Then the next day we started our teacher training, which involves a lot of fun games which we can play with our classes, and a Thai lesson everyday!
Last weekend we went to a beach party in long beach on Friday night after our teacher training, and then on Saturday went for a long walk through about 3 different towns looking for the elephant camp. Eventually we found a sign that said 'elephant camp: 500 metres'. Then after walking about 500 metres down a deserted dirt track through the jungle there was another sign which said 'elephant camp: 400 metres'. This went on for a long time. But eventually we turned a corner and saw 2 huge elephants in their big shelter. The trek through the jungle was very scary, but the elephants were very sturdy and sure footed, going down steep verges and across rivers. Then we got to swim in a big rock pool in the river, and the elephants joined us for a swim. After the trek we headed back to the resort and I swam in the sea while the sun went down, then we went out to the next town along to go for dinner and the out to a bar. On Sunday we went and relaxed on Lonely Beach and me and my friend Francis got a Thai massage at a place on the beach. It was pretty painful at times but felt great after.
Unfortunately during the week me and some others had a bit of a bug, so we took it easy and joined in with teacher training as much as we could but stayed out of the energetic games! It was a bit annoying being ill but did involve a fun trip to a Thai pharmacy/ doctor to get some medicine, which made us all feel much better. We were fine by Friday and there was a barbecue and talent show where me and some of the other girls did a dance, which wasn't very well rehearsed!
Then this weekend we rented mo-ped bikes and went round the island. It was so scary going up and down the massive hills on a bike, but the views were amazing. On Saturday we went to a big pier and saw some massive jellyfish and then went to an Irish pub to watch the rugby match. After that we went to White sand beach and then to sunset point to watch the sun go down, which was beautiful! Then in the evening we had dinner on the beach and went into town to go to a bar but ended up stumbling across an event which looked like a wedding but turned out to be a party for a big group of Thai teachers! They invited us to join and were so excited that we were there, they kept taking photos of us and getting us up on stage to dance with them- it was so much fun. Then we went to a bar in town afterwards and made friends with a Thai lady boy who was a bit of a diva. Then today we rented the bikes again and went round the island, following signs to the 'tree house'. Unfortunately we came across a sign that said 'be careful: the road have problem. It's DANGEROUS'. but we don't mind a bit of danger so we followed the road anyway, only to come across a big hole in the road where an entire section of the road had collapsed down the mountain. One Thai man came past on his moped and just drove straight across the 2-foot-wide ridge at the side, but we decided this was probably too dangerous for us so headed back the way we had came. So instead of the treehouse we decided to visit a couple of waterfalls in the koh Chang national parks. The first one was lovely, with a narrow boardwalk through the forest, but it wasn't very big so we headed off to khlong phlu waterfall. This one had a much longer and rockier walk, but it was fun and the waterfall was MASSIVE. We got to swim at the bottom bit but the current was very very strong, it was like being in a jet pool! Luckily there were lots of ropes tied up to hold onto so you didn't get dragged downstream. All in all it was a good day, without any injuries or falls off the bike (for me anway: lots of the others fell off a couple of times!) I also saw a few wild monkeys and one totally huge scary spider which was black and yellow and a bit spikey looking.
Now we have 1 more week of training then it's back to Bangkok for 1 night and then me and 7 others will be getting a sleeper train down to Hat Yai where we will be taken to our placements!
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