We are here. The flight with FINN air was smooth and we liked the layover in Helsinki airport. It’s just the place to stock up on reindeer skin rugs if your supplies run low!!

… and then we were here! Despite dire warnings from the school Immigration was super smooth and virtually empty. They take your fingerprints a couple of times but it all worked extremely well. We collected our six suitcases and were met by my new Principal (what a welcome) who was meeting and greeting all the new staff that day.

And taken onto our apartment… which was a huge disappointment… I think that basically we have been spoilt by living at The Chatrium, which as those of you who visited us knows was 5* luxury. This is China.

To start with instead of polished chrome and glass, the lift smells musty.

The hallway is dark, crowded with neighbors bikes and our unit is right next to the ‘rubbish house’ so again somewhat stinky.

I was tired, spaced out and initially not very happy despite the huge welcome basket of fruit & provisions provided by the school.

The apartment itself is spacious, I would say probably 3 times bigger than the one in Bangkok BUT it

a) overlooks the bins

b) has threadbare thin curtains

c) has a disgusting sofa with bobbly fabric and sporting some suspicious stains…

d) there is only ONE free socket in the kitchen

The bedroom is fine and the bed comfortable (I was thankful for small mercies) but fell asleep wondering if we had made a mistake in coming here.

In the next few days I discovered that all the apartment blocks have fairly grungy lifts! That’s just the way it is is China! And the newer blocks have much less space. We went into other teachers’ flats and saw how homely they had made it. That was inspiring.

Then we discovered that we could have furniture that we didn’t like removed (this never happened in The Chatrium) so we set about using our generous relocation allowance to make the place more acceptable. We now have two decent sofas, one given and one an ex-showroom piece and extremely comfortable to sit on. We have invested in an air purifier, a smart TV and some IKEA units. Through a friend of a friend we have acquired lamps, pictures and various other bits all for free! I feel that the place is coming together now.

There is still a way to go but I am feeling much happier than that initial day. We got s cool and groovy kettle which lights up the temperature as the water boils

Have a look at the kitchen:Note how low the units are in relation to me. I think that they were made for the Asian build and not towering westerners! I am not tall but even I have to stoop slightly when chopping things up!!! Surprisingly there is a double sink but no draining board.

The school is nice and the staff couldn’t be friendlier. There is so much to sort out, to learn and to take in. The staff have been so patient with us and so understanding. In this intake all are American except one Aussie and myself. On the whole I have found them to be larger than life characters, outgoing, gregarious and can talk at both speed and volume without me needing to say a word! It’s so different from the typical British reserve. Concordia operates along Christian values with its foundation in faith and this is abundantly obvious in the way we have been welcomed.

We toured the campus and I was surprised to see most of it looking like this

Or this

With only 10 days to go before the students start. I would be panicking but everyone was totally laid back and assured me that it would all be ready on schedule. Such faith!

We have been full on all week getting Chinese SIM cards, bank accounts, Learning basic phrases, completing more online courses, sorting out health insurance and health checks. In China to qualify for a work permit we were all shipped to a nearby medical center where we had chest x-rays, ultrasound scans, eye tests, ECG and blood tests. The Chinese medical staff were not all that fluent in English and could be quite abrupt at times so we were prodded poked or flicked when they wanted us to move. At one point the dr said to me ‘you are normal’. So there you have it! I wouldn’t have thought it myself but apparently I am ‘normal’!!!

One big task was to get the WeChat app tied to our bank account. This is going to be so handy as here hardly anyone pays with cash. Everyone uses their phones to pay, even in market stalls! WeChat is like What’sAppp but with more functionality like translating and scanning.

A quick flying visit to my new library and it is full of boxes too but looks nice.

And I will for the first time in my career be responsible for fish!

And my favorite thing so far is that we don’t have to use a lanyard for our ID badge. We can use beads instead! Small things can make a big difference

What a summer we have had. It has been a real whirlwind of travel, catch ups and activity but we have had a blast.

To be honest when we landed it felt as though we had never been away. Everything was so wonderfully familiar. Perhaps it was the jet lag but we did feel as though the whole two years in Thailand had been an extremely vivid dream. A bit like JR Ewing from Dallas waking up in the shower after several seasons. We marveled at things like the lines in the road, speed cameras and cats eyes!

It was a summer of seeing family and in particular it was wonderful to finally meet Steph, Oliver’s new girlfriend and to help the two of them move into their new flat in Bagshot.

There was a fair amount of boring admin that we had to clear up this summer like Chinese visas in Manchester for both of us, a new passport from Liverpool for me, a new driving license for Kevin, updated bank cards, credit cards and other really really boring stuff that we haven’t been able to complete when out of the country. In between all that we had coffees, lunches, meals, drinks and catch ups with loads of old friends and thoroughly enjoyed meeting some new ones We traversed the country and put over 2000 miles on the clock of our hire car. We feel truly blessed to have such an amazing circle of family and friends. Very fortunate indeed. Here are just some of the highlights:

The weather was extremely kind to us and we avoided most of the school holiday crowds but unfortunately it was over all too soon and the departure date loomed large. Having said that after 4 weeks of touring and living out of our suitcases we felt ready to stop, unpack and sleep in the same bed for a while!

And so the Thai chapter of our adventure has come to an end. It’s earlier than anticipated but that’s another story. Grab me in person if you want to hear that one!

I have been reflecting for a while on our time here and there are many things which I am going to miss. Too many to mention here. We have had a blast and I firmly believe that to really understand a country, it’s culture and people you need to spend some quality time there.

Here are a few highlights:

I am going to miss Marivic my Assistant Librarian. I couldn’t have made it through the first year without her support. She has been a brick and I wish her all the best for the future (whatever that holds). Marivic you have been a great colleague and a good friend. I couldn’t have wished for better.

And the rest of the (second) library team. Ivy, Toon, Gigi, Bank and Rung. You have all helped to make my second year a pleasant one. It has been a learning journey for all us with some great fun moments along the way.

All my new friends

It’s been a blast getting to know so many new and exciting people from all over the world. Living internationally brings you into contact with so many interesting fellow travelers and such hospitable locals (well for the most part) and social media is wonderful for being able to keep in touch easily. A huge shout out to everyone who has helped us to settle in, who has explained things to us or has offered travel tips or great suggestions for places to stay/eat or just friendship. It’s been a great community to be a part of.

Thai food

The food out here is amazing. It is fresh, tasty and unbelievably good value for money. I am spoilt for choice and UK prices are going to come as a huge shock to the wallet. My all time favourite has to be the mangoes. Unlike the kind available in the UK these are so juicy, sweet, with flesh that simply melts in your mouth. I have adored having fresh local fruit salad for breakfast every morning.

Jack’s Bar

Sitting on the riverside supping beer, eating chicken and cashew stir fry while watching the boats go by. Most boats have nicer roof lines than our boat (I have a serious case of boat envy btw)

Respect/salutes/tolerance

Living in a Buddhist country has been a refreshing change with the high levels of respect and tolerance. There are no judgmental attitudes towards others as everyone is in their own journey.

And I just love the way the security guards salute me as I walk to and from school. That never happens back at home!!! I will really miss that.

The range of freebies in hotels…

even basic ones. (We are not talking just 5star here.) Wherever you go in Asia you get not only the standard tea/coffee (usually without milk) but also all these

Combs, toothbrushes, razors, shower caps – loads of stuff. It’s great.

Feeling safe

There is a very low crime rate here. The most we ever came across was some gangs on motorcycles who grab tourists’ mobile phones. Other than that was hardly any violent crime, street crime, no attacks or rape. I felt completely safe walking late at night or anywhere on my own. It makes a change from the news we hear from back home where parking meters and snack cans are vandalized and robbed.

Stunningly vivid tropical flowers

The kids

I will miss them most of all. The children at Shrewsbury are clever, talented and grounded. I have enjoyed teaching reading enrichment classes, sharing stories and coaching the kids lit team. I have been more than impressed by the musical abilities, especially the pianists

Pampering

Cut & blow dry at Best Salon for only 500 baht (£11 in real money) which includes the most amazing head massage. Ahhhhhh…..Actually foot massages in general here are cheap and on the whole relaxing. Having had a few elsewhere Thai massages are, so far the best. (Not the full body ones where they walk on your back though- lets just be clear about that) And Thai massages… probably not the vicious leaning on you with razor sharp elbows. No, more the relaxing foot massage at only £6 for an hour. Bargain.

Things I am NOT going to miss:

1. Crazy driving

Having said that accidents here are few and far between. There are huge numbers of scooters and no motorcycles on the roads and some look as those they are being driven by adolescents! Often you see overloaded vehicles some carrying produce others with entire families. and whilst the wearing of helmets has recently become compulsory it doesn’t apply yet to passengers. I cringe when I see little ones unprotected. Scooters are a cheap and accessible form of transport and dare I say fun in these hot dry climes. I guess that if all those people had cars like we do in the UK then the roads would be even more congested. At the moment although busy, the roads do flow so you never see any road rage.

Wires

Another sight which you cannot fail to notice when you first arrive is the tangle of overhead wires known as ‘black noodles’. Cable just isn’t a thing out here. I would hate to be an Asian telecom engineer!!! Look at this box just open on the street corner. But one of the positive effects of all these tangles of wires is that there are very few roadworks as a result. In the UK roads seem to be constantly being dug up by the utilities but that doesn’t happen here. Another reason why traffic does flow and road rage is minimized perhaps.

2. Serviettes

A strange one, perhaps but as a rule they are paper-thin, the size of toilet paper squares and about as useful as a chocolate teapot!

3. The incessant relentless unstoppable heat

It sounded wonderful from the depths of a British winter to live in a tropical country but the novelty wore off after the first year. Don’t get me wrong I like sunshine as much as anyone and I’ve always loved heat but this is different. It’s the high humidity that did for me. I probably suffered more with the heat than Kevin has done. I even grew my hair longer so that I could put it up to avoid the damp rat tail effect of sweaty hair on the back of my neck! It’s like living with constant menopause symptoms as waves of heat would suddenly wash over you and your limbs go slick with a sheen of sweat. It was when Kevin had a pre-cancerous lump that we took it as a sign that it was a good time to move on. It’s one thing to holiday in the heat but working in it is a completely different matter! I am actually looking forwards to seasons again.

4. Walking barefoot on beautiful wooden floors

Blissful feeling- however the permanent sandal/flip flop wearing although it sounds idyllic has meant that my ankles have lacked the support from winter shoes and boots and I have a mild planta pain in the ball of my foot. I’m not complaining, the floors are delicious to walk on.

5. Thai administration

Thai red tape is so very bureaucratic and paper based!!! My bank cards here are not even chip & pin, never mind contactless! Various parts of simple officialdom often require multiple paper copies of passports, work permit etc and I have been asked to sign or initial every page. Most of these processes are repeated annually. It a HUGE waste of paper. Nothing is scanned in or online. Living here has often felt like stepping back in time.

As an example: the government had overcharged me in tax as they front load during the tax year & I am leaving part way through. I received a tax rebate (which was a nice, unexpected surprise). But to get my money I had to to to a different bank, open an account into which the money was then paid, withdraw the cash then close the account!!!! Not looking for efficiency savings here then!!! Let’s create a system that keeps people in employment!!!! They even gave me a passbook and offered me an ATM card even though I had told them I was going to withdraw immediately.

And here is a slightly unbelievable but straight -up true story. I needed to have a Thai police check done. The initial appointment was a laugh as I completed a form which not only asked for my DOB & gender etc but also asked my shape (!!!!! I mean what did they want – curvy? A bit over weight!!!!) and Personality!!!!!! (Can be grumpy if you catch me on a bad day!!!) I was eventually advised to put down ‘medium’ and ‘friendly’ respectively. Then we were told to return 2 weeks later for the certificate. I asked if it was ok for Kevin to collect it and this was acceptable provided he produced a (paper) receipt. On the appointed day Kevin rolled up with said receipt only to be told at that point that I should have signed a ‘power of attorney’ to permit a third party to collect my certificate. So in clear view of the Thai police Kevin reached into his inner forgery skills and wrote my signature on the form. The police stamped it, everything was now legal and the certificate was handed over!!!!

6. The state of the pavements and lack of disabled access. This picture is from my route to church and as you can see there is so much street furniture that it’s hard for an able-bodied person to squeeze by never mind a pram or wheelchair!!! The paving slabs are often broken and protruding so you end up just watching you step rather than looking at things.

And

Obviously the pavement is the best place to park your posh vehicle! We’ll all just walk in the road and dodge the traffic shall we!!!

7. Durian the fruit which has to be smelled to be believed. Much like marmite you either love it or hate it. It smells so strong that durian is banned from aircraft cabins (thank goodness)

See it ranks alongside all those dangerous items

8. Thai state school uniforms for older boys.

Socks and shorts. Enough said.

The things I am looking forwards to back in Blighty:

1. Proper fish & chips

2. Being able to get a decent cup of tea wherever you go. You don’t realise how important that is for your sanity until you can’t get it! I thank God daily for all the people who brought us out packs of tea! Life savers every one.

3. A wide variety of cheese (not just cheese singles!)

4. Fresh air. It’s an indoor society here being so hot and you do get a little fed up of shopping malls.

5. Bacon butties

6. Seeing as many of you all as possible

Overall we have had a blast. It’s been an incredible two years and we have seen, done and tasted more than we could ever have dreamed of. I think that this says it all.

What has Kevin been up to in his retirement while I’ve been slaving away at the rat race, I hear you say?

Well (apart from researching and booking all our little trips) he joined a local football team; Teak Temple FC named after the wooden table in a local bar around which the club was established. This team is not the elite one at the school which the young teachers play in. No, this one has a wider range of ages and abilities and includes people from all walks of the ex-pat community. This has had the added benefit of broadening our social circle and allowing us to step out of the school social bubble. The chaps there have also proven to have invaluable local knowledge and tips for great places to stay.

So Kevin disappears every Thursday evening to kick a ball around an extremely hot and humid field (rather him than me!!!)

If I am honest the others do more running and kicking that he does but they all do their fair share of post match beer drinking in Charlie Browns Bar until the wee small hours of the morning.

And then there have been the weekend tournaments which have taken him further afield in Thailand to places which we would never have visited and where he stays in salubrious establishments where he gets not tea/coffee in his room but a single pot noodle!!!

The last tournament was last weekend in Korat and Kevin was thrilled when he actually scored in the penalty shootouts. Here he is receiving his certificate for his ‘debut penalty’… bless

Accolades from the team on his leaving do included:

team stalwart;

a member of the Teak Temple FC hall of fame;

the Godfather of the initiation round;

one of the nicest blokes I’ve ever met;

a mighty round buying prowess

an inspiration to never hang up the boots;

‘ballsy’ in defense (also referring to the number of times Kevin caught shots where they really hurt)

Ouch.

Siem Reap is a a MUST visit for every traveller to SE Asia and it’s been on my hit list for a while. We decided to give it a full four days by spending half term there with our friend Carol.

Siem Reap is the north eastern province of Cambodia near the border with Thailand so only a short flight away for us. This is also the name of its major town where the ancient temple complex of Angkor is located. The name Siem Reap itself is interesting as it literally means ‘Siamese (Thailand) defeated’ and was named in the 1500s after a major war with its neighbour. There’s nothing like bragging on a geographical scale!!! I wonder how the Thais feel about this!?!

Siem Reap was originally a little village until the discovery of the well preserved temple complex by French explorers in the 19th century. Now it is dubbed Asia’s Costa-de-Culture. The city itself has some interesting pagodas, a royal palace and an old crowded, noisy market.

We dedicated a whole day to Angkor Wat though and opted for the sunrise tour in the somewhat vain hope that some of the tour might be cool.

Built in the 11th century, Angkor is the old Khmer name for their capital and it means ‘city of temples’, the most famous and best preserved of which is Angkor Wat. it is also the largest ancient religious site in the world and it is so important that it features on the Cambodian flag

Unusually for a Hindu temple it was built facing the west. There are a couple of theories about this, one is that the temple was originally dedicated to Vishnu, the supreme god of the Hindu pantheon who sits facing the other gods. So this temple faces him. Alternatively it could have been designed as a mausoleum for king Suryavarman II and indeed many of the bas reliefs run counter clockwise which also indicates ancient funeral rites. Whatever the reason it was splendid to see it at sunrise

And if you visit on an equinox then the sight is even more stunning

(Photo courtesy of our guide)

The site has now been converted to Buddhism and some of the buildings are still in use

I was delighted to discover that the whole vast complex was filled with carvings and statues of women. It is one of the largest collection anywhere in the world of female religious iconography.

Originally these women were thought to be dancers for the entertainment of the gods or some speculated that they were the imaginary wives of the gods and just there for decoration. I have to admit that many of the accessible breasts were shiny indicating centuries of fondling!

Recent research suggests that these Devatas or deities were actually temple guardians. Sort of ancient Lara Crofts. If that is the case then Go Girl Power! I’m impressed.

The site itself is amazing and very atmospheric

I particularly liked these serene smiling faces, 47 in total, who represent the governors of the ancient provinces. The size of the face denotes the relative prosperity and importance of that province. What a way to be immortalized.

Kevin climbed to see the Buddha’s at the top. Carol & I we’re put off by the steepness of the steps. Apparently they were cut so narrowly to encourage worshippers to continue onwards and upwards facing the god. If you were able to stop and sit on a step then your bum would be towards the god which was disrespectful.

Kevin climbed the tourist stairs in case any of you were worried

Still pretty steep though

Carol and I made donations and received a friendship bracelet, a blessing and a generous sprinkling of holy water

But the piece de resistance of the day was the visit to the ‘ Tomb Raider’ temple, made famous by the Lara Croft film. Here we saw enormous tree roots intertwined with ancient crumbling temple stones.

This temple was originally home to more than 12,500 people including 18 high priests and 615 dancers. The temple was abandoned in the 15th century and nature has taken her course. I loved this little face peeping out between the roots.

And this is the tree which the action heroine climbed in the film.

For all my friends in HE this photo below is the one of the oldest university buildings in the world. it was constructed in 1186 and served as a Buddhist university.

By this time the of the day we were exceedingly hot and sweat soaked. Our skin was slick and all items of clothing stuck to us. Standing in the shade made no difference whatsoever. It was a fascinating tour but I am very glad that we only did the short one.

And if you ever venture this way you too might have the

(Gotta love the translations)

Thanks to the new king’s coronation there was a surprise extra public holiday for everyone this Monday. We decided to take advantage of the additional long weekend and have another last minute adventure.

Kevin booked us into a jungle tree house in the Khao Sok national park. We flew to Surat Thani (very) early on Saturday morning. The flight took just over an hour. Then a 2 hour taxi journey into the deepest, darkest jungle. Ok, so maybe not that deep or dark but it is reputedly the oldest rainforest in the world. Get that! This is because Thailand has remained in a similar equatorial position for the last 160 million years. Quite an achievement.

Our accommodation is amazing and the hotel/ resort prides itself on being eco-friendly. Our treehouse is called Gingah which means ‘chameleon’ in Thai. Inside there is no room fridge or air con, just a fan. Fortunately the temperature here has dropped to a merciful 27 degrees and it’s only sweltering rather than sweat drenchingly sweltering!!

This is the first room I’ve ever been in where you get to refill your own bottles with water rather than being given plastic ones. The owner has calculated that they save 10,000 bottles every year this way.

The views from our treehouse are magnificent and with no tv or WiFi we sit listening to nature. The room is open to the environment so we have to sleep under a mosquito net but it all feels very rural & intrepid. As the resident mozzie magnet I do have to report that I was bitten a bit even under the nets.

We booked to do a half day hike through the jungle with a guide. I find myself fascinated by some of the shapes in nature.

And look how enormous the leaves are! It’s like being at the top of the beanstalk in giant land. Kevin is shown here for size!

Thailand has lots of diminutive bananas and this was the first time I have seen them growing with the flower attached.

The Khao Sok national park is like a miniature Halong Bay as the river and lake are surrounded by 600 foot high Karsts. They started as deposits of shell and coral 250 million years ago then they rose up as mountains when the tectonic plates collided 3 million years ago forming the blocks of limestone cliffs that we see today.

Our guide told us fascinating information about which leaves and mushrooms are edible (we did try some) and felt very Bear Grylls chewing away on leaves! Here he is preparing a mushroom which is apparently quite a delicacy in upmarket restaurants.

but NOT these. They are definitely poisonous-avoid at all costs. They do look pretty though.

We hiked for 7km some of it along lovely wide tracks through bamboo groves. This is do-able I thought. Even for someone who not that long ago was recovering from ME. Then he took us off-piste and down barely traversable tracks, clambering over fallen branches and across muddy leaf strewn paths. He carried a small knife and used it machete-like to lop off spiky bits of undergrowth. It made me feel quite intrepid and adventurous! I came over all David Attenborough! I do have to admit to being quite nervous about all the creeping crawling things which might bite, sting or poison me so I kept my eyes glued to the ground at every step. And when we had a pit stop by the river I wasn’t all that keen on sitting on the rocks for too long… just in case!

I really wanted to see the Rafflesia – the world’s largest flower which grows only in this park. The blooms can be up to a meter in diameter and smells like rotten meat to attract insects for pollination. But we were out of luck though as they only bloom between December and March.

Shame, but we can’t have everything and I reckon that we are extremely fortunate to be here experiencing this at all!

Animals which live in Khao Sok include sun bears, tigers and Leopards (which we didn’t see but I’m glad they are here)

Having a Jungle guide meant that he was able to show us things which we would have just strode past. Like the

Long-tailed tree monkey and her baby high up at the top, just visible here between the leaves.

As we walked we disturbed clouds of beautiful little iridescent butterflies but they moved too quickly to photograph. This beauty stayed still just long enough for me to capture. It was enormous, probably about the size of my hand.

Kevin even had a go on a vine swing. Which demonstrates just how strong these creepers are! I think he was channeling his inner Tarzan.

We were given some instructions on how to remove any blood-sucking leeches using your finger nail. Top tip: if you spray them liberally with insect repellent they are not keen on hanging around either. Fortunately we didn’t encounter any.

But the thing which scared me the most was this …

This innocent looking hole in the bank is in fact the home of a female tarantula!!!! Yep, that’s right. One of the very things which I hope NEVER to get up close and personal with EVER! And yet here I was right outside the front door of one!!!! The guide assured me that they are nocturnal but it sure put me on edge for the rest of the hike. I kept my eyes firmly peeled.

I am happy to report that we emerged from the jungle suffering nothing worse than some mosquito bites. Our guide was so helpful that when he saw mine he applied some red ointment which is basically double strength tiger balm + chilli! It wasn’t hot, it was scorching. I no longer felt any itching as all I could feel was a burning sensation. It was drastic but I guess it worked.

Actually after the hike I really fancied a siesta (I am partial to them at my age) but we had booked to go to a craft village. Village was perhaps an overstatement as where we ended up was in a house. For the next 2 hours Kevin and I learned how to make banana sticky rice, mango jam and then we carved our names on bamboo cups.

Once again although we had booked a group activity there was only us there! The mango jam tasted out of this world. And our host turned out to be a Man U fan so they talked football the whole time then he made kevin a special souvenir

This evening there was a thunderstorm which was extremely loud with heavy rain but mercifully that has kept the biting bugs at bay! It is very calming listening to the sounds of the raindrops falling from the canopy high above us. Khao Sok has the highest rainfall in Thailand due to its high mountains. When it rains in Thailand it is heavy but short and sharp. I have to say that this rain is like being back at home (only warmer, of course)

We didn’t see the monkeys who live near-by. We were warned not to have ANY food in our treehouse as they are good at breaking in and messing things up. They are also particularly attracted to toiletries (we kept everything in our bags just in case)

Whilst we couldn’t see them clearly we did see some bats. The local ones are the Lesser False Vampire bats. It must be tough being called a ‘false’ vampire bat but to be the ‘lesser’ of all the false vampire bats must be soul-destroying.

If any of our friends fancy a jungle experience I would recommend Our Jungle House. You can also do overnight trips to sleep on a raft on the lake (in a sort of pod/capsule) which sounded great fun but we didn’t have quite enough time to fit that in.

And then it’s back to Bangkok for a rest on Monday

This weekend sees the coronation of Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun as Rama X of Thailand. This is a once in a lifetime event (Last one was 69 years ago) and has aroused much national pride here which it is a privilege to be part of. And, if you thought that Britain excelled at pomp and ceremony… well Thailand can gives us a run for our money.

As the eldest son of the much loved ‘father of the nation’ Bhumibol Adulyadej, Maha technically succeeded to the throne on 13th October 2016 but he asked for time to mourn. Everyone wore black for a year and the funeral of the late king was held last October amidst an massive outpouring of grief.

Now the country is ready to put all that behind it and move forwards as the new king is being formally crowned. The process follows ancient traditions and is quite interesting.

There are hundreds of small ceremonies and events all over the country which led up to the main coronation but the two most important are:

1. Purification. Water was gathered from all of the 77 provinces in Thailand by officials and specially blessed by monks in local temples before being brought to the temple of the Emerald Buddha in the Grand Palace for mixing together and more blessings. The king was bathed with the water symbolizing all the land which he presides over. This picture shows the ewers where the water was stored.

2. Anointing. For this ceremony the king sat on an 8 sided throne made of fig wood which represents all the points on the compass.

This ceremony began on Saturday at 10:09 am because 9 is an auspicious number in Thailand.

He then processed to his golden throne which was under 9 canopies (umbrellas) representing the 9 realms, which as king he has ascended to becoming a living deity. He he is given 5 Royal objects:

• The great crown of victory (although this is a recent addition from 1782 that was copied from us Europeans!)
• 
• Slippers
• Fan & fly whisk
• Sword of Victory
• Sceptre

Thailand is a Buddhist country so at the time of the actual coronation ceremony monks in 41,000 temples will simultaneously chant prayers.

After all that the king officially took up residence in the Grand Palace (not his actual home) in what is fondly called the ‘housewarming party’. This is a private ceremony led by the women in the Royal family who took in trays of grains to represent abundance, a golden key for ownership and rather bizarrely , a cat! Rumour has it that the cat is to chase away evil spirits. We had cats for many years and never once suffered from evil spirits so it must be true.

The whole country has been encouraged to wear yellow both during the coronation weekend and after as this is associated with royalty as well as being the colour for Monday, the day of the week on which Maha was born. So doubly auspicious. Pretty much everyone does and businesses and shops everywhere are bedecked in swathes of yellow and white material and yellow flowers.

At school on Friday we held our own ceremony in recognition of the event. Everyone looked splendid as we gathered for words, music & flag waving.

The junior choir sang a song in Thai composed by the late king which loosely translates as ‘the impossible dream’ I managed to capture part of the rehearsal here with the solo being sung by a remarkable 10 year old who has the most amazing voice.

There was an air of festivity all day which was expressed rather eloquently by a little girl in Year 2 who skipped into the library with her class and greeted me saying, ‘Happy yellow day Mrs Toner!’

On Sunday a Royal barge procession sailed down the Chao Phraya River with 56 barges and 2200 rowers all resplendent in red.

In a surprise move a couple of days before the coronation the king married his partner of 16 years meaning that she is now recognized as Queen Suthida.

She is his fourth wife and was formally a flight attendant with Thai airways before being promoted to be head of his bodyguards. Interestingly no one can now call a baby by a similar name as hers and defamation of her can result in 3-15 years in jail. Be warned!

Then on Monday we all had the day off. Yay!

One of the joys of traveling is being able to visit new and exciting places. On the whole these tend to be sacred spots, buildings of cultural, historical or religious significance or areas of outstanding natural beauty. But just occasionally you have a day like today. One which reinforces the brutal side of unfettered power, the cruelty of a totalitarian regime and the sheer horrors of man’s inhumanity to man.

The killing Fields of Cambodia

I have to admit to having an initial internal debate about the ethics of visiting this site before we left. Was it basically commercialization of genocide? Was it Disneyfication of the macabre? Was it wrong for us to visit?

Visits to the site have increased by 8 fold in the last 10 years from originally locals paying their respects to now including far more foreigners than ever. But when we arrived my fears we put to rest. This site, 17km south of the city centre was a respectful, educational testament and memorial.

The site is quiet and for a modest entrance fee of $8 (£6.12) which included the audio guide we were able to wander around the site absorbing the atmosphere and learning much.

My knowledge of Pol Pot and his doings were sketchy until the release of the iconic film. I did have the benefit of working with an academic at St Martin’s College, Ian Harris, who has researched into the effects on Buddhism of the genocide and I had heard him lecture. His book is a seminal work on the subject.

This prior knowledge was useful but nothing like seeing the site and experiencing everything at first hand. It was a sombre and moving day which left my heart breaking at times but the victims deserve to be remembered.

In silence we wandered along wooden paths which straddled the uneven earth that had held the mass graves of approximately 9000 victims. Occasionally we heard witness testimonies or listened to the stirring revolutionary music which was played from loudspeakers with the intention of masking the cries of those being murdered. The graves had been exhumed but weather does shift the soil and from time to time more rags and scraps of clothing are exposed along with more fragments of bone. Every few months the caretakers of the site collect them up and put them into glass cases.

The stories which we heard were gruesome and chilling. Pol Pot educated in France had a warped utopian vision of an agrarian communist state. He was reacting against the US oppression when years of bombs had fallen in Cambodia during the Vietnam war. This coupled with a corrupt civil government left the country crippled and ripe for change. Pol Pot recruited young men and teenagers from the countryside. They were uneducated and willing to give unswerving devotion to ‘the cause’ as a promised solution to their woes and thus the Khmer Rouge was born.

Pol Pot basically led the world’s biggest offensive against the intelligentsia. Anyone who was a professional, could speak a foreign language, had soft hands or wore glasses was deemed the ‘enemy’ and had to be eradicated. In total 1/4 of the Cambodian population was executed in a 4 year period.

Pol Pot did not have a rich country and bullets were expensive so the killings were all from starvation, disease or brutal beatings with sticks, hoes or other farm implements. This was quicker and easier.

There are over 300 killing field locations throughout the country many of which have been left undisturbed. In this site though the bodies have been exhumed, catalogued and the bones displayed in a memorial stupa to stand as a testament to the atrocities and serve as a reminder to future generations of the folly of such regimes. I was reminded of the saying, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

In the calm sunshine we meandered past the sites of sheds which had been demolished which had contained the chemicals used to mask the smell of the decomposing corpses.

Below us were shallow trenches which had each contained the bones of up to 450 people. We could imagine the fear that the 300 people each day felt as they met their deaths. Many of them had endured weeks or months of torture at the S21 prison before giving false confessions. Perhaps they felt that death was a release from their suffering. All the executions were conducted at night time.

It was all very sobering but perhaps the single most upsetting part was the tree festooned with colourful ribbons and bracelets. Here soldiers took infants by the feet and smashed them against the tree in front of their mothers who were then raped, murdered and thrown into the pit. As a mother I cannot bear the thought of what those women suffered. Words fail me at this point and I can only say that we offered prayers.

S 21 inside the city was originally a high school which was closed down as all education was forbidden and was taken over by the Khmer Rouge as a prison in 1975. Here classrooms were converted into torture chambers and some of the photographs inside were quite graphic. One thing which a totalitarian regime does very well is to document all its crimes very efficiently. Many of those captured and brought here were just kids.

Thousands were killed for being ‘new’ people not the simple countryfolk which the revolution aspired to. But even these ‘old’ people who were gathered into farming collectives were slowly being starved. The quota for rice production was tripled and those sent from the cities as forced labour had no idea how to farm. All Cambodians had to survive up to 13 hour working days on as little as two bowls of rice soup a day. Any excess rice they produced was sold to China so that Pol Pot could buy weapons!!! It beggars belief that anyone could think that working his entire country to death was in any way a sensible or sustainable option!!!

Men have a track record throughout history of being power hungry, violent war-mongers. This part of our visit here really drove that home. Most of the time that fact is distant, idolized in legends or glorified. But the stark reality of the consequences of genocide were before our eyes. We must not forget.

This is the logo of the International Women’s Peace Group and their exhibition at the end of the day gave a sliver of hope. They are working to bring an end to areas of conflict and violence throughout the world.

Www.iwpg.org

They deserve support.

Many members of the Khmer Rouge returned to society and now live normal lives. There were simply too many of them to track down and prosecute. Very few have been punished for war crimes or crimes against humanity. The Cambodians have accepted this. I found it hard to come to terms with that fact but there is a saying here

‘We forgive but we don’t forget’

One survivor we heard said,

‘When you hold hatred in your heart you hurt only yourself’

Such wise and humbling words.

As responsible tourists we have to see the bad alongside the good and the magnificent. We need to remember the atrocities to ensure that history does not repeat itself. The final words of our audio tour urged us to be ambassadors and to bear witness to the reality of what happened here to try to prevent it or anything like it ever happening again.

So we arrive in the capital of Cambodia Phnom Penh on our round SE Asia trip. And it is HOT here. It feels hotter than anywhere else we have been so far. As a result we are having siestas in the mid day heat and seeing sights in the morning only. Even then we very quickly get completely drenched in sweat! April in Cambodia is not for the faint-hearted.

First stop was the Royal Palace. The king is 65, unmarried and lives here with his mother. Good catch there ladies. The blue flag shows that he is residence today. This was for a special New Year ceremony where he makes an offering of fruit to the gods. And Fanta, apparently the gods like Fanta and Sprite.

King Norodom Sihamoni Was formerly a monk and then a professional dancer and has a PhD in dance (who knew that?) from Prague where he lived for 10 years.

He has a moonlight pavilion which has no electricity and no roof so is open to the sky where he holds dances.

The Khmer dynasty began in 802 AD and flourished for 600 years. In 1863 Cambodia came under the governance of France from which it gained independence in 1953. Then came the Vietnamese war and the country was heavily bombed by the US. In 1970 the king was overthrown and the right-wing Khmer Republic established. The opposition party, the Khmer Rouge is infamous and more about them anon.

The monarchy was restored in in 1993.

In the grounds of the palace grow this tree, native only to tropical countries it is known as the cannonball tree after its heavy, dense spherical fruit which you can see here. The flowers are interesting too. They bloom in the morning but die and fall off by the evening. The plant extract is used to treat skin conditions, stomach aches and colds. It has been know to cure maleria, toothache and even mange in dogs. So an all round great tree. It is also special to Buddhists as it is believed that this was the type of tree under which Gautama was born.

Here we have the elephant house. The balconies are so big as this was where the king would mount his beast.

Notice also the colour of the tiles on the roof. Yellow at the centre means Buddhism. The blue rim of the colour of the king and green around the edge stands for Cambodia. So country, king and religion.

Colour here is also significant in determining the days of the week. Sunday is a red day, Monday is yellow and so on. I guess it makes deciding what to wear in the mornings easy!

There are four Brahma faces on the planes of this spire. Each face represents a virtue

Equality

Sympathy

Mercy

Compassion

It was surprising how few visitors there were to this palace, especially after the extreme sardine-crush that is the Bangkok royal palace experience. Perhaps the heat kept them away.

Today’s adventure was an hour long Touk Touk ride (which is more of a two bench vehicle than a Thai tuk tuk is). It was a bumpy ride at some speed but we at least had fantastic views of the countryside. It is the season for farmers to slash and burn so there is a constant haze in the sky and a tinge of smoke in the air most of the time.

The Tat Kuang Si waterfall was worth the uncomfortable journey though.

I have seen a fair few waterfalls in my time but I have to say that this is probably the prettiest one. The water cascades down different routes through the various levels into the brilliant turquoise pools.

This close up shows how the sediment in the water has shaped the limestone so instead of cutting through the rock it is depositing and creating stalactites type shapes.

The water flows down into a variety of terraced pools and there are some that you can swim in. So we did.

It felt pretty awesome to be bathing in the jungle! The water was cold but so refreshing in the heat of the day. In each pool were tiny fish who nibble your legs so we also had a free and totally natural fish spa!

Calcium carbonate particles in the water reflect the light making the water look such a vivid hue. The water colours were soothing on the eye but the jungle trail had some pretty vivid flora too which was delightful against the dense greens.

But the best treat of all was the bear sanctuary at the bottom of the hill. I hadn’t even realized that it was there until the trail took us through their enclosure. These are sun bears and moon bears a type of asiatic bear all of whom who have been rescued from trappers and poachers. The sanctuary restores them to health.

This short video clip shows the cubs play fighting. I guess kids are kids whatever the species!

Bear bile is highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine and bears are caught then kept penned up in cages with tubes draining their bile continuously. It’s an awful trade and the bears are in misery. It was so wonderful to see them enjoying being out in the open.

Our final stop of the day was to the library (bus Man’s holiday!); the Luang Prabang public library was tiny and had only a few shelves of tatty books but they had launched a book boat project

Anyone can buy a book from a preselected shelf for $2 and donate it to a Book Bag’. These are then taken by boat to the poor village schools who have few resources. We are always happy to help those less fortunate than ourselves- especially with the gift of books!