Shell Hunter

Nothing new to report today! I am still here in Krabi, and Andy is still back in Bangkok. Nothing has changed much with the flooding. Some say it is only going to get better from here, others say the worst is yet to come. Again...I don't have much information to share. All I can tell you is that we are okay!

The following are pictures from our long weekend trip to Hua Hin, a couple weekends ago. To be honest, I am feeling too lazy at the moment to put them in an order that makes sense. .......Enjoy!



Buddies




Dustin, this one is for you.
I saw this lady going up to people's tables during supper, and I was waiting for her to come to ours. She had a sign saying that she was deaf and would like donations in trade of some little incense holders. I impressed her by signing back, rather than ignoring her like the majority of people do. I saw her two nights in a row. We exchanged emails. She was very excited.  Hopefully we will get in touch!



The pool at the place we stayed at.



We stayed in the bungalow on the right.




Our resort faced the ocean.



Some of the crew eating a BBQ lunch on the beach.



We rented scooters for about $8 for 24 hours. We cruised all around the place. It was one of the funnest things I have ever done in Thailand. Here we are filling up gas.




Andy with our sweet ride (we shared).



A place we cruised by.



We drove to a National Park. Here we are taking a quick breather as we hiked up a mountain side to see some caves. The scenery was okay I guess.



Me hiking.



At the cave. Me, getting wise advice from rocks.



A religious shine at the bottom of the cave.

Another shrine. 



Creepy webs on the floor of the cave. I don't care to know what creature makes them.



Andy.



A spectacle langur. Been seeing a lot of these monkeys lately.



Our guard dog we met at the bottom of the cave. He patiently walked us down the mountain.



Instead of hiking all the way back down, we took a longtail boat back to our scooters.



Snapping pictures on the back of our ride.



A seafood feast.



At the night market in Hua Hin.
Andy was my hero during this time. We drove an hour and a half in the dark on a highway, and through crazy city traffic to get to this place. He is amazing.




Stopping for a break.



Tropical cows.



Jealous of our matching helmets?



Typical.



Not a grain of sand to be found on this beach. Shells only!




People hunt animals. I hunt shells.



Thanks to these lovely guys outside our window, we were woken up at the crack of dawn every day.



Hangin' out. Literally.



Professional race car driver.



Giving the scooters a break infront of our place.

Smelly

Good Evening,

Is it true that Saskatchewan has snow?! Sounds like it is about that time of year again..a white Halloween. Funny how news travels (via word of mouth) quickly across the world!

Another quick update. I am still in Krabi, trying to relax and not worry about Andy in Bangkok. I talk to him often, and he says things are still okay there. The only thing that seems to be affected by the flood at Metropark is the water. Andy says it smells a bit, and that everyone was warned not to drink it. Oh yeah, and Andy’s work place is closed until the beginning of November. He is just laying low at the apartment. I tried convincing him to fly out here and meet up with us, but no go.

There is so much stuff in the news about the flooding, which leads to many variations of the current situation. It is hard to know what is actually happening without seeing it with your own eyes. For that reason I am unable to give any legit facts about what is going on in Bangkok. As I said before, do not worry about us. Everything will be fine. For those of you who are travelling to Thailand in the next month or two, don’t worry about any of it until the week before you leave! Things are changing every day, and who knows what will happen. I am sure things will be fine :)

I finally got a tan started. Wahoo!

Swimmin'

Hi Everyone. Quick update.

On Tuesday, the Thailand Ministry of Education announced that all schools must be closed for two weeks until November 7^th. So, we worked one day after our extra, extra long weekend (photos to come)…and were sent home until next month. Everyone in the city was requested to leave if at all possible. One of the two major airports is shut down (due to flooding of course). Trains are not running. Bus terminals are closed. The only way out of the city is by flying through the one airport that is still opened, or by taking a private taxi. As soon as I heard this, myself..along with a group of teachers (the same ones I travelled with last weekend) booked flights to get the heck outta Bangkok!

I am currently sitting in a bungalow in Krabi, a town along the ocean. As I am sitting here typing this, I am looking at the ocean AND a monkey shoving his face with leaves! It is a bit surreal. We flew in yesterday afternoon.

Andy is back in Bangkok. He is staying there as long as it is safe to do so, and until his work place shuts down. It is hard to say what is going to happen. Our area could be perfectly fine…or not. It is all one big waiting game.

Please do not worry about us. We will be fine.

Sending love from the waterlogged country!

Rain, Rain, Please Go Away

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My big sister turned 2-8 today!

Well, quite a turn of events just happened.

Everything was fine and dandy in school today when, in the middle of the afternoon, the principal announced that the school will be closed tomorrow. Even though most students thought this was the best announcement ever made in their entire lives, it was obvious that many were scared. The school is closed until Tuesday (or later) due to flooding that is expected to hit the area very soon. We thought the worst of the flooding was over, but apparently the end is no where in site. As I am typing this, many areas in the city of Bangkok are completely underwater. This area of the city (where our apartment and the school is located) was supposed to be the “dry zone”. I guess not anymore.

I left school as soon as the bell rang. When I got home to Metropark, I was greeted with a wall of sand bags at each apartment building entrance. If they are sandbagging entrances here, they must mean   serious business. I don’t fully understand the details of the flooding…I just heard something about flood gates opening, and the water having no other place to drain except into the middle of the city. To make matters worse, a second high tide is coming in, in a couple of days. AND, the rain has not stopped. So basically, over the next day the rising water will flood this area.

Andy is still in Laos. He is catching a train in about an hour, and will be back in Bangkok around 6am tomorrow morning. Everything went really well with his visa run. *Whew* I am hoping everything goes smoothly for him during his travels back, and that he doesn’t get stranded anywhere.

As I mentioned before, it is a long weekend coming up for us. There is some holiday on Monday (which I still have to learn about). We had a van scheduled to pick up 10 of us tomorrow after school and take us to the city of Hua Hin, south of Bangkok. As they say, the best laid plans often go awry. Now, some teachers are leaving to Hua Hin tonight and others are leaving tomorrow. Andy and I are going to leave tomorrow, as long as the buses are running. I really, really, really hope they are! I would rather be stranded on a beach than in my apartment! However, I keep reminding myself of how lucky I am. My home is safe and sound in Canada, and I am safe. Yes, there is a chance that I will be living off rice for the next week if we are stuck here, but at least I have rice. So many people in many parts of the country are stuck with zero food. I was also thinking about how horrible it would be to lose my deposit on the hotel we had booked for the weekend…but really? Who cares.

Say a prayer for all those affected by flooding all over the world.

I will report if the flood waters do hit our area.

xo

Me, Myself & I

Here I am, alone until Friday (6 whole days)! Andy left the country a couple hours ago. He is currently on an overnight train, and will wake up in the country of Laos! To spare you the details…he had to leave the country for visa purposes. When he re-enters, he will legally be allowed to stay here for 10 months. It will beat having to do a visa run every 30/60 days as most foreigners do.  Rather than making it a quick 2 day trip, Andy decided to make a mini holiday out of it. I don’t know what his exact plans are when he gets there, but I am sure he will have many stories to tell when he gets back.

Andy has been a busy guy. He finished his first 13 days of teaching yesterday. I have been enjoying his teaching stories. I never thought I would see the day where Andy would be the one going on and on about his students. It’s nice. The same day Andy gets back from Laos, we are heading out to a beach town with another group of people I work with. It will be a long weekend here, so we won’t have to be back until Monday night. Wahoo! Then it will be back to work for both of us.

The flooding in Thailand is not backing down. For this reason, many students have been absent from school. I am currently looking out the window at a torrential downpour, accompanied with crazy loud thunder and lightning. I am armed with candles, matches, and a lighter (emergency supplies Andy picked up for me this week) in case the power goes out (which we have quickly learned is not at all uncommon). Over the past few days I have watched the river rise higher and higher, on the way to school. Most of the small homes along the river are now partially underwater. It is pretty scary out there.

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather at home!



My moose shirt I bought in honour of hunting season back home!



River Therapy

Hello everyone! For those of you who have heard about the flooding in Thailand, do not be alarmed...we are fine. For the moment our area of Bangkok seems to be safe. However, I only say for the moment, because it could change over the next couple days. Today at school we were all told to go immediately to a grocery store after work to stock up on food, water, and candles (which I have yet to do). The rain keeps coming, the rivers keep rising, and the tide is coming in (tomorrow). Not a good combination, especially since Bangkok is only 6.5 ft. above sea level. Despite how scary it may sound, I am sure everything in this area will be okay. Another thing to add on my “things I am thankful for” list this thanksgiving season, is having dry ground to walk on. Today one of my grade seven students told me that her house (located outside of Bangkok…she lives with a nanny here during the school year) is full of water. She didn’t even get a chance to try and save anything she had.
 
Before all the latest flood warnings were issued (areas of the country have been flooding since June) I managed to escape on a mini holiday as I mentioned in my last post. 5 of us teachers (4 from my school and one from another school) went to Kanchanaburi, a small city right on the River Kwai. It was a great weekend. We left right after school on Friday, and took a two hour bus ride to the place (costing a grand total of $2.96). The highlight our weekend was renting kayaks and floating down the river. Since the water was so high in the river, it pushed us the entire 4 hours we were floating. We paddled maybe a total of 20 strokes the entire time. No one else was on the river, it was so peaceful. I didn’t take my camera on the kayak since I was worried about it going overboard, but I wish I did. There were so many neat things we saw along the river including gigantic temples and statues, large skinny cows, picture perfect resorts, railway bridges, and floating houses. Near the end of our river trip, we stopped at a restaurant floating on the river. Aside from kayaking, we spend the majority of the weekend relaxing. We had many things planned like hikes to waterfalls, elephant trekking, and museum seeking…looks like we won’t run out of things to do for the next trip!



The guesthouse we stayed at.

 


View from the place.



Pool at the guesthouse.



Best outdoor sink ever.



Friday night dance parties.

What is used to fuel the dance parties.
(Buckets of alcohol are consumed through these colourful things).

Banana pancakes.

 

This is a country full of random things.

 

Floating on the River Kwai.

Kristin lounging.

The Burma Railway also known as "Death Railway".
Over 100,000 labourours died building it during World War II.

 

Annilee and myself.

The girls (Heidi, Annilee, Kristin & Louise) relaxing on Sunday morning.

I got in trouble by a few people who read my blog post a couple posts back (when I said I don’t think anyone reads this besides my brother and dad). I guess more people read this thing than I thought. Here is a SHOUT-OUT TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! Thank you for thinking of me :)

I would also like to say a shout-out to Jack Attack. Happy 1^st Birthday!