Day 14 - 4 November

This morning we travelled up into the hill villages. I am amazed at just how much has been achieved. There is new accommodation for the children as well as a pig sty to provide food and bartering potential. There is a school nearby where the children attend and staff who live on site.

We had an English lesson in the traditional Thai outdoor eating platform followed by delicious Pad Thai made in an open cooking area.


We also met a little boy called 'Seven' who was born at 7:07 on 7.7. 2010.


From there we headed further up into the hills where the Burmese refugees live. They run craft stalls, farm the land and run elephant rides for the tourists. Just another one of those things I can now cross off my bucket list.

Day 13 - 3 November

Today we went to the Destiny Rescue office and taught English to some of the national workers. They were really enjoying speaking English as their speaking skills were already quite good. They all had post school qualifications of some kind, many were married with children and each spoke about goals that they had for their families futures. They indicated how appreciative they are for Destiny both what they are doing for them personally but also what they are doing for the youth of Thailand.

In the afternoon we went back to the rescue home and had another lesson with the workers at the home. The English level was beginner but we really had fun playing counting and alphabet games. We had a great tour through the sewing centre and the jewellery workshop and were given a Destiny Rescue T shirt. It was great to see how much is being done to help these girls become independent.

Later in the afternoon we went to the children's home to play games with the kids. It was lovely to meet them and play games with them. They also love the staff and seem to love rough house play with Kerry!

Day 12 - 2 November

We had a lovely visit today to the children's home. There are lots of kids who live at the home even though they do have families. They live in Chiang Rai during the week to go to school as their families are part of the Hill Tribes and live in poverty without the opportunity to attend school. We had the opportunity to teach English to the girls who run the home and what a joy they were to teach. They were so enthusiastic to have the chance to learn English and really participated well.

We went out to lunch in Chiang Rai and got a real salad which was such a treat after not having salad veges while I had been away. I did then take the afternoon off for a rest, a chance to read and chill out. I read a great book by David Batstone called 'Not for Sale'. which outlined how human trafficking is a growing problem in so many countries including western countries like Australia and the USA. I learnt so much from the trail blazers in each of the countries who are doing their bit to tackle the problem of trafficking starting from the grass roots level. Very challenging stuff.

Day 11 - 1 November

Today we visited the rescue home which also houses the sewing business and the jewellery business. We walked through the project and then did some English teaching with the national staff. It was lovely to get to meet some of the staff and enjoy their friendly kind natures. They really appreciate any help learning English. The only difficulty working with staff is that at times work takes precedence over English lessons. That requires a high degree of flexibility. All plans can be changed at a minutes notice.

Day 10 - 31 October

I experienced the funniest taxi ride this morning. We headed to Bangkok airport with a Cambodian taxi driver who considered himself a karaoke tragic of 80's English songs. He sang YMCA at the top of his voice, as well as a number of other songs which he had learnt off by heart but really did not know the English words and therefore was not singing the songs correctly. It was annoying, but funny. He sang all the way to the airport, while he sped at about 140 km/hour all the way.
We flew to Chiang Rai where we were met by Destiny Staff and taken to the team house. It was good to be based in one place for a period of time and to have our own bedroom during the next few days. We were to be going to church this afternoon but church didn't happen.
We headed to one of the children homes where regular Sunday afternoon games were in progress. It was great to meet the Destiny staff and the children from the homes.
We went for a meal at a tiny restaurant close to the team house and enjoyed a really early night.

Day 9 - 30 October

What an interesting day to show the convoluted process of travel in Cambodia! It took the whole day to travel to Thailand from Siem Reap.
The bus trip through the border was definitely something I wouldn't want to do often. You certainly need patience to deal with a border crossing. Bus stops before the border. Processed on the Cambodian side of the border. We walked with our gear across the 'no man's land' and then waited to be processed on the Thai side of the border, both of which consisted of long queues and much form filling. We took a taxi to Pattaya and booked into a lovely motel. We walked to the beach for a swim. A refreshing dip but nothing to write home to Queensland about. (The beaches do not compare) The sand is covered in beach chairs, but don't dare sit on one unless you are prepared to pay. Someone will come and collect in an instant.
Dinner, illustrated above, was full of so much chilli I would have burned up if I had eaten them.
After dinner we went for a walk I will never forget. I have never seen debauchery like I saw that night. We walked through street after street, brothel beside brothel beside brothel. It would be difficult to count the number of girls offering their bodies but I'm told that the number of brothels is in the thousands in just the one district. I could have taken photos but it just felt voyeuristic and inappropriate. The number of disgusting old western men draped all over young Thai girls made me feel physically sick.
An interesting coincidence that we were there on Halloween night. The Halloween street parade, in progress during our walk, felt to me as I imagine Hell will feel, the most oppressive evil I think I have ever felt. Such a sense of hopelessness and helplessness.

Day 8 - 29 October

I guess today was our one big 'touristy' day. We spent the day at the famous Angkor Wat site. Some people spend a week visiting each of the sites and wandering around the many different ruins. We had about 5 hours so it was a bit of a rush.

The pictures show some of the really steep staircases. Rachael got as far as poking her head over the edge of the balcony, but she didn't quite make it to the top.

The interesting part of Ta Prohm was the tree growing through the temple ruins which was shown in the Tomb Raider movie. It was a long walk to find it but worth the view when we found it.

Our evening consisted of a lovely restaurant meal followed by a concert of Apsara Dancers performing traditional Cambodian dances. The costumes were quite beautiful.