Where in the World is Ms. Waller?: January 2014

Thailand

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas break. I spent my Christmas and New Years Eve in Bangkok, Thailand.

I have spent the month of January in the province of Kanchanaburi, Thailand. While there I taught English, worked on a farm, and rode on an elephant. I also spent some time in Chiang Mai, Thailand were I was able to pet tigers!

Living

This month I lived on a farm in a village in the jungle/mountains. We had goats, chickens, geese, and ducks. The weather was very nice…as low as 9°C (48°F) at night to 28°C (82°F) during the day. It is dry season and that means absolutely no rain, which was not so bad. I shared a room and bathroom with the four other girls on my team. I slept on my sleeping pad on the floor in a mosquito net. Our bathroom had walls, but they did not go all the way up to the roof and the windows did not have glass (see the picture below). We also only had cold showers.

Farm Life

For most of the month my team and I worked on putting in a sprinkler system throughout the farm. We put pipes together, hammered bamboo sticks into the ground, and tied the sprinklers to the sticks. We also planted pepper trees, eggplant, and papayas.

Transportation

While in Kanchanaburi and on the farm we travel in the back of trucks. When traveling from city to city we either took a van or bus. While in Chiang Mai we took tuk-tuks or songthaew.

Songthaew

Tuk-Tuk

Money

Here the currency is called baht (THB). Right now the exchange rate is 32 THB = $1.00. So let’s see if you can figure out how much each of these items are in USD.

Can of Coke – 14.00

Gallon of gas – 30.00

Cheetos snack bag – 25.00

To ride an elephant – 100.00

To pet tigers at Tiger Kingdom – 1,260.00

Thailand’s National Children’s Day

This day is celebrated the second Saturday in January. Children’s Day is celebrated so that children can have fun and to create awareness about their significant role towards the development of the country. They have big parties at their schools with performances, games, prizes, and lots of food. They are also able to go around to many government offices and other commercial places (like the zoo) to see exhibits and take tours for free.

Erawan Waterfall

Erawan Waterfall is in Kanchanaburi. There are seven levels of the waterfall to see and you have to climb about 2km to get to the top. All the waterfalls typically fell over limestone cliffs resulting in colorful pools as well as interestingly rounded rock formations. We were also able to swim at each of the seven levels…the water was very cold.

I Rode an Elephant…

I Pet Tigers…it was one of the best days of my life!

I also found a cool article in TIME For Kids...check it out.
http://www.timeforkids.com/destination/thailand/day-in-life

It was a very exciting month! I am now leaving Asia and heading to South Africa. I will be staying in Port Elizabeth, South Africa for the month of February. It is on the beach...great way to spend my birthday month!

Here are some of the highlights from my time in Cambodia.

Transportation

Like in Vietnam many people in Cambodia get around on motorbikes.

However, if you are visiting and want to get around a city you will take a tuk-tuk.

Money

Here the currency is called riel (KHR). As of right now the exchange rate is 4,010 KHR = $1.00. The interesting thing about Cambodia is that they also use USD (United States Dollar). I was able to pay in USD but would get my change back in KHR (Cambodia Riel). This made things very confusing.

Angok Wat

Built in the 12^th century, Angok Wat was first a Hindu and then a Buddhist temple. It is the largest religious monument in the world. It is also the symbol of Cambodia and appears on their national flag.