Volunteer excursion - OpenmindProjects Community:OC

beside a billboard advertising Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary and waiting for a lift to Kham Pia village where I was home-staying that evening. My guide for the weekend whose name I didn't quite catch (Lidd, perhaps) and the head of the village collected me by moped. The village is exactly as I imagined: children playing, everyone staring at me but saying hello to everyone else, fields and ponds and river and mountain and forest and cows and bamboo shacks and rubber trees and houses raised off the ground. I got to the home stay, dropped my bag and I was asked, “Can I motorcycle?” I said, “No.” Well I can't. Later discovered this meant we will take the moped for our tours.

It would have cost me less too—I paid for the petrol—but you live and learn. I was taken for lunch, where the topic of conversation with the other villagers was me. And a couple of words about Delphine (a French OPM volunteer) as this is the village where she teaches. Next stop was my first Thai Naam Tuk. This waterfall was full of people and children swimming fully clothed (avoiding a tan), including a bunch of lads about my age, perhaps older, so I sat dangling my feet into it and watched them dive and jump and climb. Fun Fun! Next stop: Wat Phu Thok. It's a cliff wat: monks’ shacks hundreds of meters high and a bot (church, or place of worship) embedded in the cliff. Add a rickety set of wooden stairs and an even more rickety walkway or three round the cliff face and you get some spectacular views of Nong Khai countryside. This wat was the home of a famous monk who died a few years back in a plane crash en route to a Buddhist convention of sorts in Bangkok . Thus there is an impressive shrine/museum in his honor including his belongings and some relics. Then it was back to my home stay, where I washed me and my trousers (they got a little dirty when I slipped on a wet rock at the waterfall) and bug-creamed up before falling asleep. Briefly.

Woke up within an hour to hear a rather loud gecko beside the bed. (Surprising I could here it over the din of insects from outside.) I decided not to look at it because the sound suggested it was a decent size. They tend to bite so what I didn't know couldn't hurt me. Had to go outside to go to bathroom in the end anyway. The hawng naam had a western toilet and all—with FLUSH! I was so excited. However, you could see in from outside and the walls didn’t exactly reach the corrugated iron roof, but I had a toilet seat, so I was happy! Up at 7 a.m. to wash once more—it's hot and sticky on this side of the world! I also noticed that I could see sunlight through the reasonable sized gaps in the floor boards. (You could lose coins!) Mosquito screens on windows and door suddenly seemed less vital. I was handed a very sweet cup of coffee and fortunately before I was halfway through, my guide arrived—at least twenty minutes early even though Thai time is usually more like Irish time...). Having resolved yesterday’s misunderstanding I mounted the back of the bike and headed for Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary. Once there it was into the jungle with the sanctuary dog Monica and two liters of water. We climbed a mountain. That's right, I jungle trekked up a mountain. I don't believe me either, but it's true! I sweated like a pig and got a tad sunburned. I was completely soaked by the time we started to meet local women picking mushrooms. We continued all the way up to the peak (with a break or three) to look out over fields, see the cliff wat in the distance, see the Mekong and the Laos Snake mountains on the far side. Breathtaking!

Next was the waterfall Naamtuk Thom (cliff) noi. Well, it was a cliff before it was bombed during Nam . Now it looks like Cuchulainns (Irish Giant) rock garden and pools. Put our cell phones on a dry rock and sat in the stream. Lay down in it and under it and then climbed all the way down it, grasping wet slippery rock after wet scummy rock. It was amazing! If only I could remember my geography terminology. Deep pools, small in diameter were filled with fishes. Totally immersed myself in one (intentionally!), and did my best to avoid falling into the rest. On the mountain, the trail consisted of trying not to slip on wet rocks along by the streams (which carved little grooves in the rock bed to follow, then refused to follow them—geologists delight, perhaps sandstone? reddy black location dependant) and stay in the shade. Where there was waterlogged soil or grass, you tried to stand on it, but sometimes plant life prohibited that. So we swung along on branches of trees that crossed our paths, largely staying in the sun where the rock was dry and not slippery—explains the sunburn. The jungle part saw us ducking branches, shimmying around rocks, walking on trunks over streams, using brittle soil walls as support when pulling self up to next part. Enjoyed every minute! Back at base my guide started to talk to a woman eating a mango—I got two. Then another man (also staff) asked me if he could help me. Looking perplexed I was offered the chance to taste bamboo soup. I accepted and before I knew it was eating lunch with all the staff and a huge—2.5 ft tall, I reckon—hornbill. Baked fish skins, fish eggs, bamboo soup (rather pet, or spicy) and somtam (spicy papaya salad—the Isan specialty). How could I forget sticky rice? Lovely yummy! Really enjoyed it! Then back on the bike to the house. Changed, got bag, wrote thank you card, and paid. Back on bike to bus stop (side of road: people flag it down less than a hundred yards apart).

Written by Thaweesilp L.
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Khampia - Roisin Sunday I was first up. I purchased a cheap pair of runners and being unable to track down a disposable camera (well there was none visible in the 7/11) I headed to the BawKawSaw (bus station) in Nong Khai to catch a bus in the direction of Ban Paeng (east). Four hours later I was standing at a T junction beside a billboard advertising Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary and waiting for a lift to Kham Pia village where I was home-staying that evening. My guide for the weekend whose name I didn't quite catch (Lidd, perhaps) and the head of the village collected me by moped. The village is exactly as I imagined: children playing, everyone staring at me but saying hello to everyone else, fields and ponds and river and mountain and forest and cows and bamboo shacks and rubber trees and houses raised off the ground. I got to the home stay, dropped my bag and I was asked, “Can I motorcycle?” I said, “No.” Well I can't. Later discovered this meant we will take the moped for our tours. It would have cost me less too—I paid for the petrol—but you live and learn. I was taken for lunch, where the topic of conversation with the other villagers was me. And a couple of words about Delphine (a French OPM volunteer) as this is the village where she teaches. Next stop was my first Thai Naam Tuk. This waterfall was full of people and children swimming fully clothed (avoiding a tan), including a bunch of lads about my age, perhaps older, so I sat dangling my feet into it and watched them dive and jump and climb. Fun Fun! Next stop: Wat Phu Thok. It's a cliff wat: monks’ shacks hundreds of meters high and a bot (church, or place of worship) embedded in the cliff. Add a rickety set of wooden stairs and an even more rickety walkway or three round the cliff face and you get some spectacular views of Nong Khai countryside. This wat was the home of a famous monk who died a few years back in a plane crash en route to a Buddhist convention of sorts in Bangkok . Thus there is an impressive shrine/museum in his honor including his belongings and some relics. Then it was back to my home stay, where I washed me and my trousers (they got a little dirty when I slipped on a wet rock at the waterfall) and bug-creamed up before falling asleep. Briefly. Woke up within an hour to hear a rather loud gecko beside the bed. (Surprising I could here it over the din of insects from outside.) I decided not to look at it because the sound suggested it was a decent size. They tend to bite so what I didn't know couldn't hurt me. Had to go outside to go to bathroom in the end anyway. The hawng naam had a western toilet and all—with FLUSH! I was so excited. However, you could see in from outside and the walls didn’t exactly reach the corrugated iron roof, but I had a toilet seat, so I was happy! Up at 7 a.m. to wash once more—it's hot and sticky on this side of the world! I also noticed that I could see sunlight through the reasonable sized gaps in the floor boards. (You could lose coins!) Mosquito screens on windows and door suddenly seemed less vital. I was handed a very sweet cup of coffee and fortunately before I was halfway through, my guide arrived—at least twenty minutes early even though Thai time is usually more like Irish time...). Having resolved yesterday’s misunderstanding I mounted the back of the bike and headed for Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary. Once there it was into the jungle with the sanctuary dog Monica and two liters of water. We climbed a mountain. That's right, I jungle trekked up a mountain. I don't believe me either, but it's true! I sweated like a pig and got a tad sunburned. I was completely soaked by the time we started to meet local women picking mushrooms. We continued all the way up to the peak (with a break or three) to look out over fields, see the cliff wat in the distance, see the Mekong and the Laos Snake mountains on the far side. Breathtaking! Next was the waterfall Naamtuk Thom (cliff) noi. Well, it was a cliff before it was bombed during Nam . Now it looks like Cuchulainns (Irish Giant) rock garden and pools. Put our cell phones on a dry rock and sat in the stream. Lay down in it and under it and then climbed all the way down it, grasping wet slippery rock after wet scummy rock. It was amazing! If only I could remember my geography terminology. Deep pools, small in diameter were filled with fishes. Totally immersed myself in one (intentionally!), and did my best to avoid falling into the rest. On the mountain, the trail consisted of trying not to slip on wet rocks along by the streams (which carved little grooves in the rock bed to follow, then refused to follow them—geologists delight, perhaps sandstone? reddy black location dependant) and stay in the shade. Where there was waterlogged soil or grass, you tried to stand on it, but sometimes plant life prohibited that. So we swung along on branches of trees that crossed our paths, largely staying in the sun where the rock was dry and not slippery—explains the sunburn. The jungle part saw us ducking branches, shimmying around rocks, walking on trunks over streams, using brittle soil walls as support when pulling self up to next part. Enjoyed every minute! Back at base my guide started to talk to a woman eating a mango—I got two. Then another man (also staff) asked me if he could help me. Looking perplexed I was offered the chance to taste bamboo soup. I accepted and before I knew it was eating lunch with all the staff and a huge—2.5 ft tall, I reckon—hornbill. Baked fish skins, fish eggs, bamboo soup (rather pet, or spicy) and somtam (spicy papaya salad—the Isan specialty). How could I forget sticky rice? Lovely yummy! Really enjoyed it! Then back on the bike to the house. Changed, got bag, wrote thank you card, and paid. Back on bike to bus stop (side of road: people flag it down less than a hundred yards apart). Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 120 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry 0 Comments Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 March 2008 )