The End of an Experience

The last day 😢 Today we embarked on the last leg of our journey. After arriving at the airport, checking our bags in and saying some emotional last goodbyes to our hosts, we boarded the 11 hour plane from Bangkok to Amsterdam. Two meals and many films later we were walking off the plane into a lounge where we are currently sat for the next 3 hours whilst we wait for our connecting flight to Manchester. The next short flight will no doubt be followed by teary goodbyes at Manchester airport.

Louisa and Maisy ✈️😢💜

Bangkok Day 2

Today we went to a floating market in Bangkok. We started by having an hour long trip down the river, smiling and waving at the locals who were all sat in their back gardens that overlooked the river. We got the opportunity to stop and feed the fish with loaves of bread- almost like feeding the ducks back at home!! Then we got a chance to look through the market and several tiffins were bought. Afterwards we went back to the Guides Centre and had lunch - make your own sandwiches again :) 

The next adventure was the sky train! After words of warning from a Thai guide book to run for your life we were all prepared to elbow our way through. However the doors opened to a relatively empty train and Abbi got all worked up for it! 3 stops later we got off and wandered over to the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre and Jim Thompson Museum. The first of the two was very interesting for the artists of the group and it also had lots of cute little shops to explore. The second was a mysterious house full of conspiracy theories and artifacts. 

After a wander around a few markets we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for our last supper! It was delicious and we all had a lovely time. Then it was back to the guiding centre for an early night, ready for 22 hours of travelling tomorrow!!! 

Bangkok Day 1

 We started off the day by heading to the grand palace after breakfast. We were pulled along an incredibly busy street by our little tour guide, directing the way with her yellow, oriental fan. The palace grounds were utterly swarming with people, and the heat was blazing down, however it did not take away from the beautiful scenery of the palace, which was a change from the busy Bangkok we had been used to. 

 Whilst at the palace, we learnt a lot about the Thai royal family, from a museum on grounds, as well as spending some time in the temple of the emerald Buddha, which is a big attraction and was utterly breathtaking.

 Our tour guide then took us to 'Gems Gallery'; a place which specialised in the rare jewels that Thailand has to offer, specifically sapphire and ruby. After watching a interesting short about the jewels, and enjoying our complimentary drinks, we headed of to look around the amazing range of jewelry. A few of us even bought a ring, giving in to the nice women who followed us around the shop, desperate for us to purchase. 

 We then headed back to the guide centre, and spent some time after lunch buying some souvenirs from the guide shop, swimming, reading and chilling, before once again heading out for our surprise tea.

 Half of us went for some Japanese cuisine, because we haven't already eaten enough rice during this trip, whilst the others headed for some food at an "American buffet," which include authentic western foods, such as jellyfish sushi, squid tempura and surprise tuna pizza. We hid any leftovers in tissue pockets and napkins, as otherwise we had an extra fee to pay. 

 Our first full day in Bangkok was a full one, and we all went to bed feeling quite tired. - Abbi & Charlotte 💙

Flying to Bangkok

We woke up at the normal time of 7am, to have breakfast and get ourselves organised. The Tuk Tuk's picked us up at 8.30am to take us to the airport. 

After emotional goodbyes to the people that had looked after us for the past three weeks, we ended up in the Boutique Lounge for Bangkok Airways, very posh! 

We particularly loved the salted popcorn and as Grace says, the best hot chocolate in the world! 

We bored the plane at 11:30 and started our journey; with the complimentary chicken pie, which had never seen a chicken... But less about that. Just as we were nodding off we landed back in Bangkok. We were greated at the gates by another party bus, including TASSLES! 

After travelling a short distance on a long bus ride, we arrived at the Girlguiding Centre for a quick bag drop off. Before heading to the hospital for a Thai Massage. We greeted our physiotherapists and were taken one by one into a big room... We had to wear pink scrubs and lay down on a bed. The massage was interesting. We all got pulled, stretched and yanked in different ways. We also had knees and elbows pushed into our bodies. After an hour some of us emerged calm and collected and others were a little bit startled. But we all said it was a new experience!! (Not to be repeated for some, enjoyable for others). Then we walked back to the centre, had tea and settled in for an early night :) - Flo, Grace, Maisy and Abbi xo 

Fairwell dinner

Upon arriving downstairs, we were greeted by all the Thai leaders who were at different stations to do activities. 

The activities were making banana leave bowls, making traditional Thai decorations usually used in Buddist festivals out of flowers (very tricky) and making and sampling different Thai foods such as chillied squid and barbecued pork.

 

After this we had a presentation, 

speeches and exchanged gifts before spitting down for what felt like the fifth meal of the day. After tea we said our final good byes the proceeded to bed.   - Louise and Abbi.

Last day in Chiang Mai

YToday we were busy finishing off any jobs, packing and then relaxing. After breakfast we all helped make a photo album to leave in the centre so that others who visited could see what we got up to. We also made some cards to give to the kitchen staff as a thank you for all their hard work. After a bit of packing, lunch and then more packing, we all split off into groups to do what we wanted in our free time. Some people visited the 3d art museum down the road, others went to the market, and the rest went to the Internet cafe. 

The market - Maisie, Maisy, Louisa, Fiona and Katharine caught the tuk tuk to an indoor market which sold different produce for locals. After a walk round the ground floor and a few purchases of various dried fruit we headed up to the other floors in search of fabric. 

We walked through the china town and picked up some pink dragonfruit before hailing a tuk tuk back to the centre. 🍉🍍 Lou and Maisy

The 3D Art Museum was one of the most invovled a museums you can get! The paintings were flat to the wall but looked incredibly life like along with 3D looking frames. Along with the animals and sea life in other areas which were all jumping out of the wall.

 All of us, (Maisie, Maisy, Louise, Anna, Hannah and Florence) got into the pictures in question. We even had a trip to Venice and nearly fell down a waterfall! The afternoon was topped off with a smoothie 

and a trip to 7-11 to stock up on chocolate for tomorrows flight. - Hannah, Anna, Louise and Flo 😊🍉🍍🍈🍋

Whilst the last few bits of packing were being done, some girls went swimming before we all got into uniform for the farewell dinner. 

Louisa and Maisy 😊 x

Lanna dinner and show 💃

After a chance for everyone to get dressed into frocks,

 we headed out in tuk tuks to... a photo opportunity! Half of the group had photos doing the Miss Thailand pose whilst the other groups were taking the scenic route. Eventually we left to go to the restaurant. We were welcomed with traditional Thai music, then we were taken to take our shoes off and were shown to our seats. The seats were simply cushions on the floor, but we could cheat by dangling our feet down a hole below the table in the ground. 

The meal started with a bowl of Thai vegetable soup, and was followed by several dishes that we could fill our plate with at our hearts desire. All this was accompanied with boiled rice and sticky rice. 

Towards the end of the meal the show started and pineapple and fried banana dessert was served. The traditional Lanna show told a story of Thailand, for example one of the dances was showing the tea picking.

 Another dance was similar to one we had seen in Wiang Pa Pao performed by the hill tribe girls. After the last dance we got invited up to the stage to have a go at some Thai dancing which was nearly the same as what we had learnt in some of the schools. We got the tuk tuks back to the centre for some much needed sleep. 📷👗💃👍👯 

Lou and Anna 😊