Dan's visit to Nakhon Pathom

Wednesday, 6 October 2004

Dan (teacher friend from Gatzert on travel leave for six months) arrived by bus from Bangkok at around 10:30 am today. Just prior, I had gotten a call on my cell phone from someone speaking Thai and saying Bamrung Wittaya. I figured it was a taxi driver trying to figure out if Dan was going to the right place. Sure enough, it was him. I showed him around the campuses, he had lunch with us and the kids, and then P'Charn and Ajarn Ong Ard took all of us to Kanchanaburi to go to the Immigration office. Ong Ard had been worried that we needed re-entry permits for our visas to leave and come back to Thailand on our respective vacations this next week. So, we drove the 2 hour ride to Kanchanaburi province, talking school stuff, catching up with Dan on Gatzert folks, students I had in kindergarten that he taught in 4th grade, and hearing all of his travel stories of places he's been so far during his 6 month trek - The Prehention Islands in Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, and his upcoming trips to Nepal, Mt. Everest, Myanmar, and New Zealand. I am living vicariously through him since I don't have that much "free time" to travel. But, when I do, I'll know who to contact for suggestions. He mentioned this tiger temple in Kanchanaburi he had seen a show about on the Discovery Channel and suggested that we go there when he returns to this area again next month.

After we drove the two hours and found out our visas are fine for multiple departures out of the country through January, we figured we might as well take in some sights. We visited the World War II cemetary, and the Bridge over the River Kwae. I was impressed to see the cemetary so well kept and landscaped, with different tropical flowers in between each headstone. As we went to the Bridge over the River Kwae, Dan shared his little claim to fame that his grandfather was the one who whistled in the famous movie with the same name. We walked across the bridge, examined a shiny green insect, and took pictures of the river. Then, we headed home for Nakhon Pathom.

When we returned, we were just in time for the last few students to leave, and then Tik and Aw came to get us for dinner. They wanted to go to the Wednesday Night Market tonight, so Matt dropped us off, and we shopped around a bit first. Poor Dan, the only guy, with a bunch of girls, but he said it was a refreshing change from hanging out with guys the past 5 weeks and drinking all the time (or at least, he was just trying to be polite). We got noodles for dinner, witnessed a domestic dispute at the pop-a-balloon carnival game behind us, and then Dan and I caught a moto to the chedi. We had to visit the flying ice cream place. "Action!" - the man would yell - as he posed with his ice cream scoop in one hand and the cup in the other. Dan being the token farang, was the honored one he chose to hold the cup and stand about 10 feet away from the booth, as the man threw the scoop of ice cream into the air and.........Dan caught it! Whether it was out of fear that the ice cream would splat on his face, or pure catching skills, we'll never know, but it was funny. We had a couple scoops of ice cream, talked about how I enjoy living and teaching here, and then walked home.

We talked about his upcoming trip to Nepal and where he plans on climbing to. He's going to use my water bottle purifier on his trek, and I'll see him in about a month when he claims his backpack before he heads off for New Zealand with Brian and Andrea. It was nice to talk to and see someone from Seattle. But, I promised that next time we see each other, my Thai will be much better so I'll be able to order ice cream and a taxi driver no problem.