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Good afternoon,
It's day two on the slow boat down the Mekong river and again it is a day to remember. It's 1:44pm and we have already been sailing for 5 hours and 40 minutes! Only around another 4 to go! This may sound like a long time to sit on a boat with no wifi, no TV, no nothing. However, it is actually very cleansing and I have preferred to resist my iPod or other gadgets in favour of taking in the natural beauty around me.
The journey today has been another very peaceful one and the scenery has become even more spectacular! There is a lot more room on the boat today and I've spent most of it in one of three positions. 1 - Sat on the bench seat talking to the others. 2 - Sat straddling the side of the boat enjoying the view. 3 - Flat out on the floor of the boat with my head on my bag asleep!
As I write I can see another small village on the side of the hills and a group of children playing in the water. The sky is bright blue with white clouds dotted around and the hills are a colour of green I have never seen before. The river today has been littered with huge rock boulders and as I type the scenery is unreal! The river itself is a constant light brown colour and almost looks like toffee fudge! We are travelling down stream but the water moves like nothing I've ever seen before. All around there are whirlpools, surges and water appears to be coming up to the surface of the river from below. I can only imagine the bottom of the river is very unforgiving and that there are some huge and no doubt deadly currents and rips under the surface! At it widest the river must be 100m at the moment.
Occasionally the boat will pull over to let locals hop on and off. This is when the children of the Mekong wave and look at us with confused and bewildered faces. Some are naked, some wear football shirts and some wear cloth robes. All appear to be happy and content with the world in which they live, away from the trials and tribulations many of us on the boat have reflected on over the last two days. It is very humbling to see and experience this part of our beautiful world.
I have thought a lot today about my first ever class that I taught at The Oaks as this week they are coming to the end of their time in primary school. As a teacher your first class is always one to remember and the Class of 2016 will always be a special one to me. Over the last few days I have seen pictures on Facebook of the all enjoying their leavers party and end of year celebrations. To see them all grown up makes me feel very old but also very proud to have played a part in who they have become. They were a brilliant class in Year 3 and I will never forget some of the great characters, many who read this will know who they are. I will also always remember the special group of parents that supported me through my first year as a teacher. Looking back now their support of a young, baby faced boy in a shirt and tie was fantastic!
So as I sail down the Mekong making more memories to share with our next generations I'd like to wish all the children in the Class of 2016 the best of luck for their move up to high school and encourage them to, 'Work Hard, Achieve Goals and See the World!' These are three things I live by everyday and they haven't let me down yet!
Bye for now X
Good evening!
It's 6:09pm and the sun is about to set. I've just marched up a hill in the town of Luang Prabang to a temple called Phou Sy. The view is absolutely incredible!! There are rolling mountains covered in green jungle as far as the eye can see! It really is amazing! I wish my girl was with me now because this is really romantic and I would do anything to have a cuddle now! X
Hello :)
So sunset at the top of the hill was the best thing ever! As the sun went down I felt incredibly lucky and enjoyed chatting to the other travellers sat watching too! The guys from the slow boat arrived at the top whilst I was there so after a while we went down to the town to get some food. The night markets were very pleasant to walk around and Luang Prabang is certainly a place a could come back to! For dinner we went to a famous street food ally. I wouldn't normally eat in a place like that but it actually looked clean and good food. For £1.39 I ate a whole plate load and it wasn't too bad!
Tonight I've decided to have an early night as I'm pretty tired and our guesthouse is lovely! I've just managed to have a long FaceTime with Tara too so now I feel brilliant! I also opened another letter tonight :)
Tara is currently on her way back to England after one of her best friends 'Hen Do' in Marbella! It looks like she has had a fantastic time on the pictures and I'm so happy for her that she will be able to see her mummy in a few days! Hi Carole if you read this!!
So after a great few days cruising through Laos, tomorrow we start our 1 night 2 days homestay. I'm really looking forward to this especially as Laos has been so beautiful so far! It will be great to get into the rural communities and meet some of the local people!
I'm just going to try and talk to my amazing girl one more time before bed so I'll say goodnight!
Tra for now X
- comments
Zoe Awww I inherited your lovely year 3's for my first class at The oaks too! They were a great class and I am feeling emotional as usual!!!
Grandma Well this was a memory Blog Tom. But the places your seeing sound amazing . X
Carole Hi Tom yes managing to catch your blog now and then. All sounds fab ! Stay safe have fun build memories xx