On Monday morning we awoke to rain. Eileen and I made a sorry pair. We were both suffering with bad colds and Eileen now had a painful neck, either as a result of Saturday's massage or of being bounced about in the boat yesterday, she thought.
We trudged somewhat disconsolately to the office and set about preparing the week’s lessons. Sue was there waiting to be picked up by the teachers from the school at which she was going to be interviewed. Two ladies arrived punctually and I was surprised to find that I recognised one of them. She was a colleague of Nora, a retired Thai English teacher, a good friend of Ken’s, and had accompanied Nora on several of the lunches we had had together. I couldn't say that I knew her really, as she rarely got a word in edgeways once Nora started chatting.
We wished Sue luck and watched as she was whisked off to Takua Pa looking rather nervous.
Sunny was busy in the office preparing for the arrival later today of the group of teenagers from the international school in Johannesburg. They send a group each year but this year it was the biggest ever, 18 students and 2 teachers.
It had stopped raining by lunch time and so Eileen and I spent the afternoon by the pool before going over to the market in Bang Niang in the early evening.
As we left Phukhaolak to find a taxi we noticed Sue sitting in Peter Bar. We joined her for a beer to hear how her day had gone. The staff at the school had all been very friendly. As well as showing her around the school they took her to see some accommodation options.
She was introduced to the two other English teachers at the school, a Belgian lady and an English lad, and was also put on the spot by being asked to take a class. They seemed keen for her to start as soon as possible but she said she had a lot of thinking to do before reaching a decision.
At the market Eileen bought some gifts to take home to her family. She then suggested that it would be really nice to go to eat on the sand at Coconut Beach. We negotiated a taxi fare and had a lovely evening at the Boatyard restaurant. They set the tables nicely in the evenings, hang lights in the trees and by each table plant coconut fronds around a bamboo stick hollowed out to hold tea lamps. The effect is magical and the gentle sound of the waves breaking onto the beach incredibly relaxing.
The 6.15 alarm on Tuesday mornings is not something I ever enjoy but this week there was some compensation. I had a visit from a group of my favourite birds, the chestnut headed bee eaters. They were the first ones I had seen this year.
Neil was back from a weekend in Phuket and the three of us had a successful day at Wat Muang Pratcharam school. Both lessons were a little challenging - we did Seasons in Europe for two classes and ASEAN Countries and Capitals for the other two. Being interested in geography and travel, I enjoyed the ASEAN countries lesson but the children only knew the names of some of the countries and almost none of the capitals. (The teachers too needed to refer to the crib sheet from time to time!)
I was still full of a cold and so didn't feel inclined to join in any of the lunchtime antics today.
Neil however was doing cartwheels and then joined the boys in a game of football.
The weather is surprisingly cool at the moment. I realised today that it is several days since I have had to switch on the air con in my room. The afternoon was overcast but ideal for a lovely walk along the beach
Eileen was busy packing in preparation for her departure tomorrow. So when she joined me at 7.00pm for a beer on my verandah we were both quite sad to think that this was going to be the last time we would do it. Sue joined us to eat. She was still unsure about her plans for the next few weeks. She had changed the date of her return flight, had money sent out from home and was now waiting for the immigration van which came to Khao Lak on a Wednesday so that she could get a visa. We had a delicious meal at Everyday restaurant which seems to have become everyone’s favourite eating place, and then a final drink together at the Cocktail Bar.
As Eileen had an early morning departure from Phuket on Thursday she was booked into a hotel near the airport for Wednesday night.
The school we went to on a Wednesday was almost halfway to Phuket and therefore the plan was to take all her luggage with her, teach at the school and then after school take a taxi from there to the airport which we assumed would be considerably cheaper than getting a taxi from Khao Lak.
We had a great day as is always the case at this school. The children were delighted to see us and generally very well behaved. The challenging lesson of today was “Planets”, for the most senior pupils, which I have done a few times in the past but was nevertheless quite relieved to find Neil comfortable with the subject and happy to lead the class. The children were quick to learn the correct order of the planets but some confusion arose with the worksheets as we struggled to make them understand that the sun wasn’t one of planets.
At lunch time the activity of choice amongst the older children was acting out the Miss Universe competition (which had recently taken place). The boys were entering into this with as much enthusiasm as the girls.
We watched for a while and then went to play with the little ones on their climbing frames.
It was another cool day which made it all the more pleasant to be teaching outside in the afternoon. Usually by mid afternoon we are uncomfortably hot and sweaty, but not today.
Eileen’s taxi plans did not go well. The teachers phoned local companies on her behalf but they wanted 1500 baht, which just did not make sense. The fare from Khao Lak is only 1000 baht and so Eileen ended up putting her luggage back on the truck and coming back to Khao Lak with Neil and me.
We said our goodbyes at the office and she went off to find Sue who, for some reason, had also decided to go to Phuket.
It was quiet in Phukhaolak that evening. There were visitors in a couple of the other bungalows but number 108, where I had grown used to seeing Eileen, was in darkness. It was raining too and so the town was quite quiet. I felt it time to show my face at another of my regular haunts and so went to eat at what used to be Orchid Cafe but has now changed its name to Larn Deo.
The menu was as unintelligible as ever but I received a warm welcome and the food was good.
The cool weather seems set to continue, with temperatures plummeting to 26 degrees on Thursday. As we were not due to leave for school until midday I tucked into a big bowl of steaming rice soup for my breakfast at Khao Lak Seafood Restaurant. It was delicious!
Last Thursday Sunny had accompanied us to Wat Pattikaram school. The classes there were large, the children often noisy and poorly disciplined and the teachers unsupportive. Sunny had spoken to the teachers, given the children a pep talk emphasising how fortunate they were to have volunteer English teachers at the school and helped us with the lessons. Her teaching methods however seemed to focus on getting the children to scream their heads off, play games often involving sexy dancing competitions and generally run riot in the classroom. The children loved it of course but we couldn't really see how it was going to help with our discipline issues.
So we turned up this week not knowing quite what to expect.
The teachers ignored us as usual. The children waved and ran alongside the truck smiling and shouting hello as we drove in. So we were still in favour with them at least!
We had the youngest group first and they were really noisy and unruly. Just getting them to sit down and face forwards was a constant struggle. The middle group were almost as bad but thankfully the older children were quite well behaved. Sunny’s fun and games the previous week had done us no favours! We weren't sorry to hear the bell at 3.30, although to be fair in each class there had been some very enthusiastic pupils who were clearly taking it all in.
We were ready for cold drinks and banana muffins at Home And Life while we waited for the children to get home from school. We had decided to teach them the ASEAN countries and capital cities. As the group varies in age from 5 to 13 it is never easy to pick a subject. This lesson was not really suitable for the little ones but it was good to see the older children fully engaged for once.
Only too often they have to put up with an easy lesson to humour the youngest of the children.
Neil had medals for them all and boxes of coloured pencils which were presented at the end of the class.
It was 6.30 when we got back to Khao Lak. My rice soup for breakfast seemed an age ago and so I decided on a little indulgence - fish with ginger and French fries at Sun Star Siam Restaurant.
Nature Bar was nice and quiet and I was enjoying reading my book over a cold beer until an elderly German couple arrived and seated themselves at the table next to me. She was as thin as a wraith whilst it's hard to imagine anybody with a larger girth than her husband. She proceeded to chain smoke while he whistled through his teeth to the music being played in the bar pausing only to let rip the occasional noisy burp!
Friday was Neil's last teaching day. He was setting off straight after school to ride north, first to Bangkok and then up to Northern Thailand. He had a couple of issues to sort out in Bangkok. His passport had less than 6 months validity on it, something which the UK and Thai officials had missed but which had prevented him from boarding a flight to Cambodia, where he had initially planned to volunteer.
He also now needed a Thai visa. To sort either issue he had no alternative but to return to Bangkok as he had left his passport with the motorbike hire company there.
He was all packed and ready to go and so rode the motorbike to the school on Friday morning much to the delight of the boys in particular who all studied it enviously.
The lessons went without a hitch, “Sports” for the younger ones which we enlivened with a miming game and “ASEAN Countries and Capitals” for the older class. They surprised us by knowing more of the names and the positions of the countries and capitals than any of the other classes we have taught this week.
After a nice lunch of fried noodles Neil and I departed, me on the truck and him on his motorbike. Neil was definitely the centre of attention. There weren't many children waving me off today. They were too busy watching Neil roar away in a cloud of dust.
It was dry enough for an hour or two on the beach on the afternoon before another thundery downpour developed.
I was the only resident of the bungalows nowadays and so it was dark as I went out that evening.
The wet weather had brought back all the frogs however and judging by the racket they were making there were hundreds of them. Also my lights had attracted most of the geckos in the vicinity. Two Tokay geckos had taken up residency in the eaves over my verandah but, disappointingly, neither of them was Gordon.
I tried out Easy Bar and Restaurant for my dinner on Friday night. This establishment had been good in the past but had changed hands and names a few times recently. I hadn't set my expectations very high but I chose duck with cashew nuts and it was very tasty and quite cheap.
I was the only customer in Tarzan Bar and so I only stayed for one before transferring to the much livelier Sakai Bar.
The last two weekends had been action packed and so this week I was looking forward to a few days doing nothing much more than pottering around and relaxing.
We had some watery sunshine on Saturday morning and I walked up to Duo Cafe for a late breakfast of poached egg on toast and coffee. The rest of the morning was spent in catching up with emails and reading.
Encouraged by the continuing sunshine I had an early lunch on the beach. I chose the Green Beach chicken curry. I'd forgotten how good it was and along with a refreshing watermelon shake, cost just £3.85 in total.
I then managed a very pleasant hour sunbathing before the black clouds over the mountains won the battle with the blue skies over the sea and it started to rain. It got progressively worse and by mid afternoon we were treated to a major tropical downpour with dramatic claps of thunder. The gardens of Phukhaolak were soon awash and the gardener who a short time earlier had been cutting the grass had to run for cover.
It was still very damp when I set out for the market. I was looking forward to the walk and luckily it stayed dry for the rest of the evening. I already needed new flip-flops and so that was my main purchase at the market. I stopped off for a mango shake (although with Blah Blah Bar no longer there it just wasn't the same) and then walked down into Bang Niang to eat. It was still very damp and so eating by the sea didn't seem like a good idea. So I revisited another of my favourite haunts Rabeang Restaurant. I had squid with roasted chillies. It was very good and surprisingly cheap.
After dinner I explored Bang Niang a little more to see what had changed. There was a brand new upmarket hotel at the south end of the beach. I had a nosey around, a walk along the beach and then got a taxi back to Khao Lak to finish Saturday night at Sakai Bar which was packed with Germans watching football.
Sunday was a wonderfully relaxing day. After a late breakfast at the German cafe I decided to make the most of the deserted pool at Phukhaolak. Very soon it would be crowded and the sunbeds at a premium. Today I had it entirely to myself all day. It stayed dry with some hazy sunshine - perfect for sunbathing - and I ventured no further than the restaurant for some lovely pad siew noodles with prawns at lunchtime. I was reading The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which I was finding highly entertaining and all in all I can’t think of a better way of spending a Sunday in December!
2025-02-16