Thirty seconds after stepping off the bus in Surin Tim and I spotted the first elephant. The city is famous for its elephants so it was not a surprise to see one, I did not expect to see one so quickly though. The elephants are lead through the streets by handlers who try and get bystanders to pay money to feed them. The elephants are trained to take the food out of people’s hands and then bow when the bag is empty. It is cruel for the elephants to be lead around as they are but I was still impressed to see such a large animal walking the streets.
Tim and I were in Surin to catch up with the interns who were working in the city and after spending almost twelve hours on public transport to get there it was great to see some of the guys at the pub near their accommodation. The majority of the interns had begun work as most of the schools were uneffected by the floods although some of the interns still were not placed at schools. Therefore Tim and I went and spent the day with those who did not have jobs as we went to visit a waterfall.
A minivan had been organised to get everyone to the waterfall again though the driver did not know where he was going and probably stopped six or seven times along the drive to get directions. We did arrive at a waterfall, not sure its the when we had set out for or not it was difficult to know. The ten or so of us at the waterfall went exploring up and down the river to try find the best spot. At one point a snake swam past a couple of the crew and they launched out of the water. I looked around to see possibly the worlds smallest snake.
Following the day at the waterfall we began drinking. It was the night of Loi Krathong. One of the biggest festivals in Thailand, I wasn't sure where the events would be taking place and ended up missing out on the best part of the night where Thais send small boats floating down rivers. I was disappointed to miss out on the fun but continued partying and headed out to see what a night out in Surin consisted of.
The Jar Bar was the first stop to listen to some Thai raggae music and a pretty good version of some Bob Marley songs. The night then took us to the club opposite. Thai clubs are full of tables which people stand around and drink. The music is to loud to talk and the tables too close together to dance. As we entered the club the locals all offer you a drink which is usually whisky and soda water. Not the easiest drink to get down but its rude not to accept.
The club was a warm up to Speed 3 the huge club in Surin and a regular spot for the interns. The club is set up the same with tables all over the dance floor and the locals just standing around. The most memorable part of the night was spotting the ugliest looking lady boys I have ever seen, they all came to try dance with the white people but the breasts on a man with a beard are hard to look at.
The following day it was time to sit around a pool. The last week or so for me seemed to go pool, waterfall, beach, beach, pool, waterfall, pool. A pretty easy life in other words. I did leave the poolside for a couple of hours though to check out Surins festival which was in preparation for the elephant festival which was due to take place the following weekend. The festival in Surin seemed to be selling the same things as the one in Chachoengsao with the same show rides and games.
Drinking again and a return to the Jar Bar and Speed 3 was how we spent what became our final night in Surin. It was a Friday night so those who had been teaching for the week were all out drinking. It was great catching up with the friends I had made in Bangkok and hear their stories of teaching.
It was slow movements the following morning and I decided it was time to get back to Chachoengsao to prepare for school. The final day was spent walking the streets of Surin then searching for a couple of hours to find the bus station to book some tickets out of there. The overnight bus to Bangkok was much quicker than the journey there, the bus head reclining seats and gave all passengers food. I was very cold though the whole night as they pump the air condition and set the bus to 19 degrees, much cooler than the outside temperature.
I was back in Chachoengsao early Sunday morning to be ready to go into school on the Monday morning and start school on the Tuesday. Back in Chachoengsao some of the farangs were hosting a BBQ and I went along and met the majority of the farangs in the city including those I would be working with.
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