Happy Constitution Day!

Last week was an odd one, we had no class on Monday for His Majesty The King's birthday - a very, very big deal in Thailand!  Then, Tuesday to Thursday, I had no class with my M.3's because they were all away at Scout Camp - also seemingly a very big deal in Thailand.  Friday we had yet another public holiday, Constitution Day, where Thai people show gratitude to the monarchy for allowing them to take part in governing the country - fun fact: Thailand has had 17 constitutions and charters since absolute monarchy was overthrown on December 10, 1932. (Thank you, Wikipedia.)  To mark the holiday, I took off for Kanchanaburi and its mountains and waterfalls to meet up with some fellow CIEE teachers.

Friday evening once we all arrived we walked around town, checked out some of the markets and took in the World War 2 and Jeath War Museum near the Bridge over the River Kwai.  The museum was basically a collection or random artifacts, rusty armour, bizarre sculptures and a Kimodo dragon out front to add a little excitement.  It was certainly not your typical war museum.  

The next morning half of the group took off for Erawan Falls, which I've already hiked, so Nell and I planned on hitting up the Hin Dat Hot Springs instead, but when we got to the bus station we realized that due to the lack of planning on our part we wouldn't have much time to enjoy the springs since they were a 3 hour bus ride from town.  After staring at a map of the province for a bit we decided to check out Sai Yok Noi Waterfall in Sai Yok National Park.  Once we arrived we quickly realized we were garnering as much attention as the waterfalls as several tourists pointed their cameras at us rather than the falls, I guess Sai Yok is more popular with Thai travelers than tour groups, they were excited to see song farangs! (2 white people!)  The waterfall was not huge but impressive nonetheless and the surrounding area was very beautiful.  We followed signs around the park to a bat cave, but they really just led us into an open field with a Thai mountain man and his cattle.  We did eventually stumble upon the entrance to the bat cave that required kerosene lamps, but since we were the only people there, and the Park Ranger was passed out and snoring in his stand, we decided to save that adventure for another day.  We made it back to town that night and grabbed dinner and drinks with our friends before calling it a day to head back to the Soup early the next morning.  

Now I'm back in the Soup and back to teaching, in the past 2 days Suphanburi has decided to become an unofficial sauna, every time I walk outside I feel like I'm getting a steam-bath, so much for that "cool season." Apparently, it's over and hot season is rolling in - I hope I survive!