The general diary for general things.: back to GMT +8

I miss Chiangmai. I miss the lovely Thai and Shan people. And the new friends that I had to leave behind. I miss the chilly non-humid weather. I miss waking up every morning and having breakfast with THE most spectacular view!

I learned the importance of cleaning my lenses only AFTER this trip.

I was absolutely miserable at first - with the teachers giving me a hard time and having nobody my age to talk to. But luckily the first hotel we stayed in in the city had wireless in every room. Still, I was bored.

2nd day we left the city and drove up north to the Maekok River Village Resort, stopping by the Chiangdao Caves.

It was pretty spectacular. If I wasn't always on the move i'd have taken much better photos of the place. The caves are pitch black with random 20m drops and tunnels you have to get on your hands and knees to get through. So ladies with kerosene lamps take us around. Only problem is that if she moves too far ahead.... You lose the only source of light and suddenly you can't see where you're placing your feet.

After what felt like an hour of navigating, crawling and falling all over the place, we finally made our way to the MRVR.

The location is breathtaking, surrounded by mountains and along the Maekok river. Thaton is the nearest town but there isn't much to do. The teachers refused to let the kids shop either, so they relied on 3 hilltribe ladies who set up shop next to the resort every day and fleece the students for all they're worth.

The resort is divided into two parts. The actual resort area and the student centre. The resort consists of many private villas, all of which have the view of the mountains and river. They have their own pool and restaurant, and the students are not allowed in those areas.

The student centre consists of dormitories, each with 6 beds, 2 toilets and air con. They've got their own pool and restaurant, as well as a volleyball court, ping pong tables, a basketball court cum assault course cum archery range, and teachers stay in their own lovely rooms on the 2nd floor. They've also got a Bamboo Club, a place that sells snacks and drinks, has a twister mat painted onto the floor and a pool table, to prevent kids from wandering out of the resort at night especially because it gets too dark and quite dangerous.

My cosy little room -

The resort villas look like chalets, but the interior's much much nicer.

After lunch at the resort, the Geog instructor from the UK, Rhys, tells us we have a mountain hike afterwards. He was too quiet. So it was difficult to try and be his friend at first. Haha.

So we boarded Song Taews (something like a Thai taxi, but more fun) that drove us up the mountain, but afterwards we had to hike down. The view from the top looked like something out of Madagascar... Or Tarzan.