In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
On Tuesday in the wee hours of the morning, I made my way to school. The fourth, fifth and sixth graders were to go on their end of semester field trip and rather than spend the day sitting at school in an empty classroom len-ing Internet (playing on the Internet), I decided to go with them. This was the quintessential Thai trip.
The Bus Ride
First, the bus was over an hour late, totally running on Thai time, arriving at the school at about 1 a.m. But not to worry, all of the students were super jazzed and not tired at all. One look at the bus and I see it’s a double-decker with all sorts of colored lights in the top part, so I make the immediate decision that I am going to be sitting in the downstairs section. Those lights told me that karaoke was in my future. Didn’t matter though; not even a minute on the road and the music is blasting. I can feel the bass as it vibrates through my entire being. Luckily at some point, there is a reprieve and all the lights and music are turned off, but I don’t know when or for how long.
The next thing I know, it is six hours after we set off and we are at a rest stop to brush our teeth and get some food. It’s a rather uneventful stop, typical Thai cafeteria style with all sorts of Thai snacks for sale as well. I know that I was a subject of curiosity as I heard the whisperings of “farang” (foreigner) from the people not in our group.
First stop: the Zoo
After filling up our bellies, we set off for Khao Kheow Open Zoo. We had a bit of an introduction and the students had a worksheet to complete given by a zoo educator. Then we hopped on the tram for a very quick ride past all the animal areas. All of the students had their cameras, tablets and camera phones at the ready to take pictures of everything as we sped past.
Then we raced through an exhibit hall like place that had some snakes and skeletons and exhibits in Thai. Once again, the students snapped pictures of everything in sight before being herded into the trained animal show. In the show, the most exciting part for the Thai audience was when the presenter was walking backward and tripped over a stump and fell. I was more concerned about if he was alright, but slapstick comedy is held in the highest regard here and everyone was laughing for about 5 minutes straight.
The other unscripted highlight of the show was when a cockatoo decided it didn’t really want to be a part of the show and flew off into the trees. It would occasionally make another appearance, swooping through the show and some trainers would come out to try and coax it back. It eventually came back for some food near the end of the show, but it certainly inspired a mini-revolt among the other animals because there was a couple of times that the other birds and animals didn’t quite obey the commands they were given. After the show, we got back on the bus for some more karaoke as we made our way to an aquarium.
Second Stop: the Aquarium
There were some really interesting fish and marine animals at the Bang Saen Aquarium. However, once again, the students just raced through the place stopping only to take quick pictures of everything and not really enjoying the beauty of watching a manta ray fly through the water or a black tip shark circle its tank. There was also a neat museum upstairs that had quite the interesting taxidermy; I think there were a couple of dried out sharks. There was also a really cool shell collection that I liked. And then once again, we were hopping back onto the bus for some more karaoke on our way to the beach.
Last Stop: the Beach
I’m not sure how long we spent at the beach, maybe an hour or so. I fell asleep in a beach chair. But not before watching how a typical Thai beach outing goes. The students all changed their clothes, not into swim suits, just different clothes and waded into the water, never deeper than chest level. Appropriately though, they don’t call this activity swimming, waai naam, but len naam, or playing in the water, which is what a lot of people in the States do at the beach but we just call it swimming. And we wear swim suits.
Then we boarded the bus once again for, you guessed it, more karaoke and a trip back home. We got back right around midnight. I can’t imagine any field trip in the States that would require over five hours of driving just for what was essentially a day trip. But this is Thailand, and that is not an absurd idea.
curlyadventurer September 27, 2013
Hey, awesome that you got to go to the zoo there, especially with the kids. The wonder of children is always so reassuring in this crazy world. Did you see a tiger across the river yet? 🙂
I am sorry that I have not been following your adventures as avidly lately. I have been ridiculously busy, after driving from the columbia river valley to the mile high city, finding a place to live there and then starting school. Yipes! this has been crazy, I still expect the sky to be obscured by a hazy dark grey, until I am reassured by the deep dark blue of my hometown that I really am here.
Christine September 27, 2013
Yeah! I always like going to the zoo with kids, they are always so amazed by the animals. Still no tiger sighting yet. It’s going to happen though, I can feel it.
So you’ve finished moving, eh? That is exciting in itself! I will want a massage when I get back.
curlyadventurer October 2, 2013
Yeah, i think the tiger thing is possible. Definitely. I will should be up and running by then.
Jay September 27, 2013
Well played.
Christine September 27, 2013
🙂
Idolina Doyka October 2, 2013
Sounds like this was a fun little trip 🙂 Nice shot of that bird! Also, I find it so interesting that they differentiate “swimming” from “playing in the water”, it obviously makes so much more sense this way!
PS- hopefully the postcard I sent will be arriving soon 🙂
Christine October 2, 2013
Thanks, Idolina! I’ll be keeping an eye out for the postcard, too! (: