Nakhon Si Thammarat

I have to admit, when I saw the schedule I thought today was going to be exhausting, but I feel exhilarated right now! When I think back at all the fun we had today it is staggering!

The day started early, with a 5:30am meeting time in the lobby of the Hotel Montien, our home away from home in Bangkok. From there, we boarded the bus and zipped off to the airport to catch our flight to southern Thailand. Specifically, we were headed to Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Upon landing, we were greeted at the airport by members of the University, who provided us with an enormous bouquet of flowers. By 9:30am we were climbing into the biggest, tallest bus I’ve ever seen. It is tall enough for me to fully stand on both of its levels. This extraordinary bus took us to each of the following locations, to participate in each of the following activities.

Wat Mahathat: This Wat dates back to the time of Ayutthaya. Some of the Buddha statues we saw were over 600 years old. The Wat is very beautiful and different from many of the other sites I’ve seen in Thailand, in that everything was much closer together. While there, our group had the opportunity to wrap one of the Stupas with giant yellow fabric, a tradition at this Wat.

The Shadow Puppet Museum: Our next stop was to the shadow puppet museum created by Suchart Subsin, one of Thailand’s expert shadow puppeteers. Ms. Subsin, who is currently 73 years old, performed with his shadow puppets for our group. The puppets are cut from leather, punched with holes, and creatively dyed. When light shines behind them, they let beautiful shadows to hit the screen and allow the puppeteer the opportunity to act out stories. It was great fun to see what a show looks like, how the puppets are made, and to learn more about the history of shadow puppets. In addition, I was stunned to see a matching homemade swing to the one my grandpa made for the cabin years ago. In fact, the puppeteer reminded me of my grandpa, and I bet they would have built some great stuff if they had met!

Kiriwong Village: The bus then made its way through winding, hilly paths to get to the Kiriwong Village, a small village surrounded by the mountains and located in the trees. Several years ago the people of Kiriwong were devastated due to a mudslide. A nonprofit organization helped them come up with a way they could help themselves, by creating natural dyes out the fruits, leaves, and bark that already exists in the area. Then, they use the dyes in the process of making interesting tie-dyed products, which are both sustainable and beautiful. We had the chance to make our own—although, mine did not turn out that great. I was not feeling too bad until I saw P’Poon’s, which turned out perfectly! In the village I also ate some yummy mangosteen jam candy, which is good stuff!

Nakhon Si Thammarant Kajahat University: The people at the University treated us like royalty. They literally through flower petals into onto the ground as we walked in, just like in the movie Coming to America. Then, they provided us with an incredibly warm official welcome by the president of the university. Students performed incredible dance numbers, including one in which the dancers were dressed like birds and participated in a mock cock fight. Following the performances, we ate another spectacular meal.

Overall, we have only been in Nakhon Si Thammarat for about 13 hours, and I am already sad think we are leaving tomorrow.