Boon slept over on the first night before taking a lift , with some of the village ladies who go to work in a clothes factory,into Nan the next morning.

It had been an early start to the day, 5.30am. Such is life in the village that rises with the sun. After breakfast of chicken, rice and spinach with our eldest boys family and saying goodbye to Boon I disappeared back to bed for a while.

Once refreshed enough to wake up properly my first morning included a walk around the village and over to the local primary school with Sam and his younger brother who has now joined Sam at Stratton House for the new school year.

I also found time for reading the Buddhist books I had taken with me and to sit and play my flute.

After lunch, more chicken, spinach and this time with omelette and rice meditation and reading took up the majority of my day with the evening spent doing my best to chat with Sams family in the evening before going to bed at 9pm.

Those who know me, know of my feeling that having come to Thailand, I had “come home”. My Buddhist beliefs lead me to consider the possibility of re-incarnation and I am more and more convinced that I have indeed “come home”.

And now I wonder if this visit is another stage of discovery of my distant roots.

After a busy year running a childrens home in Chiang Mai I was in much need of a good rest. During the Songkran period I had determined to give the children 3 weeks with their families and for myself to find somewhere to relax and think of nothing.

I had thought of trying to find a Temple somewhere and asking to stay but as it happened I was invited to stay in one of the Mountain villages that one our children comes from.

This is the first part of the story of a perfect retreat for me.

Having taken the truck for testing and new Tax Disc the day before we left Chiang Mai at around 5pm , (myself, assistant Somboon and 6 children), setting off on the long drive to Nan Province.

After doing this drive in the day time last year I decided the cool of night time would be much easier.

Making several rest stops on the way we reached Nan bus station at just past 4.30.

Last years journey took 7 hours so you can see we took our time this year.

Leaving the bus station at just after 6 am we then had to travel to a couple of different villages to drop the children off with their familes.

First it was our two eldest girls at their hilltribe village.

It was good to see that the long dirt track to their village is now a tarmacked road.

Last years drive led to a broken suspension soon after.

As you can see from the photos most of the houses are basic bamboo houses with the floors being the earth that the house is built on.

As in many such villages many of these small houses accommodate extended families in very cramped conditions.

Another half an hours drive took us to where we dropped off Nu, Som and Tai.

With just the eldest boy left we first headed back to Nan City in order to sort out Boons bus ticket back to Chiang Mai where he would be taking care of the home and our 5 dogs.

We had a much needed breakfast stop on the way and then after sorting the ticket it was another hour and fifty minutes drive to our final destination, a very isolated Mountain Moobahn.

Nestled amongst the tips of a group of mountains, well off the tourist trail, it was the perfect place for my holiday.

Still there was some early interest factor to the trip as we headed into the city via the River road from Sarapee. The recent heavy rains continue to turn the River Ping into a swirling brown torrent that clearly has its benefits for the people who live along its banks.

At a bend in the river we spotted some fishermen and ladies using nets on long bamboo, close to a canal outlet into the river.

When I stopped to take photos one of the men eagerly pointed me towards a huge fish, caught earlier, being held on the end of a rope.

Later, just before we took Coffee at Vittoria Coffee, opposite Wiang Kum Kam, Ally took me to the riverside at a weir point, where we saw the full force of the river in action.

We also came across a group of chickens;

including this stylish fellow.

Part of the work day included a trip To Wararot Market area, on a search for collection boxes. Our search didn’t find what I was looking for but its always fun to visit Wararot, so many different stores, so much colour and atmosphere.

After visiting many different places I counted the day as a success having acquired 4 new sites for our collection boxes and having had our first offer of monthly sponsorship by a prominent local company. More details will appear soon on The Stratton ABC Foundation website once all the boxes are located and sponsorship details finalised.

The coming of the rains also bring out all the bugs, including the notorius Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti mosquito, which bites all day long. This mosquito can be the carrier of dengue fever, a flu like disease which kills hundreds every year.

There is no preventative apart from not getting bitten, and once contracted, the only treatment for Dengue fever is rest, fluids, and paracetemol to control fever. if the patient does not fight of the fever themselves the only chance for recovery is a complete blood transfusion as Dengue destroys the blood.

Being an annual danger the authorities do their best to inform people of the dangers, advising that people make sure they do not have standing water nearby, where the mosquitos will breed. They also activate teams to go to peoples homes and spray with mosquito killing gas.

This weekend it was the turn of our village and on Saturday morning our whole Childrens Home compound , including indoors got a good gassing.

Having been very busy ensuring registration for the Foundation I had been unable to give the thaischoolsenglish project any time over recent months. Now as I consolidate my daily routine I hope to resume my assistance with this worthwhile project.

In return Khruu Khem has agreed to be a regular visitor to the home, by way of offering some independant monitoring of our work.

She will come to visit the Childrens Home and be able to speak freely with the children on all aspects of their life here at Stratton House.

First of it was to the Fuji photoshop on Moon muang Rd, close to Johns Place(nothing to do with me), where I had four photos done, (4.5 x 5.6-i think). The proprietor is aware of the correct size needed if you tell him its for a work permit. The whole process takes about 15 minutes and cost 100 baht.

From there I went to Chiang Mai Ram Hospital on Arak Rd, for a health certificate and blood test for syphillis. This is where things went a bit askewd. I needed to produce my passport, which i thought I had taken. Unfortunately I had taken the empty cover! So it looks like I need to go back tomorrow.

After that hiccup I popped into Kad Suan kaow Shopping Plaza to pick up the  reading glasses that I ordered last week.

I can highly recommend the ” Beautiful Optical” shop, on the ground floor of the Plaza. close to the Bangkok Bank.

They have a wide range of frames and lenses to suit all pockets. There is a free eye test, using computerised scanning equipment to assess your precise needs, and the service is very friendly.

After a brief session of window shopping it was back home to get on with website work.

In an attempt to support, encourage and promote English language learning and use, within the surrounding communities, we have set up a new website, http://www.thaischoolsenglish.org. Through this site we are setting up individual sites for any local schools who wish to participate.

Already we have started sites for Huay Sai School and Pasak School, Lamphun. Its early days and we are still working on the sites. Eventually both teachers and students will be able to post on the sites. There will be links to useful English language learning sites as well as videos and exercises produced by the myself, Khruu Khemtong and other participating parties.

I have played the flute for many years now, mostly for my own meditation. On Sunday I woke up in the mood to play a little in my room. Suddenly I heard the sound of our congas being played and then the Kan, and then the circular pan pipes. When I went to investigate I found the 3 boys playing a way and making quite an acceptable sound. I was especially pleased to see Jack playing the congas. He was holding a good beat and the other boys were following his lead.

Jack has some problems in many aspects so life so I was so happy to see a natural ability show through and will be doing my best to introduce regular music therapy into his routine.

Unfortunately we had had a few behavourial issues that meant that our original 3 children remained at home with House Mother Wasana.

I’m happy to report that the clear message that the trips out are a reward for good behaviour seems to have worked as things have improved again, with the children keen not to miss out.

As expected the children that did go had a wonderful time.

 We were there for a total of about 5 hours so they had lots of time to enjoy the water and run around and play inbetween times.

There was plenty of Kaow Pat in the lunch box as well as snacks and drinks.

Look out for the video link coming soon.

For more photos please visit our photobucket album here.