Yesterday (Sat) was another eventful day, and as usual we didn't even see it coming. Susanne and I went to the morning market for traditional Thai coffee (coffee with sweet condensed milk sitting on the bottom so the white and brown are separated...pretty). We had a few little treats for breakfast. After lunch we were told the director of the school was going to take us to a nearby cave. Well when we got there it wasn't "just a cave." Again the Buddhist monks had converted it into a shrine with many tunnels, Buddhas, colored lights, meditation rooms, etc. I think most of the caves here are converted in a similar manner.

After that we toured the Chinese Buddhist temple on the same site. VERY interesting and colorful. No one was there except the monks and nuns. We asked where the people were and they speculated that the swine flu keeps people away.

We then toured around the district looking at two elementary schools, one with a huge environmental emphasis. The kids plant a garden to raise food for their lunches, have a large pond stocked with fish to learn how to fish (also for their lunches) compost piles, grass plantings to stop erosion, small canals carrying water and an outdoor "classroom" built over the canal. VERY impressive for a primary school.

Later we went to the Malaysian border. Malaysia has a barbed wire wall to keep people out, some places having a double wall with a "no man's land between and tall lookout towers for guards (none there at this time). There were two border checkpoints on the only two roads entering Malaysia in this area. But the town had a very different look to it. There were larger, taller hotels, more western style stores and streets and of course also a lot of street shopping. You could also "shop" for a prostitute for the evening or weekend. It seems many girls from northeast Thailand (poorer) move down for the money, and Malaysian women & other foreigners also. Driving down one of the narrow streets we saw "dance clubs" advertising their wares, and some girls even wore a number for easier selection by the passersby. According to Beam, the local people DO NOT enter that practice, and it is very popular with Malaysian men just across the border. Judging by the amount of Malaysian cars there, I'd say that was probably true. Kind of a "Wisconsin Dells" for adults, sad for the exploitation.

We ended at Waters View. It is a national park that features a wonderful restaurant spread along one of the shorelines with thatched roofs, open seating areas for traditional Thai floor seating or regular tables and chairs (which we chose). It was very nice and unusual. Our DNR wouldn't ever allow it, but guess they too had to sign an agreement to not pollute the lake. The kitchen was on the other side of the lake and the food was delivered by small boats with 5 hp Yamaha outboards. There was at least two others also on the lake, but a different style than this one. The food was of course fabulous and the price again a "steal", six dishes, the ambiance, 7 friends enjoying the evening (about $40). Would have been a nice place to have a cocktail or two, but that doesn't seem to ever happen. maybe it's because we are all school employees and they must uphold their image. And true to the area, we saw quite a few "ladies of the night" their with their "dates." It seems the men "wine and dine" them as part of the evening or weekend ritual.

All in all, a great day, great ending, and one we could not have foreseen at 1:30 that afternoon.