project chiangmai(: 08 ( continued )
Sunday, June 1, 2008 @ 11:48 AM
DAY 4:
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Went up a mountain to get to the Maetho Karen Village. GOSH. 5 hour journey..in a very nice van. But VERY uncomfortable..Cause, 4girls had to squeeze at the back. And all of us couldnt sleep cause it was too uncomfortable to. However, knowing me, I did sleep! For like...1/2 the journey? ahahaha! The whole journey there was fun. Everyone kept singing non stop and taking UNGLAM PHOTOS! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! ( sounds familiar eh team cat? )( wheres the websites ah? )
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Reached there at about, 1 pm, and had our FIRST lunch there. Everyone unknowing just followed the guide DOWN the very very very steep hill or slope thingy. Whats worse is that we realised that there was like..faeces (shit) everywhere.. And most of us couldn't really breathed as the mountain air there was really thin. So there we were, gasping for air. We finally reached something like a log cabin, which was the pastor's/doctor's house. It was really amazing that they actually built the whole thing, including all the carved furniture, all in just 2 to 3 years. The food there was really really good, although everyone looked a little queasy about sitting on the ground crawling with ants..But, REALLY, surprisingly, the food was really really good. I think it must be because they cooked it with firewood. (:
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Now, the tough part. After going down the steep steep hill, we all had to climb UP the steep steep hill. ARGH. Seriously, the first time I climbed up, I really felt like stopping half way and don't move anymore. I really couldn't breathe at all and my legs were really aching. HOWEVER! After a few times up and down the hill for every meal, Me and estee eventually got good and fast enough to beat the NCC PPL! MUAHAHAHAHAHHA!(: On the way up, I saw puppies that looked exactly like polar bears! I know it sounds weird but SERIOUSLY! They really looked like polar bears, so cute la!! aAAHAH!
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Hopped on the van and we reached our own log cabin. The view there was seriously to die for. All the mountain ranges there was like woah. Hence, after immediately throwing my bag into the cabin,I ran out and stood like, singing the sound of music AHAHAHAHAH!!!! Although the very very bad part was that the whole place was swarming with HUGE bugs at night..eeyer.
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After that, we sat on a pick up truck and off we went exploring the 7 villages there. The roads like extremely steep! Sorry jia xun that I had to constantly hold on to your jeans, and daniel for constantly falling onto you. EH Also, not my fault cause olivia kept falling on me ok! Sorry eileen for you know what ( cough cough )AHAHAHAH! The whole journey was almost identical to a roller coaster ride, only much more dangerous, cause right, If you look over to the side of the truck, you will be able to see the whole mountain ranges down..and its was like..the whole truck would anytime just fall over and we will all die! SUPER SCARY! WE were literally driving long the side of a mountain, EH its MOUNTAIN ah, not hill.
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The villages there were like, ok, its just really amazing that therewre people living in such a harsh living condition. With droughts that last for like 6? 7? months. There was only ONE school that runs like 4 days a month and 7 villages share one school. The distance they have to travel is simply unbelievable. Like, I already had said, the whole terrain there is extremely steep and winding. Imagine us having to WALK, when everyone was already almost dying in the pickup truck ( bumpy roads + mud + steep slopes = painful butts and dirty shirts and everyone holding on to each other) The villages are didnt have toilets, so means, more then half the time I was walking in....erm... yea..you get the picture?
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I am not sure whether when this happened but I am sure it was on this day. We had to unload all our logistics plus 100kg of rice and the very very heavy blankets and mosquito nets on to this church made of wood at the top on this hill. It was so tiring to do that and whats more it was located on this hill and there wasnt really any steps..
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Things happened at night but i shant elaborate as usual. Too scary to..
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Day 5
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Gave out the goodies to the villagers. That really gave me a great sense of satisfaction cause, they were all so happy and smiling and their faces were really brighten up when they saw the things that we were going to give them. The preformance of peng you before that made me really really happy cause when we were all singing, all their faces were unlighten of their upcoming burdens. It was truly a wonderful feeling and I would love to do it again.
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AHAHAHHAHAHAH! I remembered that we did our tribal dance on this day!! BI LI PAN JA! BI PAN JA!
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DAY 6:
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Left for regufee camp next to the thai/ myanmar border. It was quite sad to ljust look across the river and think that the myanmar people there are all suffering. The whole village there was better than I expected it to be. But still, it was quite sad to know that most of them there have not much of a future unless someone does something soon.
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DAY 7:
REfer to photos. ( a picture is worth a thousand words.)