CULP 1 THAILAND 2012: Lopburri and Phitansulok

Greetings from Thailand,

Yesterday, July 1st 2012, the Thailand group and about 20 Thai cadets woke up bright and early in a hotel about an hour from the Sukhotia Historical Park in a city known as Phitsonulok. It was hard to get out of the extremely soft beds that we have grown to appreciate on this trip but at around 7 A.M. and still wiping the sleepiness from our eyes we meandered into the gorgeous dining room full of extravagant Thai delicacies. Students and cadets alike ate food ranging from omelets to cereals to fruits and even some jellies that I do not even know the name of (but they were oh so delicious). By 8 our bus was outside waiting and many of us were not looking forward to another long eight hour bus ride back to the AFAPS campus.

Within less than a half hour into our trip back to the pre cadet school the bus was pulling over and the cadets looked out of the bus to a bustling market. Immediately excitement filled the bus and the kids flooded out of the doors. Cadets had about an hour to look at all the shops and find many Thai foods and original souvenirs. Some of the options being pictures of the Thai royal family, clothes, and one cadet even bought a smiling pig carved of wood. Other cadets looked into the religious temple in the market square and the old ruins that were scattered through the area. As the students entered the temple they removed their shoes out of respect and as soon as you walked in a 25 foot golden statue of buddha was obviously the most prominent object that was in the room. The room was partly smokey from all the burning incense but as you walked around you could look at all the beautiful pictures of Thai history. As we left the market all the cadets were reminded about OPSEC (Operational Security) seeing as there was a young boy selling pictures of us to us that were taken no more than 20 minutes prior. It really makes you think about who is watching you when you did not even know that you picture was being taken.

Soon we left the market and headed back in the general direction of home but soon we stopped at a crocodile farm and learned some Thai history. Legend says that crocodiles of Thailand used to bite people and turn them into "were-crocodiles". It was not until people began to make peace offerings to the crocodiles that the curse was lifted and both people and crocodiles began to co-exist peacefully. The park we toured was beautifully done and had their own crocodile pit and even many different types of Thai fish on display. We then left the park and traveled down the road and took some pictures with a famous crocodile statue.

Once we left the park we were on our way to find some place to eat (It is not so easy when there are 40 of you). We found this restaurant right on the river... literally we ate on a boat haha. They served us many different soups loaded with shrimp and curry. They also served us fresh fish caught that morning and of course many helping of white rice (like with every other meal I have eaten in Thailand). The food never seems to disappoint and we waddled back up towards our bus due to our full stomachs.

After a few short hours many of the cadets were not surprised as we passed through yet another city, that is until someone yelled, "MONKEY!!!". Suddenly the whole bus was on its feet and every single kid had out there cameras ready to snap pictures. Monkeys were riding on cars, running across telephone lines, throwing food out of merchants trucks, and even peeing on unaware travelers below on the street (I'm not proud but I have to admit I chuckled a bit at this). It was very clear to all of us now that we were in Lopburi Thailand, "The City of Monkeys". As the bus came to a halt outside of the ruins located in the center of the city many cadets suddenly became nervous about interacting with the monkeys. As the door opened all the cadets walked outside and as we walked into the fenced off ruins of the "royal monkeys" cadets were shy at first; that is until a monkey broke the ice by jumping onto one of the Thai cadets head looking for bugs in his hair. Soon after cadets began to buy food like corn and sunflower seeds to feed the monkeys and everyone had a few new friends. We walked around, having monkeys jump all over us like we were jungle gyms but nobody seemed to mind, in fact the experience was something I will surely never forget and I'm sure the rest of the group can say the same.

After about an hour with the monkeys however the group was forced to leave to keep to our schedule and we all looked for a restaurant to enjoy a nice Thai dinner. We found a place about two hours from the AFAPS campus and enjoyed one of the nicest meals we have had yet. It was a giant property that had shimmering white statues in the middle of lilly pad filled ponds. Golden fish swam through the ponds and streams that snaked through the garden. Once the food was ready we feasted upon pork, shrimp, soup, and several dished with noodles. All the cadets had really become great friends and the laughter was endless as stories were told from the weekend we all just experienced. Once we finished dinner we left and were soon back at campus, exhausted from a long weekend that went by all too fast for everyone. Before I knew it I was in bed, eager to start a new week with the Thai cadets. As sleep become too much for me to fend off I thought to myself how lucky I am to be experiencing this trip and meat all these great people. I know for sure that this is going to be something close to my heart for the rest of my life.