Weekend at Ajarnyai's

Over the weekend my twelve American colleagues and I were invited to the home of our school's headmistress in the country outside of Kanchanaburi. Ajarnyai (that's what we call her; it means "head teacher") arranged the whole weekend for us.

We left directly from school. Instead of our normal vans, the school had arranged what we call the "leather vans" to take us (because of their interiors). It's only about a three hour drive from Bangkok, but we got to spread out and get comfortable.

our headmistress' home

We got to Kanchanaburi as it was getting dark, but the home is about fourty-five minutes out of town in the country. Ajarnyai 's beautiful weekend home sits on some land overlooking the River Kwai. It was too dark to look around after dinner, but I was up early the next morning, and got to take a walk around the grounds before breakfast was served at 7.

After tea and Thai-style rice porridge, we were taken to the infamous River Kwai Bridge on the Burmese "Death Railway." I've already written a little about this.

River Kwai Bridge

We couldn't stay too long at the bridge. Ajarnyai had arranged a Thai lunch complete with dtom-yum soup (traditional hot and sour shrimp soup) for us outside by the Erawan Waterfall. 

Erawan Waterfall

the fourth tier at Erawan

Then it was back in the vans for another stop and a hike down the Huay Mae Khamin, which locals insist is the superior waterfall. At the national park you enter from the top of the mountain and can hike down a pretty gentle series of trails following the waterfalls to the bottom. Ajarnyai, the assistant headmistress, and a part-time English professor who teaches in our office met us at the bottom. They are in their late 70's, and aren't so much into hiking!

Huay Mae Khamin Waterfall

They are however into shopping. After the waterfalls they insisted on taking us to Ajarnyai's favorite jewelry shop. Most of the girls bought something. When the shopkeepers saw who we were with, they offered pretty generous discounts!

Back at the house, Ajarnyai served us another traditional Thai dinner after we had some time to walk around. The assistant headmistress has a house about a five-minute walk away from Ajarnyai's place. We got the chance to see her home too. It's built in the traditional Thai style, much like the Thompson House. In fact, the home itself is over one hundred years old, and she had it moved piece by piece from Ayutthaya! 

our assistant headmistress' house - they film Thai dramas here!

Before dinner, I sat by the river for a while. The River Kwai (pronounced "Kwae"- it means "tributary") flows north to south near the Burmese boarder. Ajarnyai's home sits on the eastern banks, and offers an unreal view of the sun setting in the west.

The River Kwai at sunset

This morning I was up early again. While the girls were all getting ready, Ajarnyai invited me to join her for a walk through her orchards. She had served fresh fruit with each meal, and showed me the different trees where it was grown. She had papaya, mango, star fruit, mulberries, and probably lots of other fruits as well.

I think we all feel really honored that such an important person from the school was so kind and hospitable to us.