Hitler has only got one ball

This bloke saw us coming along the bridge and started playing Waltzing Matilda- he then launched into a hearty rendition of Hitler has only got one ball.

Bridge on the River Kwai

Foray into Burma

about a metre in at the Three Pagoda Pass. Good to see this after reading Miracle on the River Kwai. There were 200 000 Asian labourers used on the Thai- Burma railway- 80 000 died- 13000 Australian prisoners of war- at least 2000 died.

Breakfast

Eating sticky rice out of the bamboo it was cooked in.

last morning photo

(I'm in the middle)

Takwa

Dee's brother performing an original composition. Will have to try and get the words at some stage- sounded very amusing the bit Dee translated for us.

On the catwalk

On the final night concert- we had some very adept models strutting their stuff.

Coconut shot put

A few of our coconuts were a bit off- and one was particularly off- very rank.

More Steeplechase

Steeplechase

The heart is willing and the steed large

Obama displaying the sort of spirit typical of the Sangkla Buri Olympics.
He managed to stay on mostly- but one of his fellow competitors had a solid prang.

Sangkla Buri Olympics

Wheel Barrow Race

Painting demonstration

This was a very popular activity.

Raft racing

Dinner

Neighbours dogs beware- I think we ate two or three in our time here.

Raft making

With banana trunks, bits of bamboo and string. They worked very efficiently.

Mita

Found abandoned in the forest with her brother Du Pro.

Think they fitted more in this time

Off to the river- much excitement.

Du Pro in all his glory

If you wear it confidently, you can pull it off

Room to grow

Spoils from the shipping container- a running joke among Dee's staff that they are all clothed from the container.

Sangkla Buri Soccer

First mornings activity. Four teams - La, Panda, Pe Dare and one we pronounced even less right than most things. Kept them in these four teams for the week- many very competitive kids.

Markets at Sangkla Buri

Were still flapping around on the table. Feeding 40 kids and staff and family is a fair logistical effort.

People mover

Kids arriving for the camp in the back of the ute from Dee's brother and sister in law's place down the road. Quite impressive how many people they can get into these things.

the joy of the find

This is in a warehouse at Kanchanaburi. Dee was given a shipping container of free stuff from Norway- ended up having to pay a bit to get it through the ports. Think Kyle is displaying that wild norse joy at finding a treasure.

Preaching back in Bangkok

Bit of a classic this process. You speak a sentence and then Dee translates- so you have no real idea what the audience is getting as it's one step removed. It can give you time to think about what you are going to say- as well as time to forget what you were going to say. This is at the Dee's church we're she is the Pastor- Touchstone Church.

Chief Hoarder at work

BBQ Night

There was a lot of food this night. Great fun roasting bits of meat over these pans. Some of the kids hoarded up prawns, meat and the bevy of pretend meat products they have over here, in plastic bags for later. Don't know how the prawns would have gone in this climate after a few days.

Good camp food

Gets cold in the hills

Bamboo dance

In traditional Karen dress

Swimming in the rain

Really belted down for some of this swim- kids loved it.

Production line

Whip the kids through pretty quickly- Even quicker than the $5 haircuts I used to get somewhere around George St in Sydney. After Dee's brother Surgay had finished with the kids he started on me. The effect was pretty similar to the $5 George St cuts- He shaved the bottom half of my head close to down to the skin and left everything on top- like a reverse tonsure. Pretty unique- have seen no one else in Thailand with this cut.

Spot Kyle

Bit hard to see because everyone's wearing red- but Kyle's sort of close to the middle with the sunglasses on her head.

Our sleeping chambers

The fun of dropping the sleeping bag liner

Kyle taught the kids a number of games which they enjoyed muchly. Here they are playing the drop the sleeping bag liner and find a place in the circle game.

Singing

Carnation is on the left. Because many of the kids come to Dee as babies she has named many of them- there is also Coffee, Milo, Chocolate, Du pro (a milk brand), Ice Cream and Coco.
The kids love to sing. They have devotions in the morning and night and belt out a number of songs. Usually with their eyes closed- very unaffectedly. It's a pleasure to hear.

Bleh Tu, Dee and Kyle

Bleh Tu has been labelled the black skidmore- His hair is died a bit lighter and his accent is faintly reminiscint of an Australian accent. (- although he can be understood when he speaks- we say what we think is Karen for something, and often get blank stares- in Vietnam, locals we talked to told us British and Americans were a lot easier for them to understand than Australians).

The house that Dee built...

(and her brothers). This is a pretty amazing story. Two to three years ago Dee overheard that a baby was going to be sold for 750 Baht- about $25, so she bought her. Today there are 40 kids living in two homes near Sangkla Buri, a town near the Burmese Border. It was going to cost a million baht if they had builders build this house, so Dee, her brother and cousin got on the net and did a bit of research and built it for about a third of that. It has a distinctly un Thai look as you drive in and see it over rice fields with a rubber plantation behind- more like a swiss or English dwelling.

Farewelling the Blue Fancy

Last day in Hanoi. Couldn't find anyone who wanted to buy the Blue Fancy, so we gave it to one of the young fellas who worked at the guesthouse. He seemed to display the right awe and gravitas at the situation. Sad to part.

Suspension bridge puncture

There are many of these over rivers- thought we'd cycle over one- it looked like people were yabbying (probably a freshwater shellfish) below. Kyle got a puncture coming down the other side. Did not take long til we had a crowd enjyoying our repair efforts and a 'helpful' local taking whatever nut or tool you had in your hand and having a go himself. By the end of the process we had 13 onlookers. Our helpful friend tried to buy Kyle's wrench off us.
Very noticeable that there are not many areas here we're people are not. Every bit of arable land is cultivated- and many of the steep hills.
The repair meant we had to do the last 2 hours or so of the day in the dark. Most peaceful part of the ride so far. Normally people are yelling hello or staring at us as we ride by- but at night we passed through with a degree of anonymity.

Topeak 16

Using Tim Schloss's incredible topeak 16 tool (16 tool in one) to do field repairs to the Blue Fancy and keep the handle bars facing the direction of the road instead of off into a hazy rice paddy.

Close call

Ba Be lake

On our guide and hotelier Ling's boat.

Doesn't get much more fanciful than this

Other side of Ba Be

Bac Kan province

Downtown Na Phac

Blue Fancy service

Heading out of town I was pretty keen to find one of these blokes (they are in most towns). Didn't really have any brakes, and when I had gone to pump one of the tyres up in Hanoi, it had a different valve system, and I completely deflated the tyre.
He replaced the back disc brake set up all these bikes have, put on new front pads, replaced the tubes so they'd work with my pump, straightened one of the cranks and secured my wayward front basket. All for 100 000 dong- that's good bang for your dong. He worked fast and fluidly.
We also bought 4 ockee straps to tie our packs onto the back racks- much kinder on your butt than our last effort on bikes we're we carried 85 litre packs on our backs.

The Blue Fancy and Du Lich Party Cruiser

Hired the second bike for the week at $3 a day. Caught a bus that would take the bikes. A mini bus that was going to where we wanted to go further north wouldn't take us. At the next bus terminal, the conductor had no such qualms- he shoved one bike in the back with a box of chickens and the tied the other to the roof. It all happens very fast- the Vietnamese don't muck around.

Freezer box

This hotel room was a classic- we'd said no to a more expensive option ($15-18 a night). So they took us round the corner to the $10 a night option. It was like they had just plonked a freezer box on the roof of the hotel and put a bed in. We were very taken with it- reminded me of a George Macdonald book where the main character stayed in a garret. Had good views of roofs.