Thailand Tour 2024
This was the first time we had been to Thailand for our cultural trip abroad. We were expecting hot weather, but the daily temperatures exceeded our expectations, reaching 49 degrees at one point. We visited many of the famous temples at Wat Arun, The Grand Palace and Ayatthuya in and around Bangkok taking in the wide range of cultures found in this fantastic country.
Leaving Bangkok in the middle of the week, we headed up to Chiang Mai by overnight train. This was a real experience for the students and staff alike. We were in one of the sleeper cars, leaving Ayatthuya just after 9pm, arriving at Chiang Mai at 8:30am. The train was rickety and pretty much rocked you to sleep.
The highlight in Chiang Mai was a visit to an elephant sanctuary in Chang Chill. They have four elephants, and unlike other tourist attractions, they do not let you touch or have rides on the elephants. They are trying to rehabilitate their elephants into living as normal a life as possible and explained how they had previously had hard lives entertaining tourists. We were able to get really close to the elephants, watching them in their natural habitat as well as when they were feeding.
There were many memorable sites and I know the boys particularly enjoyed shopping in the night markets in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. They were exceptionally well behaved and were all a credit to the school and themselves.
Mr Loughney
