A Trip to Last for Ages...

This service trip to Chiangmai was an experience of a lifetime. I’ve seen many of my friends go on service trips and the sense of fulfillment they got was something that I’ve wanted to achieve in a long time, and hearing that my friends and I were getting such an opportunity made me feel more than ecstatic.

The journey to Chiangmai was a tiring one. Everyone had to wake up early in the morning to meet up at the budget terminal. The sky was still dark and some of us didn’t even have breakfast. While the teachers in charge were settling all the paperwork for check in, many of us were heading over to the nearby cafeteria to get some food to fill our stomachs for the flight. It was my first time travelling on a budget airline, and I found it to be quite all right even though there were no in-flight services or entertainment, perhaps because I was travelling with friends and the flight was a rather short one.

We were still feeling lethargic even after sleeping on the flight to Chiangmai. Some of us dozed of again after getting into the taxis that were going to bring us to our first stop. As for me, I took the chance to take a look at the countryside. Having stayed in Thailand for quite a while when I was younger, this ride brought back fond memories. Our first stop was a youth lodge that accommodates students going on service trips. We had breakfast there and were introduced to our guides for the trip, several university students and a local teacher. If breakfast at the lodge didn’t wake us up, the ride up the mountains certainly did. Words cannot describe the fun I had riding up the mountains. We had to sit on trucks as the taxis were unable to travel in the rocky roads. Some of us, including me, decided to stand up while we held on the bars. At times we felt as though we were going to get thrown off the truck when it swerved and shook around the corners and bumpy ground. Along with that, we got to appreciate the peaceful ambience and simply wonderful scenery of the mountainside.

After a long but exhilarating trip, we finally had our first glance of where we will be staying and working at for the next couple of days. There weren’t really any surprises. The village was exactly what we were expecting, if not better. What shocked us was that the guys found out that we were switching lodging spots with the girls. We were now assigned to sleep in a little hut next to a pig sty, and being the gentlemen we are, we complied. Not that we had a choice, but some of us did groan a little. We got debriefed and had our first taste of the freezing village night. All of us had to cuddle together, wrapped up in layers of clothes and sleeping bags and still it wasn’t enough to keep us warm. What worried us was that we were going to have to sleep through these conditions for a few more days. To add to that, the chickens were making such a ruckus, we couldn’t get a good night’s rest. As is the weather wasn’t bad enough, they would start to crow at three in the morning.

Many of us were quite reluctant to get out of bed the next day, but somehow we all dragged ourselves out of bed to have breakfast and start work immediately. Our goal was to set up the foundation for the new village school, while some of us would spend time with the children to teach them things that weren’t taught in their class, such as nursery rhymes and the English alphabets. Working out in the sun was a great feeling. I finally get to experience working with concrete at a construction site, which is rather fun. Carrying buckets of wet cement and shoveling gravel and dirt gave the guys a chance to build their muscles. When it was my group’s turn to head down to the children’s classroom, we were filled with joy to see so many happy faces greeting us. We taught them songs and games, some of which they already learned from previous groups, and carried the little ones around. What we did on the rest of the trip was fun, but nothing came close to the joyous times we spent with the kids. Simply making them happy brought warm feelings to our hearts.

Unlike the previous batch of students who came to the village, our whole trip was cut short due to unforeseen circumstances. The dreaded day came when we had to say goodbye to everyone. It’s amazing how time flies when you’re having the time of your life. A moment we’re whining about how uninhabitable the place is, and the next we’re complaining about how the trip is too short. We lit up flying lanterns with our wishes written on them and sent them toward the skies to sum up the whole trip, and thanked our guides and the village for their hospitality. To show their appreciation, the village people held a bonfire for us, while the children put on their traditional costumes to send us off. They even made us one of their local delicacies, a sort of sweet sticky rice stuffed in bamboo shoots and heated against the bonfire. Though we went to bed with jovial yet depressed moods, knowing we will be leaving the next day, we had one thing to look forward to, the trip to the city.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes and thanked the guides and village people again for everything they’ve done. We took the same bumpy ride down the mountains again and had as much fun as the first time, screaming as the trucks swerved around the corners. Once we’ve left the mountainous regions, we headed over to a local market to buy some souvenirs, but of us were eager to leave quickly to arrive at the city earlier. As night fell, we cheered in excitement as we drove into the city, finally making contact with the civilization we know. Everyone scattered the moment we were dismissed from the hotel, raring to spend some cash, shopping for souvenirs. Deprived of our usual junk food, my friends and I decided to head over to Burger King to get some food, after taking a walk along the night market. Fast food never tasted so good. We went on to shop for more things and as our curfew approached, we reluctantly walked back to the hotel. Many of us were unable to sleep due to the lingering excitement in our hearts, but as the clock went pass midnight, we all dozed off one by one.

Nothing much happened on the journey back home. Most of us just reminisced about what happened over the past few days on the plane. As the plane arrived back in Singapore, we hurriedly dragged our luggage out of the plane, desperately wanting to go home and rest. I find myself reminiscing about this trip every minute since I’ve left the hotel. It is something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life, and if I ever get the chance to do it again, I’ll be more than willing to take it, and I’m sure my friends would do the same.