Weekend at Ampawaa: The Floating Market!

Ampawaa!!!

We had the most amazing weekend!!! During a conversation one day at the office with P’Jamie we found out that she was going with a group of friends to the floating market in Ampawaa for the Thailand Long Weekend! They were going on Friday and staying overnight and coming home on Saturday! They let us join them and were happy to have us along! I’m so glad because it was so fun meeting them and hanging out with them!!! We wished we could have stayed longer!

the group

We met up with P’Jamie, P’Ying, P’A, P’No and P’Mon at the McDonald’s at Victory Monument around 11:30am and started our epic adventure together! Lol. We started out by getting tickets for a van that would take us to Ampawaa… The first place we went to we would have to wait until 2:30pm for a van so Jamie and a few others went to look for a van at another place that might leave sooner than that. We bought tickets and met up with Jamie, A and No… It’s so sweet how the guys offered to carry all the girls bags and kept looking behind them to make sure we were still following and not lost. Haha. We still had to wait for the van at the other place… they were on van number 13 (sip-sam) when we bought the tickets and our van was number 21 (ye-sip-et) so we waited on some steps for a bit and then we went into the mall to wait there for a bit as well… Janna, Jamie and I decided to look around the mall for a bit… Jamie got a phone call from Ying that the vans were on van number 19! So Jamie, Janna and I ran through the mall, down the escalator and to the group as fast as we could! So funny but so exciting and memorable! We got to the van holding area and still had awhile to wait… We didn’t really need to rush but it was still funny that we did! We ended up getting on the van around 3pm! We were finally on our way!!! Hooray!

My team: P'A, P'Jamie and Me!!!

When we got to Ampawaa we put our stuff in the group’s room and went to start our game and eat. We split into two teams and had a SCAVENGER HUNT!!! So fun!  Jamie, A and I on one team; Janna, Ying, Mon and No on the other! It was the first time me and Janna have been separated since we got here! Ding dong! (that means CRAZY in Thai! Legit!) It was a little bit difficult because I can’t read the thai signs but it was still super fun and I even FOUND some of the shops (we had this booklet of pictures that Ying had found on the internet of shops we needed to find) We had a certain amount of money and we were supposed to try different things from the shops when we found them. So I tried some different things… like squid eggs and yellow bean something on a stick and pork balls on a stick… And I don’t really know what else haha. We had pad thai for dinner and it was so good! Different than the pad thai I’ve had in Bangkok! And coconut water was only 10 baht!!! (at home it is 30 baht) So cheap! And yummy!

This is IM who I saw!

During the scavenger hunt I saw people I know!!! I was coming off this VERY VERY crowded bridge! (It was SO BUSY because it was a Thailand holiday) Literally like you are slowly move baby steps at a time while trying not to lose the people that you are with because it’s like a sea of people. Anyways, I was coming off this bridge and I heard someone call my name! I thought it was someone from the other team because who would I know in Ampawaa?? I’m not even in Bangkok to see someone I recognize you know? And Samantha is NOT a Thai name :P. But when I looked over, it was IM!!!  (I met Im on my last missions trip to Thailand and he was Ashley and my translator for a very memorable conversation with two boys named Arcoon and Doon) So crazy that he was there on the same day as me! Maybe Thailand is a small country (small world) after all!!! Later, we saw ANOTHER person that we know while on our scavenger hunt. It was Matt and his Arkansa team, walking towards us, saying “Hey people I know!” LOL… We see him a fair amount in Bangkok but it was funny to run into him here at Ampawaa (2 hours away from Bangkok)! Oh… so interesting how small the world is! I feel like Tanya would say something like, Samantha you really know EVERYBODY!!! Haha. (Even when I’m across the world)

On the boat to see the fireflies!

After the scavenger hunt we met up with the rest of the group for a boat ride! We were going to see the FIREFLIES!!! Such a great ride! I felt like I was in Tarzan or something! Every time we came up to a bush/tree with fireflies in it I wanted to “ooh and aww” everytime! Haha! It was breathtaking! The wind in my hair, water from the river and twinkling fireflies in the night! So amazing! God’s beauty and creation and just nature! The trees looked like they had little blinking Christmas lights on them! We couldn’t take pictures because it would scare the fireflies away! But I don’t think I would have gotten a very good picture on my camera anyways! It was so pretty tho!

our cottage/cabin

The view

After the boat ride we went back to our “resort” they had booked for us… lol. We would have totally stayed with them in the homestay they had gotten but there was no more room for us! But our cabin/cottage-looking place was SO NICE!!! Janna and I wished we could have stayed there longer than just to sleep… It was right on the water with a cute little porch! And the bed was so comfy! We slept well that night!

worship time

In the morning we got a ride back to the floating market and we had some worship time with the group! It was awesome because EVERY song was one that we recognized and could sing along to… We may have not known all the words but they were English songs… I even played the shaker! ;) Funny funny! And a couple of the songs they asked me to start singing… so kinda lead (vocally).

teaching us some skills ;)

We walked around the floating market a bit more, took some more pictures and then went to get tickets for a van back home. While we were waiting for the van we looked around this little gift shop of sorts… And then No pulled out his guitar and he started teaching us a little bit! We are hoping he can teach us some more another time! Super excited for that!  And Natti takes voice lessons on Tuesdays… she said I could join. So how cool would that be? Voice lessons AND guitars lessons IN THAILAND!!! (I really hope! *crossfingers* haha)

All in all, it was a GREAT WEEKEND!!! So much fun! Nice to have a change of scenery and change of pace from DRIME work! And nice to have made some new friends! We were very very very tired tho! But so worth it!!! :)

<3 Our new friends!!! <3