Written by Jamie & Caroline
Sawasdee kha from Panya Forest!
Post orientation, we ventured into our first week at Panya Forest and the Hin Lad Nai hill tribe village. After a warm welcome from Greg and Ramphai, the owners of Panya, we dove into environmental consciousness and community building. We started our days with morning Thai language classes before heading to group activities, including visiting the Wat Thum Si Nil forest temple, getting a massage lesson, swimming, doing a cacao ceremony, painting with natural materials, and more. We also filled our time with discussions on Buddhism, seed saving, permaculture, and the war in Myanmar. During our downtime, we loved walking to the Pun Pun coffee shop for smoothies and fresh chocolate chip cookies, yum. 🙂
On top of our incredible educators Kayla and Malcolm, we have met many wise, passionate, and loving people. This includes all the staff at Panya, the monks at the Buddhist temple, and the leaders at Pun Pun Organic Farm and Earth Home.
After a week at Panya, we headed further into the mountains for our first homestay at Hin Lad Nai village! While we only spent two nights there, we brought back so many stories and memories. We spent this time hiking through the forest, learning about rotational farming, tasting fresh teas and honey, releasing our grief at the grandmother tree, and our favorite, teaching the villagers how to line dance. Our evenings were filled with delicious food made by our host families, and even though we could not share many words with them, we shared lots of smiles and laughter.
We came back to our “home” at Panya and spent our last two days reflecting on what we learned, what inspired us, and how to be more environmentally responsible.
What were three of the top highlights this week?:
Some of the highlights the group has mentioned from this week have been stargazing at night, exploring the forests, and playing/wrestling in the terracotta mud pit, which we used to build natural bricks. But honestly, if you asked any of us, we would say the elephant sanctuary has been the best part. After hiking through the forest with the elephants, we arrived at a river to swim, bathe, and play alongside them. Who knew elephants were so silly!
What is something you or the group is challenged by this week?:
As we dive deeper into the program we have had the wonderful chance to take bigger steps out of our comfort zones! We have challenged our brains to think more deeply about the world around us and our places in it through conversations on climate change, the civil war in Myanmar, consumerism, Thai culture, and how to keep ants out of our beds while we sleep! Despite these challenges our group has faced we have approached them with an open and curious mind, knowing they will lead to growth and a more understanding point of view.
🌎 What are you most grateful for this week?:
This past week at Panya has lead us all to so much growth already, even though these lifestyle adjustments can be tricky. One thing that was easy to get used to, however, was the large quantities of delicious home-grown Thai food for every meal! Walking away each meal with a hurting tummy from eating so much good food could be seen as a challenge but our team handled it like a boss, ready and eager to hear the next meal bell ring every day. We are so grateful for the generosity of Greg, Rampai, the chefs, and all other volunteers who made us feel at home at Panya Forest. Though our time here has come to a close and it is so sad to leave Panya and their beautiful food and stories behind, we are excited to head off to Cambodia in a few days on our next adventure! 🙂
