My journey to Thailand was less than successful: sleep was merely a dream, the flight was exorbitantly long and then came the ill-fated misplaced luggage. I quickly began to wonder if leaving England for Thailand was such a bright idea after all.

As I made the trip from Phuket to Kuraburi, I felt a smorgasbord of emotions. Nervousness and curiosity consumed me as I was unsure of what lay ahead.

I arrived at the Andaman office tired and dazed. Kelly, Karen and Leslie greeted me, offering a warm welcome. I felt at ease and my nerves subsided immediately.

Kelly May describes the different Thai dishes to Rebecca at a team dinner.

They took me to see the house that would be home for the next month. My first reaction was a tinge of shock. Thai houses are different from those in England. For starters, it came with geckos, but more on that later. I loved that my house was pink, but was unsure how enjoyable cold showers would be.

Once I was settled into the pink house, the team invited me to experience my first lunch in Thailand. We traveled to a restaurant about five minutes from Kuraburi for the traditional Thai meal, Som Tam, a salad made from un-ripened papaya. I was impressed even though the meal had more spice than my England taste buds were used to.

I couldn’t have been happier to go to bed at the close of the first day in Thailand. My initial feelings of nervousness were replaced with excitement for the next day ahead.

Labels: Kuraburi, Thai food, volunteer