Henry's Jamboree Diary

23/12/02 – Departing Birmingham

We arrived at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Birmingham at 8:00 and all the families had drinks while we sorted out the nametags for our luggage and other bits and pieces that needed doing. At about 9:30 we left the hotel in a coach for Birmingham Airport and arrived at about 10. We checked in our baggage and went straight through to the departure lounge. We waited here until our flight left at 13:30. I had a Burger King and went round the shops. We boarded the plane – an A330-200 at 13:30 and landed at Dubai airport at 7:30pm GMT (00:30 Dubai Time). We stayed in Dubai for about 3 hours during which we went to MacDonald’s and walked round the shops. We met the West Lancashire Unit here and they were with us on our flight to Bangkok. We departed at 3:15am Dubai Time for a 6 hour flight to Bangkok. At 8am Bangkok time we boarded the coach for a three-hour transfer to the Ambassador Hotel – I slept all the way. We arrived at the hotel and I unpacked and then went exploring the hotel.

24/12/02

Today we spent the day around the pool relaxing after a long days traveling. On the night we went to a Christmas Eve service on the beach with the rest of the UK Contingent. We sung carols and songs and danced and generally had a good time. We went back and had to be in bed by 12.30, which in the morning we found was so our Christmas stockings could be delivered.

25/12/02 – Christmas Day

Today there were lots of activities to do on the beach. We took part in the three sporting activities: football, volleyball and basketball. We lost our volleyball and basketball games and went our on our second football game in penalties. After watching this game I went back to the pool and spent the rest of the day there until 4:00 when I went to the room to get changed for the Christmas meal. We left for the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel at 5:30 and travelled in a convoy of about 200 ‘Baht Taxis’ with a police escort. We were welcomed to the hotel with drinks and waited for everyone else to arrive. The meal was held in the Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall (PEACH) and was buffet style. After the meal we watched Christmas greetings on two big cinema screens from celebrities then we danced the night away to a live band until the taxis arrived at 12:15. The journey back was about 20 minutes and I went to bed once I got back as we had to be up early in the morning for our trip to Bangkok.

26/12/02 – Trip to Bangkok

I woke up at 6:30 and we all met for breakfast at 7 in the dining room. At 7:30 we got onto the coaches for a 2-hour journey to Bangkok. The first stop was the Grand Palace where we saw all the buildings plated with gold and gems and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Then we went on a river trip on the Chaopraya River and saw lots of riverside houses. We met the coach again after about half an hour to go for dinner at the Royal Dragon restaurant, which was about halfway home. It is the worlds biggest restaurant and we had a traditional Thai style meal which included shrimp soup, fried rice, whole fish, sweet and sour octopus and curried crab. We left the restaurant at 6:45 and went back to our hotel in a convoy with a police escort. When we got back to the hotel I packed my bag ready to leave in the morning.

27/12/02 – Departing for the Jamboree

Today I woke up at 10:30 and made sure all my bags we packed and met everyone in the lobby at 11:30. Here we were issued with our official green jamboree neckerchief and woggle and our security bracelet and necklace. At 12:30 we boarded the coach to the Jamboree site for about a 30-minute drive. When we arrived we carried our bags across the site to our subcamp where we collected our tents and cooking equipment. We pitched the tents and made a temporary shelter so we could have some shade to sit and eat our lunch as we were all very hot after coming into the heat from 5 days in an air-conditioned hotel. Once we had finished we spent the rest of the day exploring the site. We all went to bed early tonight as we were tired from working in the heat.

28/12/02 – First Day on the Jamboree Site and Opening Ceremony

Today I woke up at about 8:30 and had breakfast of sausage and bacon sandwiches. We carried on setting up our campsite and built a big shelter and dining table of the MDF boards each of us carried in our luggage. In the evening we went to the subcamp opening and then after that the Jamboree Opening Ceremony, which was attended by the Crown Prince of Thailand. There was a Thai boxing demonstration, traditional Thai dancing and an orchestra played the Jamboree song. We got back to the subcamp for about 11 and then went to bed, as we had to be up at 5:30 in the morning for our Community Action Day. By the evening everyone on the subcamp had arrived. There were two UK units, two Thai units, Swedish next to us, Germans across the path, Belgians next to them who were sharing with some from Mozambique, the one of the Thai units and Italians. Americans were opposite the Belgians and on the other side were the other Thai unit opposite us, Japanese next to them and a unit from Singapore and the other UK unit opposite them. Next to the Germans was a unit from Finland.

29/12/02 – Community Action Day

Today I got up at 5:30 and had scrambled egg and fried bread and then walked to the main car park to with the rest of the Unit to meet the coach. After a 40-minute journey we arrived at the school that we were working at, and got into three groups. Group one was painting the front wall, group two was moving old roof tiles to the bin and group three which I was in was passing buckets of concrete along a line to build a new playground for the school. We spend about two hours doing this and by the end my arms were very tired. We then had lunch and played football with the other people that were there with us. There were people from Thailand, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, The Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania playing. The people from the last three countries had been paid to come by Operation Sattahip which was an idea where people could voluntarily put some money they had raised to come into a fund which would pay for Scouts from third-world countries to come. After the game we went back to work and rotated the jobs. My group moved on to paint the wall. After another two hours doing this we went back to the campsite and spent the evening there. The County Commissioner, Chris Jones and our contact in Thailand, John Tranter came to see us this evening and took some photos to put on the unit website.

30/12/02 – Tournaments

Today we got up and had breakfast at 8 and then went to the tournaments area for ‘Scale the Heights’ and ‘Challenge Valley’. Scale the Heights was lots of little assault courses which was normally ended in dropping into pools of muddy water. We did this for 1 and half hours and then went to the challenge valley. There were three assault courses, which you could do – we chose to do the first one and then do the others if we had time. It included scaling sandbag walls and cargo nets, crawling through tunnels of tires suspended above the ground, and at the end there was a big slide that ended in a muddy pool. On the way back to the campsite we stopped of at the showers and I got in fully clothed to clean all the mud off me. On the night we watched a show in which everyone sang a song traditional to their country. We did the jamboree song and our dance and managed to get everyone from the subcamp to join in. After the show I went to bed at 11:30.

31/12/02 – New Years Eve

Today we had the task of cooking a meal traditional of our country or the area where we live for the rest of the subcamp to come round and try. We made the Black Country speciality of Grey Peas and Bacon and strawberries and cream. The Italians made a spaghetti Bolognese and the Belgians made a big pot of Belgian chocolate. The Americans did peanut butter and jam sandwiches and watermelon, the Thai’s did some of their fruits: Guava, Rose apple, the Germans did scrambled egg with tomatoes and Hong Kong and Japan did something. After the feast we got ready for the show. Each country made a stand with things from their country. We got everyone playing cricket and recited some Shakespeare. There were games from other countries, and various other things going on. After this we went as a subcamp to the New Years celebration at 9:30. We all went back to our campsite at 1 as we were all very tired after celebrating the New Year together.

1/1/03 – New Years Day

Today we had a free day to do whatever we wanted. I went the Jamboree Scout Shop and bought some souvenirs and went round the market. I went to the WOSM tent and signed up for the 2007 Centenary Jamboree in the UK as an IST member. I spent the rest of the day on the subcamp washing some clothes, swapping badges and generally resting in the sun.

2/1/03 – Our Heritage Trip

Today we had to be up at 5:30 to go on the Our Heritage trip. Mine and Jenko’s patrol went to a fish sauce factory with Matt and the other two went to a bamboo factory with Lynn. We did various activities with fish sauce, including testing the quality, sorting out fish to make fish sauce and bottling fish sauce. We were given a bottle of fish sauce that we had bottled to take as a souvenir. When we got back Pete decided we should build a swimming pool on our campsite. We dug at pit 15ft by 7ft and 3ft deep and borrowed a groundsheet from the subcamp office to use as a liner. We were helped to dig the hole by Thai’s, Americans and one person from Finland. We finished after about four hours and began filling it up with hose pipes and buckets. After about five hours we had a swimming pool that people were swimming, or more paddling in.

3/1/03 – Free Day

Today we had a free day. I went to the scout shop and bought the rest of my souvenirs. We finished building the pool today. We ‘borrowed’ some fence panels from the City of Science and made an edge for the pool with bamboo. In the evening we had a sea festival where everyone did traditional dances from their country on a sea theme. After that we had to conform with the 11:00 silence rule and went to bed.

4/1/03

Today I went to the Global Development Village in the morning. I did the relaxation module with Hal, Matty P, Alex and Jo. We were shown how to use some Thai massaging tools and how to do self-massage to relieve stress. After that we listened to some relaxation music that sent us to sleep. In the afternoon I went round the countries pavilions and got my handbook stamped by each one. In the evening we had a small subcamp campfire with a gas lamp and each country did a song or something that they do around a campfire. The English Units more or less led it with loads of our songs and the Americans did some blues.

5/1/03 – Exploring Nature Activity

Today we got up at 5:30 and a group of 9 of us led by Pete went to the main gate for the short drive to the place we would start our hike. When we got there we were given a very bare map that had some hills, a lake and our route marked on it. There were no paths or other landmarks on it. At the start of the walk we went up a steep hill which was so steep there was a rope there to pull yourself up with. It was at the top we realised we realised we had missed our path somewhere on the climb up so instead we followed another route down and then try to pick up our route at the bottom by the reservoir. The terrain on the way down was very harsh. On quite a few occasions the path we were following suddenly stopped so we had to retrace our steps and find a new path. The last path we took led us most of the way down the hill and then stopped so we decided to make our own path down from that point. There were trees all over the place very closely packed with vines hanging all over the place waiting to trip you up. We eventually came out at the bottom and luckily got to the path we should have been on near the reservoir. We rested at the reservoir for about an hour and had an ice cream on the grass. After that we walked half a mile down the road to the end instead of doing the rest of the walk as we were advised we wouldn’t be able to do it in the time. We had some drinks at the bar and then when the last group got back we went back to the campsite.

6/1/03 – Face the Waves and Crossroads of Cultures Activities

In the morning we did the ‘Face the Waves’ activity on the beach. We did rafting first of all for about 1 and half hours and had to be rescued by the lifeboats, as the current was too strong to get back in rowing and we were getting very close to the shark nets. After that we did rowing where a group of ten of us rowed a boat around the bay.

In the afternoon we did the ‘Crossroads of Cultures’ activity. I chose to do Cuisine, as it was probably the most interesting module. We had to do two workshops: the first one was making Thai Pancakes. They were little round things made from coconut milk and rice flour topped with a variety of things. The second workshop was making a dish with noodles, egg, spring onions and spices. Both of these dishes were nice. After this I went back to the campsite and went shopping for dinner.

7/1/03 – Last day at the Jamboree

Today we had the whole day free so we could dismantle our campsite. We took the gate and kitchen down and took back the cookers and all the equipment we had been given. At 5:00 we had to be ready in our full uniform to move to the main arena for the closing ceremony. The subcamp closing was first on our subcamp stage then the subcamp went as one to the main closing ceremony. There was some Thai dancing and things from a few other countries. Then there was the symbolic handing over of the Scout flag to the United Kingdom from Thailand for the 2007 Jamboree in Chelmsford. Chief Scout George Purdy was there to receive the flag from a representative of the Thai Scout Association and then left the stage in the London Taxi that had been outside the UK Pavilion for the Jamboree. After some music from the Thai Royal Navy we went back to our campsite to be ready to get up and leave in the morning.

8/1/03 – Leaving the Jamboree

Today I woke up at 8:00 and we had ham sandwiches for breakfast as we had to take our cooking equipment back yesterday. Then we took all the tents down and a small group of us carried them to the container yard to ship them back to the UK while the rest took down the dining shelter. When we got back from taking the tents all the bags had been taken to the side of the main road to wait for the coach to come. To coach journey to the hotel was about 3 hours. When we arrived at the Hotel Amari Atrium we were greeted with a glass of cold lemonade and were given our room keys. I went to the room, unpacked and had a nice hot bath and then washed some clothes. At 7:00 we met in the lobby and went to dinner together. The food was really nice. The dining room was set out very nicely with white tablecloths all matching. After dinner we went round the hotel and looked in the shops and at the pool. At 11 I went to bed as we had a 5:15 wake-up call in the morning.

9/1/03 – River Kwae trip

Today I woke up at 5:15 and went down to breakfast with my daysack so we could leave straight after breakfast. At 6:00 we left for the JEATH museum (Japan, England, Australia, America, Thailand) in Kanchanaburi Province, which is where the camp was for the people building the steel Bridge over the River Kwae. We went round the museum which had lots of photos and personal accounts from survivors and then went on a boat trip on the River Kwae towards the steel bridge. Here we walked across the bridge and back and then boarded a train on the Thai-Burmese railway which took us across the bridge and through the Thai countryside to the place where we were having dinner. We spent an hour here during which we walked down a length of the wooden bridge which took the track around the side of a cliff. Then we boarded the coach to go to a waterfall, and then onto the restaurant for dinner. We had another rather nice meal here, similar to the one at the Royal Dragon restaurant. We arrived back at the hotel at 9:30 and went to Castro’s room until about 12.

10/1/03 – Free Day

Today I spent the day around the hotel and packed my bags ready to leave in the morning. In the evening we went to the Bangkok night bazaar. We had our dinner here in a steak house: me, Hal, Snookes and Matty T. It cost £2 for two double-decker steak sandwiches with chips and salad and a pint glass of coke. After enjoying the meal we went round the shops and bought a wooden vase for Matt to say thank you. When we got back I finished packing my bags with the clothes I had being wearing today and then we all went to a party in Castro’s room, and then later Glen’s room when it got too hot as his air conditioner didn’t work.

11/1/03 – Leaving Bangkok

I woke up this morning at 8:00 and went to breakfast at 8:30. After breakfast I went back to the room and had a shower then made sure everything was packed and left my bag outside the door at 10:30 for the porters to take to the coach. At 11 we left the hotel for Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport where we had a 3 hour wait for our flight to Manila. We flew on a Lufthansa B747-400 and the flight was about 3 hours. We had to wait in the departure lounge at Manila
Before our hand luggage was thoroughly hand searched and we were allowed to board the flight to Dubai. We flew with Emirates again on an A330-200 and the flight lasted around 5 hours.

12/1/03

We arrived in Dubai at 5:00 in the morning and had breakfast at MacDonald’s. We only had about two hours her so we went round the shops and boarded the plane at 7:30. It was another A300-200 and the flight to Birmingham took about 7 hours. When we landed at 12 we collected our baggage and got on the coach to go to the Holiday Inn where our families were waiting to greet us.

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