Fellow Earthwatchlings

Up early and excited to meet my fellow Earthwatchlings on the Monday, so got up, finished packing, had a great breakfast and left to meet up with my team members. Our meeting point was Mauray Gardens hotel, up from Chatuchak and on outskirts of the city. This would be a perfect meeting point as to be able to get out of the city right away, avoiding traffic. Getting to the hotel was going to be easy enough, because of the great skytrain connection followed by a short cab ride. The 20kg backpack and my daypack on the other hand ... well.. serves me right for packing everything but the fridge, and adding additional purchases to the equation. Made it to the skytrain and for a split second thought about paying the guy seated next to me to carry the load for me.

Arrived at the hotel an hour early and settled in at our meeting point; the lobby cafe. Before long realised that the guy sitting a table up was a fellow Earthwatchling, my colleague Michael Hunt from MLC. He quickly realised the same thing, given I was wearing my Earthwatch t-shirt. We chat over coffee and a danish waiting for the rest to arrive. Over the next half hour or so more team members arrived; John, Jack and Charles from the US and Denys from Scotland. Our last team member,  Earthwatch addict Wilbert had already made his way to Phimai. We are met by one of the expedition staff members Gordon, who is going to escort us back to Phimai.

All team members accounted for our bags are loaded up on top of our minivan, we pick our seats and get underway on this 4hrs drive. We establish great rapport right away and are talking and laughing right away. A great time was had and you know you have a great bunch when everyone becomes the butt of the jokes, including Gordon (aka Flash).

Jack has been on this expedition four times before, so had some great insight to share and gave us an idea of what to expect. Michael it turned out had already clocked up over 200 days on archaeological sites over the past couple of years, and would also have an edge. Charles was involved in a previous expedition in Italy. Denys had no previous site experience, however had been on quite a few Earthwatch adventures spanning the world and was clearly going to be our social butterfly (she's doing the Scots proud). At this point Jack tells us Wilbert has been on this particular expedition 6 times, and has been involved in a large number of other Earthwatch adventures spanning the world! For John this is the first Earthwatch adventure (as it is for me).

The group thinks it's amazing that Michael and I have been granted this great opportunity by our employer NAB. We take some time to explain how the partnership works, and that we were 2 out of 20 selected to be part of an incredible Eartwatch adventure this year.

A couple of pit stops and 4hrs driving later we arrive at the wonderful Phimai Inn (1.5kms from town centre). There we are met by Dr Nigel Chang and Belinda, quick introductions are made and room allocations take place. Being the prima donna that I am, I opt for the non-shared VIP room option! Great choice.

The guy at the check in counter decides to drag my bag to the room for me, and of course I am not going to stop him. Even though I think he regretted it the moment he tried to lift the bag. After familiarising myself with my room, slapping on some pants and rubbing the exposed parts with Deet, I meet Michael downstairs prior to dinner to quickly tour the Monday night markets conveniently across the street. The markets are always an experience here in Thailand with everything from baby clothes, fake prada handbags, drills and grinders, to grubs and crickets on a skewer for sale.

At 7pm we meet for dinner with the rest of the Angkor Expedition team, with full-time staff members including Miph, Nigel, Gordon, Caitlin, Camille, Nathan and Belinda. Other off and on researchers include Cristina and Ally. There are a number of other local (Ajan Tip, Tip, Mon, Aew and Gam) and international research staff and Phd university students (Cristina, Cristina and Kelly) who are visiting the site. All in all there are about 30 of us around the table. A great thai feast is on display and we all quickly tuck in, with chatter across the tables. Following dinner Nigel officially welcomes us and introduces everyone around the table. He gives us a short overview of what to expect and what we will be doing over the next 2 weeks.

Afterwards people stay around for drinks around the table, in the breakfast area and around the swimming pool and get acquainted. Off to bed it is following all of this, to be ready for an early start in the morning. Breakfast available from around 6.30am with a departure time of 7.45am sharp for the site. Excitement reigns...