First, we got the kids on a bus and rode about fifteen minutes to the pier which was next to a lovely wat.
Then we got all the kids in life jackets and got on a boat for a quick ride to the island.
Ko Kret is known for its pottery in the Mon style. The Mon are a group of people who have lived in the Burma/Thailand area for over a thousand years. Legend has it that a crocodile spirit led them to the island, and then hid under the chedi or stupa, a type of Buddhist monument. Since there is a crocodile under it, the chedi leans.
Legend says that the chedi will eventually straighten meaning that the crocodile has left, and it's time for the Mon to return home. We heard this story from one of the teachers at the local school. There were four teachers altogether who guided us through various activities at the school and around the island.
First Vivi's group got to play with some clay. They were supposed to make animals, but Vivian decided to make a snowman fountain instead.
After that, they took them to an area with lots of potter's wheels, and a teacher demonstrated how to use the wheel. He also helped them with their creations, which is why Vivian's actually looks like a vase.
After that our teacher guide took us on a walk around the island. There are no cars on the island, and it's easy to understand why when you see the size of the "roads".
Our destination was one of the kilns that had been used to make pottery on the island.
They could fit up to 2000 pots at a time in this oven, but it's no longer in use because it was damaged during flooding a few years ago, and it's too expensive to repair it now. The flooding was really bad. The post in this picture shows the high water mark from the flooding up near our guide's head.
The flood was really devastating to the island, because it not only damaged the kiln, it also wiped out all their durian trees. Durian is the really stinky fruit that smells kind of like rotting flesh, but many Thais think it's fantastic. Our guide called it "the king of fruits", and apparently the ones on the island were very special and could cost up to $100 a pop, so losing the trees was a real economic blow.
After our tour of the kiln, we walked back towards the pier and the pottery museum that is housed in a Buddhist monastery on the island. Before we went in to the museum, our guide explained to us how water buffalo were used to soften the clay before there were machines to do it. To demonstrate, she held up a buffalo head and asked for a volunteer to be the buffalo. Whose hand should shoot straight up, but my darling daughter's. I give you, the buffalo.
I was a little worried when we went into the museum because there were pots stacked up everywhere, and we had twenty excited first graders, but we managed to get in and out without any breakages.
After the museum, we had lunch next to the leaning chedi. There were picnic tables in a shady area and a nice breeze, so it was quite lovely. Eventually we worked our way back to the boat, the bus, and finally the school.
I had about an hour between when we got back and when I needed to be at school for Vivi's swim lesson, so I went home, changed clothes (since Vivian had lovingly hugged me with clay all over her hands) and made some coffee. Then I went back to school for round two and watched her jump in the deep end with pride. You would have thought after a field trip and swimming she would be tired, but no, she just kept on going, and after I was done tutoring, I had to drive the golf cart around the neighborhood to hunt her down and bring her home for dinner. At the beginning of the year orientation, they told us to take it slow and not sign our children up for too many activities. Obviously they were not talking about my child.
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