The aim was to better understand how different aspects of the river change as it flows from the source of the river to further downstream. We departed from our homes at around roughly five in the morning which is always a joy and then we set off on our educational vacation!

We arrived in Chiang Mai and then had the wonderful shock of learning that we had to take a 4 hour bus ride to reach our hotel. Once we arrived there we organised ourselves into our different groups. Following this, we were treated to a wonderful buffet dinner that varied with each new day and kept us all filled and happy throughout the trip but then it was time for bed to be ready for the next day when our real trip would begin.

Once we arrived at the river we immediately began our research carrying out investigations in mixed subject groups. The Geography side involved an in-depth look at the physical qualities of the river, for example; the gradient, velocity of the water, width, depth etc. Whereas the Biologists and ESS students investigated the water quality by carrying out chemical tests and macro-invertebrate studies as an indicator of water pollution. These studies were conducted every day for 4 days with a focus on three new sites each day.

Throughout the whole experience our entire class was brought closer together through spending so much time together and also trying to reach a common goal with all of our studying. We would like to thank Miss Kenny, Mr Jones and Mr Weng for dedicating their time to ensuring that we got through all of our studying and got everything done and I’m sure that this was their only real reason for going on a trip to beautiful, sunny, warm Thailand instead of staying in cold, grey Shanghai.