Partt time in Isan
Dinner is served
I get lei'ed and strung out as a welcome
One of the most interesting (not to be interpreted as enjoyable) things I have done on this trip was to visit my friend Sang on his rice farm in north eastern Thailand. I took an overnight bus from Vientiane, Laos to Pakse, Laos where I caught another bus to Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. When I arrived at the terminal in Ubon I called Sang and he came from his home about an hour away to meet me. We stopped at a modern grocery store and bought beer, sodas, snacks, etc. for a party in my honor that night. Then we went shopping at the market for the other things needed for the party. Since I had not brought gifts for the family, not knowing how many people there were, I bought all the provisions and I was a little shocked at how much money we went through in a short time. I repeated my frequent mantra, "It's only money."
When we got to his house there were about 20 or 30 people waiting to welcome me. In greeting me they layered me with flower leis and then everyone tied strings on my wrists which is a Buddhist custom to wish well. After the welcome gathering I was invited to nap while my hosts got the party ready. At about 6 PM Sang roused me and these early to bed farm folk were ready to party all the way up to 8:30. There was a lot of food, most of it very tasty, a lot of beer and whiskey and a lot of dancing and karaoke. I felt a bit awkward being able to speak to only one person at this gathering in my honor. No one else seemed to be bothered.
The following day we toured the family rice and bamboo farm. The family owns a lot of land and the house where I stayed was by far the most modern of any I saw for miles around. I had a fine bathroom to myself with hot water but no toilet tissue. Septic tank I guess.
What was hardest to deal with was the cooking and eating area. Even thought Sang's house was new and very comfortable, the kitchen where all the cooking was done was in an outdoor shed complete with chickens, flies, dogs and well water. I think having gotten through the 3 days without stomach problems validate my good health status for the year.
While waiting for my train to return to Bangkok on my final day we went to the nearby river where I swam with the local kids. Here we built our own Wet n Wild slide by piling rocks to funnel water through deeper channels and then we would lie down and let the water propel us through the course. There was a lot of whiskey drunk that afternoon and many of the kids seemed well under 18. Who am I to judge? They seem like nice children and I doubt that juvenile delinquency is a problem with these people.
The sleeper train to Bangkok was very comfortable and I conked out before I got to place a dinner order. When I woke up hungry at midnight I was very happy that I found some crackers and a bottle of water in my backpack.
Now I am sitting in my hotel in Bangkok. I went out today and saw no evidence of political unrest, thankfully. Perhaps it is because there are heavily armed military and police everywhere. Many police have been recruited from all over the country and a lot of them are being quartered in my hotel. Seeing all the serious weapons on the street is reminiscent of Jerusalem.
I plan to chill here until I can get a non stop flight to LAX on Monday. Tomorrow I will go to Chatachuk Weekend Market and the pool at my hotel is looking very inviting. There are many worse places to spend a weekend than Bangkok.
When we got to his house there were about 20 or 30 people waiting to welcome me. In greeting me they layered me with flower leis and then everyone tied strings on my wrists which is a Buddhist custom to wish well. After the welcome gathering I was invited to nap while my hosts got the party ready. At about 6 PM Sang roused me and these early to bed farm folk were ready to party all the way up to 8:30. There was a lot of food, most of it very tasty, a lot of beer and whiskey and a lot of dancing and karaoke. I felt a bit awkward being able to speak to only one person at this gathering in my honor. No one else seemed to be bothered.
The following day we toured the family rice and bamboo farm. The family owns a lot of land and the house where I stayed was by far the most modern of any I saw for miles around. I had a fine bathroom to myself with hot water but no toilet tissue. Septic tank I guess.
What was hardest to deal with was the cooking and eating area. Even thought Sang's house was new and very comfortable, the kitchen where all the cooking was done was in an outdoor shed complete with chickens, flies, dogs and well water. I think having gotten through the 3 days without stomach problems validate my good health status for the year.
While waiting for my train to return to Bangkok on my final day we went to the nearby river where I swam with the local kids. Here we built our own Wet n Wild slide by piling rocks to funnel water through deeper channels and then we would lie down and let the water propel us through the course. There was a lot of whiskey drunk that afternoon and many of the kids seemed well under 18. Who am I to judge? They seem like nice children and I doubt that juvenile delinquency is a problem with these people.
The sleeper train to Bangkok was very comfortable and I conked out before I got to place a dinner order. When I woke up hungry at midnight I was very happy that I found some crackers and a bottle of water in my backpack.
Now I am sitting in my hotel in Bangkok. I went out today and saw no evidence of political unrest, thankfully. Perhaps it is because there are heavily armed military and police everywhere. Many police have been recruited from all over the country and a lot of them are being quartered in my hotel. Seeing all the serious weapons on the street is reminiscent of Jerusalem.
I plan to chill here until I can get a non stop flight to LAX on Monday. Tomorrow I will go to Chatachuk Weekend Market and the pool at my hotel is looking very inviting. There are many worse places to spend a weekend than Bangkok.
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