More pondering on my Issaan trip

[phoenix]

More pondering on my Issaan trip

A few Vignets:

Car, windscreen writing, good luck!

Nok’s Car, the 3L Diesel Toyota Pick up truck, is being used by Pit to earn money for the family, mainly by driving migrating workers from Issaan to Phuket and Krabi and back. They prefer it to using buses, which involves crossing BKK to another terminal, and being dependent on schedules. Also, the amount of luggage they travel with makes this easier. I don’t quite understand the economy of it, but it seems to work.

Anyway, when I only drove the car from ‘home to NP and back (30KM one way) I didn’t take much notice. But about 5 months ago, Pit put a slogun on the windscreen, in big bold Thai characters, about 10 cm (4 inches high,), same distance below the top of the windscreen, and right across. Right bang in the middle of my field of vision. Since Pet and Nok are about 25cm (10” shorter than I am, it cuts for them a bit of the bright sky out of their field of vision. For me it is a pest, because it interferes with my 3D vision, and the ability to estimate distances. For our 2400 km trip around three weeks ago, it annoyed the hell out of me. So after fifty Km I realised that the whole, stick on plastic lettering, computer generated, probably only cost a few hundred baht. So I suggested to Nok that we take of the right hand ¼ of the script, and on return simply buy a replacement at the same shop Pit bought it.

“Cannot”

Why not?

Message good luck, taking it off give bad luck, have accident”

I pondered on the increased risk of having an accident because of reduced visibility, and tried to weigh the two. Hard one. I decided not to tempt fate. I may not believe in the power of good luck messages, but this is Thailand, The spirits who rule the good luck/bad luck game may not recognise I am an agnostic. Besides, if I do challenge them by ripping of the writing, and then anything unexpected happens to Nok or her family, I know who’ll cop the blame!.

So on we go, me cranking my neck in strange contortions to see what’s happening on that madhouse road in front of me, but at least sheltered by ‘good luck’.

Ngong Khai

On my visit last year, I found a nice, slightly sleazy, barbeer, at the end of the street that the Pantawee hotel is on, hanging out on the river bank, behind the Wat on the corner. Stopped for a Singha, at dusk, the high proportion of young nubile women hanging out there, and the suggestions of a stage with live music options suggesting this may be more than a watering hole, with interesting potential at night. Now I don’t need that ‘potential’ but it would still be fun to come back at night, hang out and watch the action. But alas, when I got back there a few weeks ago, it was gone, erased. Suggestions it may have fallen foul of the degrading riverbank, or the Law. Pity. We walk on, the nearest watering hole we find is the “Swiss bakery, which appears to have transformed from a bakery to a hang out for ex-pats and falang tourists, mainly frequented by slightly weathered looking, middle aged falang men, half of them with young Issaan GFs, the men looking tired, the GFs looking bored. A few what look like free-lancers hovering around the non-assigned men. I may like this scene in BKK, here it feels a bit sleazy. Nok feels uncomfortable, after one beer we move on.

In spite of this, I like this town, I think I could happily live here for a while. Nok has been making hints about the option to build a house in her village, either next to her parents house, land owned by Meh, or on a few acres of ricefield she own herself, about 1 or 2 km out of the village. I think that may be an interesting experiment, but I don’t think it would work for me, I think the relative isolation from everything would end after a few month driving me up the wall with boredom. My current preference would be small town on the coast, bit like Ao Ngang, but maybe less touristy.

 

In the morning, we walk to the market, Where Nok is enchanted by some of the very cheap Lao clothes, and the beautiful Lao ‘sarongs’. We end up buying her 3 long pleated skirts at about 160 Bt per skirt, and order the making of one dress, and matching top from the silk, to be picked up on the way back. Nok happy. I stop off at the internet shop, to pick up email. The content of my emails upsets me, but I get diverted by my neighbour at the next computer, a young Monk (I’d say about 25) playing an extremely violent spacies game, with great relish.

Briefly back to the hotel, I originally in my shorthand notes wrote “Short time hotel !!”, well that is also what it ended up to), then visit Sala Kaew Ku, also know as Wat Khaek, a bizarre sculpture park outside town, filled with huge concrete sculptures depicting scenes from the Ramanyana, mixed with Bhuddist imagery.

The park was conceived and built by someone who wanted to use it to help young people learn and understand more about the roots of their culture and the underlying religions. A lot I do not understand, but still, it is fascinating. Nok is also both fascinated and a wee bit bewildered. One corner has a nukber of figures and scenes, enclosed by a 1 meter high wall. The access to inside is a little tgunnel through the mouth of a dragon. A number of falang tourits go tghrough, Nok refuses. I note no other Thai visitors go inside either. She says it is bad luck to go through NO Good!. So I don’t either, si9nce I’d already been through on a previous visit a year earlier. Maybe that brought me bad luck, it certainly was a strange and upsetting year since my last visit.

Then on to Wat bang Phuan, aabout 25 km outside NK. There we stumbled onto a celebration, which had something to do with Buddha, and new year, and as I understood, fertility, so it may have roots in pre-Buddhist era. About a hundred people were gathered just inside the temple grounds, most dressed in very colorful silk dresses, mainly women dancing and singing, a small band of men plying flutes and percussion. Lots of string tying, lots of beer, LaoLao and food. Great fun was had by all. An elderly man attached himself to us, determined to be our guide, although I didn’t really want one. He did asure me I could take pictures of the dancers, then wanted to show us around the temple. I had noted very extensive explanatory information boards in Thai and English, so finally managed to dissuade him ( he was also quite drink!). Nok and I wandered around the temple grounds, some very interesting shrines. A good but sometimes confusing personal exchange with Nok, about which I won’t detail, to personal.

The day ended with a walk along the river, and a very good dinner on a riverbank restaurant, Udom Rot, left of the customs house.

[Guest]

Nice post, I loved the bit about good luck on the windscreen. I guess the positive sign is it will help you miss that car you didn't see because of it!!!! )

Keep em coming

Sanukboot.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Phoenix,

 

I never did read this one. Must have been away in the LOS. Ahhhhh yeah. If I had a hundred baht for every time I've heard the wife say, "Cannot, bling bad luck!" I'd be a rich man now. :-)

 

A lot of what you describe I have experienced myself. Good report on the village life. And yeah, outside of the farang sanuk venues in the major tourist areas the bar scene does seem even seedier don't it? :-)

 

Cent

[phoenix]

Hi Cent,

 

Didn't read it myself for quite a while, and was pleasantly reminded to reread it by your post. Have been myself in that part of the world recently for a while, and enjoyed myself. While visiting I met an old friend and collegue of Nok (Nok got married to an englishman late last year and moved to England). Nok's 4-5 months pregnant (as I predicted to him when I heard of the marriage), and was visiting LOSS to see her family, while Ted stayed on in Britain to work.

I just missed her by a few nights, I'm back home, and she's coming for a few days to BKK today, on her way back to England.

 

Hey Gummigut, if you bump into her the next few days, give her my love, and best wishes for the little one.