First trip to the village contin..

[Guest]

I love walking round Phimai market,i like the smells,sounds and sights,i like just people watching and browsing,trying to soak up the atmosphere ever aware of the brown eyes looking at me from every corner,Tin,i and anyone else that was present would always end up here in the evening to get the evenings and next mornings rations,this would mean several different types of vedgetables and some pork or chicken.

 

Now the market has only a small car park and limited road parking so it can get quite busy round here in the evenings but as i found out the local Thais are not going to let this from parking there,what they simply do is park behind every car filling up the car park but leave the hand brakes off,so the people coming back to there cars would be left to play a crazy game of pushing the cars round until there is a space for them to get out,all while this goes on more Thais are trying to get in!!! sheer madness,i would sit in the Falang bus and let everyone get on with it,i mean a Thai would love to come back and find a Falang had buried his car into the back of another,i would look in the mirrors muttering "only in fakin Thailand".

 

I will be honest and say the first couple of days into village life i found hard,i was being eaten alive by anything that came out at night,i think there must have been some huge mozzies grown fat on Falang blood.I couldn't believe how cold the water was in the "shower" room,i mean water sitting in a trough all day has got to warm up to at least luke warm surely? Not this water it was freezing in fact it was FAKIN FREEZING it would take ya breath away,now i know you're thinking i am some sort of whimp but for some reason i was really not looking forward to my nightly walk down to the hong nam for my bucket of ice water over my head with frogs jumping around my feet and the Falang luvin mozzies round my head.The other thing was the very little Thai i know wasn't really any use so actually talking to some one was a none starter,only when Tin was around did i get to have any sort of conversation with anyone,i have got to learn more Thai before i go back.

 

 

I finaly defeated the mozzies by wearing long trousers and a gallon of Jungle formula,Tin's family were buying these spiral anti mozzie things you would light one end and stick it on a bottle, i guess i was looking a sight sitting eating with my fellow Thais surounded by these smoking spirals but it seemed to be working,even the ice water seemed to be warming to just fakin cold and after sharing a bottle of Thai whiskey i think we could all understand each other no problem at all,Tin's family were trying there hardest to make me happy and her mother crowing on about how this Falang was eating and joining with the rest of the family which gave me big bonus points.

 

So it was getting into days 3 and 4 i was starting to enjoy my new found family and the suroundings,it had taken me a while to slow down to there pace of life,no point rushing it happens when it happens.But soon it was going to be my time to show Tin and her kids something that they had never seen or done before,i never did get to explain what the word rollercoaster ment it would be left to show them.

 

Boris

 

 

[phoenix]

Hi Boris,

 

Mosquito net over the bed at night helps! Cheap enough, and compact so you can travel with it.

 

Cold water, yes, little you can do about it. Try the hose that fills the trough, end of the afternoon that water may be cooler.

 

I agree, learn some Thai language, makes village life a lot more fun.

 

Enjoy.

 

Phoenix (Landing in BKK on Saturday night!)