thelasthurrahsite

One of the village elders died a few days ago. His body was taken to the local temple

where, 3 days later, it was cremated. The intervening period was filled with much drinking of Thai Whisky at 50p a shot which left many villagers very bleary eyed!

And talking of dust… the impoverished local authority couldn’t afford to surface all the road into ‘my’ village which, during the rainy season isn’t such a problem but now the rains have finally stopped and everything has more or less dried out, the dust pollution is horrendous,

not helped by 50 or 60 trucks a day bringing soil into the village which is used as a cheap concrete substitute to ‘resurface’ farm yards and even the inside floors of some dwellings. Two truckloads of soil costing less than £10

then have to be moved through the front gate

and spread as evenly as possible

throughout the main living area! The result is not pretty. It’s not so practical. It’s not clean but if you have no money it’s all you can do and there’s always family to help!

Luckily, this young man can’t reach the tractor pedals yet so isn’t tempted to try and drive the thing. The same cannot be said when he is in a car, though. He is very happy sitting on Daddy’s lap, holding the steering wheel

whilst on the move!  I know that I have to respect local customs and culture but I find it so difficult to bite my tongue when I see such dangerous practices.

Whilst it is the desire of most westerners to gain what they see as a ‘healthy’ tan, the opposite is true of the Thais, especially the young women who think that being dark skinned is a sign of a low class background. So, whereas westerners spend a fortune on tanning lotions etc, Thais spend (relatively speaking) a lot trying to look whiter! They try injections, they take pills but most of all the use a variety of lotions, some with very strange names

and brands

It’s a funny old world!

Apart from the shops selling beauty products, Maha Sarakham has a wonderful array of  general housewares outlets

plus, of course, the inevitable market selling a vast array of fresh produce

and, of course, food stalls.

Tomorrow I leave this neglected area of rural Thailand and head for some sun kissed shore in the south – or that’s the plan, anyway. And what a contrast it will be. Apart from anything else, I have only seen 2 westerners (farangs) since I got here 12 days ago! I could well be in for a bit of a shock!

Phileas

The family I am helping/supporting/sponsoring in a small way live in a tiny village  with an unpronounceable name a few miles outside the market town of Maha Sarakham. These peasant farmers have a (very) smallholding of about 4.5 acres dedicated to rice growing which, assuming the crops don’t get decimated by flooding,

 

provide barely enough income to sustain them. There is an oversupply of rice in Thailand which keeps the government fixed selling price low and there is an inbuilt suspicion in these folk of the government’s initiative to promote alternative planting. Old habits and traditions die very hard!

Fishing provides not only food for the family but also some desperately needed extra income, especially when the rice crop fails. It’s hard, hard work netting the river

and making sure the equipment is kept in tip top shape afterwards

but rewarding enough when you catch something like this!

I do have to say that sun dried, barbecued fish is delicious!

A diet of rice and fish is often enhanced with Tamarind from a roadside tree,

lemon grass grown on the premises

plus other spices and leaves growing freely in the hedgerows. And whenever fish eating gets a bit boring, there is an abundant supply of frogs and rats to tempt the palette.

live ones readily available in this large pot if you’re still hungry. Yuk!

The cooking method is basic but it works!

and the result is usually ‘arroy’ (delicious)!

After the washing up has been done

It’s time to catch up on the latest gossip with friends.

whilst doing a bit of preparation for the next meal. Oh, how the Thais love their food!

The sense of friendship, community and collective responsibility here is palpable. Everyone helps everyone else with, seemingly, absolutely no degree of self interest. Bartering is common place e.g I’ve got excess fish, you have excess vegetables so let’s swop as is helping the even less fortunate by the giving of any excesses free of charge.

The glue that really holds this precarious existence together is the family unit. And being truly traditional country folk, moving away from the village is rare. I have lost count of all the aunts, uncles, nephew, nieces and in laws of ‘my’ family I have met! And the most striking difference between the family unit here and those ‘back home’ is an innate understanding that it is the younger generation’s total and absolute responsibility to look after their parents, come what may. In fact, tradition dictates that it usually befalls the youngest daughter to give the greatest amount of parent care. With no government pension or healthcare, this is some comfort assuming she has enough money to provide whatever her parent(s) need.

I have a huge respect for these people, especially how they all pull together to overcome enormous difficulties and I’m proud that in a very small way I have been able to help them.

Phileas

Isan (pronounced ‘Eesan’) in north east Thailand is the country’s largest region but it’s also the nation’s poorest. Whilst it houses just over 1/3rd of the entire population it only contributes around 10% of the national GDP. And at the same time that Bangkok with 17% of the country’s population enjoy’s 72% of the government’s expenditure,  incredibly, Isan with double the population gets less than 6%!! Clearly, regional development is not top of the Thai government’s priorities and so the region really struggles to provide even the most basic of services. For example, as a local government cost cutting exercise, the weekly collection of rubbish in the rural villages was stopped last year.

It is now left to the residents to dispose of these items in any way they see fit e.g. burying or burning including all the plastic bags, of course. Talk about a trip back to the dark ages!

As an aside, the only advantage of this state of affairs that I have come across yet is that living costs are cheap. My hotel room which is more than acceptable and includes breakfast

costs £15 per night!!

There is no tourism here. There is a bit of a craft industry making chairs, mainly for the surrounding temples

but what involves most of the population is agriculture- some rearing of these strange

long eared cows but mainly in rice farming – acre upon acre of it

or, rather, what remains of it as the current crop has just been harvested.

Normally, the area where I am staying is quite fertile and if conditions are right it’s possible to obtain 3 or four harvests a year thanks, largely to a good supply of irrigation water from the local river. This year, however, has been a disaster for many as flooding destroyed vast areas of these crops.

It was possible to dry out some of the harvest

but a lot had to be destroyed.

So, with the next crop not due for harvesting (and thus, sale) until March next year, the local peasant farmers and their families have to survive, somehow, with no income for 4 or 5 months. As the banks don’t seem to be so keen on cash flow lending it’s left to the local village money lenders to come to the rescue of these poor impoverished folk and making a good turn for themselves in the process, often charging 10% per month for an unsecured loan to, perhaps, their next door neighbour!

Despite the extraordinary hardship most of the locals have to endure, there is an incredibly strong sense of ‘family’ and camaraderie amongst these folk

and the children seem happy enough in the main.

But it’s a tough, tough life for most, just eking out a very basic existence and with no social security, just praying that they stay healthy enough until their children can take care of them.

This is their lot. This is the real Thailand!

Phileas.

When a good friend of mine who works in the telecommunications business was with me in Bangkok not that long ago, he was fascinated by the jumble of cables that adorn  almost every post throughout the city.

Well, Derek; feast your eyes for the last time because they’re coming down and going underground.

And the poor guys who have to untangle this unholy mess

remind me so much of the times I used to get  cross when I was a youngster trying to unravel some knotted rope or string! There’s miles and miles of the stuff and I’m sure the city will look more beautiful for their disappearance but I will miss this iconic reminder of a splendidly chaotic place.

One place in central Bangkok that is not chaotic is the Big C supermarket – or, rather, hypermarket. It’s fantastic with an astonishing array of both general and exotic goodies.

The food and veg department is mind blowing as is the variety of both fresh fish

and shellfish.

Even with the lousy exchange rate, these crabs at just over £4 each seem like good value to me. And of course, no supermarket in this part of the world would be complete without a fine selection of teas

and spicesThe only negative is the check out operation which is very slow because the staff insist on packing everything themselves into an endless supply of plastic bags.

My modest purchases were loaded into 15 separate bags with seemingly neither facility nor encouragement to recycle your own carriers. There is clearly work to be done here!

32c and sunny today. That’s a good Thanksgiving prezzie!

Phileas

 

Lumpini Park, a 140+ acre oasis in the middle of the commercial district of Bangkok , was constructed in the 1920s by the then King, Rama VI in what was, at that time,  the outskirts of the city.

In World War II, the Japanese army took residence here but today it’s a place to stroll, jog, cycle or just generally relax away from the incessant traffic noise of the surrounding city. And you’re never far away from an opportunity to take part in the Thai eating obsession!

My fine Sunday pork soup snack lunch

cost the princely sum of £1.20!

After such a sumptuous meal, a brisk walk was necessary past numerous statues

of dubious symbolism and monuments to less than earth shattering inventions.

The same king who built the park invented this machine to aerate the lake water. Judging by its colour, it wasn’t hugely successful but hasn’t stopped the wildlife although some may have lost their way a little.

On the other hand, this iguana seemed very happy to wallow in the murky waters

before taking a stroll to a tree,

climbing up,

 settling down

and promptly falling asleep just before it started raining. And, boy, did it rain!

Who said the rainy season finished at the end of October? Certainly not this year! I feel especially sorry for all those holidaymakers travelling in southern Thailand and northern Malaysia (Phuket, Krabi, Samui, Langkawi etc) where there is some quite serious flooding.

Until the mosquitoes stop biting,

Phileas.

 

 

Following the Thai tradition of eating constantly, I had an attack of the munchies whilst out and about today. For some inexplicable reason, though, instead of taking advantage of the plethora of great Thai food all around me,

I’m ashamed to admit I found a….

MacD*****s behind one of the many ‘Spirit Houses’ that adorn this great city. I also have  to confess to quite enjoying my Buffalo Burger, or whatever it was, sitting outside and watching the world go by.

Opposite this splendid ‘restaurant’ an ice cream seller offered  an interesting selection of goodies.

I’m not sure the medical profession would necessarily agree that eating ice cream will lower cholesterol or burn fat from the spare bits around my stomach, not that I was tempted to try with the content claiming to be made out of a mixture of vanilla, charcoal, green tea and bamboo! So I will never know.

Bangkok is, of course, a very cosmopolitan city with an eclectic mix of race, colour and… fashion. I’m beginning to easily spot the different oriental races from quite a distance, certainly made easier in the case of the Koreans and Japanese by their  distinctive head gear.

Splendid!

I would like to understand the water transport system here a bit better as it’s certainly a less stressful way of getting around Bangkok.

That’s if you know where you’re going, of course. So I settled for a tuk tuk ride back to my apartment instead

which took me past a reminder that the festive season is upon us,

So, until the bells jingle!

Phileas

 

For some time now I’ve had the idea that in a perfect world, call me nomadic or what,  I would like to spend the remainder of my life in three places – a few months a year in England, a few months in Spain and the rest of the time in Thailand. Whether this dream can be turned into reality remains to be seen as my life has, effectively, been on hold for many months now while going through the nasty business of divorce. However, this hasn’t stopped the planning which has brought me to Thailand to see if I can, at least, sort out this part of my triangular puzzle.

Initially, the idea of becoming a beach bum  seemed quite appealing

but having seen the degeneration of a number of ex pats grasping their first beer at 10.00 am or earlier, I’m not sure I’m quite ready for that yet! OK for  a while – the beach bum bit, not the early morning drinking- but there’s got to be more to life than  spending lazy days in the sun on some idyllic, soft sanded beach. Or maybe not!

The other idea would be to base my Far Eastern winter hibernation in a city- Bangkok being the obvious choice – with the occasional trip out to some tropical beach paradise.    I love Bangkok. I love it’s hustle and bustle and seeming chaos.

I love the  culture, the temples and the religious shrines everywhere –

this one directly outside the apartment block, complete with roof top pool,

where I am currently staying. I love the restaurants and bars with their strange names!

I love the people-

well, most of them! I love the strangely worded signs –

I love the markets and the street sellers.

And I really, really  love the food. The concept of ‘3 square meals a day’ just doesn’t exist for Thai people. It’s all about “snacking’ – eating small amounts throughout the waking hours. Being a cosmopolitan city there are, of course, many top class international restaurants plus, sadly, the ubiquitous Macdonalds and KFCs but it’s the street food that I just adore.

Sellers of freshly made and often regional dishes are everywhere. It’s fresh and it’s cheap!

As there’s still a part of me that would like to get stuck into some small business project or other, Bangkok should be the ideal place to live for the winter months. It ticks so many boxes but……..

…. the traffic! It’s horrendous and with it, of course, the pollution. The thought of  living on fantastic food, ice cold beer plus an unhealthy sprinkling of carbon monoxide day in and day out is enough to turn anyone into a beach bum – 10.00 am beer or not! So that’s my Far East dilemma. But it’s not a bad problem to have and I will thoroughly enjoy trying to resolve this puzzle whilst I’m here in Bangkok, in the surrounding countryside and with the occasional trip to some sun kissed shore!

Until we do it again

Phileas.

 

 

 

 

The clocks have gone back. The leaves are cascading from the trees. Reminders of the more commercial aspects of Christmas are emerging everywhere. So it’s time for my winter hibernation.  Unfortunately, though, my journey hasn’t started. well. I should be in The Hot in Bangkok by now, courtesy of Turkish Airlines but I’m stuck in Istanbul. All started well enough until Turkish air traffic control put us on the ‘stacking’ merry go round. And round and round we went until low fuel prompted a diversion to Izmir. By the time we got back to Istanbul, having flown through a quite spectacular rain storm, my onward connecting flight to BKK had gone.

Airports are not really my favourite places and certainly not at 0330 in the morning! The staff on the plane didn’t seem to know what my next step should be but I was hopeful that a few ground staff  would be in evidence when we disembarked. There were none. The cleaning lady with her bucket and mop, though, was very accommodating and guided me through seemingly endless deserted corridors until, around one more corner, I found the transfer desk – not easy to miss as the two or three staff were trying to pacify a baying mob of literally hundreds of dissatisfied customers who were, clearly, in the same position as myself! I reckoned that with luck it would take me a good 3 hours to get to the head of the queue. So, in typical Phileas style, when everyone is turning right, I turn left. In short, I bought a £20 entry visa, went through passport control, found a hotel agent and got conned into spending far too much money on some accommodation and finally got to sleep at around 0530.

Being the tight bastard that I am, as breakfast was included in the exorbitant hotel price, I was determined to take advantage. So, after a fitful 4 hours kip, not knowing when my next meal would be,  I gorged myself on eggs, sausages, cereal, croissant and a few local dishes with unpronounceable names and then set about trying to not only get myself on the next available flight to Bangkok but, equally importantly, find out where my check in luggage is! Being without toiletries and a change of clothes is not something I’m used to.

The net result is that I depart to Bangkok at 2050 this evening but whether this is with or without my suitcase remains to be seen. And one of my first tasks on arrival will be to go to the Turkish Airlines office and set about claiming some compensation for this expensive disaster. In the meantime, I will try and grab a few more hours sleep and hope for a better tomorrow. At least the weather has improved already.

But not the view! Oh, the joys of travel.

Until we get there,

Phileas.

Since leaving the UK, I have taken more than 30 flights visiting  16 countries. Each destination has been very different. Each one having a special characteristic. It’s been an amazing journey. I have seen a lot. I have learnt a lot not only about different people and different cultures but also about myself. I have met some delightful folk. I have traveled alone but rarely been lonely. And everywhere I have been it has become clearer (although I suspected it before)  that consumerism, the insatiable desire to acquire more stuff, bears no relationship to happiness and often works against it.  Some of the happiest and contented people I have met are those who have little or nothing.

Now,  it’s nearly time to go home. Time to see my family. Time to catch up with mates who I haven’t seen for such a long time. And time to start planning the rest of my life. My children are grown up, my wife wants to go her own way.  Who knows, maybe I’ll get itchy feet after a while and set off again.

To those of you who have taken the trouble to read my scribblings, either regularly or just once in a while, I say ‘thank you’. What started out as merely a daily discipline, developed into a very enjoyable way of recording my adventures. When you are constantly on the look out for interesting photo opportunities  you quickly become much more aware of your surroundings.

So now it’s time for  Phileas to hang up his hat but, perhaps, not for too long.

Until we do it again.

Richard.

 

Although the inner streets of Galle fort are fascinating, the most impressive feature of this place is the well maintained outer wall (A wall? Impressive?)

which inevitably attracts photo taking tourists.

Today there were coach loads of Buddhist monks, clearly not the reclusive type as the plastic toy seller was doing brisk trade selling the younger ones Chinese made rubbish.

I’m sure that the sunsets present good photo opportunities but generally I have never been a fan of pictures merely of just flat sea.

Standing on the edge of this edifice, I couldn’t help being slightly alarmed at the complete absence  of any safety precautions.

The Health and Safety Executive has obviously not ventured this far yet.

I would like to have seen the diving display but maybe they don’t do this in front of Buddhist monks.

So, I settled for watching the man with a python instead

although I wasn’t too sure what he was doing with it.

Although Sri Lanka is around 90% Buddhist, in Galle fort there is a strong Muslim presence, many of the followers of this faith apparently owning nearby jewellery shops! So, to have such an impressive mosque in a prominent position in this ancient Buddhist town, built by Christians, struck me as being splendidly quirky. Religious tolerance was clearly working better back in the day than it often does now.

On the way back to my hotel, Mr Tuk Tuk wanted to know if I was interested in buying a rather large teak elephant at a cost £85,000.

On the basis that I haven’t any space in my suitcase, I declined.

I was dropped off at the edge of Unawantana so I could collect my £2.50s worth of laundry from where I walked back to my hotel enjoying (?) the sights

before flopping on the beach and paying an extortionate amount of money for a mango.

The UNESCO Heritage site of Galle Fort is lovely and well worth visiting but I still prefer a hotel within crawling distance of a beach sun lounger .

Phileas