A very warm greeting to you all! Rest assured that Bangkok is calm and quiet, for now. :-) It has been less-than-desirably hot the past couple of days but one can't complain. The rain has gone for now. It should hopefully arrive back in time for the rainy season. Let's hope, Mother Nature!
After the 'red shirt' protests canceled school (and the all-school water fight! boooo.) my friend's and I headed north-east to Petchabun province early, to avoid traffic. We encountered slow-downs here and there but the drive was straight forward and enjoyable. Bom, her Auntie Boo, Andy and I arrived in time for dinner at a local BBQ place. Now BBQ means something a bit different here in Thailand. We went to a place that puts a grill on your table and you go up to the buffet of meats and veggies and cook your own at your table. Boiling some things and grilling others. I particularly enjoyed some fish cube things... they look like tofu... and boiled veggies and ICE CREAM! (No, we didn't cook the ice cream.)
After a nice dinner we went home for a glorious sleep and woke to have a lovely breakfast made by Bom's aunts. Later we drove all the family's vehicles to another side of their property (they're farmers) and did the traditional 'washing of the vehicles' for Songkran festivities. I actually don't know the meaning of washing the cars, but it was fun anyway. Afterwards we had lunch in another city and then shopped 'in town' for water pistols for the kids. As Andy and I are two of the only white people 'in town', we are quite a spectacle when we go anywhere. Everyone stops to stare, literally, and then nudges their friends to stop and have a good look at us as well. It's really strange. At those times I just feel lucky not to have paparazzi in the mix. I cannot imagine how it feels to be a celebrity. EEK! Anyway, after returning to Bom's parent's house, we walked to Bom's father's side of the family (about a block or two away) and hung out with them, said hello, accepted drinks and laughed and laughed. They're a bit rowdier than her mother's side. Typical, right? ;)
After visiting her father's family, Bom took me, and her brother Boy took Andy on their motorbikes and they showed us around the area. It was fun! I learned that Bom is (pretty much deathly) afraid of "the cows. I'm scared." She pulled WAaaay over in the ditch to let a cow herder pass with his 'flock'. I still giggle. Bom is usually so tough about everything else. He-he-hee. So, with not much left to the day, we returned to Bom's home and had a nice dinner. It's always a nice meal with her family. I try many new things. After dinner is the time when we are to leave the elders alone and play with the kids, Bom's cousins. Last year I brought the Cranium game called Whoonu and left it for the family. (It's funny because they can't really communicate with me directly but they definitely remember and associate me with things... like Andy, Whoonu, not eating meat but 'okay with fish', that I love morning glory in oyster sauce... and my Songkran shirt.) They had the game all ready to play but I had brought them a new game: Boom-O. It's a card game and is fun, but definitely more of a game for kids than adults. So we spent the evening teaching the kids this new game... and they loved it! I caught them the next morning playing together.
(Sorry if this is painstakingly detailed. I didn't blog about last year's visit, so thought I'd really share about this year's visit. They are truly lovely people who I wish you could all meet.)
After playing with the kids we were told we'd be up by 8 am to go on a new adventure the next day. So the next day, we were all up and ready to eat breakfast and head out for a day trip into the mountains, but the opposite direction that we went last year. Last year the family took Andy and I up to see the Hmong villages (I was SO excited to see where many of our MN-an immigrants come from!) and completely understand why they stick to farming in MN. It's what they know. It's what they do in their home countries. They are really big into growing cabbages now as opposed to growing Poppies for Opium back in the day. Their fields go up and down even the most dangerous mountain slopes. It was incredible.
Anyway, this year we went the opposite direction (east I think) to a mountain lake. The aunties brought tons of drinks and snacks that we'd bought the day before when we were 'in town.' After almost three lovely hours of driving through the mountains we stopped at a lake and Bom and her aunts ordered some (lunch) food and we loaded all the stuff onto a bamboo raft!! It was really fun! Once everyone was aboard, with the snacks and drinks we brought, a long tail boat brought us to a location in the middle of the lake and dropped a HUGE stone and we just floated on the lake on this covered bamboo raft and the long tail zoomed off.
When we needed to use the bathroom (on land) or wanted more food (or even when the ice cream boat went by) we'd put up our flag and someone would come immediately to us in a long tail boat. They ordered a fair amount of food for lunch, so at first we had several boats drop by with food for us. After eating it was time to relax and just float. The owners of the rafts provide pillows to lay on and it was really relaxing and beautiful. We were on a lake in the middle of the Thai mountains. I would recommend it to anyone and hope to someday find something similar to bring my guests. While the girls relaxed, Andy and (Bom's brother) Boy decided to swim to pass the time. It was just so much fun! See pictures here.
After spending several hours on the lake floating around, it was time to head home for dinner and an update on the protests. There were always updates on the red shirt's protesting in Bangkok. It was a bit of a nervous time not knowing how out of control it might get. They burned stuff... buses, tires, junk. They walked all over the army tanks that rolled into the popular shopping district. They just seemed very out of control. No one knew what would happen. They show things on Thai TV that we wouldn't see in America, like dead people or people causing violence. So we saw a lot more than I expected. I watched a man yank a woman around on the ground by her hair. I watched the army shoot 'blanks' above the protesters. It was crazy. Oh yea, they decided to threaten the safety of innocent people by blockading a major road with a gas tanker and threatened to blow it up. Nice. Not crazy at all.
The next day, Monday, was the first of the actual Songkran festival holiday, which is normally three days. When I woke up, I looked out the window and saw Boy at the edge of the driveway with a barrel of water, already throwing water at people in cars, trucks and on motorbikes that drove past. I scrambled to get my clothes on and went down to join him. This is something we didn't do last year, standing at the driveway throwing water. I was ALL in!!
Well, no sooner than I joined Boy and the others came too, with their loaded water pistols, it started to pour rain and I thought we'd never get into town for water fighting. It's really really fun! So we all sat around under cover and watched the rain pound the mountainside and farms around us, it lasted an hour or two and put quite a 'chill' in the air. The kids were restless, so we played games with them.
After the rain finally stopped, we were preparing to go, and I didn't see but heard Boy walk by with this crinkling noise. I looked at him funny when he walked by again and he lifted his shirt to show us all that he'd put some holes (for his head and arms) in a big garbage bag and had it under his clothes, tucked into his pants to keep himself a little warmer. When we saw this, we all wanted one and he made them for us. So if you see the plastic under my clothes... it really did keep us warmer since temperatures had cooled quite a bit. A lot of people who stand on the side of the road with water fill it with ice and it is SHOCKING to get smacked with it when you're trapped in the back of a truck. All you can do is scream. They love it! Haha.
Everyone (Boy, Andy, Bom and Bom's smaller cousin) hopped into the back of a caged pickup truck with a full barrel of water and headed for some action. What happens is that we throw water (using big plastic bowls or our water guns) at people waiting on the side of the road or in other trucks and they throw it back at us. If someone is close enough, they will sometimes put wet, white powder on your cheeks. I don't remember the tradition in this... but all the traditions are quite distorted by this day and age. SO, we made our way in and out of the roads 'in town.' Unfortunately, I'm a dead give-away with my blond-ish hair and people stare in combination with really going crazy on us since we're 'falong, FALONG! HEllo! I love you! Very Beauty-fool.' If it's the icey-cold water, then we're going to get hit with it much more than the rest of the people. Basically, we're a target. It's fun. A little overwhelming. But it was fun. After a while Andy said to stop making us such a target (as a joke) and I put a hat and sunglasses on... no one knew the difference and I could enjoy the water fighting from more of a neutral perspective. It was SO so much fun. (Much better than getting doused in Bangkok when clearly you're not dressed to water fight and you're just trying to get to a restaurant for dinner.... but in their defense, you know it's going on and should just tolerate it...?) It was a highlight of the trip for me.
After the 'red shirt' protests canceled school (and the all-school water fight! boooo.) my friend's and I headed north-east to Petchabun province early, to avoid traffic. We encountered slow-downs here and there but the drive was straight forward and enjoyable. Bom, her Auntie Boo, Andy and I arrived in time for dinner at a local BBQ place. Now BBQ means something a bit different here in Thailand. We went to a place that puts a grill on your table and you go up to the buffet of meats and veggies and cook your own at your table. Boiling some things and grilling others. I particularly enjoyed some fish cube things... they look like tofu... and boiled veggies and ICE CREAM! (No, we didn't cook the ice cream.)
After a nice dinner we went home for a glorious sleep and woke to have a lovely breakfast made by Bom's aunts. Later we drove all the family's vehicles to another side of their property (they're farmers) and did the traditional 'washing of the vehicles' for Songkran festivities. I actually don't know the meaning of washing the cars, but it was fun anyway. Afterwards we had lunch in another city and then shopped 'in town' for water pistols for the kids. As Andy and I are two of the only white people 'in town', we are quite a spectacle when we go anywhere. Everyone stops to stare, literally, and then nudges their friends to stop and have a good look at us as well. It's really strange. At those times I just feel lucky not to have paparazzi in the mix. I cannot imagine how it feels to be a celebrity. EEK! Anyway, after returning to Bom's parent's house, we walked to Bom's father's side of the family (about a block or two away) and hung out with them, said hello, accepted drinks and laughed and laughed. They're a bit rowdier than her mother's side. Typical, right? ;)
After visiting her father's family, Bom took me, and her brother Boy took Andy on their motorbikes and they showed us around the area. It was fun! I learned that Bom is (pretty much deathly) afraid of "the cows. I'm scared." She pulled WAaaay over in the ditch to let a cow herder pass with his 'flock'. I still giggle. Bom is usually so tough about everything else. He-he-hee. So, with not much left to the day, we returned to Bom's home and had a nice dinner. It's always a nice meal with her family. I try many new things. After dinner is the time when we are to leave the elders alone and play with the kids, Bom's cousins. Last year I brought the Cranium game called Whoonu and left it for the family. (It's funny because they can't really communicate with me directly but they definitely remember and associate me with things... like Andy, Whoonu, not eating meat but 'okay with fish', that I love morning glory in oyster sauce... and my Songkran shirt.) They had the game all ready to play but I had brought them a new game: Boom-O. It's a card game and is fun, but definitely more of a game for kids than adults. So we spent the evening teaching the kids this new game... and they loved it! I caught them the next morning playing together.
(Sorry if this is painstakingly detailed. I didn't blog about last year's visit, so thought I'd really share about this year's visit. They are truly lovely people who I wish you could all meet.)
After playing with the kids we were told we'd be up by 8 am to go on a new adventure the next day. So the next day, we were all up and ready to eat breakfast and head out for a day trip into the mountains, but the opposite direction that we went last year. Last year the family took Andy and I up to see the Hmong villages (I was SO excited to see where many of our MN-an immigrants come from!) and completely understand why they stick to farming in MN. It's what they know. It's what they do in their home countries. They are really big into growing cabbages now as opposed to growing Poppies for Opium back in the day. Their fields go up and down even the most dangerous mountain slopes. It was incredible.
Anyway, this year we went the opposite direction (east I think) to a mountain lake. The aunties brought tons of drinks and snacks that we'd bought the day before when we were 'in town.' After almost three lovely hours of driving through the mountains we stopped at a lake and Bom and her aunts ordered some (lunch) food and we loaded all the stuff onto a bamboo raft!! It was really fun! Once everyone was aboard, with the snacks and drinks we brought, a long tail boat brought us to a location in the middle of the lake and dropped a HUGE stone and we just floated on the lake on this covered bamboo raft and the long tail zoomed off.
When we needed to use the bathroom (on land) or wanted more food (or even when the ice cream boat went by) we'd put up our flag and someone would come immediately to us in a long tail boat. They ordered a fair amount of food for lunch, so at first we had several boats drop by with food for us. After eating it was time to relax and just float. The owners of the rafts provide pillows to lay on and it was really relaxing and beautiful. We were on a lake in the middle of the Thai mountains. I would recommend it to anyone and hope to someday find something similar to bring my guests. While the girls relaxed, Andy and (Bom's brother) Boy decided to swim to pass the time. It was just so much fun! See pictures here.
After spending several hours on the lake floating around, it was time to head home for dinner and an update on the protests. There were always updates on the red shirt's protesting in Bangkok. It was a bit of a nervous time not knowing how out of control it might get. They burned stuff... buses, tires, junk. They walked all over the army tanks that rolled into the popular shopping district. They just seemed very out of control. No one knew what would happen. They show things on Thai TV that we wouldn't see in America, like dead people or people causing violence. So we saw a lot more than I expected. I watched a man yank a woman around on the ground by her hair. I watched the army shoot 'blanks' above the protesters. It was crazy. Oh yea, they decided to threaten the safety of innocent people by blockading a major road with a gas tanker and threatened to blow it up. Nice. Not crazy at all.
The next day, Monday, was the first of the actual Songkran festival holiday, which is normally three days. When I woke up, I looked out the window and saw Boy at the edge of the driveway with a barrel of water, already throwing water at people in cars, trucks and on motorbikes that drove past. I scrambled to get my clothes on and went down to join him. This is something we didn't do last year, standing at the driveway throwing water. I was ALL in!!
Well, no sooner than I joined Boy and the others came too, with their loaded water pistols, it started to pour rain and I thought we'd never get into town for water fighting. It's really really fun! So we all sat around under cover and watched the rain pound the mountainside and farms around us, it lasted an hour or two and put quite a 'chill' in the air. The kids were restless, so we played games with them.
After the rain finally stopped, we were preparing to go, and I didn't see but heard Boy walk by with this crinkling noise. I looked at him funny when he walked by again and he lifted his shirt to show us all that he'd put some holes (for his head and arms) in a big garbage bag and had it under his clothes, tucked into his pants to keep himself a little warmer. When we saw this, we all wanted one and he made them for us. So if you see the plastic under my clothes... it really did keep us warmer since temperatures had cooled quite a bit. A lot of people who stand on the side of the road with water fill it with ice and it is SHOCKING to get smacked with it when you're trapped in the back of a truck. All you can do is scream. They love it! Haha.
Everyone (Boy, Andy, Bom and Bom's smaller cousin) hopped into the back of a caged pickup truck with a full barrel of water and headed for some action. What happens is that we throw water (using big plastic bowls or our water guns) at people waiting on the side of the road or in other trucks and they throw it back at us. If someone is close enough, they will sometimes put wet, white powder on your cheeks. I don't remember the tradition in this... but all the traditions are quite distorted by this day and age. SO, we made our way in and out of the roads 'in town.' Unfortunately, I'm a dead give-away with my blond-ish hair and people stare in combination with really going crazy on us since we're 'falong, FALONG! HEllo! I love you! Very Beauty-fool.' If it's the icey-cold water, then we're going to get hit with it much more than the rest of the people. Basically, we're a target. It's fun. A little overwhelming. But it was fun. After a while Andy said to stop making us such a target (as a joke) and I put a hat and sunglasses on... no one knew the difference and I could enjoy the water fighting from more of a neutral perspective. It was SO so much fun. (Much better than getting doused in Bangkok when clearly you're not dressed to water fight and you're just trying to get to a restaurant for dinner.... but in their defense, you know it's going on and should just tolerate it...?) It was a highlight of the trip for me.
After water fighting, we just relaxed at home and enjoyed another fine dinner and some game time with the kids. Updates on the protesting had us nervous about going back to Bangkok the next day but we decided to make a decision about going in the morning. We just enjoyed a nice night relaxing with the family, keeping an eye on the news.
Tuesday morning we were up and packed up the car, had breakfast and drove home. We woke up to hear that the protests had been called off after too many leaders of the red shirts had been taken into custody. They called everything off. And thank goodness! So what ended up happening was that we left town just before it all started and got back into town just after all the madness was over. We were really lucky, I guess.
It was another lovely trip to Petchabun province with Bom and Andy to spend time with her family for the holiday. A very special memory for me. Thanks Bom and family, and Andy!!
Yaaay! My first video upload that was successful! You'll notice that giggling is the best form of communication. I LOVe it!! Whoooopieee!!
