Sunday Driving

Today, I decided to explore a little more of my surroundings, so off I went on the bicycle. the first place I went was the abandoned hotel. I had been up there before, but I did not have my camera- this time, I wanted to get some pictures to share. Wouldn't you know it, there was a haze! (On my first trip, it was crystal clear.) I will save the pictures of the hotel and the view from the top for another post, as this one is already long.



The view from the hotel across the golf course to one of the mountains west of here. Immediately after leaving this area, I discovered that the bike had a flat. Nathan was back from dropping the girls off at the bus station, so he brought the truck and we went to Mae Rim to get the tube fixed. 20 baht (less than a dollar). On my way again.

I watched a farm worker planting what appeared to be corn- by hand- in this field. It was all complete by today. This farm had different crops all around- looked a bit like a small "truck farm" as we used to call them in the States.

Another contestant in the "count the cost" category. Looks beautiful, so far, but unfinished, and nothing happening now.

It was past lunchtime, and I was a few miles north of home, so I was attracted by this sign, near the Tiger Farm. I was attracted by the English, the promise of western food, and that it was close by. Well, one out of three isn't too bad, at least in baseball.

I am not exactly sure what 80M is in Thailand, but I would assume meters. It was certainly not that close. (Neither was the Hilltribe Doll place I showed several posts ago...perhaps they "exaggerate" a little in the name of advertising?)

Then there is the "western food" part, and the English on the sign. Well, when I got there, I found a delightful outdoor garden type of restaurnat with two ladies talking at a table near the entrance. It turns out that at least one of them worked there, but there were no other customers. She laughed out loud and said something to the other lady as she walked with me toward my table (at least that is what I thought). After reaching the end of the path, I motioned back, to ask if I could sit anywhere. No response. I did see a menu, though, but it was entrirely in Thai. Now I understood why she had been laughing before. I told her I would take some Kao Soy Kai, which is the only thing I know how to order in Thai. I sat down at a nice table, noticed that the chairs seemed to be relatively new, and the lady brought me a water and ice. Later she brought me a few peanuts, which was nice since I was so hungry. She seemed to be asking if the water was OK, and I pointed to a Singha emblem on my hat, which she understood, so she brought me a beer. No other activity.

After quite a few minutes, an older gentleman came in and said "good afternoon" to me. After visiting the lady, he came out to me and asked if I wanted anything to eat. I told him I had ordered Kao Soy, and he replied that they did not have Kao Soy. -- Oh-- He said they had fried rice and also Curry dishes, so I ordered some hot spicy Curried chicken and it was really good (aroy). Tasted a bit Indian- and that is west of here- maybe that is what they meant? Before paying the bill, I ordered another beer and struck up a converstaion with the man who had taken my order. Turns out that he was the proprietor. He was a retired teacher from the area (in fact he lived down near the school.) We talked about all sorts of things, including politics (he did not like Thaksin, though they went to the same school back in the day). It was delightful. He was the one who told me about the night-blooming plant.

Next to my table was this stand for a lantern (or light?) I include the picture to show that the style of bricklaying is different over here. It's not that they are incapable of laying brick straight, it's just that it doesn't matter here.

Notice that the holes show also, as I mentioned before.

As a trim carpenter, I am sometimes amazed to see the "gingerbread" on the exterior cornice. These buildings did not seem to be anything very special, but someone spent some money on the detail.







Recycle the oxcart wheels. Clever!











Near Mae Rim is a bridge over the Ping River. Across the river, notice that the concrete they used to protect the river bank has collapsed as the land underneath it washed out.

The Ping must get pretty high during the rainy season. This measuring rule is painted on the concrete, and it goes to over 6 meters. Notice also that the water does get that high on a regular basis, because the gray/black stain from above has been washed away to that level.

I had mentioned before that the concrete fence posts appeared to have been poured in place. Maybe not. At this concrete facility, many preformed concrete items were for sale, including posts.


The items in the foreground are what we might call piers- for decks, etc. The "footer" is poured right in so you just plop it all in a hole.

A view down the Ping River towards Legacy.

On the road I took back to Mae Sa Laung, I saw this sign on the side of the road overlooking the river. It seemed to have prices on it, so I wondered if there was some kind of river transportation available. Art told me that it was a list of contributors- he thought it might have been posted at a temple- but it must have had to do with what appears to be a dock of sorts, in the picture below, which was diectly down a steep set of stairs from the sign. Maybe it's just a safe way for the kids to get to the river to swim? I don't know.

On the way home, I saw someone selling peanuts in the shell and bought a few bags. A few days later I felt like eating some, and I cracked one open. Woops- never occurred to me that they might be raw. No way to roast them here. Oh well...compost.

I have much more to share, but this blogging thing is time consuming! Until next time...