Thursday Jan 16
We left LAX around noon and I had thought we were going to
fly non-stop to Bangkok .
So much for wishful thinking. We flew to Seoul Korea which
took 13 hours and we were packed into those darn seats that are cramped and
impossible when the person in front of you decides to recline. Poor Ron. I on
the other hand had a friendly guy to my left who was even taller than Ron so he
used a bit of extra space by stretching his legs and tucked his feet under the
seat in front of me. That makes for a long 13 hours. In Seoul
all passengers had to deplane even though the flight was continuing on to Bangkok . We had about a 2.5
hr layover so we found a place to stretch out flat on three seats each. It
helped immensely. Back on the plane and another 5 hrs of torture. We slept
little and never took one of our magic pills to help us sleep as the time was
never right.
The political protests continue in Bangkok and at first we had concern about
getting to our hotel as part of the protest is staged around the corner. Since
it was 1:00 a.m. we were spared having to walk with our suitcases if the taxi
couldn’t get close to the hotel. Our driver was quite familiar with the area
and approached from a back alley and we had no problem at all. Our suitcases
were heavier than usually. We usually travel light but for some reason that
didn’t work out this time. We were carrying gifts for our Thai family ( 8 boxes
of cranberry candy from the Oregon
coast, a replacement doorknob and just too much stuff). Anyway I struggled with
my luggage and Ron had even more to deal with.
So the next morning taking a taxi to the vans where we catch
a ride to Hua Hin to pick up a rental car was not an option due to protests. We
lugged our gear to the Skytrain and went to Victory Monument Thailand
like many places has an informal yet brilliant transportation system. Located
in the town centers multiple vans holding 15 people congregate. You find the
one going to the city you want and pay a fee and climb aboard. Once the van is
full, off you go. We bought three seats, one for our luggage as there is NO
space for luggage. Fortunately we were the last passengers to fill up the van
so shortly we were on the road. It was tight but it was only three hours with
the stops. The stops are often just pulling off onto the shoulder of the road
and letting someone out. In our case there was an assigned spot in Hua Hin.
From there we took a taxi to Avis and picked up our car. Then we headed for our
house.
We made a poor judgment call and never stopped to eat, so
lunch was at 5:00. With a bad case of jet lag coupled with low blood sugar we
were testy with each other but heck, Ron and I have been through tougher times
and our deep love gets us through the little bumps. We couldn’t find out favorite
restaurant (because it was closed) so we just stopped before we fell over and
had a so-so meal. There was no English menu but the board out front had three
items in English so I got up and went outside with the waiter and pointed to
‘beef noodles and of course he had no idea what the English said. Fortunately a
young woman got up and came outside and helped order for us. Serves us right
for not speaking the language.
We drove to our house, unpacked and headed for the grocery
store. I was hungry after our lunch of meager soup so we ate another small meal
at an eatery in the small mall where we were buying a few groceries. Home
again, we put away the groceries and showered only to discover our little device
that heats water in the shower wasn’t working. A quick cold sponge bath and we
collapsed in bed. I woke up at 3:00 (ah jet lag) and read for a long while.
Sunday Jan 19
Our dear friend Nuun emailed to say she was driving down
from Bangkok to
see us. We ate breakfast (granola I had made in Vancouver and brought here) and puttered
around the house. Nuun arrived with a friend from high school. We met Nuun when
she was an exchange student in Tigard five years ago. We always try to connect
when we are here. She went out and got lunch for us which we ate here. She then
took us to town to show us where to buy kao mon gai (rice with chicken) a fave
for breakfast/lunch here.
She left to take Hope (the young son a family member here in
Phetchaburi) to a park with rides, etc. Hope is a six year old who lives on the
property with his mom in the big house. His mom, Ai is the granddaughter of Pa
Cha An who owns the property and who is Nattawan’s aunt. If you are still with
me, Nattawan owns the house where we stay and she lives in Tigard, just south
of Portland . We
have known her since 2003 when Ron led the Thai project when he was working for
the city of Portland .
Okay enough history.
While Nuun was at the park,
another part of the family visited. Ron
asked where we could by a new water warmer, and they immediately took Ron to a
place about 30 minutes away where he bought what he needed. When he got home, he took the old one down
and installed the new one.
That evening we were invited to join Hope and Pear and go to
the local festival. I think almost everyone in the area was there. There were
lots of displays including minorities in their native dress, always a thrill
for Ron and me. There were numerous traditional art exhibits with artists
showing how shadow puppets are made, how banana tree carving is done, as well
as elaborate wood carving. Afterwards we went to dinner and then we were ready
for bed. Jet lag persists.
Monday Jan 20
Ron started on house projects. There are always some repairs
and maintenance to take care of when we visit only once a year. Before we came to Thailand this year, the house had a
problem with a leaking water line. In
order to get it fixed the repair person had to knok a hole in the foundation
wall to get access. So Ron’s project for
the day was to straighten out the opening and finish it in a more permanent
way.
I started cleaning. The house is cleaned regularly while we
are gone but after a couple of days, the entire house needed sweeping. I will
need to mop as well but am going slowly until my body adjusts to the new time
zone, about 13 hours difference. I still am waking up at 3 or 4 a.m. and
reading until the sun starts to come up. If I am lucky I go back to sleep
briefly. We showered then went to town, ate a light lunch at one of our
favorite stands and got drinking water at the water plant. We have a dispenser
so buy water in five gallon jugs, two for a little over a dollar, ha. Welcome
to Thailand .
Afterwards we drove to Cha Am, a lovely little beach community. We went for a
foot massage and were not disappointed. The facility was right on the beach
road where we could feel the breeze off the ocean and see the beach from where
we sat. Then Ron took me to a place he discovered the day before with Tum,
another family member who is very helpful with projects. This place was the
Thai equivalent to Home Depot. Ron
thought he had died and gone to ‘project guy heaven’. He often struggles to
find tools and materials he needs and this place has it all and employees speak
English! It is inconveniently located about 30-40 minutes away but who cares?
We are on vacation from retirement. We stopped by an outlet mall looking for a
deal on shoes for my sister but no such luck. Then we stopped at Big C which is
a mega store, with groceries, clothing,
appliances, DVDs, CDs and household goods . We decided to make a salad for
dinner and found it more difficult than we thought. A yellow bell pepper was
$6.00 so we skipped that then found another one for about a dollar. We couldn’t
identify any lettuce but came home with what we decided might be lettuce. Then when we made the salad we decided it
might be Napa
cabbage. Anyway it worked well enough. After dinner we visited with Pa Cha An
who speaks no English and is in her late 80’s and is now blind. We of course
speak no Thai but we always have these animated conversations with her as though
we all understand each other. Somehow love transpires language differences. For
evening entertainment I challenged Ron to a game of Scrabble and for the first
time ever I won! I got all the vowels. He is a much better player than I but it
was the luck of the draw.
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