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Published: February 2nd 2008
The Lotus Flower
These were at the hospital in big ceramic bowls with lily pads and tiny fish. They even smell nice!Well, moments ago I was with Riki. Now I am not. TRULY solo. Although I DO have a cell phone she is loaning me for emergencies, I actually have no more built in company. What an adventure! Of course the usual apprehension and a little sadness ensue...but actually I'm doing ok. Feeling connected to all of you as I write. True explorers and adventurers of course didn't have these luxuries, like computers/internet, and cell phones, even phones at all. But, we do what we can to see the beautiful places that cover this fascinating undulating vibrating planet without damaging it too much or leaving huge footprints.
We ate at "Risotto", the first Italian restaraunt that I have patronized since being in Thailand. For the most part have been eating as much local food as possible, trying every little dessert, fried treats, unknown snacks, and all sorts of sea food and curries etc. Riki was so excited to have Italian food, her husband is Thai and so rarely if ever wants to go to foriegn restaraunts, so we were thrilled to have this little treat together. The panacotta dessert was divine.
I also kepy seeing baby elephants walking through town with their
Soon to be baby birds
These little guys are in quite the precarious position; the tiny nest is only about 5 feet off the ground RIGHT at Riki's stairs, and she owns 5 cats! Though I hear they aren't much for hunting :) The mum flies away when I walk by...which is what gave away her nest's location! 'mahouts' who are caretakers (not ALWAYS kind as revealed by the many pachyderms that end up at animal rescue organizations) but I kept missing the opportunity to connect with one. I prayed that I would get to have a little connection with one of them sometime before I leave (tomorrow morning) and what do you know, just as I was walking away from the meal which Riki had had to leave prematurely to run and catch her night train back to Bangkok, I immediately found my hand on a sweet bright eyed and curious elephant's forehead...the bristly hair not hiding it's warm leathery skin. What beautiful creatures, what sad realities (most of the time, not always). It kept reaching up and trying to take imaginary food from my hand, what a warm long nose! Then I payed my 20 Baht (about 75 cents) and they took a nice picture of me feeding what I think is sugar cane pieces to the sweet and gentle being. I MUST be in Asia 😊
So tomorrow I head by Tuk Tuk to the bus station, then take a bus for 2 or so hours to Pakse, the capital of Laos' southern-most province of
Me and Ooleung
This is the new black kitten, whom Riki saved and is healing well...he is my favorite of her cats because is the most affectionate with me...laying on my chest and purring loudly. Ooleung is the Chinese black tea. Champasak, with a stop at the Thai-Lao border. Riki and I got my visa photos done here in Ubon yesterday.
We took the night train, a 2nd class sleeper, which was unbelievably comfortable even on the upper bunk, from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani on Thursday Night arriving yesterday morning. We checked RIGHT into a stunning hotel, by far THE fanciest place I will likely stay on this journey with hot shower and air conditioning and a great view of the expansive and flat surrounding city and countryside.
We ate at their buffet and then headed out into the town to wander around, a favorite past time of Riki and Yik when they come here for a weekend....to walk around and see what there is to see. Every other house is old and wooden, rather than the more updated/modern cement buildings that have wiped out most semblence of traditional housing in places like Bangkok. It has a sleepy older-town vibe with mostly local people and lots of traditional Isaan textiles and food still alive and well. We went to the food market near the river, the Mae Nam Mon, where we bought some beautiful sticky rice baskets, handmade by the wonderful
woman vendor herself. We tried a couple treats and Riki talked up a Thai storm with all the vendors.
I had read about a neat and somewhat popular local restaraunt that specializes in Vegetarian food, but had forgotten the name, so we asked around, and because this is a small enough city, and MOSTLY because Riki speaks Thai, some locals pointed us in the right direction and we found ourselves at a BEAUTIFUL huge wooden structure, surrounded by a large rock fountain and pond. We helped ourselves to the extensive buffet and only paid about 50 Baht (less than US$2) for our entire meal. It was delicious and we kept commenting on how peaceful and beautiful this place was. After seeing a picture of a man in brown monk robes, she made the insightful conclusion that this was a different sect of Buddhism that is actually so strict (vegetarian, meditation, no glamorous golden pendants etc) they they have been banished from the common buddhist monk community, and are forbidden from wearing the saffron robes, but continue on and have a moderate following still. I quite like the energy of this group and try not to judge, being a mostly ignorant
At the Food Market
Garlic, onions, shallots and CHILIS! In the bottom of the pic you can see the Banana leaves that they use to serve EVERYTHING on and in here. So eco-conscious! :) foreigner, but if I had to chose which 'sect' to spend my time with in a Wat (Temple) in practice, I think I would choose the ones wearing the brown robes and eating vegetarian 😊
Today we went to the Seventh Day Adventist church that was there when my dad was born in 1955. On the same plot of land is the building where the hospital that my father was born in. Riki was actually spontaneously asked to be the translator for the day because the regular woman who did so wasn't there...on time at least. She did a splendid job of helping lead the service, speaking in Thai and then speaking in English. You see about half of the congregation is Philipino, who speak enlish more than Thai. Everyone was super friendly and welcoming and there was beautiful special music performed. Then we had potluck lunch, which included some traditional Isaan style food...soooo yummy! Then we wandered around and took pictures in front of the buildings so as to show my dad...how incredibly meaningful to be where my grandparents and their 3 children lived for a few years, and where my dad was born! So special. I feel much
Riki buying marinated veggies
As you can see, most of the tables behind them are empty, the place was shutting down when we arrived. Still interesting to walk around though. more connected to them. After church the pastors son took us by car to the place where their wooden (Teak) house used to stand...next door is the cement house that survived and the man who owns it noticed us and warmly welcomed us into his home...Riki said they used to play in the house back when the Doctor lived in it next door to them. She said almost NOTHING had been changed in over 50 years...the doors, teak floors, even the screens were still the same. WOW!
Riki and I found a great little shop called "Art Home", the place to buy traditional Thai Textiles and Thai Silk. Truly beautiful clothing. I was lucky enough to find a pair of hand-woven material pink pants (see elephant pic), a nice scarf, and a STUNNING item that I am most excited about; a traditional Ubon cotton jacket with handwoven material and beautiful Ubon/Isaan style hand-woven patterns (see pic in front of place where my dad was born).
This has been a magical trip, even more so magical because it was with Riki, an aunt I've never been able to spend much time with, especially not one on one, most of my life,
This Old Beamer
I HAD to take this pic for Dave, a lover of the BMW bike...and this was an old beauty. I even liked it :) mainly because she lives in Thailand! So we are stoked to be getting to know one another, and to see an area that she and my paternal family were so connected to. She and Yik would like to live in Ubon someday, and I can see why.
I think I've only seen about 5 white people the whole time I've been here, it is NOT a town dedicated to tourism...which is refreshingly delightful.
Tomorrow I am off by bus to Lao, to see the town of Pakse, then Champasak where they have incredible pre-Angkor era Khmer temple ruins, and then into the southern-most area of Laos on the Mekong, bordering Cambodia, where life slows down to an almost sedentary pace on the Four Thousand Islands region called Si Phan Don. This is the current plan at least. I have no idea how much internet availability I will have so this was a nice last push before the unknown. My goal is to truly understand the meaning of RELAXATION. It will not be pampered in high end resort-style relaxation, but the kind that is impossible not to be a part of in sleepy southern Laos.
Hammocks, sunsets, waterfalls, reading, meditating on
At the Veggie Restaraunt
The Rock fountain and pond...it was a magical setting to eat our lunch. life and my future, late afternoon naps...you know...the stuff we don't take time to do in our busy BUSY american lifestyles...
Kisses to you all,
Heather Beth, World Wanderer
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William
non-member comment
Motorcycle
Thats a Sweet Bike! I share the love that Dave has for these old things. This one is to the best of my knowledge a 250cc from 64-66, they made these from 1961-1966 The BMW R27 "Thumper". Called a Thumper because of the Thump, Thump shounds the large single-cylinder engine makes. Here that bike would sell for $6-7,. Bring it back with you. Get a BIG shipping box and pick up all the old bikes you can find. We can split the profit 3 ways. hehe I know, useless knowledge. Sending our Love to you Heather!! William