Chapter 11
Day 12
Chiang Mai
It was dark in my room, I was sleeping deeply, when my alarm clock rung. I took it and switched it off. It was so dark that I felt like I was just fallen asleep and it was still night time. No, it couldn’t. I had to get up, I couldn’t be late the first day of cooking class.
I went straight to the bathroom, got dressed and left the place. With me just my wallet, while the mobile phone remained in the hotel recharging the almost dry battery. I took along with me just my camera that during the night, it had been fully recharged. I thought, so, at least, for a couple of days I shouldn’t recharge it again.
I went through the hall of the hotel, and there was still the sleepy staff of the night shift. Probably the day shift girls were late to come. Then, once out of the guest house, like driven by my inner GPS, I took the route to Starbucks.
It felt strange, all the bars were still close and it looked like all the city, today, was late to go to work. Or maybe, the previous days I had been lucky that they were open earlier? Perhaps, was it connected with the upcoming Loy Krathong?
I arrived at the moat and followed it to the Starbucks. I reminded that the previous day I planned to have breakfast into a bar closer to my guest house, but I couldn’t find any. All were closed, even Mc Donald’s was just opening and a girl was just washing the entrance terrace using a water hose and drenching the passersby. By the way, I was one of the passersby.
The traffic, in the streets, was light. There were just few cars around and many of them were of parents taking kinds along with them, maybe heading to some school nearby.
I arrived at the Starbucks shop, I went at the front door and pushed it. It was still closed. I peered through it, and I’ve seen that there were some girls working at the coffee machine, but the lights were still off.
What was happening around? Did everybody oversleep today morning? I crossed the street and a bar just opened before me, I entered the door and the girl welcomed me to sit.
I sat next to a window. Actually I landed on the chair that I felt so sleepy I could fall asleep on the very table, even before she’d take me the menu. I started to look around, in the beginning just entered a delivery boy with some crate, then nobody else. The floor had been just washed and the air was filled with some artificial flowery scent. I reminded the title of that movie “Scent of woman” and I thought “Scent of floor washer”, and then I started to imagine the tango scene with a lady dressed in apron, bandana and yellow rubber gloves. All but attracting, but at that time in the morning, my fantasy was sleepy too.
Then I heard footsteps, and appeared the yawning waitress holding the menu, and I selected an English Breakfast. She told me that I’d have to wait, because they just opened the kitchen and she disappeared behind the counter. What was going on? Was it a conspiracy to make me late for the school day? I was starting to feel in hurry.
As the time passed, I begun to be nervous. I was running late. That means that I’d have to eat all the breakfast in a rush, in order to come back to my guest house. Then I looked at my wristwatch to see how long I had before the arrival of the school pick-up, scheduled for 8.30. I looked at my wristwatch, and it said 7.00 a.m..
I couldn’t believe, I was terribly early! Surely, the previous night I mistaken on pointing my alarm clock and I’ve set it for 6.30, in spite than 7.30. That’s why everything was still closed.
Much later came my English Breakfast, that every native English guy would call, in a sort of nothing-is-more-typical voice, as “Baked beans, roast tomatoes and eggs”. Actually, it was just a part of my breakfast, which included Coffee, Toasted Bread, Jam, Butter, Baked Beans, Roast Tomatoes, Fried Eggs, Bacon and Orange Juice. It was worth a lunch, more than a breakfast.
I started it, and I loved the salty feeling of the fried bacon. All the breakfast was really well cooked, and I was only afraid that it’d be too much, as I was also going to go to a cooking school. Much later I’d have agreed with myself about all that food.
I finished my breakfast and I headed back to the guest house. The city traffic, now that was past 7.30, was much more intense than when I got out of the guest house.
I went back to my room where I had plenty of time to check my backpack and remake it, then it was time to go downstairs to wait for my pickup.
I went straight to the bathroom, got dressed and left the place. With me just my wallet, while the mobile phone remained in the hotel recharging the almost dry battery. I took along with me just my camera that during the night, it had been fully recharged. I thought, so, at least, for a couple of days I shouldn’t recharge it again.
I went through the hall of the hotel, and there was still the sleepy staff of the night shift. Probably the day shift girls were late to come. Then, once out of the guest house, like driven by my inner GPS, I took the route to Starbucks.
It felt strange, all the bars were still close and it looked like all the city, today, was late to go to work. Or maybe, the previous days I had been lucky that they were open earlier? Perhaps, was it connected with the upcoming Loy Krathong?
I arrived at the moat and followed it to the Starbucks. I reminded that the previous day I planned to have breakfast into a bar closer to my guest house, but I couldn’t find any. All were closed, even Mc Donald’s was just opening and a girl was just washing the entrance terrace using a water hose and drenching the passersby. By the way, I was one of the passersby.
The traffic, in the streets, was light. There were just few cars around and many of them were of parents taking kinds along with them, maybe heading to some school nearby.
I arrived at the Starbucks shop, I went at the front door and pushed it. It was still closed. I peered through it, and I’ve seen that there were some girls working at the coffee machine, but the lights were still off.
What was happening around? Did everybody oversleep today morning? I crossed the street and a bar just opened before me, I entered the door and the girl welcomed me to sit.
I sat next to a window. Actually I landed on the chair that I felt so sleepy I could fall asleep on the very table, even before she’d take me the menu. I started to look around, in the beginning just entered a delivery boy with some crate, then nobody else. The floor had been just washed and the air was filled with some artificial flowery scent. I reminded the title of that movie “Scent of woman” and I thought “Scent of floor washer”, and then I started to imagine the tango scene with a lady dressed in apron, bandana and yellow rubber gloves. All but attracting, but at that time in the morning, my fantasy was sleepy too.
Then I heard footsteps, and appeared the yawning waitress holding the menu, and I selected an English Breakfast. She told me that I’d have to wait, because they just opened the kitchen and she disappeared behind the counter. What was going on? Was it a conspiracy to make me late for the school day? I was starting to feel in hurry.
As the time passed, I begun to be nervous. I was running late. That means that I’d have to eat all the breakfast in a rush, in order to come back to my guest house. Then I looked at my wristwatch to see how long I had before the arrival of the school pick-up, scheduled for 8.30. I looked at my wristwatch, and it said 7.00 a.m..
I couldn’t believe, I was terribly early! Surely, the previous night I mistaken on pointing my alarm clock and I’ve set it for 6.30, in spite than 7.30. That’s why everything was still closed.
Much later came my English Breakfast, that every native English guy would call, in a sort of nothing-is-more-typical voice, as “Baked beans, roast tomatoes and eggs”. Actually, it was just a part of my breakfast, which included Coffee, Toasted Bread, Jam, Butter, Baked Beans, Roast Tomatoes, Fried Eggs, Bacon and Orange Juice. It was worth a lunch, more than a breakfast.
I started it, and I loved the salty feeling of the fried bacon. All the breakfast was really well cooked, and I was only afraid that it’d be too much, as I was also going to go to a cooking school. Much later I’d have agreed with myself about all that food.
I finished my breakfast and I headed back to the guest house. The city traffic, now that was past 7.30, was much more intense than when I got out of the guest house.
I went back to my room where I had plenty of time to check my backpack and remake it, then it was time to go downstairs to wait for my pickup.
The Fresh Market
Just like the previous day this pickup wasn't on time either. I waited, waited and waited again. Lots of people were coming in the hall and group by group were leaving with their own trips. Then, I decided to sit near the bar and to log into the WiFi to check at my mail. Everything was fine. In that moment I heard somebody calling me.
I looked up and there was a not very tall Thai girl with long hair standing in the entrance. She was Durian, the teacher of my course. I rose my hand and I went toward her. She said that she was extremely sorry for her delay, and invited me to join her in the van. It was 9.15, they were late of 45 minutes. For once, it wasn’t me to be late.
I entered the pickup and I said “good morning” to everybody and for once, everybody replied. It was so long that any time that I took a day trip and I wished “Good Morning” to the fellows I received only moans of sleeping people.
We left the place, and after having picked up first a young British couple and then two German girls, we headed in the outskirts of the city, where there was a big fresh market. Durian came to us and asked us to get off the pickup. The reason was that she'd take us for a lesson on the ingredients while the driver would make the real shopping.
The fresh market was into an hangar-like structure with hundreds shops aligned in many rows. The corridors between the stalls were overcrowded with Thai people and Farang students too. It looked like a place where were taken all the cooking school students.
Durian took the lead and took us around, first stop, one of the most important stalls of all, the rice one. In places like these you can see how different can be any kind of rice. It's quite easy to think “I'm having some rice”, but when you're in such a place, you understand that saying “rice” is so general that makes it almost no-sense without specifying what kind of rice you want and why. There were many, from white bright one, to yellowish nicely smelling Jasmine to whole rice, passing by the sticky one. Was in that day that I became aware that, to have real good rice, you've to buy it like this, not in just vacuum plastic bags. I started to purchase rice like this in my city too.
The next stop was the coconut shop. The man was half asleep and Durian woke him up from some coconut filled dream. Maybe he was dreaming of some palm-tree dancing Hawaiian songs in the wind wearing half-coconut-shells bikini... I didn't ask him, so I'll never be sure if I was right about the Hawaiian song. For the rest, I'm sure I'm right, about the trees, coconut-shells and all the rest. Durian with the guy shown us an infernal machine that is used to carve the coconut meat from the shells. It looked like a oil-leaking diesel truck engine, but electric powered. I thought “that huge machine to carve the coconut meat from a fist-sized shell? Yes, it did that. The coconut meat fell into a bucked where it was collected and then powdered. The milk was collected into another bucket. Then, if you take the two elements together, unbelievably you'll not have coconut pulp back, but coconut cream. The coconut cream is something incredible. I don't like it. At least, I don't like it most of the times. It feels like a coconut-tasting-pudding (it'd be strange if it tasted of chicken) that has to be cooked to make it thick. You can fill it with some ingredient or eat it like it is. It's up to you. Anyway, the thing is so sweet that will challenge your body on the insulin production. So, get ready to eat it. It'll be an hard fight, both to resist and to survive it.
My teacher bought some bags of coconut milk from the coconut shop and we left the stall. The next stop was the canned and bottled ingredients stall. I knew most of them as I'm a frequent buyer from the ethnic shops of my city. Durian gave us a very interesting explanation on which ingredients she was displaying and what were their use. Then, she took a brownish bottle out of the stall and said “What is this?”, I replied “Fish sauce!”. Everybody turned looking at me. Durian looked at me and said “Good Khun Fhaaaa! You win a piece of chicken in more. How you know?”. I replied “I use it... I like it!”, and Durian smiling said “Good!”. The funny thing was that Durian spoke about the use of it and described the taste, but forgot to mention, with the plausible pleasure of the audience, that the Fish Sauce is made fermenting the fish stomachs and guts. When I was thinking of it, I pictured the disgusted faces of the fellow Farangs around. Then she asked another question but Kate, an English girl was faster than me and she gained another piece of chicken too. Perhaps was better like this as I still fell fed from my English Breakfast.
After this short lesson we were left free to wander for the market for 20 minutes. I took out my camera and I went chasing for something curious. Every now and then, I met Kaleema, an American girl from my group that was picturing my same things. First I found a beautiful fried insects shop, too bad that I had such a big breakfast, otherwise, the insect were looking quite fresh and nice fried. I left the stall and I passed by the butchery and the fish market. Here I found a stall selling fresh frogs, I mean that they were alive. Which better manner of conservation than keeping the frogs alive? These guys know their business. Just there near there was the flower market. Here I found two interesting things. The first, a shop that was selling lucky garlands, like those that are bought by people to hang in their cars. At this point I was joined by Kaleema and she liked the garlands, so I told her about the superstition of keeping them on the car. She didn't quite believe at me, as the thought that I was making fool of her. Sometimes people hardly understand when I joke and I say the truth. Kaleema was one of them. The next interesting thing that we seen was that in some shops of the flower market, the sellers were crafting Krathongs, that means, some small rafts with flowers, incense and candles to be released in the rivers for good luck. Just near the flower market we also found a shop selling bread Krathongs, they were so beautiful, real bakery masterpieces, worth of the best bakers that I've ever known.
It was time to come back to our pickup, and as soon as we arrived, the pickup was packed with things. It looked like Mr. Driver had been some sort of a shoppingholic and bought half of the market, and the best was that he mastered to pack it all on the pickup leaving free place for us too.
The pickup started and we left for the farm. As soon as we started I called Kaleema and I shown her that the driver had hanged a garland to her rearview mirror, like I said when we were in the market. She started to laugh and agreed that she didn't know about this custom. The street was still long. Along the travel we had good time speaking about our trip and what took us to that place to have a Cooking Class. Most of us were just plain curious or they found it quite an interesting alternative at the trekking in the nearby areas. The only one that looked like having a real interest into the Thai cooking was me. Perhaps it's for my love for the Pad Thai. Yes, I love it.
The pickup crossed an area made of water channels, fields and farmlands. One of the guy on board said that he was some sort of a water engineer from Amsterdam working in Jakarta. He was so much interested into the water channel that with his chatting ruined the poetry of the landscape that was passing before us. Mountains covered in luscious forest. Bright green fields of grocery sparkling every now and then with the water of channels, like a sea of emerald crossed by streams of silver chains. Then tall trees which resin gave to the air a very fragrant smell, the sound of cicadas over the roar of the pickup engine. Streets of dirt, white in the sun. All this with the soundtrack of the guy saying
“I wanter how de what-herr is pumped...”
“I wanter is what-herr if polluth-ed or Klean”
“A riverbed... Goot for cleaning what-herr”
That was in that moment that I wished to kick him out of the windows to meet the riverbed with his face. Ok, not the waterbed, I didn't want to pollute it. A wrench form the pickup would be just fine for the work.
I looked up and there was a not very tall Thai girl with long hair standing in the entrance. She was Durian, the teacher of my course. I rose my hand and I went toward her. She said that she was extremely sorry for her delay, and invited me to join her in the van. It was 9.15, they were late of 45 minutes. For once, it wasn’t me to be late.
I entered the pickup and I said “good morning” to everybody and for once, everybody replied. It was so long that any time that I took a day trip and I wished “Good Morning” to the fellows I received only moans of sleeping people.
We left the place, and after having picked up first a young British couple and then two German girls, we headed in the outskirts of the city, where there was a big fresh market. Durian came to us and asked us to get off the pickup. The reason was that she'd take us for a lesson on the ingredients while the driver would make the real shopping.
The fresh market was into an hangar-like structure with hundreds shops aligned in many rows. The corridors between the stalls were overcrowded with Thai people and Farang students too. It looked like a place where were taken all the cooking school students.
Durian took the lead and took us around, first stop, one of the most important stalls of all, the rice one. In places like these you can see how different can be any kind of rice. It's quite easy to think “I'm having some rice”, but when you're in such a place, you understand that saying “rice” is so general that makes it almost no-sense without specifying what kind of rice you want and why. There were many, from white bright one, to yellowish nicely smelling Jasmine to whole rice, passing by the sticky one. Was in that day that I became aware that, to have real good rice, you've to buy it like this, not in just vacuum plastic bags. I started to purchase rice like this in my city too.
The next stop was the coconut shop. The man was half asleep and Durian woke him up from some coconut filled dream. Maybe he was dreaming of some palm-tree dancing Hawaiian songs in the wind wearing half-coconut-shells bikini... I didn't ask him, so I'll never be sure if I was right about the Hawaiian song. For the rest, I'm sure I'm right, about the trees, coconut-shells and all the rest. Durian with the guy shown us an infernal machine that is used to carve the coconut meat from the shells. It looked like a oil-leaking diesel truck engine, but electric powered. I thought “that huge machine to carve the coconut meat from a fist-sized shell? Yes, it did that. The coconut meat fell into a bucked where it was collected and then powdered. The milk was collected into another bucket. Then, if you take the two elements together, unbelievably you'll not have coconut pulp back, but coconut cream. The coconut cream is something incredible. I don't like it. At least, I don't like it most of the times. It feels like a coconut-tasting-pudding (it'd be strange if it tasted of chicken) that has to be cooked to make it thick. You can fill it with some ingredient or eat it like it is. It's up to you. Anyway, the thing is so sweet that will challenge your body on the insulin production. So, get ready to eat it. It'll be an hard fight, both to resist and to survive it.
My teacher bought some bags of coconut milk from the coconut shop and we left the stall. The next stop was the canned and bottled ingredients stall. I knew most of them as I'm a frequent buyer from the ethnic shops of my city. Durian gave us a very interesting explanation on which ingredients she was displaying and what were their use. Then, she took a brownish bottle out of the stall and said “What is this?”, I replied “Fish sauce!”. Everybody turned looking at me. Durian looked at me and said “Good Khun Fhaaaa! You win a piece of chicken in more. How you know?”. I replied “I use it... I like it!”, and Durian smiling said “Good!”. The funny thing was that Durian spoke about the use of it and described the taste, but forgot to mention, with the plausible pleasure of the audience, that the Fish Sauce is made fermenting the fish stomachs and guts. When I was thinking of it, I pictured the disgusted faces of the fellow Farangs around. Then she asked another question but Kate, an English girl was faster than me and she gained another piece of chicken too. Perhaps was better like this as I still fell fed from my English Breakfast.
After this short lesson we were left free to wander for the market for 20 minutes. I took out my camera and I went chasing for something curious. Every now and then, I met Kaleema, an American girl from my group that was picturing my same things. First I found a beautiful fried insects shop, too bad that I had such a big breakfast, otherwise, the insect were looking quite fresh and nice fried. I left the stall and I passed by the butchery and the fish market. Here I found a stall selling fresh frogs, I mean that they were alive. Which better manner of conservation than keeping the frogs alive? These guys know their business. Just there near there was the flower market. Here I found two interesting things. The first, a shop that was selling lucky garlands, like those that are bought by people to hang in their cars. At this point I was joined by Kaleema and she liked the garlands, so I told her about the superstition of keeping them on the car. She didn't quite believe at me, as the thought that I was making fool of her. Sometimes people hardly understand when I joke and I say the truth. Kaleema was one of them. The next interesting thing that we seen was that in some shops of the flower market, the sellers were crafting Krathongs, that means, some small rafts with flowers, incense and candles to be released in the rivers for good luck. Just near the flower market we also found a shop selling bread Krathongs, they were so beautiful, real bakery masterpieces, worth of the best bakers that I've ever known.
It was time to come back to our pickup, and as soon as we arrived, the pickup was packed with things. It looked like Mr. Driver had been some sort of a shoppingholic and bought half of the market, and the best was that he mastered to pack it all on the pickup leaving free place for us too.
The pickup started and we left for the farm. As soon as we started I called Kaleema and I shown her that the driver had hanged a garland to her rearview mirror, like I said when we were in the market. She started to laugh and agreed that she didn't know about this custom. The street was still long. Along the travel we had good time speaking about our trip and what took us to that place to have a Cooking Class. Most of us were just plain curious or they found it quite an interesting alternative at the trekking in the nearby areas. The only one that looked like having a real interest into the Thai cooking was me. Perhaps it's for my love for the Pad Thai. Yes, I love it.
The pickup crossed an area made of water channels, fields and farmlands. One of the guy on board said that he was some sort of a water engineer from Amsterdam working in Jakarta. He was so much interested into the water channel that with his chatting ruined the poetry of the landscape that was passing before us. Mountains covered in luscious forest. Bright green fields of grocery sparkling every now and then with the water of channels, like a sea of emerald crossed by streams of silver chains. Then tall trees which resin gave to the air a very fragrant smell, the sound of cicadas over the roar of the pickup engine. Streets of dirt, white in the sun. All this with the soundtrack of the guy saying
“I wanter how de what-herr is pumped...”
“I wanter is what-herr if polluth-ed or Klean”
“A riverbed... Goot for cleaning what-herr”
That was in that moment that I wished to kick him out of the windows to meet the riverbed with his face. Ok, not the waterbed, I didn't want to pollute it. A wrench form the pickup would be just fine for the work.
The Farm Cooking School
In the middle of the emerald farmland we arrived at our school. An heavenly spot far from the rustling busy town. A place that looks like thought to relax. The school itself is made of a couple of small buildings. One where are offices and the other with the kitchens. There should be another with some rooms too, as far as I had been told. In front of it there is a fantastic, perfectly cured garden with even with a big pond with many Water Lilies in blossom. A porch is on it, like to recall some romantic scenes or some very relaxing ones. On the left hand side of the garden there is a huge area where the school grows it own crops to be used in the school as ingredients. Our class started here. In this fantastic place.
Durian took us to our classroom, which was equipped with many kitchens and working tables. Then, we were given straws hats and we were called outside, to visit the farm.
The farm itself was quite big. They had many cultivations, even if I’m afraid that they were just as a manner to show how the ingredients are grown than for subsistence. In spite the covered area was apparently broad, two or three lines of every grocery would provide enough daily ingredients for a working cooking school.
First was the tour of the trees, where we were shown a Jackfruit tree a Kaffir Lime tree and some others. The thing that I like in the “Thai cuisine” is that they use even the leaves of the tree for their aromatic oils. So, you can have recipes that involve the use of Kaffir Lime leaves to be shredded or reduced in pulp. Then we were shown a huge range of vegetables, from the Morning Glory that I like so much, to the always present Lemongrass, Long Beans, Ginger, Thai Ginseng, Spring Onions, various different kinds of Eggplants and the grass that I hate called Phak Chee Farang (Sawtooth Corriander). In the end, the symbol of Thai cooking, the Hot Chili, both green and red.
Durian was walking around, wielding a huge Cleaver Knife, slashing and cutting vegetables to let us to smell them or taste them. When her basket was almost full of ingredients, we came back into our classroom. The sun felt like scorching on my skin. The straw hat provided only a partial help to shelter from that strong sun, and coming back in the room, with all the windows open to let the air flow, was a great pleasure. While on way back to our room, Durian decided that I’d be the master of the Steamed Rice, and this means that, while Kate had to wash the rice, I had to follow all the steaming procedure. In spite in past I’ve seen Asians using an electronic steamer, while I had to use a Thai traditional steamer, made of straws. Actually, I preferred this traditional one even if, for the everyday use, probably was less practical.
As we entered we discovered that appeared in the centre of the room a carafe of iced water. I went to take a glass of it, just like did the German girls. As I drunk it, the Dutch Water Engineer asked to Durian
“Ex-used me… Is this what-herr kleen? Too you haf a pit?”
Durian answered “Solly? May you lepeet?”
“Wherr de What-herr come fromm? Fromm de channel?”
I just drunk it, and I imagined it like a soup of bacteria and tiny pathogen life forms.
Durian answered “Nooo! It’s clean water! We have our own clearing facility” pointing with her finger a direction half way between the door and a steamer.
I thought “Thank Buddha for Durian’s cleaning facility!”
It was time to start with our class. While we were still on the pickup, we were asked to fill a form with the menu that we wished to cook. I chosen the following servings
· Chicken with Green Curry
· Vegetarian Tom Yum soup
· Chicken with cashew nuts
· Pad Thai noodles
· Mango with sticky rice
I started with my curry. I had to work all the vegetables in a stone mortar and turn them into a pulp. Durian was passing by and, while near the British couple, she said that in Thailand people say that you can recognize if a girl can be a good wife by the energy that she uses to make curry. Then, she came to me and I was the only one that was making Green Curry. She checked at my curry and told me that I wouldn’t be a good wife until I started to beat my curry stronger and smashing it better. Then, it was time to add the chili pepper. She told me that, one pepper is the right amount for a Farang while three is right for a Thai. She asked how many I wanted and I said “Two”. She smiled and said “Goooood! You almost Thai!”. I replied “I’m on a good way to become an expat”, but she didn’t understand.
When I finished the curry, I had to leave it rest a bit, and it was time that they took us a Papaya Salad. It was nice and sweet. Then I started the Tom Yum. This one was quite easy. I had just to chop the ingredients and cook them. I just threw in the garbage the Phak Chee Farang (Sawtooth Corriander) as I hate its taste.
My Tom Yum, in the end, when we went to eat our foods on the porch, was lacking of something. It had just a too delicate smell and more than the real Tom Yum, it felt more like a Lemongrass soup. Ok, it definitely tasted like a mosquito repellant soup.
The next step was the Chicken with Green Curry and the Mango with Sticky rice. To make these dishes had been quite easy. We needed just some time to learn, but then, it had been very easy. Once we finished, we went on the porch and we sat down, with a mountain of Steamed Rice made by me, to have lunch.
The Chicken was perfect. It had the right amount of Chili and tasted so good. Maybe I’m not a good wife beating the Curry, but this time I was lucky with the chicken. It wasn’t too spicy, perhaps, it had just a taste suitable for a Farang on a way to become an expat in Thailand. For the other Farangs, it was definitely too hot. Not such a good Farang wife, for them neither.
While seating and enjoying our food, we started to talk about our experiences in Thailand. Kaleema said that in a few days she’d move to an Elephant recovery camp, where she’d spend a couple of weeks caring after the Elephants. Kate was keeping on her trip, she’d head first to the south of Thailand and then to Australia. I love Brits and their trips. By the way, she didn’t take her camera with her and asked us if we seen a camera shop around. I told her that I’ve seen an electronic shop in Tha Pae Road, and to try there. Otherwise, there would be some mall around the city, but I didn’t know where to advice her.
The English couple, which said that they were both working in London, both in the field of Marketing, told us that they were in their wedding trip. They were going around Thailand and they’d be back soon in their city. They also told us the story of the trip that they had in their previous day. They went for a cycling trip on the Thai hills. In the beginning they were asked which level of cycling they wanted between beginner, intermediate or advanced. Seeing that they thought to be quite trained in cycling, they booked an intermediate course, but then they were taken on the hill, they discovered that it was far too difficult for them. The descent implied jumps and steep piece of track. They were scared of it, and on the field they changed their trip into a “beginner” one. The trip involved mainly an easy descent downhill and some flat piece of track. Anyway, they were all but enthusiastic of it. They said that they were looking forward for the day trip for the following day, that should be to Mae Hong Son and the Hill Tribes Village.
The food was good, but after having eaten that huge breakfast, I already felt fed at the end of the chicken. I couldn’t almost finish anymore the Mango with Sticky Rice. But the day, and the cooking, would be still very long.
We were recalled, first to wash our dishes, and then to keep on cooking. Now it was the time of the Chicken with Cashew Nuts. The preparation was easy, but I had problems with the modulation of the flame, so my chicken turned out to be a little over burnt. After it, again, we went outside, on the porch, to eat our food. I barely finished the pieces of chicken.
We were all looking so fed and with faces that if we would eat a bite in more we’d explode. Again, too soon, we were recalled back in the kitchen, where we were asked to start another production. It was the time for the Pad Thai noodles.
I love the Pad Thai noodles. I love them very much. But I couldn’t even stand anymore the smell of food. I had hard time on concentrating on what I was cooking, and I felt a repulsion from the smell of the smoke of the boiling oil. As a result, my Pad Thai had a weird brownish color and tasted as everything but Pad Thai.
We were invited again on the porch to enjoy again our food. It was enough. I just tried a few noodles and left it. I felt like I was about to faint, and all the other people in my group, looked exactly the same as me. I wonder how it happened that people from other groups didn’t looked like us. They looked like they just arrived in the school and were just keeping on eating.
At this point, almost feeling bad, I understood that I couldn’t follow my plans. As it already happened, I had to change them. In my original plans, I’d have to take two more days of cooking school, but I couldn’t bear them. So, I went to look for Durian, and I told her that I was giving up the three-days course. She looked at me and smiling said that there was no problem, that it’s rare that people stay longer than one day, especially because most of the recipes are similar to those that I did that day. I was again free. I was already feeling better.
It was past 16.00 when we were called back to the pickups. We were presented a small recipe booklet to keep with us, and then, we hopped on our pickups and headed back to the city. First crossing the beautiful land of fields and farms, and then back to the city.
As we got closer to the city, the more the traffic became intense. Every kilometer that we run, the more cars appeared, until when, we got stuck into a traffic jam. We were in the middle of a motorway, in the middle of a sea of painted cars and polluted gas. We kept on talking, but the traffic was alarmingly slow. The sun started to go toward the horizon, and was calling dusk. The eastern sky colors started to shift in darker shades while all the rest was turning into a orange glow.
We kept on going slowly toward the centre. In the meanwhile, we exchanged our phone numbers in the hope to keep in touch for the following days. It’s be nice to meet again for the Loy Krathong.
Durian took us to our classroom, which was equipped with many kitchens and working tables. Then, we were given straws hats and we were called outside, to visit the farm.
The farm itself was quite big. They had many cultivations, even if I’m afraid that they were just as a manner to show how the ingredients are grown than for subsistence. In spite the covered area was apparently broad, two or three lines of every grocery would provide enough daily ingredients for a working cooking school.
First was the tour of the trees, where we were shown a Jackfruit tree a Kaffir Lime tree and some others. The thing that I like in the “Thai cuisine” is that they use even the leaves of the tree for their aromatic oils. So, you can have recipes that involve the use of Kaffir Lime leaves to be shredded or reduced in pulp. Then we were shown a huge range of vegetables, from the Morning Glory that I like so much, to the always present Lemongrass, Long Beans, Ginger, Thai Ginseng, Spring Onions, various different kinds of Eggplants and the grass that I hate called Phak Chee Farang (Sawtooth Corriander). In the end, the symbol of Thai cooking, the Hot Chili, both green and red.
Durian was walking around, wielding a huge Cleaver Knife, slashing and cutting vegetables to let us to smell them or taste them. When her basket was almost full of ingredients, we came back into our classroom. The sun felt like scorching on my skin. The straw hat provided only a partial help to shelter from that strong sun, and coming back in the room, with all the windows open to let the air flow, was a great pleasure. While on way back to our room, Durian decided that I’d be the master of the Steamed Rice, and this means that, while Kate had to wash the rice, I had to follow all the steaming procedure. In spite in past I’ve seen Asians using an electronic steamer, while I had to use a Thai traditional steamer, made of straws. Actually, I preferred this traditional one even if, for the everyday use, probably was less practical.
As we entered we discovered that appeared in the centre of the room a carafe of iced water. I went to take a glass of it, just like did the German girls. As I drunk it, the Dutch Water Engineer asked to Durian
“Ex-used me… Is this what-herr kleen? Too you haf a pit?”
Durian answered “Solly? May you lepeet?”
“Wherr de What-herr come fromm? Fromm de channel?”
I just drunk it, and I imagined it like a soup of bacteria and tiny pathogen life forms.
Durian answered “Nooo! It’s clean water! We have our own clearing facility” pointing with her finger a direction half way between the door and a steamer.
I thought “Thank Buddha for Durian’s cleaning facility!”
It was time to start with our class. While we were still on the pickup, we were asked to fill a form with the menu that we wished to cook. I chosen the following servings
· Chicken with Green Curry
· Vegetarian Tom Yum soup
· Chicken with cashew nuts
· Pad Thai noodles
· Mango with sticky rice
I started with my curry. I had to work all the vegetables in a stone mortar and turn them into a pulp. Durian was passing by and, while near the British couple, she said that in Thailand people say that you can recognize if a girl can be a good wife by the energy that she uses to make curry. Then, she came to me and I was the only one that was making Green Curry. She checked at my curry and told me that I wouldn’t be a good wife until I started to beat my curry stronger and smashing it better. Then, it was time to add the chili pepper. She told me that, one pepper is the right amount for a Farang while three is right for a Thai. She asked how many I wanted and I said “Two”. She smiled and said “Goooood! You almost Thai!”. I replied “I’m on a good way to become an expat”, but she didn’t understand.
When I finished the curry, I had to leave it rest a bit, and it was time that they took us a Papaya Salad. It was nice and sweet. Then I started the Tom Yum. This one was quite easy. I had just to chop the ingredients and cook them. I just threw in the garbage the Phak Chee Farang (Sawtooth Corriander) as I hate its taste.
My Tom Yum, in the end, when we went to eat our foods on the porch, was lacking of something. It had just a too delicate smell and more than the real Tom Yum, it felt more like a Lemongrass soup. Ok, it definitely tasted like a mosquito repellant soup.
The next step was the Chicken with Green Curry and the Mango with Sticky rice. To make these dishes had been quite easy. We needed just some time to learn, but then, it had been very easy. Once we finished, we went on the porch and we sat down, with a mountain of Steamed Rice made by me, to have lunch.
The Chicken was perfect. It had the right amount of Chili and tasted so good. Maybe I’m not a good wife beating the Curry, but this time I was lucky with the chicken. It wasn’t too spicy, perhaps, it had just a taste suitable for a Farang on a way to become an expat in Thailand. For the other Farangs, it was definitely too hot. Not such a good Farang wife, for them neither.
While seating and enjoying our food, we started to talk about our experiences in Thailand. Kaleema said that in a few days she’d move to an Elephant recovery camp, where she’d spend a couple of weeks caring after the Elephants. Kate was keeping on her trip, she’d head first to the south of Thailand and then to Australia. I love Brits and their trips. By the way, she didn’t take her camera with her and asked us if we seen a camera shop around. I told her that I’ve seen an electronic shop in Tha Pae Road, and to try there. Otherwise, there would be some mall around the city, but I didn’t know where to advice her.
The English couple, which said that they were both working in London, both in the field of Marketing, told us that they were in their wedding trip. They were going around Thailand and they’d be back soon in their city. They also told us the story of the trip that they had in their previous day. They went for a cycling trip on the Thai hills. In the beginning they were asked which level of cycling they wanted between beginner, intermediate or advanced. Seeing that they thought to be quite trained in cycling, they booked an intermediate course, but then they were taken on the hill, they discovered that it was far too difficult for them. The descent implied jumps and steep piece of track. They were scared of it, and on the field they changed their trip into a “beginner” one. The trip involved mainly an easy descent downhill and some flat piece of track. Anyway, they were all but enthusiastic of it. They said that they were looking forward for the day trip for the following day, that should be to Mae Hong Son and the Hill Tribes Village.
The food was good, but after having eaten that huge breakfast, I already felt fed at the end of the chicken. I couldn’t almost finish anymore the Mango with Sticky Rice. But the day, and the cooking, would be still very long.
We were recalled, first to wash our dishes, and then to keep on cooking. Now it was the time of the Chicken with Cashew Nuts. The preparation was easy, but I had problems with the modulation of the flame, so my chicken turned out to be a little over burnt. After it, again, we went outside, on the porch, to eat our food. I barely finished the pieces of chicken.
We were all looking so fed and with faces that if we would eat a bite in more we’d explode. Again, too soon, we were recalled back in the kitchen, where we were asked to start another production. It was the time for the Pad Thai noodles.
I love the Pad Thai noodles. I love them very much. But I couldn’t even stand anymore the smell of food. I had hard time on concentrating on what I was cooking, and I felt a repulsion from the smell of the smoke of the boiling oil. As a result, my Pad Thai had a weird brownish color and tasted as everything but Pad Thai.
We were invited again on the porch to enjoy again our food. It was enough. I just tried a few noodles and left it. I felt like I was about to faint, and all the other people in my group, looked exactly the same as me. I wonder how it happened that people from other groups didn’t looked like us. They looked like they just arrived in the school and were just keeping on eating.
At this point, almost feeling bad, I understood that I couldn’t follow my plans. As it already happened, I had to change them. In my original plans, I’d have to take two more days of cooking school, but I couldn’t bear them. So, I went to look for Durian, and I told her that I was giving up the three-days course. She looked at me and smiling said that there was no problem, that it’s rare that people stay longer than one day, especially because most of the recipes are similar to those that I did that day. I was again free. I was already feeling better.
It was past 16.00 when we were called back to the pickups. We were presented a small recipe booklet to keep with us, and then, we hopped on our pickups and headed back to the city. First crossing the beautiful land of fields and farms, and then back to the city.
As we got closer to the city, the more the traffic became intense. Every kilometer that we run, the more cars appeared, until when, we got stuck into a traffic jam. We were in the middle of a motorway, in the middle of a sea of painted cars and polluted gas. We kept on talking, but the traffic was alarmingly slow. The sun started to go toward the horizon, and was calling dusk. The eastern sky colors started to shift in darker shades while all the rest was turning into a orange glow.
We kept on going slowly toward the centre. In the meanwhile, we exchanged our phone numbers in the hope to keep in touch for the following days. It’s be nice to meet again for the Loy Krathong.
Chiang Mai – Loy Krathong
We arrived in the centre of the city that was already afternoon. The waiting on that pickup felt like a huge waste of time and I needed to find a way to get off it, so as soon as we were close to the city and the English couple went down of the pickup, I did it too. I definitely preferred to walk a little longer than staying all the time in that pickup.
The city, the more I approached to Tha Pae, the more was swarming with people. Cars were stopped in the area around the Tha Pae gate and policemen were driving the traffic to alternative routes. That traffic was insane, and the tourists looked like they definitely didn’t know what was going on, and I was one of them too.
I arrived at the Tha Pae gate square. There were too many people around. Watching to the gate from the external side, on the left hand side there was a stage facing several rows of plastic chairs. In that moment there were people talking and chatting from the stage and lots of people both sitting and standing looking at them. Of course, I didn’t understand a word of what they were saying, except for the greetings.
I went through the gate and I went up the facing street, the same street where was the Sunday Market a couple of days before. Here I browsed the travel agencies in search for a day trip. I wished to make something more active than staying a full day eating. So, I asked if they had a trekking day trip. The man on the opposite side of the desk shown me many leaflets, all including Trekking and Elephants or Cycling trips. I reminded what the English couple just said about their cycling adventure, so I changed my mind and I asked if they had an elephant-free trip. The man asked me why, and I thought back at the elephants being abused to take the tourist for short rides in the forest. I didn’t want to be part of the elephant abuse, so I lied.
“I’m afraid of elephants! They are too big” that’s what I said.
He laughed, like I said that I’m scared of puppies, and searched between the leaflets until he found a trip. It was a full day of trekking on the mountains near Mae Hong Son, just near the border with Burma. The price was discounted and I’d pay it just 800 Tb. The trip would include transportation, trekking, visit to a waterfall and lunch in the forest. It sounded so good to me, and I took it. The man filled the form and our deal was complete. I went out of the shop, but while I was getting out of it, the man called me back and screamed “Don’t forget wearing good shoes!”. I replied that I’d surely make it as I didn’t want to walk into the forest with sandals. I’m not that foolish.
I went out of the shop and I went back to the direction of the Tha Pae gate, but first I needed a black coffee, so my forced stop was in the Black Canyon Coffee. Miss Pui came to take my ordination and I told her that I wished a black coffee, hot and bitter. She smiled, scribbled something one her notepad and repeated “A black coffee, hot and bitter”, I confirmed “Yes, very black”. Then she disappeared while I was logging into the WiFi.
My coffee arrived in a manner of a minute as I was starting to read my mails. Back home everybody was still talking about the floods in my city, only a fellow from work gave me some news about politics and what was happening in Italy. So, I decided to tease her pretending that I misunderstood what she written, and I answered like she just gave me news about another guy working with us.
It was again time to go. I left the coffee shop and headed to the Tha Pae gate square. It was overcrowded. I couldn’t believe, it was the first day of Loy Krathong. It was fantastic, there was music and all the kids from the local schools gathered into a parade. Actually, it’s just reductive to call it a “parade”, as it was perfectly organized like it was managed by the best choreographers of the “Carnival of Rio”. The route would involve a starting point near my hotel, then, the kids and their carnival floats, would pass, school by school before the Tha Pae gate, and then down Tha Pae road and then again they’d go through the night market.
All the people were gathering on the crossroad near the gate, and I went there too. The first thing that we seen, it had been a show of a group of very young kids playing drums and dancing while playing them. At a moment, two of them, still playing and dancing, started to pretend a danced Thai Box fight, showing their agility and training. They were so good to be seen.
Music started to come from the stage in the square, where were going on dances, and at the end of the dances, at the unison with the arrival of some cars with delegates from other nations, a very important guy started to talk. I guess that he was the mayor of the city. He spoke most of the time in Thai with a lady translating his words in English. He was greeting people for attending at the show which should be one of the best ever. The theme of this year would be “The Lanna Kingdom”, and then, he proceeded to call the start of the parade with the presentation of a beautiful young girl that appeared from a huge Lotus flower held high by some students. At this point I already had my both cameras in hand and I was already picturing almost every Loy Krathong related subject that I was meeting, from the Police Man, to the Lotus Girl, to the dancers and the people in the parade.
The a burst of fireworks. A flash that made people scream in amazement. A colored lights and flashes driven screaming happiness, and the parade started. Most of the people migrated from the square to the crossroad where I already was, in balance on a small wall at the side of the street, with the butt of a very chubby girl trying to push me off. No, baby, your ass is so big that has its own gravity. The moon changed her path after the gravitational disturbance of your asscheecks. No, you can't make me fall of the wall. The she fell. For a moment I was afraid of a massacre when her butt had hit other people, but they only suffered some minor injuries.
“Oh my Lord! A planet is falling on us!”, “Beware! It's terrible! Please Lord let me be driven over by a truck, but not this thing!”, “Oh my Buddha, save me!” that's what I thought to hear as she fell on the people behind. I'm sure it was so. Indeed.
I stood there, the various schools were passing in front of me. They were so far that I felt like I had a million people standing before me and them, but, looking behind of me, I felt lucky to be in such a good spot.
Every schools made their own float, most showing a kind of temple, lions and dragons. The girls were looking like princesses. I guess that the most popular couple of the school were chosen to be the “Prince and Princess”, while the others were servants, warriors, lantern holders or water-bottle boys.
All the floats and costumes were certainly self-produced, and they shown, in every bit of it, every piece of fabric, every glitter or layer of sprayed paint, such a devotion that can only be used for something very important. Important like a Loy Krathong.
I can't tell every single float that I've seen, nor every single choreography, but I can say what I liked the most, and what my cameras portrayed for me. The most beautiful was a girl, standing on an high stage. She had some long robe and she danced like she was conjuring some sort of magic. I guess that she mastered it at her best, as we were all spellbound to look at her beautiful eyes. My favorite of the “royal couples” were dressed, the man as a modern prince, with western clothing and he was accompanied by a princess in traditional clothing and barefoot. I was surprised by this detail. The best non royal couple was made by a girl holding a lantern shaped like a spherical paper purse, with a warrior bodyguard holding an umbrella for her. The girls were very pretty, and the boys were displaying really beautiful traditional fake-tattoos. The tattoos were those traditional Buddhist tattoos that conjure Good Luck to the wearer. I should have one of those too. The best warriors, were a boy and a girl, both dancing holding swords that had long feathers at the place of the blade. Surely there weren't dancing the Ram Dab, the traditional Thai Sword Dance, but they were still very good performers. The float that I recognized better was the one with the “Three Kings” imitating one of the most famous monuments of Chiang Mai.
I spent so long that I lost the sensation of space and time. I took so many pictures that the batteries of both cameras went dry. I spent all the time there, until the very last school passed by. Along the way, when the language school passed before me, I was presented a rose by a girl. It never happened to me. So, I placed the rose in the side pocket of the backpack to show it coming out of it. I loved this happening. I loved it very much. The sense of tradition, and the will of the youngsters to perpetuate it is enviable. I have the highest respect for them.
All the night, and also the following nights I kept on hearing the “Loy Krathong song”. In the end I almost learnt it even if I didn't know what I was saying, except the words “Loy Krathong”.
The city, the more I approached to Tha Pae, the more was swarming with people. Cars were stopped in the area around the Tha Pae gate and policemen were driving the traffic to alternative routes. That traffic was insane, and the tourists looked like they definitely didn’t know what was going on, and I was one of them too.
I arrived at the Tha Pae gate square. There were too many people around. Watching to the gate from the external side, on the left hand side there was a stage facing several rows of plastic chairs. In that moment there were people talking and chatting from the stage and lots of people both sitting and standing looking at them. Of course, I didn’t understand a word of what they were saying, except for the greetings.
I went through the gate and I went up the facing street, the same street where was the Sunday Market a couple of days before. Here I browsed the travel agencies in search for a day trip. I wished to make something more active than staying a full day eating. So, I asked if they had a trekking day trip. The man on the opposite side of the desk shown me many leaflets, all including Trekking and Elephants or Cycling trips. I reminded what the English couple just said about their cycling adventure, so I changed my mind and I asked if they had an elephant-free trip. The man asked me why, and I thought back at the elephants being abused to take the tourist for short rides in the forest. I didn’t want to be part of the elephant abuse, so I lied.
“I’m afraid of elephants! They are too big” that’s what I said.
He laughed, like I said that I’m scared of puppies, and searched between the leaflets until he found a trip. It was a full day of trekking on the mountains near Mae Hong Son, just near the border with Burma. The price was discounted and I’d pay it just 800 Tb. The trip would include transportation, trekking, visit to a waterfall and lunch in the forest. It sounded so good to me, and I took it. The man filled the form and our deal was complete. I went out of the shop, but while I was getting out of it, the man called me back and screamed “Don’t forget wearing good shoes!”. I replied that I’d surely make it as I didn’t want to walk into the forest with sandals. I’m not that foolish.
I went out of the shop and I went back to the direction of the Tha Pae gate, but first I needed a black coffee, so my forced stop was in the Black Canyon Coffee. Miss Pui came to take my ordination and I told her that I wished a black coffee, hot and bitter. She smiled, scribbled something one her notepad and repeated “A black coffee, hot and bitter”, I confirmed “Yes, very black”. Then she disappeared while I was logging into the WiFi.
My coffee arrived in a manner of a minute as I was starting to read my mails. Back home everybody was still talking about the floods in my city, only a fellow from work gave me some news about politics and what was happening in Italy. So, I decided to tease her pretending that I misunderstood what she written, and I answered like she just gave me news about another guy working with us.
It was again time to go. I left the coffee shop and headed to the Tha Pae gate square. It was overcrowded. I couldn’t believe, it was the first day of Loy Krathong. It was fantastic, there was music and all the kids from the local schools gathered into a parade. Actually, it’s just reductive to call it a “parade”, as it was perfectly organized like it was managed by the best choreographers of the “Carnival of Rio”. The route would involve a starting point near my hotel, then, the kids and their carnival floats, would pass, school by school before the Tha Pae gate, and then down Tha Pae road and then again they’d go through the night market.
All the people were gathering on the crossroad near the gate, and I went there too. The first thing that we seen, it had been a show of a group of very young kids playing drums and dancing while playing them. At a moment, two of them, still playing and dancing, started to pretend a danced Thai Box fight, showing their agility and training. They were so good to be seen.
Music started to come from the stage in the square, where were going on dances, and at the end of the dances, at the unison with the arrival of some cars with delegates from other nations, a very important guy started to talk. I guess that he was the mayor of the city. He spoke most of the time in Thai with a lady translating his words in English. He was greeting people for attending at the show which should be one of the best ever. The theme of this year would be “The Lanna Kingdom”, and then, he proceeded to call the start of the parade with the presentation of a beautiful young girl that appeared from a huge Lotus flower held high by some students. At this point I already had my both cameras in hand and I was already picturing almost every Loy Krathong related subject that I was meeting, from the Police Man, to the Lotus Girl, to the dancers and the people in the parade.
The a burst of fireworks. A flash that made people scream in amazement. A colored lights and flashes driven screaming happiness, and the parade started. Most of the people migrated from the square to the crossroad where I already was, in balance on a small wall at the side of the street, with the butt of a very chubby girl trying to push me off. No, baby, your ass is so big that has its own gravity. The moon changed her path after the gravitational disturbance of your asscheecks. No, you can't make me fall of the wall. The she fell. For a moment I was afraid of a massacre when her butt had hit other people, but they only suffered some minor injuries.
“Oh my Lord! A planet is falling on us!”, “Beware! It's terrible! Please Lord let me be driven over by a truck, but not this thing!”, “Oh my Buddha, save me!” that's what I thought to hear as she fell on the people behind. I'm sure it was so. Indeed.
I stood there, the various schools were passing in front of me. They were so far that I felt like I had a million people standing before me and them, but, looking behind of me, I felt lucky to be in such a good spot.
Every schools made their own float, most showing a kind of temple, lions and dragons. The girls were looking like princesses. I guess that the most popular couple of the school were chosen to be the “Prince and Princess”, while the others were servants, warriors, lantern holders or water-bottle boys.
All the floats and costumes were certainly self-produced, and they shown, in every bit of it, every piece of fabric, every glitter or layer of sprayed paint, such a devotion that can only be used for something very important. Important like a Loy Krathong.
I can't tell every single float that I've seen, nor every single choreography, but I can say what I liked the most, and what my cameras portrayed for me. The most beautiful was a girl, standing on an high stage. She had some long robe and she danced like she was conjuring some sort of magic. I guess that she mastered it at her best, as we were all spellbound to look at her beautiful eyes. My favorite of the “royal couples” were dressed, the man as a modern prince, with western clothing and he was accompanied by a princess in traditional clothing and barefoot. I was surprised by this detail. The best non royal couple was made by a girl holding a lantern shaped like a spherical paper purse, with a warrior bodyguard holding an umbrella for her. The girls were very pretty, and the boys were displaying really beautiful traditional fake-tattoos. The tattoos were those traditional Buddhist tattoos that conjure Good Luck to the wearer. I should have one of those too. The best warriors, were a boy and a girl, both dancing holding swords that had long feathers at the place of the blade. Surely there weren't dancing the Ram Dab, the traditional Thai Sword Dance, but they were still very good performers. The float that I recognized better was the one with the “Three Kings” imitating one of the most famous monuments of Chiang Mai.
I spent so long that I lost the sensation of space and time. I took so many pictures that the batteries of both cameras went dry. I spent all the time there, until the very last school passed by. Along the way, when the language school passed before me, I was presented a rose by a girl. It never happened to me. So, I placed the rose in the side pocket of the backpack to show it coming out of it. I loved this happening. I loved it very much. The sense of tradition, and the will of the youngsters to perpetuate it is enviable. I have the highest respect for them.
All the night, and also the following nights I kept on hearing the “Loy Krathong song”. In the end I almost learnt it even if I didn't know what I was saying, except the words “Loy Krathong”.
Loy Krathong Song
Wan Pen Duen Sip Song Nam Koh Nong Tem Taling Rao Thanglai Chai Ying Sanuk Kan Jing Wan Loy Krathong Loy Loy Krathong Loy Loy Krathong Loy Krathong Kan Laew Kor Chern Nong Kaew Ork Ma Ram Wong Ram Wong Wan Loy Krathong Ram Wong Wan Loy Krathong Boon Ja Song Hai Rao Suk Jai Boon Ja Song Hai Rao Suk Jai |
November fullmoon shines, Loi Krathong, Loi Krathong, and the water's high in the river and local klong, Loi Loi Krathong , Loi Loi Krathong, Loi Krathong is here and everybody's full of cheer, We're together at the klong, We're together at the klong, Each one with this krathong, As we push away we pray, We can see a better day. |
When the last float went by I pocketed the dry cameras and I went to the hotel, that was just nearby. I placed them both under recharge as I'd need them the following day. I took shower and before leaving I placed the rose in a water bottle. It was time to go outside again.
I headed back to the Tha Pae Gate and I followed Tha Pae road. Most of the float were still there. I kept on following the schools, and most of the time, passing by them when they stopped.
All the night market was in party. People were keeping on looking at the Loy Krathong and I felt like I ended to be pictured by thousand photographers form every corner of the world.
I followed the parade until I arrived to the Anusan Street market, and I entered it. Now there, it was like an everyday market. With people browsing at the stalls or bargaining to get something at a good price. The Ladyboys of the cabaret were already back in their club, that means that it'd be almost 22.00.
I entered my favorite fish restaurant and I ordered a grilled squid with pan fried morning glory and beer. Then the waiter came back, the dish of Morning Glory was huge, while the squid was probably the smallest of the Gulf of Thailand. Seeing that it was so small, I also asked few grilled prawns in more. While I was eating and texting back home, I seen that not far from me, on my left, near the edge of the restaurant, a Chinese man. He kept on watching at me all the time. I think that he was a spy sent by the Old Chinese Man. If he thinks that he was unnoticed by me, he's wrong. He took a large Chang Beer a dish of fried rice and a dish of pan fried vegetables. I guess that the Old Chinese Man should pick better spies than that round faced, quite sweated, square-pattern shorts wearing Chinese guy.
I finished my food and I came back to the night market. There were still the boys doing their parade. Many of them had parents that took them some food. Parents are the same in all the world.
I made my way back with just a short stop for a small beer. I needed to come back to my hotel and hopefully more sober than last night. I had to point my alarm clock better than the night before.
Thank you boys and girls, for everything you did, you were the best of all. You were all worth the trip from Italy to here.
I headed back to the Tha Pae Gate and I followed Tha Pae road. Most of the float were still there. I kept on following the schools, and most of the time, passing by them when they stopped.
All the night market was in party. People were keeping on looking at the Loy Krathong and I felt like I ended to be pictured by thousand photographers form every corner of the world.
I followed the parade until I arrived to the Anusan Street market, and I entered it. Now there, it was like an everyday market. With people browsing at the stalls or bargaining to get something at a good price. The Ladyboys of the cabaret were already back in their club, that means that it'd be almost 22.00.
I entered my favorite fish restaurant and I ordered a grilled squid with pan fried morning glory and beer. Then the waiter came back, the dish of Morning Glory was huge, while the squid was probably the smallest of the Gulf of Thailand. Seeing that it was so small, I also asked few grilled prawns in more. While I was eating and texting back home, I seen that not far from me, on my left, near the edge of the restaurant, a Chinese man. He kept on watching at me all the time. I think that he was a spy sent by the Old Chinese Man. If he thinks that he was unnoticed by me, he's wrong. He took a large Chang Beer a dish of fried rice and a dish of pan fried vegetables. I guess that the Old Chinese Man should pick better spies than that round faced, quite sweated, square-pattern shorts wearing Chinese guy.
I finished my food and I came back to the night market. There were still the boys doing their parade. Many of them had parents that took them some food. Parents are the same in all the world.
I made my way back with just a short stop for a small beer. I needed to come back to my hotel and hopefully more sober than last night. I had to point my alarm clock better than the night before.
Thank you boys and girls, for everything you did, you were the best of all. You were all worth the trip from Italy to here.