Khorat

Just before the bank holiday weekend, I was hysterically trying to find us somewhere to visit in Thailand. Either planes were expensive or full or at inconvenient times. Or hotels were fully booked. The seaside was therefore out of the question. We ended up in Nakhorn Ratchisima - otherwise known as Khorat - and Phimai, home of an ancient Khmer temple.

Khorat is the second largest city in Thailand - although really, nothing competes with Bangkok. It's about 3-4 hours bus ride away and it's very pleasant. We stayed at the Sima Thani hotel which used to be a Sheraton. The rooms were spacious, clean and modern - and a snip at just 1,200 Baht with brekkie included. It was right next door to the TAT office too and the nice ladies there sweetly ladened us with maps and brochures. It's quite interesting to see a sample tour programme of the province: for one day, they recommend going to the National Park and go-carting. For two days, they recommend going to the local dairy farm, the national park and some vineyards. No mention of Phimai! They also mention the Army Dog Centre which I was well up for, but the ladies sadly informed us it was closed.

Anyhow, we went into town which was lively with food stalls, markets and ...elephants playing harmonicas - you think I'm joking? See below!


And then we stumbled onto the

Actually, it was the highlight of our whole trip. There were about 6 or 7 amazing sculptures of wax processions involving boats, elephants, dragons, Thaksin, buddhist figures...in shades of yellow, orange and brown. There was a great fun fair atmosphere as Thais busily snapped away with their mobile phones. I don't want to spoil the image, but we think the wax is laid onto a metal foundation. Still the beauty and striking detail of the sculptures is awesome. Definitely wax, not plastic. My fingers were smeared with the stuff when I touched one. That's another great thing about Thailand. How you can wander around ancient ruins and touch wax sculptures without nary a 'KEEP OFF' in sight. I don't know why the candles didn't melt - but they weren't super resistant to all the curious prodding of passersby - one man was surreptiously trying to re-attach a small segment.



This one is of Thaksin waving the flag for Thailand.


We also wandered around the markets. Grasshopper anyone?


No? Ok, what about hogshead?


We ended up at Cabbages and Condoms (yummy and cheap). The only pity about our day was that as it was a Buddha day we couldn't sink a few beers to round things off!!

Coming up: Phimai...

In-laws

We've just had the mother-in-law round. Actually, she is absolutely lovely: easy-going, enthusiastic, ready to try anything. She went down to Songkhla to see Fatt's brother - despite terrorist bombs / assassinations around the southern provinces and FCO warnings to stay away. She had a fine old time although unsurprisingly the local economy has completely nose-dived since all the troubles began.

Over in Bangkok Fatt took his mum to all kinds of places - usually the places that he hadn't been to in a while or not been to before! So it was off to Khlong Teoi market to check out the local fruit and veg stall, riding on a water taxi with the khlong water spraying into our mouths, and eating lots and lots of food. Stuff the Grand Palace and floating markets!



Unfortunately, the last experience was not so good - we took a taxi to the airport with the driver heading off in completely the wrong direction. He then announced that it would cost us 500 baht to go. Fatt whipped out his mobile phone and dialled 1155 for the tourist police, saying 'No, No... thamruat (Police)' to the driver who (thankfully) stopped the car. We then noticed there was no license inside and no papers either. I went outside to get his number and the driver switched off his meter. We all got out having given his details to the tourist police - although we don't think it would do much good. Fatt's father should be coming out in September. Fatt's father has never been out of the country before. Fatt's mum requested that we not leave Fatt's father by himself in a taxi to the airport. I couldn't help laughing. We're a bit worried about the utter culture shock Fatt's dad might experience, let alone leaving him by himself anywhere.

So anyhow, it was nice to have the mother-in-law round. Perhaps the only 'odd' thing was watching the rather risque action in the Big Brother house with your mother-in-law eagerly sitting in too!

London bombs

As a Londoner living abroad, I feel so sad to see the city terrorised by the bombs yesterday. Frantic calls and e-mails to family and ex-colleagues, glued to BBC and CNN on cable, trying to sort speculation from fact... relief that those I knew were OK, proud of how emergency plans kicked in and the stoicism and pragmatism of Londoners...

Fatt and I have always said we would probably be much safer in Thailand than in London. It doesn't make me feel any better about what happened. As I read one person write: I just want to come back and have a pint and talk to friends & family.

Good to see today though: some tube lines up and running, almost whole bus network up, people going back to work just like normal.

The Fatt's Back

Been back in Thailand for 2 weeks now as has Fatt. Not only is Fatt back, but Fatt's back has been out of whack for ages. Poor Fatt. He's had painkillers, anti inflammatories, physio therapy, chinese spray medicines, tuina, a neck brace...which has just allowed the ache to shift from one place to another.

His work has been less than understanding and they take no prisoners when it comes to downsizing. Mind you, recent trips to Hong Kong and London haven't exactly helped Fatt garner any sympathy.

Anyhow, thank goodness for my mother. She records all the latest programmes in the UK on to DVD and ships them over for us. Big Brother (f**k about! as Maxwell would say), Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (F**king hell! as Gordan would say), Desperate Housewives and Eastenders are all available for the Fatt's viewing pleasure.

I reckon it's Fatt's terrible posture that is at fault, and the physio therapist agrees. So Fatt has decided that once he is feeling better, he will go back to weight training. The thing is is that Fatt already has quite a bit of muscle around the back shoulder area which hunches him forward even more. I'm trying to persuade him to go to yoga instead. But not even the thought of a predominantly female class sweating away can convince him to go!