Blog 22 - Farewell to Nongkhai

This week was my last in Nong Khai, I’m right now writing this from my suave hotel room in Chiang Mai. The week was spent tying up loose ends and saying goodbye to friends, exactly like Pirates of the Caribbean should have done at Dead Man’s Chest. Though, like that accursed film series, there is more for me to come. My weekend was spent mostly planning my journey’s and packing, though it gets more interesting than this. Honest.

Monday was spent saying goodbye to Mooy – the woman I was helping teach the local lovably scruffy kids of Nong Khai. I also dropped in on Jira Nun, just returned from Vietnam. In true Thai style, she immediately invited Matthias and I out for a farewell dinner. We booked Tuesday evening, she asked me my favourite food, and I said duck. So, we went to the conveniently close duck house I somehow missed. It’s called MK Restaurant, and I think is a chain from Japan.

It’s called Thai Suki, and sort of Japanese sukiyaki, but more like a hot pot. It’s essentially a pot of hot water where we chuck in what we want, sea food, tofu, salad, noodles, egg and what even else was brought. And of course duck, the duck was ordered specially and had a spicy hoi sin sauce that I adore.

Pictured: Everything

:Aside: sauces are very important in Thai food. You know the stereotypical posh English meal, with 36 different spoons for each course and a knife for every animal? And how they always make fun of the one who uses the re-curved tapered spoon when they should have used the slanted arched ladle? That’s Thai sauces in a nutshell. There’s a sauce for every meat and dish, sweet chilli for chicken, hoi sin for duck, peanut for pork and so on. I’m often looked at in confusion when I use the peanut for chicken, or gods forbid, the sweet chilli with beef. It’s an art form to choose the right one, and don’t get me started on dipping sauces rather than pouring. :Aside over:

So after we’d thrown in every sort of animal and vegetable under the sun into this pot, it began cooking whilst I tucked into the duck. It was great duck. Really, really great duck. There was a rice accompaniment and before long I’d polished it off and began eyeing up the shrimps in the pot. Between me, Matthias, Jira Nun, her brother and cousin we demolished that meal. Soon there was nought left but scraps of lettuce, and I snaffled the shrimps that Jira Nun piled on Matthias’ plate when she wasn’t looking (he hates seafood). 

Then we moved on to Swensens Ice Cream parlour, which essentially is hedonism embodied.

If it existed in Roman times, it’s the sort of place Caligula would have an incestuous orgy whilst his horse made sundaes. There are about 45 different types of ice creams, and 6 are labelled as “healthy”. I ordered the chocolate brownie sundae with rocky road and chewy brownie ice cream.

Hedonism, sweet, sweet hedonism

Matthias had a more a hot fudge sundae with only a respectable fuckload of chocolate, whilst Jira Nun daintily picked at a couple of scoops of low fat fruit and berries flavours.

Not dainty

I love Swensens, I haven’t been since Chin was in Nong Khai for Songkran, and we enjoyed chocolate waffle sundaes each. It’s not often I enter a place that’s designed by committee to kill my girlfriend. So, literally stuffed, we shuffled home where I immediately regretted eating the chocolate waffle, also the waffle basket.

Yes I ate it, yes I'm proud, yes I'm fat

Wednesday was my last day at the orphanage, we made little folded paper bags all day.

Guess mine! Hint: it's the awesome one

It was strangely calming, and is one of the few times I actually do origami. I was looking after a little knot of 4 of the boys, and we seemed to get by well enough. 

After this we played some British Bulldog, a game that should be played with 20 people, instead of 9. They enjoyed it though, maybe it’ll catch on. It was then time to say goodbye, I made my tearful exit stage left, I don’t know how many of them understood, but Nut and a couple of others hugged me goodbye and asked me when I’m coming back. I get asked that a lot.

That lunchtime Matthias and I were at a meal with a student of Mooy’s, Nut (no relation to the orphan) and her family. We had a string tying session with her grandparents, I’ll need all the luck I can get, before moving onto a titanic meal. Bowls of duck, buckets of sticky rice, chicken by the coop, Chinese fried spring rolls by the plateful and Vietnamese spring rolls by the hyperbolic ton. We were expected to polish off a fair amount by ourselves. Thankfully Mooy arrived and enlisted Nut into helping, but it was still tough going. What a hard life, forcing down exquisite meals and exotic fare on a daily basis. How do I do it? Eventually the feast was bested, a worthy foe conquered. It was a good thing we weren’t going for an all you can eat barbeque that evening.

So, that evening we went for an all you can eat barbeque. As my last evening in Nong Khai I picked the meal. We went early to make sure there was food and seating available. We numbered Sabine, the Pookster, Matthias and I. It was just as good as I remember, the terrifying quantities of meat, the precooked food piled on my plate and the worry whenever I tuck into prawn and seafood as to whether I’ll spend my 12 hour bus journey on Immodium or not. We battled bravely, and despite my mammoth meal 4 hours I carved a swathe through the buffet. At the end, Sabine presented me with some gifts, a shoulder bag, a certificate and a Thai woven key ring. On my part, I gave both Sabine and Pookie a picture of all of us together with a written message.

And with that, my last day had dawned and I was leaving Nong Khai. I spent most of the day running around, getting the last few things packed and the last few people met. I said hello and goodbye to Jira Nun and her husband, and in true style, she offered to take me via minibus to Undon Thani, as she had a flight from the same city. It saved me a few Baht and the short haul buses are pretty dire, so I agreed. The day flew past, as I loped around the house checking under the bed and double checking where my passport was. Eventually, the time came and Mooy gave me a lift in her pick-up. After an emotional parting from her, Pookie and Nut I left with Jira Nun to begin my last month adventure.

So, the bus to Chiang Mai was much worse than last time. I was at the front, jammed in front of the plywood cover for the TV, my feet were on top of the case, and still were out of room. I watched Catfish again, which is still a great film and continued the Dune series, which are hard work. Try keeping track of several different factions and all their special traits, and it gives you a headache. Still, incredible series, but I feel like I need a spreadsheet. I eventually arrived, and checked into my hotel. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand safe!

My Trilbies’ Travels

As you may know, I like my Trilby hats. Though, somehow, I left my blue one in Udon Thani bus station. I realised this at 5am the next morning as tried to massage the now permanent crick in my knee. I frantically searched the bus, but no. My beloved hat was still on a sofa a few hundred miles away.

After a brief panic, I decided to email Sabine once I reached Chiang Mai. I managed to achieve this, and before long I had a reply. Pookie, the Herculean superwoman, had the bus company finding my hat and sending it on its way, via a bus, for me to pick up. She’s still looking out for me, even though she’s in a different province. I visited the bus station in the morning, to find they’d forgotten to take it off the bus. My hat was headed back to Udon Thani. I returned in the evening, and it was back (again) and was delivered to my waiting arms.

My hat used to be so passive, keeping my head warm and shielding me from rain. I guess it wanted to be the star of the show for a change. I’m just happy it found its way home.

Rest, little one