Living Locally

     Strangely this morning there is a breeze. Strangely, you repeat questioningly. Well yes it is unusual in my limited experience in Thailand to have a breeze, but I am not lamenting. The trees with vivid orange flowers have announced summer, my host as given me a fan for my room and yesterday was, by my estimates, hot and sweaty. And this morning it is delightful to see the leaves of different trees dancing differently.
     Like Siddhartha this area lives by the river. Everything from irrigation, food, transport, commerce with Laos and a boundary with Laos and the spirits of the water. The area has been part of Laos and been invaded from forces further north, and influenced by the French, The Kemere, and Cambodia, so was known as Cenai. The area traditionally a poor area was fertile soil for Ho Chi Minh to proselytise. So if you crossed the Mekong, across the road from here, you would be in Laos and if you travelled another 120 ks you would be  in Vietnam.
     Just talking about this at breakfast my host Jack's father who is standing once again as a local "councillor" gave me the local traditional equivalent of a necktie. It  a Pa Kow Ma, a multipurpose piece of cotton used as a mat to sit on, a hat to protect from the sun and a towel for drying. I was honoured.

Isan Pa Kow Ma investiture. Chuffed.

The river as I say is central and in no less ways than as the home of the Naga, a kind of water dragon which has many forms. Mostly it lives in the river but when it comes on land it can take the form of a beautiful woman or young man. Sculptures of the Naga abound on the banks of the river. Many also are connected with the temples nearby and one temple has an impressive Naga cave which is highly decorated and airless, to walk through. Of course there is a box for donations.
It is said that under that temple and the local village of Porn Pishai, maybe about three times the size of Robertson, there is a whole city for the Nagas. In October, a month for ceremonies and celebrations fireballs are said to com up out of the river and mount the stairs with Naga sculptured rails to come on land or to a temple. These are of course mysterious, but one explanation is that the methane in the river catches fire under certain conditions.
    Yesterday mounted on the reconditioned 90cc Tuk Tuk called Survivor we went for a trip around the village and a visit to the local market. It is remarkable what the local people is that they can produce such a variety of stuff which sells for very reasonable prices, is fresh and tasty. As Patricia, Jack's Dutch wife said you need a strong stomach around the fish and meat stalls, but that is only part of the whole show.

Fresh Veg and Fruit.

We purchased various bits and pieces. The Spring rolls were popular, as were various vegies. They make a dish with boiled yellow sweet potatoes and ordinary potatoes add sugar and let it set, served with coconut. I enjoyed the sticky rice cooked in bamboo with tamarind. We stopped on a road through rice fields as the sun set and ate the sticky rice. As we did so a woman was scooping up young dragon flies to keep them out of the rice and to eat them.

Eucalypts, rice fields and sticky rice with tamarind.