Up Early

Saturday was a long day. For me it started at about 4:30 am to take a shower in preparation for the days travels. I wish I could actually name the place where we were headed, but minutes after pulling up Google maps to correlate Dang's pronouncements with the words and places represented on the screen, I decided that I was on the wrong track. Suffice it to say, it was about 6 hours drive from Korat. But first we had to get there.

The plan was to visit a big temple, then after that we'd eat at a fancy restaurant on a river. After the meal we'd visit a still a bigger temple that had a big elephant or something. That was the plan. Oh, almost forgot to mention that in addition to Dang's brother and sister in-law, Dang's mother and a couple of aunts were the featured guests in the chartered VIP van -- the same one that picked us up from Bangkok.

When the morning glow began to reveal shadows, I could tell we were heading south and east and quickly we busted free from the urban 'burbs of Korat as the clutter of buildings along the highway yielded to open expanses of farm fields and dusty side roads.

Our first stop was at a gas station along the highway. These resemble the sort of truck stops one encounters along the interstates in the USA; gas up the wheels, take advantage of the restrooms provided, wander the 7-11 (yes; the same corporation as in the USA) maybe there's even a KFC franchise associated to the gas stop, but this time there wasn't, so we browsed the aisles of the 7-11 and picked up some snacks for the road.

Dang grabbed a couple of microwave "burgers" which were actually patties of tasty meat (?) products with sticky rice patties top and bottom instead of burger buns. I eventually surrendered to Dang's prompting to eat something and had the chicken version which was actually not bad. It did hit the spot nicely because it was getting close to 9 am and this represented breakfast.

Shortly afer that we were into some mountains. Along the highway began to appear touristy looking places with room for buses to park and lots of plants for sale. No buses yet though, it was still too early for them. As we drove past Dang would make noises as if she wanted to stop and buy orchids, but she wasn't really serious about it. No way to sneak that sort of contraband though customs even if we could figure out how to pack them without ruining them.

Then we turned off the main highway and took a detour up a road past touristy bungalows and bed & breakfasts with beautiful manicured lawns featuring exotic plants which probably were volunteers because this area would be something like a jungle were it in its natural state. Everyone in the van loved the scenery, especially after we turned down an even smaller road whose signage promised a "viewing spot," but we never made it that far turning around after a mile or so.

We stopped at a temple which wasn't open yet, (no worries, plenty of temples later) so we climbed back into the van and backtracked toward the highway, but first we would stop at the roadside market for a while to pick up some local snacks of exotic dried things and prepared drinks of questionable origin which I refused on principle. The principle is that I wish to avoid intestinal cramps, spasms or anything worse. Just seeing the tapeworm medication available over-the-counter at the Lotus market (a Thai version of western style retail, something like a Sam's Club) instilled the fear of God in me. Yikes!


While Dang haggled, I looked around for photo opportunities not finding any that excited me. Dang bought some more stuff to eat and everyone eventually climbed back into the van.