I'm sitting here in an old house that my wife's family for more than three generations. E 'in a small village called Trakarn Puedpon, about 40 miles northeast of Ubon Ratchathani city. Many of the houses around these belong to members of my wife's family is very large. His older brother runs a grocery store on the main road. Another brother is a teacher in local elementary school. Another brother always seems a couple of whiskey in him, but he neverwithout any problems and always friendly. I'm not sure what he does. There are a few other brothers somewhere in Thailand. Then there are a number of sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces spread too far. After seven years in the family, I'm not sure that they met. It 's a good feeling to be here, but most of all, people are all so nice to be together. I can not find all of them put on airs and graces. These are the people's real salt of the earth.I count my blessings every time I go home.

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It is home for me. I feel good with them. The local children are playing with my two daughters. My past grandchildren, every time we talk and sit. Meals are a great deal with several family members from other houses in an insertion loss and laughter and conversation.

Our house is nothing special. It 's the usual brick walls cement floor with a large family room and a kitchen in the back.The new bathroom off the kitchen, a gift from my wife and me, has a large tiled tub to fetch water to wash away. It has a western-style sit-down toilet. I asked if they could be so no longer have to squat, as we expected in the old shed behind the house. My knees are not only stronger than ever.

The upper floor is the range of cement clinker and has 3 bedrooms, all of decent size. There is plenty of room for a large open space where you can sit inEvening, when it rains and enjoy the cool breeze blowing through the room. We slept there under a mosquito net because the other rooms are full.

We came here this trip go to our cousins wedding. She married an English look-Krung. His father is looking for a great northern England and his mother a lady highly respected in Thailand. I've been married 25 years, he said. Now they have moved that she could live in retirement.

The groom put a Mor LumGroup, with huge (very loud) speakers, a 2-tier level of 7 beautiful dancers, who designed a series of costumes scattered throughout the night, and a band for the princely sum of just under 27,000 baht (about $ US700). Young people come from villages all around us. As the evening went to dance in front of the stage grew wilder than the contents of the bottles was whiskey. We took the children home to bed at midnight, so I lost all enthusiasm.

A group of young peopleone of the other villages thrown an empty bottle in the dance group. One of them took a bottle and threw it back. Then a brawl broke out. It was not too bad as I was told that no one was injured. They were simply let off steam, because what they do here. You can not dance with young women. There were many who did not still around and their parents under strict supervision. The next morning I drove up the road and saw a trail of broken glass tothe highway. It must have been a good fight.

Sometimes the village chief, who Khamnan awakens us with a speech to the village loudspeaker system. He talks about social issues, or perspectives on the social calendar. I have the melody while the drones in about an hour. The villagers go about their preparations for the day. I do not even notice when the Khamnan stops talking until I suddenly noticed that the ringing in your ears is almost gone and it's quiet again.

If theKhamnan has nothing to say, then the roosters wake us with their songs, and then start barking dogs. There is no such thing as sleep in it. I come awake to the smell of charcoal fire on the ground floor as a big sister sticky rice steaming in a large bamboo basket. A bright bouquet of scents to blow up, some of them my mouth water. Others do not understand how to eat, what's cooking.

The matriarch of the family, my wife's grandmother lives,on the opposite side of the road, two houses. She is 96 years old and still as strong as an ox. It is not as agile as a few years before her, and his memory is not reliable as before, but she continues to get up early and many of the smaller jobs around the house. Thais say the long ears provide a long life. His are very long.

The mother of my wife is a favorite in 72 years. still brings a whole day in the rice fields every day. With their betel-stained teeth and restBehavior, is a perfect mother. They flattered me the day we got married when they were all in the country did not want to be a sub-sin (bride price, or dowry) says. Until I looked for her daughter and is on the right was happy. I could only afford to pay for the wedding, but I promised to give me the money if you could afford. You are not ever asked me anything since.

The family has dedicated a large area of rice cultivation. Takeall rice for their own use. They never sell to Chinese brokers who go around to buy rice from other villages. The family is very independent. They grow almost all their own food. They also hunt various animals and insects such as shrimp rice for the "Som Tum Papaya salad, or grasshoppers, ant eggs, or who are on the green of trees and vines grow wild throughout the country. My wife came today and offered me "worms", said they were delicious. I went tothe chance.

The farm is beautiful this time of year. There are no fences, but only an almost endless rice fields. It 'hard to tell where a family of fine stores and another begins. All the rice fields are green with rice plants again. Some lean chicken scratch around looking for old farmhouses, where an uncle or sleep twice, to look after things in the night. Pepsi the dog lolling about under the stairs with his tongue out. He was banished therebecause he always barked the parade passing again to the family home. Now he guards the buffalo in the night.

The buffalo have their own indoor enclosure, where deep in a pile of their own dung at least one foot. My family does not use chemical fertilizers or sprays. Everything is grown naturally. They live very much in harmony with nature. They spread the manure on their fields of rice deserves to have the buffalo to keep plowing the mud soaked Padis. Then allSpaces in the program for rice in water until their mid-thigh.

But that was a couple of months. It is now mid-July and the rainy season is in full swing. During the day it is very hot, with overcast skies. Those of us not to lie about the work in the rice fields, panting in the heat. The fan in the house is only about the warm air, but it helps keep you cool. Sitting outside on the large wooden deck under the roof of corrugated metal protectsthe front of the house does not help. Heat rises in waves from the concrete path outside the fence. There is no relief. Just sit back and wait to start the rain.

About 4 clock and the first drops fall quickly into a violent storm, turn on the pony tin roof, making it almost impossible to listen to talk. Perhaps this explains why so many Thais voices inside very strong. All shouting at each other as they walk together the case.

"Hey, Loong(Uncle), where you going? "

He writes, "just as the buffalo on the farm." Then pull a buffalo after him, the exchange is more of a social finesse than trying to understand what he is doing. He trudges along the road and wait for the next person to ask where to go.

The rain could stop after an hour or so, or it could slow down to a continuous thread for the rest of the evening. At this time it is drizzling. The airis cold and the house is quiet. Almost all went to the temple to inaugurate the "Wien Tien" in Kow Panza, the Buddhist Lent. They bring offerings to the Buddha. All sitting on the floor of the large conference room temple with his legs folded beneath them for an hour as the prayers of the monks singing. Then the head of Monaco, there is a sermon. Everyone listens with her hands clasped in a respectful wai (hands folded in prayer), although a few quiet murmurs of the people on the back ofthe temple. Then each light a candle and goes three times around the temple, and do good things. The lights of the candles to form intricate designs such as people in distant darkness. This is a beautiful sight. When they finish, gather in groups and talk for a while 'before returning home to sleep and get ready for the daily work.

The next day the cycle begins again. Life in the village as well as for generations. My wife says it is not enoughthe same as when she was a child. At that time, he said, the temple was filled with villagers, but now there are only a few people old and young people. Modern equipment in every home, TV, supermarkets and the media outside of the cycles of all the houses that the villagers the horizon grows slowly. The temple is no longer the social center it once was.

Many villagers can not afford a car, unless you went to the big city to work. Even then, the car can only afford the most successful.One of the best friend of my wife arrived today in his Chevy utility truck full of sweet pineapple. She 's married to a German. They built one of the few modern houses in the village, but almost never live there. Instead, they live in Rayong, an accountant at the factory where he works as Chevrolet. He founded the business back of the machine just down the road from our house and sold most of their expense and within a few hours. She goes to the local market of tomorrowto sell the rest. Every house in the village has a fruit tree dripping Lamyai now, so I joked with my wife to the fruits of sale Lamyai as their friend.

We will return to Bangkok in a few days. Five days in the wilderness of Isaan is just enough I'm afraid. And 'nice for a while'. Then it's time to return to the heart of things in a big city. But at least now I know that the grass is growing here, an average of 0.02 inchesDay.

In the desert of Isaan

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