Thailand – au revoir

The “au revoir” is because I will return to Thailand after Myanmar to visit Chiang Mai, Pai and Chiang Rai before crossing into Laos.  But I digress, first there is the tale of events on the road to Mae Sot.

This story really belongs in my page “The Kindness of Strangers” I will note it there but it is a tale I thought worth publishing.

I had sat eating breakfast and chatting to Charin longer than I anticipated so I left a tad late in the morning, then the route was around 100 kms which I did not anticipate as the route I was going to take was around 70 kms.  Then I was held up for a couple of hours sheltering from a rainstorm.  The result was that by the time I arrived in Lan Sang, the National Park was closed for the night.  This was not good news, it meant that I would have to cycle the 18 kms to Tak and find accommodation then cycle it all back again in the morning.  I am not a fan of retracing my tire treads so I asked at the local Police station if I could sleep there for the night.  The officer in charge was very kind and he sought and received permission and I was allocated a spot in a brilliantly lit hallway to place my sleeping bag and a corner was found for Bobby the bike.  However, the police station does have great facilities, I had a good shower and a cup of coffee and settled down to read an e-book.

So, I was reading a Kindle book on my phone in the police station, while sitting on my “bed” when a gentleman came past and asked if I was going to sleep there. When I said yes, his next question was – as with all Thai people – “have you eaten?”   I said I had eaten earlier in the day and was not hungry.  For a Thai person, this is not an acceptable answer, he insisted on taking me outside to show me a roadside restaurant that he recommended.

At that point we were joined by his brother who, having been advised of the situation, immediately said “come sleep at my house tonight”.  He said it was far, but he had a big Ford Ranger and he’d take me and my bike in the back.  I happily accepted and we headed for his home after stopping at the butcher for pork (he did check that I would eat it) then at a market for vegetables.

His brother (the man who first spoke to me) his mother, his wife and his son were all in the van.  We drove about 12kms up the pass (yes – awesome!!…That meant I would not have to cycle that distance in the morning on the way to Mae Sot) and then we turned into the mountains and drove about another 7kms to his home.

Now here is the interesting bit, he (Bang is his name) and his family are Hmong people (pronounced moong), the original hill-tribe people of South East Asia.  Bang is very proud of his Hmong ethnicity and spoke to me a lot about their traditions.  Tourists in Thailand pay a fortune to meet and stay with a hill-tribe family and here I was being treated as a VIP.  His home is traditional, and the family consists of 14 people including the grand-father whom I met in the morning – he’s a hale and hearty man – 104 years old.

The brothers with 104 year old Dad

The ladies of the house

Grandmother

Happy Children

The Boys ‘n Me

Bang’s is home is also the local church.  The family are all very religious Christians (I think he was trying to tell me Assembly of God).  His sister, a delightful lady, is the preacher.

Accommodation is very basic – the elders have bedrooms in the home/church.  The children and younger adults sleep on the floor of the church and that is where they set up a bed for me.  They brought a mattress, a pillow and a mosquito net and made me a cosy bedroom next to the others.

My CozyCave

Then I washed up in the typical Thai bathroom.  A pool of water, some ladles to throw water over yourself and a traditional squat toilet.

In the meantime, the ladies had been making supper in the kitchen/dining area.  This is separate from the sleeping/church accommodation.  All cooking is done on an open fire and the floor is just earth.

Kitchen

The food was simple, a pork and lettuce broth, a pork and some other herb type vegetable broth, boiled vegetables, green beans and an unripe tomato-like veggie and of course lots of rice  (cooked in Hmong style).  To add spice there was a very good homemade chili paste. It was all delicious.  We all ate together then it was bedtime. This morning, after I declined breakfast as I battle to ride with a full stomach so early in the morning, the ladies produced a bag of hot rice with pork and veggies (and even a spoon to eat it with) for my lunch later in the day

I said my fond farewells  and conveyed my deep gratitude for the way everyone welcomed me and made me feel as if I was part of the family.  I had multiple invitations to visit again.  Then Bang took me down to the freeway to see me on my way but not before giving me his phone number with strict instructions to call if I needed any assistance whatsoever.  That was an amazing experience of true humanity – folk who live so simply yet are prepared to share everything they have – I am truly touched and blessed.

About 30 minutes later I got a puncture and thought about calling him to fix it. :o)

Puncture No.2

A man in a van did pull over and he leaped out and hurried over to me.  My thought was, “Well, he will probably offer to assist but I’m nearly done, but, with luck, maybe he will offer me a lift across this crazy steep mountain pass all the way to Mae Sot!”

He approached to within about 2 metres, did not say a word, took a pic on his cellphone of me sweating while pumping my tire to 4.2 bar, hopped back in his van and roared off.  Go figure!