Mar
22
That’s It!
March 22, 2008 | 6 Comments
Hi Folks,
I have been blogging for more than year now. And what a year it has been. I met Nan in Early march last year, and now we are married and living together in our little house in an Isaan village. Well, most of you that read this, have followed the whole story. And some of you have even come here to visit us in the village, while others we have met up with in Bangkok and Surin.
Others yet, is in touch more or less on a daily or weekly basis. By e-mail, or commenting on the blog. And I really appreciate all the encouragement and positive reactions that have come from all of this.
Unfortunately right now, I am a bit tired of the whole blogging thing. It used to be quite simple to find stuff to write about, and when I sat down by the computer, the words just kept flowing. But lately it has become a chore.
You have probably noticed that I have not written anything lately. Well, I have been sitting down by the computer many times to write. And then, well… it ends with a “sigh” and I find something else to do. It came to a point where I was so tired of it all i did not even look at the blog page for a week. The drive to write much of anything is not there anymore.
So for now, that is it from this story. But I hope to stay in touch with some of you. So the blog will stay online. To avoid spammers, I will close down commenting. But the “Contact Me” form will remain open.
Who knows, now and then I may write something again in the future.
So bye for now
Rune and Nan
Popularity: 20% [?]
Mar
8
Last Morning in Laos
March 8, 2008 | 6 Comments
We woke up early and had a shower, then checked out of the hotel. Our luggage was only a couple of day packs, so no heavy luggage to worry about. First order of the day was to find breakfast. I did not fancy eating another rice meal.
But Vientiane have plenty of bars and small restaurants where european food is served. The choice fell on a small Italian place where Nan had some type of spaghetti with shrimps, and I had a lasagne that was not all that bad.
We then just walked the streets a bit and snapped some photos. Vientiane has a small town feel to it. And compared to other cities I have been to in this part of the world, virtually has no traffic. So getting around on foot was no problem. Just had to navigate around the many back packers complete with dread locks acquired at Khao San road in Bangkok no doubt, and with the Lonely Planet guidebook in hand, wandered around looking for the next cheap meal. Read more
Popularity: 27% [?]
Mar
7
Eating and Sleeping in Vientiane
March 7, 2008 | 5 Comments
We were in Laos, and I could tick off another country on my list of been there, done that countries. And as the taxi from the friendship bridge entered the highway to Vientiane, Nan had her first bit of culture shock, which set off one of her many giggle fits on this trip.
“Teerak I think the driver is mao!”
“Why do you think that?”
“Look, he drive on wrong side of road!”
“Ahem, I think that’s the way they do it in Lao. Don’t worry, it’s the same way in Norway!”
And with that she had a grand old giggle session, but to be on the safe safe she fired of a few reassuring questions to the driver in Lao. He obviously confirmed that I was right. Because that set off another fit of the giggles. Read more
Popularity: 28% [?]
Mar
6
Traveling to Laos
March 6, 2008 | 3 Comments
This last Sunday, me and Nan bussed ourselves to the border town of Nong Khai, in the north of Isaan. My last 30 day period with leave to stay in the Kingdom of Thailand was about to expire on the 6th of February. But since Nan’s cousin is getting married on the 7th, we opted to go a few days early and get my Visa sorted at the Royal Thai Embassy in the Capitol of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Laos.
So early in the morning we motored in to Putthaisong, and parked the Honda Click at the police station, like we do when we go away for a few days. It would prove to be a long day. The first bus, was basically a covered flatbed truck. Which we took half the way up to Khon Khaen, were we boarded a real bus. Except this one was full, so we had to stand until the next bus change at Khon Khaen. There we boarded the next bus that took us to Udon Thani. By now it was 5 in the afternoon. So instead of heading directly for the border, we decided to go to Nong Khai and spend the night there. Read more
Popularity: 30% [?]
Feb
19
Okay, Okay, I’m Alive!
February 19, 2008 | 13 Comments
Taking some time off blogging seems like it’s impossible with folks from all over the worlds demanding news from the Isaan Countryside. But despite living in a sleepy village, we have been really busy lately.
First off it was to solve my pass port and visa hassles. On the 6th of February we took off for Cambodia to get me another 30 day breathing space, and time to go to the Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok to get me a new passport, something that became necessary after Nan decided my old one needed a good run trough the washing machine.
We completed our Bangkok sortie this Saturday, and now I have a brand new passport, and my visa on arrival stamp was graciously transferred at the immigration office in Korat. Where they also advice me that a good spanking for was in order for Nan.
Next up we came home, and have now embarked on the next project. A new fence and wall to keep the rats with feathers off the property (bloody chickens). So for two days now we have hacked, slashed and burned away at the assorted barbed wire, bamboo poles, torn brushes, corrugated iron bits, that constitute our current perimeter barrier.
We have also taken delivery of 80 meters of chain link fence, and enough concrete fence poles to give me nightmares (guess who has to dig the holes, as nan is to cheap to pay a kid 100 baht a day to dig them). The rest of it will be simple cinder-block wall out front. Well it will be 20 meters long. And covered in stucko cement and painted…well you guessed it…pink!
Tomorrow I will have a short respite though. I need some work gloves before we continue. I have blisters on blisters in my hands…well the part of the skin on them that is not cut to shreds on barbed wire, thorns and sharp bits of bamboo. Same goes for my legs.
In between all of that I have embarked on another web project, and found some time to fly my RC plane model. Well, I am pursuing that hobby with a passion at the moment. So that’s been eating up all my blogging time.
Okay, that’s it!
Popularity: 35% [?]
Feb
4
Freezing My Butt Off
February 4, 2008 | 14 Comments
Over the last two days it has been cloudy, rain showers and unbelievingly cold here in Isaan. Well, I am now wearing jeans for the first time at home since I cam here, apart from those occasions where wearing something else have been appropriate. If I could, I would be wearing my fleece jacket too. But that has been confiscated by Nan, who is wondering if she should try and snake into a second pair of jeans.
The wool socks she got from my mother for Christmas is now permanently on her feet. Well, the temperature is not actually that cold. It’s like an average summer day at home in Northern Norway. The problem is that we are not there, but in Thailand. Read more
Popularity: 42% [?]
Feb
2
A Shed for Mae
February 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment
We have been busy the last couple of days. Nan’s mom prefers to cook the old fashioned way, using her wood stove. That means getting firewood in, and keeping it out of the rain during the wet season. And she has a couple of Rai planted with Eucalyptus for that purpose. But her wood shed was falling down, eaten up by termites.
So yesterday and today me, Nan her brother and his wife have been constructing a new wood shed for her. It was simple, just pull down what was left of the old one, then we rebuilt it by erecting four concrete pillars, and made the rest from bamboo, and put back the tin roof from the old one. So now she should be able to keep her firewood dry. Read more
Popularity: 40% [?]
Jan
31
Morlaming it up at the Wat
January 31, 2008 | 3 Comments
Yesterday there was a Morlam concert at the village Wat. Morlam is music style here in Isaan, and it very popular. So we took the kids over to “listen music” as Nan put it.
We arrived early and spread out our bamboo mat, and listened to the boxed music already blaring out of the loudspeakers. And then the villagers arrived, having a good deal of sanuk on my expense. A farang wanting to listen to morlam! That was a new one. Read more
Popularity: 45% [?]
Jan
29
A Visit to the E.R
January 29, 2008 | 5 Comments
Ever since I was in La-La land, I have been struggling with a re-occurring eye infection. Basically what the doc told me back there was that my tear canal clogs up, and gets infected. It was “cured” back there by medication and some eye drops. But since it has come back twice here in Thailand. Nothing serious really, just red, irritated eyelids.
But over the last few days it came back with a vengeance in my left eye. The lower half of the ye lid ballooned out. Covering the entire outer corner of my eye. So this morning Nan took one look at me and ordered me to go see the local doctor in Putthaisong. So off we motored on the Honda Click. Read more
Popularity: 47% [?]
Jan
29
We Have Been Home For a Week
January 29, 2008 | 2 Comments
We got everything sorted in Bangkok. And Nan has received her new pass port already. Now we are just waiting for the legalized translation of the marriage certificate to arrive, so that we can ship it off to Norway to be registered there.
It’s been a busy week since we came home to. My new RC Model Airplane is finished. So I have spent the afternoons trying to fly it. The local guy who built it for me is giving me some training. But this plane is definitely not a beginners model. So next time we go to Bangkok to pick up my new pass port at the embassy it’s yet again to visit a hobby shop to find a plane that I can learn on, before the current one becomes a pile of tinder wood. Read more
Popularity: 46% [?]
