Apr
24
The Drive
April 24, 2007 |
Finding a pick-up truck to rent in Pattaya only 3 days before Songkran was proving difficult, with all the expats and their Issan girlfriends desperate to get out of town before the watery madness started. But we finally found a Chevrolet in Jomtien that looked like it may get us up country without breaking down.
So it was back to the hotel on Soi Buakhao, to re-pack mine and Nans stuff. I had brought a large suitcase of things I wanted to leave behind in the village, as I am starting to move myself over to Thailand. And traveling “cattle class” i cant bring everything in one go. But we were soon packed and ready to go.
Into the car and then to plug in the GPS and the iPOD, a short stop at a “seven” for some water, biscuits and Red Bull, and we were off. Traffic was kind of heavy as it was only 3 days to Songkran, and half of Issan had started the trek back to the villages. But we made good speed, and we had good sanuk doing some improvised Karaoke singing helped by my iPOD that I had loaded with a good mix of Thai music, Love songs and a bit of Soft Punk, to get Nan used to my type of music.
Before navigating the Petchabun Mountains we made our first stop for some food. Chicken and Rice for me, Som Tam for Nan, and we were off again. As we approached the mountains we had some light rain, but crossing the mountains on the winding road was a breeze. And we were soon on the other side, doing about 110km/h, when around a bend we encountered our first Police check point.
Luck was not with me, and we were waved to the side. The cop approached the car, while I nervously switched off the music, and fished out my driving licence and passport. He was dressed all in black, white motorcycle helmet, and the dark sunglasses and dust mask was covering his face. Strapped to the hip was an enormous revolver. The whole figure was like something straight out of the “Smokey and the Bandit” movies starring Burt Reynolds.
So naturally I forgot all of my Thai and the first thing that popped into my head was a squeek of “good morning, officer”, and lucky for me he interpreted my amusement over his appearance as a friendly smile, becouse he just smiled behind his mask and informed me that it was actually the afternoon.
He made a quick check of my driving licence, and while I smiled and smiled, he was asking Nan a bunch of questions, there must have been a good deal of joking because they where both laughing. Then I was duly informed that it would cost me 500 baht to drive on, which I paid with a smile (on the return leg we where stopped at the same check point, and the fine for driving while farang had gone down to 200 baht).
We pulled onto the road again, Nan cursing the cops, while I exploded with luaghter. But we managed to keep the truck on the road, and made it to Korat without further incidence.
In Korat it was a stop at Tescos, to shop for some food, and some small presents for the family. A football for the kids, a couple of water guns for Songkran, a couple of cases of beer and a bottle of Song Sam. Then onto the road again. My GPS map was however “no good” in Korat, and Nan had only been at the “mini-bus” station. So it was a couple cases of “go and come back”, before we found our way out of Town for the 2-hours of driving that remained until we would be in her village.
We finally turned off the main road, and onto the Village road. Nan looked nervous. She had expressed before that she was sure I would not like her village and her house. And Issan was to hot, “have no air” (air con), etc. etc.
So I stopped the car before we came to the first houses. Kissed her, and assured her once more that I would be fine, and I was sure I would enjoy staying in the village. She accepted, and she did look a bit relieved.
She guided me trough the village, and soon we were parked outside her house. I switched off all the gizmo’s in the car, got out and in front of me was a moustached oldie, and under close scrutiny from Nan, I quickly put my hands together in a Wai, and even remembered to smile. Nan had never seen me do that before, and she first looked surprised, then I was rewarded with a beautiful smile.
The car was quickly emptied, and I was soon inside, beer in hand, having been presented to her mother, and the rest of the members of the household…
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Comments
5 Comments so far
hmmmm…..as you know, I am also planning to rent a car and drive to Isaan in June. I, however, will not be as willing to pay some random 500 baht fine…perhaps our trip will get even more smokey-and-the-bandit-esque than yours…..
No worries, this was the third time I have taken that drive, and the first time I have been stopped. They had a lot of extra check points up due to the Songkran traffic. It should be clear going in June.
Look at it as a tip for the nice men in uniform. Will make your trip much more pleasurable, much better than some rathole of a jail somewhere. These guys have no sense of humor when it comes to their way of seeking donations.
Will, how did you like the toilet?LOL
Where were you,north,east, in relation to Korat?
10 more days and I land in Bangkok,rent a car and head to Korat…….Man I cant wait…..
Dago I have definately seen worse. I have been working in Africa for a year, and before that in the Middle east and on the Balkans. So no problems with Thai style toilets. At least they are relatively clean.
The Village is in Amphoe Puthaisong North East of Korat, and about 64 km straight north of Buriram.