Oil

October 26, 2007 |

Well, the day opened with nothing special really. We just had breakfast, and then cleaned the house up a little bit. Basically just being lazy.

Then the music started. It was morlam at full blast, so we peeked outside to find some of Nan’s relatives coming down the street while dancing to the music. They where out collecting money to be donated to the local Wat. This was a tad embarrassing for us, as when we had scraped every pocket, we came up with about 20 baht. And for that they danced for us, before proceeding down the street, stopping at every house.

After that, we wen’t to Phisai to procure some materials to make the kitchen benches and cupboards. We borrowed Nan’s uncles beat up pick-up truck for the task, with Nan’s cousin as driver. He has just returned from Taiwan where he worked in a paint factory and speaks a little bit English. His wife is working in Japan. And there are numerous others working abroad. Many in the village is in Bahrain and Dubai.

The trip to Phisai did not go uneventful though. Half way we where stopped by the high way police, as Nan’s cousin had been a bit heavy on the pedal ( I am amazed that he managed that feat in this rust-bucket). The policeman wanted to fine him 100 baht. But as none of us had any money at all, he was let of with a warning. I think it helped that even the farang in the car was penniless. They had a good laugh at that and waved us on.

In Phisai we quickly got what was needed, and set forth on the return trip. And we where about 7 km from Putthaisong when the smell of hot oil entered the cab. So off to the roadside, with blue smoke coming from under the hood. Yup, major oil leak. And I could see our trail a kilometer back. And the rest was just running free onto the road.

You can see on the picture Nan inspecting the damage. So nothing to do but call Nan’s uncle to bring oil and tools, and sit down and wait. What happened was that a tube in the engine was cracked, so just cut off a piece, re-insert it and fill some oil, and we where on our merry way again.

While we where waiting, Nan of course went into the jungle scrounging for food, and came out of there with some berries. You’ll never go hungry with an Isaan girl around!

We did one more stop in Putthaisong and checked if her motosai was ready, but they where still waiting for a part from Buriram.

We are now home, and Nan is cooking some supper, and it’s time to have a shower and dress up a bit as we are going to the Wat. The monks are now coming out of their rainy season retreat, and with that the season is suposed to over.

That’s it!

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