Nov
6
End of the Tunnel
November 6, 2007 |
With all of these things going on there is not much time for cooking. But who needs to cook when delicious food is brought right to your doorstep?
Every 10 minutes a pick-up truck or as in the case on the picture, a motorcycle with a side-car made into a mobile barbecue restaurant rolls by. All you have to do when you either hear music at full blast coming down the village road, or honking a horn, is to run outside and flag the rolling restaurant down. And food is yours for 20-50 baht. But back to the house.
We had to touch up the paint where holes for gas and water has been drilled trough the walls and cemented shut. We also had a problem with a certain smell emanating from the bath room. Our bed is right next to the door. And at night, if the bath room door was left open, the stench was so strong I had to get up and close the door.
I am not sure if it’s coming up from the septic tank, or it is the residual mud from our lest than clean water that stinks. When we shower there is always a thin layer of mud left in the cracks between the tiles. And when we clean this away the smell goes as well.
The water is coming from a tributary to the Mae Nam Mun river, and is quite murky right now. I don’t believe there is a filtering system, so I guess I have to look at installing a water filter too. Well, it was always on my mind anyway. Just have to convince Nan that it’s necessary.
She could not smell anything at all she claimed. But I managed to convince her that air vents in the bathroom was a necessary thing. So we made a hole in the wall, made a simple frame, with some mosquito netting strung around it and put that in the hole.
Then I drilled a series of holes on the very top of the back door, that we now have in the bath room, so you don’t have to go trough the house to get there with muddy feet (two boys aged 7 and 10, who loves to get very, very dirty made this a good investment). Anyway those holes where also covered with mosquito netting. So now we have some ventilation in there. Should help prevent the growth of fungus in our wet room as well.
Anyway, everything outside is now painted. And last evening we painted the kitchen. And since the carpenters are finished we started on the kitchen benches too.
But that was cut short this afternoon by the arrival of the people from UBC. So now we have 71 channels. And reception is crystal clear. I expect that to deteriorate if and when we have rain though. But tonight we just laughed our way trough the South African comedy “The Gods Must be Crazy II”.
We where expecting the electrician this morning but as usual the man is a no-show. Nan is tired of waiting and wan’t “somebody from village, do many times before” to fix it. But I have to put my foot down somewhere, and this is it. I wan’t someone who is at least on paper, qualified to do that job.
So we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel here. And the Hut should soon be finished (yeah I can hear every man with a wife and a house laughing all the way from here…finished my a..).
Ok…but we should at least be able to take a day off and take that trip to Buriram and get us some farang style food… so
That’s it!
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Comments
7 Comments so far
Good to see and hear its all coming together for you both! The smell in the bathroom is indeed from the septic tank. Thai’s typically do not use a P-trap which has a u-bend where water stops smells coming back up the pipe. You can buy a simple cover for when the floor is not being washed that effectively plugs the hole to stop smells coming back up.
Ah, The Gods Must be Crazy II. It reminds me I just have to watch that movie again someday :o)
I hope you get the smell thing worked out.
I forgot when was the last time we cooked at home!
Oh we cook something every day. I just wish Nan would stop serving Spagethi or stew for breakfast. But no worries, I’ve lost 5 kilos since I came here, while she has gained 3 since we married. (She has put herself on a strict diet, which means no Icecream for at least a week she woved)
Rune you have to love the travelling sales people here in Thailand. You can get virtually anything you want at your front door.
There is a guy who rides a bike that has a glass case on the back full of Thai sweets and he knows whe he comes near my place and toots his little horn that Noot’s ears prick up and she is scrambling out the door to buy something.
It’s good to hear that all is coming together well for you in the village and the ‘hut’ is coming on well.
Thai people and appointments are so disappointing. I had the same thing getting my shower installed and earthed properly. The guy was called god knows how many times by Noot and myself until he finally arrived 4 or 5 days after the agreed date.
71 channels of complete bliss. Enjoy.
Jason, after having worked in the Balkans, Middle East, Africa and lately in South Asia, I am now blessed with a certain “Mai Bpen Rai” attitude when it comes to appointment times.
And compared to the inhabitants of the above mentioned regions of the planet, the Thais are more anal about being on time than the Swedes.
But I really would like to get that trip to Buriram done. I want Cheeeeeese!