Lahan Si

Lahan Si is close to the village where Na’s parents live with Panda. We stayed at a hotel about 5 kilometers out of the town and about the same distance to the village. We were loaned the family motorbike/scooter for getting around. The days here seemed to stay full with just driving back and forth, buying food and doing laundry. Na also showed me around to a lot of family and friends. We also took a short tour of the rice fields but since it was not the wet season there was no rice planted.

I did go off on my own and visit 2 Khmer temples in the area. I had been to Phanom Rung before but had not visited Prasat Meuang Tam. This is a picture of Prasat Meuang Tam.

It was a Sunday and there were a lot of Thais visiting Phanom Rung. After visiting the temple I sat down at the base of the stairs and one Thai approached me to have a picture taken with me. I said my pleasure after he thanked me and it seems that a few other Thais wanted to have a picture with me. It reminded me of my visit to China when this seemed to happen all the time. I think this was only the second time I have been asked for my picture in Thailand. This is one of the pictures I took of Phanom Rung.

One evening on the way back to the hotel the tire on the motorbike was really low and I decided that it was not a good idea for the 3 of us to keep going. I sent Na and Panda on ahead on the motorbike to see if they could get the tire fixed and started walking. Since Na could no longer carry our dinner while driving the motor bike I was carrying a basket full of food in one hand and a stick in the other. I have learned that Thailand is a very friendly place for foreigners but Thai dogs seem to hate foreigners. The stick was not to play fetch. I skipped on down the dirty road between the rice fields with a stick in one hand and a basket in the other. The Thai ladies out tending to the cattle found me a really funny site. The dogs found me once I got to the village and I proceed skipping along waving my stick and saying “hello” and “I don’t speak Thai” to everyone I meet as I was followed by a group of hungry dogs that either wanted to eat me or the basket full of food. I lost my pack of new found friends just as I got to the main road where I also found Na and Panda coming back to rescue me with a new tube in the tire of the motor bike. I have no idea what the village thought I was doing but think I was the talk of the town that night.