After the hard day of yesterday (hard evening also :)) I go back to Dimitri’s place for a strong Greek coffee.
I take the opportunity of their wireless internet connection to write some lines on the blog. The weather is not as good as yesterday, the sky is mostly covered and the sun is hidden behind. I am so happy I took the decision to arrive last evening and had the chance to take those pictures with the sunset light.
Dimitri is also there and we start speaking about my plans in Thailand. He then organise a few things for me.
As he also has a restaurant in Phuket he gave me a piece of paper with all his contacts, friends, places to go. He organised my few days on the Island and I have a great planning :). He wanted me to change my hotel as a friend of his, also Greek has a great place but unfortunately I cannot cancel my actual booking without any fee.
He then organised my return to Korat that same evening by Taxi( for half the price I paid for my Tuk Tuk). I guess being local helps the negotiations 😉 and a hotel in Korat. He also promised me a great evening as I would be welcomed as a special guest in a place he knew very well. Surprise surprise…
After a few more coffees and more chats, I finally decide to go back to the temple to visit it in day light and maybe discover new things I did not see the day before.
The light and the covered sky offerd another perspective to the site, and a total different atmosphere. It was still a pleasure to walk around it.
After reviewing the temple, I go for a walk in Phimai, visit the market, walk around in the village. As remote as the city can be in the North East of Thailand it is impressive to see how the death of the King also affects all the people of this little village. I can’t count how may people were dressed in black, all shops especially clothing were hanging and presenting only black articles, it was very surprising, and emotional.
It is now time to go back to Dimitri’s as my taxi is waiting. I say goodbye to the entire staff with whom I had a great night, I thank Dimitri again for his hospitality and for the precious information he provided me.
After one hour drive the taxi stops in front of a Hangar in the middle of Nowhere, a kind of industrial area. It does not really look like what I expected as a surprise, but indeed it is a big surprise….
As I pay the taxi driver and pickup my bag from the boot of the car, a Thai woman walks towards me calling me by my name…. ” you must be Tristan, we were expecting you, come follow me I take you to your hotel first.” I follow her for a few hundred meters and we arrive in front of a Motel, American style with all the rooms next to each others. I get into my room with some disappointment compared with the room I had the previous night, and all rooms so far I had. Anyway it is just for one might and it is clean, it is all what I need but I am starting to doubt in the ability of Dimitri to organise something . I tell the gentle woman who took me to the hotel I would come back to the hangar in a little while.
After a shower I walk towards that strange place. As I step in, a man comes to me, “Hi I am David, welcome to my bar.”
The place is a hangar transformed in a bar, in the middle of an industrial area, in the far East of Thailand and it is packed by occidentals, all expats living in the area. I could not believe my eyes.
