The Stone on the Fowl. An incestuous piece in which Riverbank Stone
spills the beans on a nocturnal visit:
THE FOWL FLEW OVER THE MIGHTY MEKONG
Or taxied in this direction on a visa limp. You Chiangmai folk use
the term "visa run". Arriving well past my bedtime, columnist
Night Fowl was fed a few beers and it was off to sleep for us all.
A floating fish farm
graces the Mekong at the foot of the Riverbank vegetable plot.
The next day I was reminded why people see us Nong Khaians as laid back
or, as some people have alluded, inert. The energy level of the Fowl far
exceeded just about anything seen in this town for some time. Our sanook,
sabai, attitude seems not to have taken root in the big city!
First order of the day was to arrange the papers for the Thai bred Mrs.Fowl
for their 2 day sojourn in the Land of a Million Elephants. All things
confusing were solved while sitting behind a beer at Nobbi's Restaurant
& Back Room Tour Service. There is now a travel agent at the Mekong
Guesthouse who will take care of your Thai wife's paperwork, your foreigner's
Laos visa, drive you to the Friendship Bridge and get you into Vientiane,
all for a reasonable fee. Mission accomplished, the Fowl tucked into Nobbi's
famous BIG German breakfast. I'll let him mumble about it below.
Later the same day it was off to Ban Pako, about 10k out of Nongers,
where I have my 500 baht-a-month summer home and the garden by the river.
Radishes are in, big and hot, but this year's beetroot crop is not so good.
A few beers after it was back to Nong Khai for a stop at Jose Ramon's
Restaurant & Cantina and a pitcher of Bloody Mary's. Mr. and Mrs.
Fowl were off the morning of the First Day of the Year, locally known as
the day all of Nong Khai is either hung over, asleep or still on the piste.
So over to the Fowl!
JUST LIKE THE REAL THING?
Almost! The Spitfire Mk V111 in RAAF livery (no red to avoid confusion
with the enemy by ground gunners), arguably the best looking piston-engined
plane ever! Framed in dark Thai timber, each piece is numbered and only
1000 pieces will ever be produced. Made by Thai craftsmen with care.
Amazing how 2 people can go through the same experience and see it in
2 completely different ways, huh?
Nong Khai, still clean and quiet, seems to have grown more than a little
since I was there 5 years back. The more-than-hospitable Mr and Mrs Riverbank
could not have given us a warmer welcome, from vectoring us in by handphone
from a distance of 10 kms to comfy accommodation, guarded by the fiercest
looking, yet friendliest, Doberman we've ever met. Suppose when you try
to get through the front gate without an intro from his boss it's a different
story!
No, we were not flying Lao Aviation as Nongers doesn't seem to
have an airport. I was flying a Toyota diesel pick-up rented from Boss
Car Rent which got us from Changers to Nongers in 9 hours, pedal to
the metal apart from d&p stops.
Maybe it was my exhaustion, the sobriety required for driving or just
lack of presence of mind, but the internal roads of this clean, interesting
town seemed more complex than 5 years ago. They have one way streets which
officially become 2 way at certain times, unlike Chiangmai where any pretence
of one way streets at any time is rapidly going to hell in a dangerous
handcart. After a few U-turns and circuits and bumps, we were marshalled
into a pretty pool-side parking place by the Stone himself, and his beer
of preference didn't even hit the sides as it went down and I began to
slowly unwind. For those who like a basic-to-good guest house in a beautiful
riverside setting, the Mekong Guest House has improved about 300%
since I was there years ago, drinking vodka with a pleasant Vietnam Vet
named Connie who just after ended his days, there on the riverbank, as
he fully intended.
Just across the road is indeed German Nobbi's, with rare (to me) delicacies
like Asbach Uralt German brandy at under 600b and vodka at 199b a bottle.
Food was fantastic, thanks, as was the chilli at Jose's.
The sun shines on the
righteous. It also shineth on the Stone - above, with New Year Day picnic
guests.
But riverside relaxation under the trees, watching the Mekong meander
past, was THE memorable treat. It was here, surrounded by friendly villagers,
inspecting the crops and fish farms, crunching radishes fresh from the
soil, yes it was here where real peace briefly touched our hearts. What
WERE we doing, living in cities, working all hours for the privilege of
sitting in traffic jams in our rare free time, I asked myself?
But there was the dash into Laos to plan next morning, the annual visa
rigmarole to test ones nerves, then another 9 hours on the road back to
the big city. Big by Nong Khai standards, that is. A thousand things to
plan and do. The peaceful moment was gone. Maybe for another year!
A natural product which began development in a Bangkok test tube in
1987 is now grown in 15,000 square meters of ponds near Sanpatong and exported
all over the world.
Chinese zoo officials will visit Chiangmai's proposed
site for the expensive air-conditioned quarters being prepared for a mating
pair of giant pandas. (...).
Riverbank
Stone
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