This past week, in between leading young minds through the intricacies of irregular past tense verbage and the correct pronunciation of "I feel furious!" (fwoo - lee - us! ...mostly for my own amusement), my hours were spent hiking trails in the mountains of Nan, eating at the abode of ancient Nan nobility, and playing late night riverside soccer.
Pretty typical as of late: If there's one thing distinguishing this year in Nan from last, it's a jam-packed social schedule. Nan somehow went from being a sleepy river town that lent an abundance of peaceful idle hours, to a sleepy river town in which we seem to constantly have people to see and places to be. My roommates asked if last year's fellows and I were lying in reporting to PiA that Nan is all about lazy afternoons spent scribing letters and catching up on light reading - or in Emily's case, Moby Dick. In just over a month of being back, I've landed in places as far between as a Chiang Mai nightclub called "Spicy" (not proud of it), and a national park on the outskirts of Nan city. In forty days, I don't think we've eaten at the same noodle stand twice (with the exception of Soup Lady and Ricky's, of course), and yet there are still more places popping up that I want to try. And while I still spend plenty of time with old familiar friends, I've added a wealth of new Thai buddies to hang out with on the reg.
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| THESE guys. |
The best of these buddies are Benz and Bas - two skinny-jean wearing, emo-screamo-music-loving local Thai guys our age. Along with Will, another American teacher who lives near our soi, and the occasional add-on emo Thai, they are the first people we call on to eat late night noodles or attempt a karaoke night. Bas is a student at the university, and Benz has a day job at the Provincial Office - but skateboarding is both of their true passion. They practice for hours every evening by the riverside, where we'll often go hang out and play pick-up soccer afterwards. (You know I really enjoy someone's company if I'm willing to play organized sports in front of them).
Benz and Bas both speak passable English, but are always wanting to learn how to be more American. We farang teach them some important phrases - "Last night, I had beer goggles" - and traditional card games like Bullshit. We give pointers for some sayings (every English learner should know that people don't look "orderly" and it's weird to ask someone regularly if they've showered), and in return, Benz and Bas teach Will how to pick-up girls in Thai and translate phrases like "Easy, tiger" for us (Jai yen yen, na!). Some Benz and Bas-isms, however, we let be; Will once pointed out to Benz that he was sweating profusely while eating his guay tiao (noodle soup)... Benz replied, matter of factly, "Yeah - it's because I'm a sportsman."
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| Really hideous. |
Last Friday, the seven of us took motorbikes out for an impromptu camping trip to Mae Charim National Park - about an hour outside of the city district. We borrowed tents and sleeping bags from a friend, packed our backpacks, and set off just as the sun was preparing to set - and as rain clouds gathered ominously overhead.
The drive, like all drives out of Nan, was as stunning as it was winding. We passed lolling stretches of rice paddies, vibrant green hillside, and dawdling cattle walking the roadside along the way. About 40 minutes into the drive, when we reached the town of Mae Charim, we had to succumb to the rainy season; as the pitter-patter turned into an all-out downpour, and the sunset turned to black night, we chowed down on pad krapow at a roadside stand. We contemplated turning back, but since we were only 20 minutes outside of the park entrance, we pressed on as soon as the rain died down. At the park, the staff recommended we not pitch tents along the riverside campgrounds - something about possible flash flooding overnight, psssshh - so we were forced to forego our romantic ideas of campfire stories and sleeping under the stars and to squeeze into an 80-square-foot cabin for seven people. I tried to Mai bpen rai (no problem!) the situation, but Bas just looked at me and said, "You sure? Sure mai bpen rai?"
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| Group shot mandatory! |
The sleeping arrangement (four in the bed, one on a ledge, one on the floor, and one sitting up) was less than comfortable, but we did wake up to stunning views of the park. After showering in shifts, we set out for a two kilometer hike up into the mountains and back down to the river bridge. The scenery, gorgeous in every direction, swept right away the soreness in my back and my aching Chang-over.
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Another new friend we've made in town is Jimmy, a 22-year-old Thai who works managing an up and coming resort in Nan. He studied in America for a while (he has an aunt who lives in New York), and speaks great English. Yesterday, Jimmy picked us up at the apartment in his truck, shoving our bicycles into the bed so we could take a ride later. He took us to see the resort - still under construction, but small and set to open in a few months for the high tourist season. It's not far out of the city center, and set in a gorgeous landscape of orchards and lush green fields. When finished, it will have a couple of bungalow-style rooms, a restaurant, and a swimming pool.
We spent a few hours walking around the orchard, eating lum yai fruit right off the trees, and helping Jimmy plant bushes along the front walkway. We met Jimmy's father, who told us in a strange British-Thai accent that he studied many years in England (at London University) and then at various places in California (including UC San Diego), then worked as a computer programmer and "played the stock market." He is older - perhaps in his late sixties - and obviously very well-educated. Jimmy said he retired when he returned to Nan, and bought the resort land for Jimmy to develop into his own business venture.
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| House of Nobles. Nbd. |
We rode our bikes from the resort to Jimmy's family home - which also happens to be a house of Lanna (northern Thai) nobles, and a famous museum in Nan. The house is over 200 years old, and features almost entirely the original teak wood structure - each plank cut out by axe, instead of a saw. It's kept in pristine condition, with photographs and old antiques featured in most rooms; it's free for tourists to visit, and Jimmy says that even now in the low season, people stop by at least 3 times a day. (I went once last year with Aj. Prakop, and remember Jimmy giving us our tour).
After visiting a temple nearby, where high school students were rehearsing dances and building floats for the upcoming Buddhist Lent holiday, we went to the market to buy fish, eggs, and curry for dinner. We brought it back to the house, where Jimmy set up wicker-basket tables on the floor, and brought over steaming mounds of khao nio (sticky rice). I don't know Jimmy so well yet, but as I sopped up the last drop of delicious curry with a fistful of sticky rice and looked around at his insanely cool house, I got the feeling we're going to keep him around.
Tomorrow, Katie, Liza, Steph and I will head to Ayuthayya and the island of Ko Si Chang for the long holiday weekend. It promises to be exhausting - but I won't ever complain. The year is just getting started.
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