Travelogues by Bill Pfeil
Coconut Farm
October, '04
Now at our coconut farm on Gulf of Thailand. My girlfriend's grandmother Ampai thinks she is 76 or 77, and was told she was born in the fall. So we made her birthday same as mine in October. Any excuse for get-togethers here - - 20 family came to our birthday including nieces I've never seen before and Ampai's younger sister with same glowing eyes and proud of her remaining 2 teeth, however red from beetle nut.
Immersed in improving understanding their lickety-split sing-songy Thai. Laughing is their pastime. Some Thais (like attractive cousin Mat and boyfriend Koi) have not a particle of anger in them, a quality I am trying to cultivate. In the background is that sweet wailing music from their CD collections. Some song stylists try to hit as many transition notes as possible, a bit like yodeling. Really a foreign culture. Could be on another planet, and I love it. Many-day hot discussions with Mee whether we should go to Phuket, a mini-Bangkok place of interaction between available ladies of every description, and farang men looking for a 1 night stand, or for a fling for a spell, or for a lifetime partner. I'd like to explore there, but Mee argues that I focus on her in Bang Saphan Noi and Bangkok, avoiding Phuket and temptations. At some point a guy must acquiesce to the wishes of a satisfying partner. No feelings of defeat to agree to no Phuket, this trip.
A bumper crop of longong (like lychee but has sections) now for 10 baht per kilogram (10 cents per pound). Lucky for me rural roads have many motorcycle repair shops (in lean-to’s beside homes) to patch flat tires for 20 baht (44 cents). Saw the giantest snake alongside road, 3 people long and big as your leg! But most you see winding across roads are 1 person long and big as wrist, or babies much smaller. Our favorite cat who liked to sleep with us was bitten by a snake and died.
Like being the only farang at the swap meets, crowded for a rural area, selling mostly food - - I stay away from that unrecognizable, especially if still moving. Any visitor I must of course show our farmhouse, and take on scenic motorcycle rides to great bungalow villages south to Banburd and north to Bankrud. And my favorite restaurants on the sand.
Bill's Farm, Box 317, Kaunakakai, Hawaii 96748
Phone: 808-567-6734
Email: BillPfeil@yahoo.com
|