Loy Krathong in Khon Kaen November 19, 2005
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , trackbackThis is now my 5th Loy Krathong celebration in Thailand. Tik treated us both this year to two nights at the five-star Sofitel Hotel in Khon Kaen. Tik’s wonderful negotiation skills got us upgraded to the deluxe suite which was a great suprise.
We were both pretty tired, Tik was working hard and I’d done a lot of coach travel that week so needed some recuperation time to relax from my relaxing holidays :o). Tik had already checked us in when I arrived at the coach station and we got to our room about 3pm.
Our room-service lunch was impressive, never before had we had the table set for us and arranged as if we were in a restaurant. We’d both eaten a little too much though to warrant us taking Tik’s family out for dinner that night.
Our Loy Krathong celebrations were fun, although there’s a big difference between floating your kratong (boat) along the huge mekong river in Bangkok, and having to converge on one central lake in Khon Kaen. The main lake was full of fairground stalls, food vendors and students. Needless to say it was a busier and perhaps a less romantic experience that it could have been, although being with Tik made the celebrations worthwhile. We ventured to a quieter lake with Nong Mai shortly after, to float our krathongs there.
We were both exhasuted that night so after spending some time with Tik’s family we returned to our suite and relished the opportunity to watch UBC television for the first time in 2 years.
Tik worked the following days so I busied myself with my books, going to the gym, swimming and a long sauna. When Tik returned back we went out to MK Restaurant with the family for a meal which I always enjoy and we returned to our room a little less tired than the night before.
Yesterday evening Tik and I took the coach back to Bangkok. We arrived just after 2am in time to say goodbye to Eli and his girlfriend who returned to Israel at 3:30. Eli beat me to Koh Tao by about 4 days, and had spent time on Koh Phangnan until just before the full-moon party. He stayed at my place with Adi - his girlfriend, whilst Tik and I were in Khon Kaen.
I’ve really enjoyed spending time with Eli. He reminds me very much of how I was when I first arrived in Thailand and I think he really brought back the fearless attitude to travelling solo I had when I first arrived here. It’s sad that I won’t see more of Eli however it’s certain that Tik and I will get to see him in Israel in about 12 months time.
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?