(Daniel) Nii had spoken to her family on the phone.  Her parents, traditional farming folk from Issan, the eastern province of Thailand, had told her to come home and bring me to meet them.  They couldn’t understand the idea or purpose of driving around the world, nor could they fathom Nii’s involvement.  This was pretty much the extent of what I knew about Nii’s family, but I was curious to meet them, their having abandoned the idea of their children working on the farm, sending them each to university, where they all succeeded in obtaining degree qualifications.

Chaiya Phum, the area in Issan, where Nii Parents lived is deeply traditional farming land,  the occupants nearly all devout Buddhists.  We headed for their house, stopping overnight in a small town along the way.  The next day, we arrived in Kon Khean.  The town market was in ful swing, set out in the grounds of the colourful temple.  We parked up outside, where Nii and I walked into the market place, all sorts of people approached Nii, smiling and asking how she was.  Many of them remarked on how dark her skin was, a sure sign of hard living.  Then I spotted Nii’s Mum, a strikingly similar face, alive with all the energy of a young person, but having obviously worked hard all of her life to succeed.

Issan, is a totally different dialect to Thai, I struggled to understand most people, but Nii’s Mum spoke with such a strong accent, that I couldn’t understand a word.  Even though we smiled and laughed with each other.  She tried hard to hide a broken tooth, which had apparently come off that morning!

We left Niis mother there, and drove to her house.  Two magnificent Bulls were tethered outside the simple house, their temperament was almost like a dog, and I took photos of them amazed at their beauty.  These animals were investments by nii’s Parents, breeding bulls, that cost 1-2000baht per time.  Later, Nii’s Father and Brother returned from the farm.  They were extremely friendly, but again our language barrier proved a sticking point.  After a wonderful spicy dinner of Laab and sticky rice, I brought the bottle of Johnny Walker Gold Label from the trailer, and drank it with Nii’s Father.  He wasn’t much of a whisky drinker, but appreciated the drinks fine quality.  He insisted that I call him Father (Por) at all times.  I was amazed to find out that the strong looking man was actually 60 years old.  He looked as if he could run a marathon, or work in the fields for weeks on end.

The next day, after an interesting nights sleep in Nii’s village.  I was instructed to dress in my smartest clothes.  Nii’s Mother, who I was now to call Mum (Mer) at all times, had arranged with the head Abbot that I was to visit the temple with todays sermon, and be blessed, he would then meet Nii and I to discuss the trip before giving us advice, and eventually blessing the Wolf personally.  I was given an offering tray, with an envelope of money, candles and other items for the monks to use.  Then I let Nii and her Mum into the Wolf, before driving to the temple and parking outside.

The sermon had already started.  I was ushered in and instructed to sit cross legged or kneel. The ceremony wnet on for over an hour, during which time, various members of the community got up to speak, and repetitive chants were taken up by the whole room, including me.  The ceremony ended with the giving of food to the monks, this food however passed to the most senior monks, who ate a small amount before taking another tray and eating a small amount of that one,  The Karma idea coming into effect again.  The closer to enlightenment the person you help, the more karma you build up!

Afterwards we moved the truck infront of the temple doors as the Abbot spoke to some of the villagers who had waited behind.  Nii’s Mother explained that the Abbot had been a Monk since he was 14.  He was the most respected and senior member of the community.   A novice monk came to open the door for us, beckoning to us to enter the hall.  Inside the Abbot was standing, I had to bow down to avoid my head being higher than the Buddha, and crept into the room to kneel infront of where he now sat.  After speaking to the three of us about himself, (apparently he is 72 years old!)  The old Monk was interested first in Nii, asking about her life since leaving the village to study at University.  He seemed genuinely interested as Nii explained the Expedition that she had joined, then he addressed questions to me directly.  I managed to answer the first few myself, but soon lost the thread of his Issan dialect.  Nii explained that he was talking about Muslims and Christians.  I had recently read a book called “Karma a guide for Travelers”.  The book had been in my room in Chiang Mai, and had proven a wonderful read, easy to understand, and highlighting to me the wonderful sense in Buddhism as a religion and a practice.

I tried to explain through Nii my feeling’s, hoping for some words of wisdom.  His answer was about Muslims again, a reference I am sure to the violence breaking out in the Yala and Pattani districts of the South of Thailand.  I told him through Nii of my travels through Iran and Pakistan, explaining what wonderful people they were, and how they had welcomed me more than any other country.  I was surprised to have heard the Abbot talk of other religions, when tolerance was such a major part of Buddhism, but could see that perhaps the Monk had mentioned the issue because he had known of my involvement having driven here in the first place.

The Abbot, light on his bare feet, got up and stepped towards Nii and I.  We bowed our heads as he blessed us both using a special brush and water.  The Monk Led us outside, I opened the doors.  With some effort he was able to climb into the vehicle, where he blessed both sides, leaving special relics and drawing Buddhist blessings on the roof and steering wheel.  The Whole vehicle was blessed, he went around the wheels. Turned it on and off, blessed the trailer and the three of us again.  Having tied string around our wrists during the blessing, he ended by tying similar strings around the mirrors.  I smiled as he moved the green material aside to tie the passenger side.  This material was placed there by my friends in Iran to symbolize the power of the Generation of the Imams, at least I was hedging my bets!

I was so pleased to have got the powerful and symbolic blessing from the Abbot, I felt completely indebted to Nii’s Family.  I realised that this had been one of the main things that I had wanted to do in South East Asia, and here I had stumbled into the situation, encountering what must surely be the best possible outcome!

The next few days were spent fulfilling my debt to Nii’s Mother and Father, I worked on the farm, preparing the fields by hand in the extreme heat.  Nii’s Father insisted that I should have been a farmer, my experience as a gardener making me look more impressive than I really was.  Later I fixed their car, which had broken down from a lack of water in the battery.  The Next day I went with Nii’s Brother to take their beautiful White Longeared Bull for breeding.  The Bull was called Darlie, after the toothpaste, and was famed for his bad temper. The other bulls were called Red Boat and Blackie.  We sat around under the shade of the farmers house waiting for Darlie to do his business,  a small bord in a cage was talking away asking over and over if I could speak Issan.  After a while I thought that Darlie wouldn’t be interested in the small cow, but suddenly he jumped up and did the business in a few seconds.  That was enough, the money was handed over, and Darlie was loaded back into the pick-up for transport home.

The next day, I worked for a while on the farm, and fitted an airhorn form the local parts shop.  I plumbed the horn into my ARB 24V tyre inflator compressor tank, wiring a switch up in the dash.  The effect was quite amazing, the airhorn taking a few seconds to prime with air, but then releasing a deafening tone at the slightest touch of the button.  I named the air horn Big Boy, making a label for it on the dash.  In the evening, the rest of Nii’s family came around for a dinner. I ate a huge amount of food, showing how delicious it was, and won the hearts of everyone there with my efforts at the farm.

We left early the next day, Nii’s mother holding back tears as I drove off towards Bangkok.  

PREVIOUS |  NEXT