Our Arrival in Khemmarat

Finally, on Monday, November 5, we got up early to meet Mr. Phong for a taxi ride to Chiang Mai Airport and a 7:20 flight to Ubon Ratchathani.  We had three big suitcases (hey, we're in Thailand for a year) plus carry-on and, although we had sent a box of books ahead and we had paid extra for the maximum checked baggage allowance, we were still 12 kilos overweight.  Mary had brought a good-size cloth bag so we set to work moving stuff out of one suitcase into the cloth bag, which we carried on.  Finally we were permitted to check in.  The flight arrived early and the bags came through with no problem.  Lauthong was waiting with a big van to drive us to Khemmarat.  We got to Khemmarat around 10:30 and drove to the apartment building that our teacher-coordinator Wachinee had arranged for us.  Wachinee left school to meet us to help us through the logistics of renting an apartment.  These are some of the pictures that Wachinee had sent us in advance.

 

Mary had studied the pictures and decided that we were likely to need two of these efficiency apartments if we were going to have a place to sleep and a place to work.  So we asked about that and they did have a second apartment available two doors from the one they were offering -- both on the second floor.  The rent was very reasonable (about $100/month), so we rented both and asked them to take the bed out of the second unit.  We went to lunch in "downtown" Khemmarat with Wachinee and then wandered around town.  We found a furniture warehouse with a dining room table and 6 chairs so we bought that and asked them to deliver it to the second apartment.  We also found some other stores where we could get supplies and food, and the market where we bought apples and bananas.  We spent the next day cleaning and buying the basics for living here.  Here is Mary showing off dishes and silverware in the"bedroom" apartment that first afternoon and some external views:

 



The picture below is the view from the balcony in front of our apartments.  The pavilion-like building in the field is a restaurant.  The cook there (the only employee as far as we have been able to determine) is a very nice guy.  We go there often and discuss what he has available and he'll  put together a meal we're sure to like.


On our first full day, we did a bit of exploring.  Near the Mekong River and close to downtown, we discovered a temple and a very impressive statue of the Buddha.

 

 

Then we walked to the river.  It reminds us of the Mississippi, along which Mary grew up in Iowa.  It's wide and muddy and appears to be swift-flowing.  We watched folks crossing from Laos on the other side of the river, to Thailand, apparently to buy food and supplies. 

 

 

There are some peaceful views from our apartment building:

 

Across the street is a rice field and this is rice-harvest time.

 

 

We have TV here but all the channels are in Thai and we think it will be quite awhile before we will be able understand them, so we asked to have the TVs removed to free up the space.  We also have WiFi although it is not totally reliable.  It was working on Election Night (actually, we are 12 hours ahead of EST here in Thailand, so polls started closing in the US at 7 am Thai time on Wednesday).  We didn't go to school that day and George was able to watch the election returns straight through without falling asleep -- a first!

 

The weather is warm (or hot) most of the year in Thailand, especially in the northeast section called Isaan, where we are.  Most homes and buildings are pretty integrated with the out-of-doors.  Many residents in this apartment building keep their doors open during the day and have a fan going to keep them fairly cool.  Here is a picture George took this morning from our "office" apartment of the dining room table we bought and the beautiful view outside.

 

 

All in all, life is good in Khemmarat, especially over the past few days since "winter" weather (temps topping out in the 80s to mid-90s) seems to be arriving.