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TONY T's 6th THAILAND TRAVELS BLOG
Page 5
PHANOM DONG RAK:
(continued)
SONGKRAN - Day 2
THURSDAY 14th APRIL: TOP RIGHT: Washing the host's feet with fragrant water CENTRE LEFT: Washing the hands wit the water. I this photo it was our son, Jack, doing the business. CENTRE RIGHT: The hosts sprinkling fragrant water on the guests heads. BOTTOM: Gifts given by the hosts. Mainly masses of fruit. The photo shows a rack of bananas hacked from the tree 3 minutes previously.
Back home by 4:30 and evening meal around 7pm... and that was the day. TOP LEFT: Banana leaves left out in the sun to make them more pliable TOP RIGHT AND NEXT 2 PHOTOS: Preparation of steamed meat and vegetable curry. This is called Haw Mok. The mix is placed into banana leaves and wrpped into a parcel. This is then sealed with a sliver of wood. Thai version of a pasty with banana leaf in place of pastry, maybe ?? THIRD LEFT: Somjit grating coconut into fine particles. THIRD RIGHT: James slicing open a freshly felled coconut. FOURTH LEFT: Red tree ants harvested for their eggs; these ants have a very nasty bite FOURTH RIGHT: These are the eggs once the ants have been removed. BOTTOM LEFT: Ants eggs being weighed for sale. Surprisingly popular; not for me though. BOTTOM RIGHT: Another Thai delicacy: locusts and other creepy crawlies. Lots of protein, maybe.....
An air of festivity this morning. Aom's mum was dressed in a traditional Songkran flowery shirt and after a large family breakfast, al fresco as usual
Work around the farm carries on in spite of Songkran. Chet and his mate finally got the new kitchen wall cabinets up.
I am always amused when on my return to the UK, people ask me "where's your suntan?". They've clearly never been to this part of Thailand or even to Thailand at all. It's just too hot to venture out without being fully covered-up and with factor 50. Anyone who does decide on topping their tans here is barking mad IMHO.
All the farm people here go to great lengths to completely cover-up; usually wide brimhats and often a swathe of cloth wrapped around their faces.
Anyway, back to the day’s events.
Yet another hot day at 38°C and that was at 9:30am.
At 2pm it was time to go over to one of Aom’s aunt & uncle’s house; about 5 minutes drive away. This was the venue for the Songkran blessings ritual.
Initial thanksgivings followed by the traditional washing of the host’s feet and hands with fragrant water with flower petals floating in it. We each take a turn to do this.
Next each guest has water sprinkled on their head from a leafy branch dipped in the fragrant water. Food and drink follow and, in this case, no alcohol; this was by choice rather than a tradition.
The movie below features a walk around the farm showing most, but not all, of the estate.
Sunset at the farm.