The trip from Siem Reap to Surin was as exciting as advertised. Our shared taxi comprised ourselves, our bags, a giant bag of sand or something, 5 other people including the driver and more items in the trunk of a 95 Toyota Camry. The first two and a half hours were cramped and uneventful as we swished by cows, bikers, villagers, school children and "Japanese Water Buffalo"* at 80mph. Just after our turn at Anlong Veng the paved road ended and the last hour and a half and a half we navigated through a barrage of divots, craters, "construction sites" sand ditches and equipment. We made it to the border crossing at O'smach. Crossing was no problem and it was only a 2 hour mini-van ride to Surin.
*(the Japanese Water Buffalo is a local version of a tractor with the front drive mounted on a long pole)
We decided to do as Lonely Planet suggested and made our way to the Pirom-Aree House guesthouse. This seems to be the best decision we've made all trip. It turns out that Pirom-Aree House is the home of Pirom and his wife Aree. Pirom has spent 33 years as a social worker for the Thai government. 14 years ago he built his house here in Surin and 4 years ago, after retiring, opened the doors to his home for tourists and began running his very special Pirom Tours. We arrived late in the afternoon and rang the doorbell at the gate. Aree welcomes us and tells us there are rooms available. Actually, they hadn't had any guests in three days (its the beginning of the low season and the end of winter). There home, tucked away among rice fields 1km outside of town is a small paradise. They have a large courtyard and peaceful shaded garden, several lily ponds many little nooks to sit and read or have a drink and three sweet beautiful cats. Pirom's is fluent in English and Aree's English is much better than most. We check out Pirom's VERY ORGANIZED information center detailing his tours and different aspects of the neighboring villages. We wished there were more guests at the house whom we might be able to convince taking one of the tours with. We can tell from Pirom's guest book and his literature that his tours are very very special, but they are also very pricey. For two people only, it’s out of the question. But if we had 4-6 people the price would be a bit more do-able.
Low and behold, 20 minutes later 3 Frenchmen our age show up, also backpacking through Thailand and heading to Cambodia. That evening Pirom and we agree to take one of his tours the following day including two temple visits, several village visits to see silk production, basket weaving and the well-known Elephant Village.
We depart at 8:30am and immediately the Pirom's wealth of knowledge about Thai culture and history comes pouring forth. We learn more in the 15 minute drive to the first village that we've learned more about the Thai and Khmer people than we have during our entire trip. We're a bit templed-out after Siem Reap, but still we learn a lot more seeing just these two temples and retrospectively, we're able to make more sense of what we saw in Siem Reap. Next, is the basket weaving village. Pirom, in his three days of work with the poor people of these small Thai villages he has a special way of connecting with these people and everywhere we stop our group of "farang" (westerners) is warmly welcomed. Pirom tells us the story of how one man, the village’s only ex-convict, teaches the entire village the trade of basket weaving, sparing the village from severe poverty during the dry season.
At 1:30 we break for lunch...a picnic on a dry rice paddy overlooking the countryside. Our French comrades, Matthew, Julian and Benjamin are lots of fun and very polite. Our lunch, prepared by Aree includes some very traditional foods eaten in this part of the country (Isaan). Its delicious.
Next, the silk weaving village. We are very fortunate to be able to see all of the different stages that it takes to create a piece of silk throughout our tour of the village. (see pictures for details) It is very impressive. Our second to last stop is Elephant Village, a traditional Mahout (elephant trainer/capturer) village. Every family has an elephant here, many have more than one. Pirom is prepared with bunches of bananas for us to give to any elephants we may see. First we stop in back of a family's house where a baby elephant is hanging out among a handful of chickens. As we approach the fence he starts to do a little dance, swinging his trunk around in a circle and lifting his back, left leg and swinging that back and forth...the banana dance! We take turns tossing bananas he picks up on and munches until he starts to dance again. We rumble down the road a little further until we meet a Mahout atop of a full grown elephant returning from the "Elephant Research Center" (a carrel where the elephants give shows twice a day). The Mahout agrees to take us to the village reservoir to give him bath so we can take pictures. When we get there, Pirom asks if anyone wants a ride. Ashley, a bit too excited and caught up in the moment accepts the invitation (an extra 300B for the two of us). Even though it was a neat experience, the possibility of falling three meters to the ground was a little too immediate to actually enjoy it (seeing as we were riding barebacked, around the elephant’s neck). We get to thank him with some bananas and a little pet on his head. We then pay the elephant 300 Baht, yes the elephant, who gives the money to his Mahout for safe keeping.
Last stop is a snack on the banks of a river junction for sunset. Then we pile back into "Buddy" our trusty tour van and head back to the guesthouse. It was a wonderful day.
Today, we stay one more day in Surin. Now, we are headed to the market. Aree has agreed to let us use her kitchen and under her supervision, attempt to make "Ho Mok", or "Amok" the Khmer version. Hopefully it turns out well!
