When we last wrote Alex and I were on our way to the market in Surin to purchase some items to make Hor Mok at Pirom-Aree's. We asked Aree if she would be willing to help us make this dish and if we could use her kitchen to do it. After a little hesitation, she agreed. About 10 minutes later we were both struck with remorse. What if we've made a terrible mistake, what if this is a huge imposition and Aree only felt compelled to say yes. Finally, we agree to give Aree another opportunity to change her mind. Instead though, she assures us its ok and we leave the house again with a shopping list in hand.
Our trip to the market is a shit-show. Even though everyone is very patient with us and willing to figure out what we are trying to find and if the amount is right, once we are able to convey what we are trying to make, every single person laughs unabashedly at the thought of two farang attempting to make Hor Mok. After a few hours we've managed to collect the items we need, including a live fish the seller dresses for us on the spot. We also buy two orchids to offer to Aree and her kitchen for good luck hor mok making.
The three of us are all giggly as we bumble around Aree's kitchen, her guiding us through every step. She admitted earlier that she, herself, has only attempted to make this dish once or twice and not very successfully. And very soon into the process it is apparent that our coconut milk is too watery and does not thicken the way we imagined it would. Nonetheless we are having a great time. Finally, after Aree proclaims its time to put our little banana leaf concoctions into the steamer. The moment of truth is upon us. Although it doesn't quite look like the dish we had in Cambodia, to our surprise it tastes delightful! Aree is very happy at the success too.
Our stay in Surin has been a great experience. We are overwhelmed by the hospitality that we've received here and how much we've learned about the people & culture of Isaan. After such a fulfilling experience we're not quite sure where to go next. We feel like we've seen most of the things we set out to see and to be quite frank, we don't feel like visiting any more temples. Finally, we decide that Khao Yai National Park is our next destination.
We take a train from Surin to a small town 14km before the park entrance called Pak Chong. Unfortunately, our Lonely Planet is very brief in its description of the park and Pak Chong. But after a bit of stumbling around town and the help of some very nice English speaking locals we check into a guesthouse and plan to depart for the park in the morning.
We leave one bag at the guest house since we are pretty sure it’s possible to rent camping gear in the park and stay there for the night. After breakfast we walk to the public 'bus' that will take us to the entrance of the park. From there, it’s still another 11k to get to the visitor's center and a bit further to any trails or campsites. If you don’t have a car of your own, the common practice in the park is to hitch-hike wherever you need to go. The park is huge. It doesn't take long to get a lift in the back of a pickup to the visitor's center and some walking and another lift to the campsite where we rent a tent, an extra blanket and a stove. I'm not sure why we got the idea that a 'stove' would mean a fueled camping stove. In fact, its one of the ceramic charcoal stoves that we see street vendors using to grill meat skewers. After getting settled in we head off on a no-guide-necessary hike to two waterfalls. On the way we encounter a giant Iguana white Gibbon who announces his presence by attempting to pee on us from above, and Alex nearly steps on a meter and a half long snake. We reach the second waterfall, have lunch and take the road back to our campsite.
After a shower we attempt to use our stove to make our instant soup with noodles. After 10 minutes of failure Ashley is sent on a delegation to see how the neighboring Thais are managing to use their stoves and returns with an invitation to join them for dinner. In the mean time another delegation of Thais from the other campsite had come to the rescue and our stove was ablaze. We brought our offering of instant noodles and sat down with our newly made friends. They are a group of students from a multi-media school in Nakhon Ratchasima. Only one of them speaks English (a little). Regardless, we have a great time sharing their feast and communicating through food and body language. Our noodles are a meager addition to the delicious spread they have prepared, but they eat them anyway :)
At the end of the meal we are invited to wake up at 5:00am the next morning to see the sun rise with them. We don't really understand what we've signed up for, but we've had such a great time with them we figure it will probably be fun.
To be continued...
