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The disappearing
temple |
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Many years ago, one of Nongkhai's temples slipped
into the river. Every year a part of it becomes
visible when the river is at its lowest. It's
difficult to judge the scale, but on the left there is more than
ten feet of temple above the water, and behind, you can see that a lot of the
sandy river bed is exposed. The photo
on the right was taken earlier this month from
the same spot outside Oy's restaurant (the same
trees are in the background), the river bed is
covered, and this week even the
flags disappeared. |
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I was
at the same spot again one day as the sun was setting, and
took a series of photos of the sunset. When I looked
at them later, I thought that I had captured
something rather special in this particular one.
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Most comments
on the last episode revolved around this photo. but there
were some who thought that Nigel's reported comment was more
than a little paradoxical. Keen observers noticed a
tumescence visible in Ian's garment and inquired as to the
cause. But the most common question was 'Who took the
photo?' The answer is that there are actually two photos
blended together. If you look very closely at knee level,
you can see the join between Ian and I. So I took the photo
of Ian and Dan, while Dan took the photo of me. And the
secret message? ............ Sorry, but that must remain our
secret! |
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What I have
found strange is that there was not one man in Nongkhai who
would tell me the colour of his favourite Teletubbie. Jon? How
can that be?
I have
included these 'before and after' pictures of Deer for the benefit of Ian and
Dan as she holds a fascination for both of them, and I know
they will be so jealous that she visited me one evening. If
you want to see her in the flesh, she can be found at OJ's. |
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Outback Revamped
and Re-opened |
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In the last
episode I included a picture of the Outback with work in
progress. Here is the finished product on Glen's re-opening
night, before the crowds arrived. Generously Glen laid on an
excellent free spread, all of which was delicious. For once
I was at the front of the queue when the call to eat was
given. |
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Oz Tony surveying
the new format |
Glen & Yai in
matching shirts |
I was hungry |
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Nongkhai Wedding |
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Last month
(June) Chris and Nang married, and had a party in the road
outside Nang's bar. Below left Kim poses with the happy
couple. In the centre picture we were entertained by a
police sergeant still in uniform, while right his
colleagues enjoy their boss's performance. Clearly the Royal
Thai Police are multi-talented. |
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Left A and friends
were just using the river-front road and stopped to say
hello.
Enjoying himself
dancing was Leigh, and enjoying herself singing was Kim's
wife Ou. |
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Sadly Leigh has
had to return to Australia, and may not be back in the Magic
Kingdom until Christmas. This means that I will have to sit
and drink San Miguel with Leigh's wife Tim! |
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Campanology at
The Outback |
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History was
made at the Outback on 07/07/06 when John rang the bell. He
claimed that it was something he had never done before, but
he was quite happy to pose for a photo. I was quite happy to
join him in a beer. Later that same evening, after John had
left, Glen rang the bell, and broke Giulio's record for the
least expensive bell ring. Glen's bell ring worked out at two
beers, one for him, and one for me! |
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Mind you Glen
made up for it the following (opening) day, when he rang the
bell three times, when the bar was full, possibly
setting a new record for the most expensive bell
ring. As we now know, Australia did not win the World Cup.
This was a great disappointment to me, as I was looking
forward to free beer for a month at the Outback.
Nevertheless I shall
keep the contract that Glen signed, as a souvenir. |
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Last episode I
included this picture, and noted that 'she was one of the very
few to escape Dan's attention. I wonder what is her secret?'
I imagine that
most people realised that 'she' is a 'he', but if you hadn't
realised, then you are in good company, as some residents of
Nongkhai have also failed to join the dots. |
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Meanwhile at the
Meeting Place |
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Giulio and Jeff have carried out
the promised redecoration of the Meeting Place, and the
walls are now a soothing terracotta, picture below.
Following my challenge in part32
I was very pleased to see this written on the board. |
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I had to point
the bottles out to the girls, as they didn't know that they
now sold it. To help them I wrote the name down, but
it is impossible to write 'Miguel' in Thai, so we had to
settle for San Mig. If you fancy a bottle, make sure you
ask for San Mig. Also at the M P was (NZ) Nik, just arrived
back from a trip abroad, so naturally he renewed his
relationship with Nikki. Nikki gets around, and it was not a lot
later that I found her with Nik's wife Noi, and Paul's wife Joy. |
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Below left the
new colour accompanied by Tawn and Oo, while next to them is
the old colour and a very slim line Nikki, and yes,
it is the same clock. Below right Nik was complaining that
the 'View from Nongkhai' doesn't have enough stories about
Nongkhai, so I asked him and Giulio to pose for a photo,
this was the result. As you may have guessed I managed to
get the photo of Nik above when he wasn't looking my way. |
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Back in town
is beer thief Dake ( see part22
) pictured below left with lovely partner Wan-na. Dake
confided that they are planning to get married next year.
Clearly they enjoyed Daniel's little joke, while Derrick and Noot
(centre) were a little more thoughtful. I learnt that Derrick is
living at Heiko's biker bar, and runs the place on his
behalf from time to time. Glen has a pair of lovebirds at
the Outback, but I couldn't tell from the expression of this
one whether it appreciated Daniel's first attempt at humour. |
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Tattoo John
and leggy girlfriend (left) were so engrossed in a rather
serious discussion that they missed Daniel's performance,
but I am sure they would have enjoyed it. |
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OK that's
enough for this episode. I have no idea what I will
write about in the next episode, but I hope to have some
more pictures of my grandson, and of course I'll try to find
something that I think might amuse or interest you. |
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Finally, it is
my Mother's birthday next week, so I want to wish her a very
special Happy Birthday. |
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If you want copies of any of the photos, or
want to write to us, but you don't know
our personal email addresses, you can email us at :
mail@nongkhai.co.uk
Best Wishes to
all our readers Tony and Dott
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To view
all previous episodes move your
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