The End

Phimai is a quaint but vibrant little town. We were there in the late afternoon, as they shut down a few side streets near the town square and set up a small market. We wandered through the market for a while until something caught our eyes.

Fresh corn on the cob, and a table for two with front row seats to the after school excercise program that was going on in the town square.


On our way out of town, we tracked down the Say Ngam (or Beautiful Banyan Tree), purpurtedly the largest (35,000 square feet) and oldest (350 years) banyan tree in Thailand. It was declared the oldest and largest banyan tree after the Queen visited in 1920 (or some year around there) and declared it 'beautiful'.

It wasn't on any map we could find, so we pulled over at what looked like it might be some sort of tourist restuarant and asked directions. The lady was very excited to help, especially after she learned I could speak Lao/Thai/Isan. She drew a great map for us to follow, complete with landmarks. Problem was, she drew it on her hand, so we couldn't take it with us. But it was still helpful enough that we found the place without further assistance.

It was sort of neat, in a strange way, an immense root system with paths throughout. Not much else there, except a woman selling fish (likely caught in the nearby reservior). We declined to purchase. Seemed a strange souvenir for us.


After the Beautiful Banyan Tree, we headed to the straight, flat, smooth, wide, wonderful 4-lane highway #2 and turned right for an 80 minute drive to Khon Kaen. Back to the Sofitel without a reservation.

Do you have a room for us? Why yes we do
Do you have a German brewpub in the basement? Why yes we do
Do you mind if I have some wienerschnitzel and a lot of beer? Why no we don't

Bless you Sofitel.

So the trip was a complete success, with one minor, heart-wrenching incident. Monday morning, on the way to Phanom Rung from Surin, making good time.

Like rural Laos, rural Thailand has much to watch out for as you drive; kids, dogs, cows, motorbikes, bicycles, trucks, etc. All of which could be coming down your lane the wrong way, or dart out in front of you. You really have to stay alert. And I was.

Let me put it this way. At least I didn't hit a kid. Or a cow, as we would likely have gotten the worst of that. And, in my defense, it was the dog's fault.

A re-creation of the incident can be found here (except there was no blind guy to my knowledge).

The dog was kind of sauntering down the shoulder on the other side of the road, and for some reason, when we were about 80 feet from him, he decided to haul ass across the road. Oncoming traffic and narrow shoulders precluded any maneuver to try to avoid the dog, so I just slammed on the breaks with both feet, sat up in my seat, and yelled. Too late though, and I hit him pretty square, a sickening sound.

We pulled over and got out. I walked back to ensure the dog was dead, and not suffering, while Katherine (who was, in her defense, freaking out) in Lao started asking a few gathered people if what we had hit was a family cat or a street cat. No, it was not a family cat.

Thankfully, the dog was dead. I would have been surprised to find it otherwise, given the impact. Sadly, the dog was wearing a collar. I looked around for an owner, or for anyone who might know the owner. I had no better luck than Katherine and her cat questions.

Other dogs had gathered around and were kind of acting confused and howling. I assume they were saying something like 'Carl? Carl? Get up Carl. What did you do to Carl, you bastard?' All I could tell them was I was sorry.

Later that day, as we neared Khon Kaen, a huge rainbow appeared out the right side of the car. I'd like to think that the rainbow was Carl the dog sending me a message that he was in doggy heaven, and that everything was alright.

Katherine said that I was being stupid, and that rainbows are a natural phenomena caused by the same principle by which glass prisms cast colored light. Light from the sun enters the raindrop and is refracted and reflected off the back of the raindrop into your eye. Different wavelengths of light refract at different angles. For example, blue light is reflected back at a sharper angle (40 degrees) than red light (42 degrees). A rainbow is created by millions of raindrops, each at a different angle and each reflecting a different color into the eye of the beholder.

Well, Duh.