Wat Khao Sukim

A good investment at 90 baht
(£1.80/AUD$3)

Wow!  What a weekend we've had.  Mr John & I invested in a Thai BBQ (it's about the size of a normal bucket) on Saturday and had our friends Juls and Wicus round for tea.  I had made a cheeseball in honour of the occasion which was well received by our visitors and won me wifely brownie points!  It was also good to have a decent chunk of red meat.  Dinner was a bit later than we'd intended as this BBQ cooks very differently going from a furnace to a gentle warmth - but we learnt things for next time.

Having gone for a drink on Friday night at Sangchareon bar (previously referred to on this blog as the Heineken bar) the lovely owner, Kob, invited us to go out with him on Sunday to see a temple nearby. So we met up with him mid-morning and I have to say I had the best day I think I've ever had here.  Wat Khao Sukim is the name of the temple and it's the most incredible place.  Kob, who has a law degree, speaks very good English and was able to provide us with all sorts of information on the Buddhist faith, the treasures that have been donated to the temple and the plans to build an enormous Pagoda.  We would never have got so much out of our visit if it wasn't for him as all the signs are in Thai.




As if seeing the temple wasn't exciting enough, Kob took us to see his friend Tueng who owns a garden - or what we would refer to as a small holding.  It's 40 "rai" and 1 rai is roughly 1600 square metres so 40 rai works out at around 16 acres.  It's full of all sorts of fruit trees and he picked us longan straight off the tree!  Whilst Tueng also has a law degree, he is mad about music and we were treated to a few numbers on his ukulele.  So there we were, sat under the house eating longan, drinking the best espresso (made by Tueng) we've had in Thailand and enjoying live music.  I could have stayed there all day and must admit I tried to get Tueng to adopt me - no joy so far but I'll keep trying!!  We ended a fabulous day with all four of us sharing a traditional Thai meal at what I can only describe as a road-side café - it was delicious.
We can't thank Kob or Tueng enough for their generosity not only of their time and hospitability but of their perseverance in speaking English and not laughing too much at our feeble attempts to speak a little Thai.