R and R - Recovery and Recooperation

The incredible heat that brings the inevitable and prolonged dehydration must be an overriding factor in today's unpleasant case of hangover.

I guess that heavy consumption of alcohol also factors in the equation but I maintain that heat and dehydation were pivotal elements.

My thanks go out though to Yaa and his friends whom I met just yesterday 19th February. For it was through Yaa inviting me to have a drink and go to a Thai bar that I enjoyed the somewhat unfamiliar feeling of a hangover.

I am currently teaching English to a guy named Toto who works at a Charity Organisation called Openmind that I had visited to inquire about work teaching English. There was no work at Openmind; in fact, like with many volunteer projects if I wanted to teach English I would of had to , hmmm, donate I guess, around about four hundred US dollars.

Erm no.

Toto contacted me a few days later though and we have arranged some private tuition to help improve pronunciation, grammar, vocubulary etc.

Teaching aside for now though; we had arranged to go for a meal with some other people that Toto work with. We had Hot Pot which was delicious. A clay pot with broth that sits atop some burning embers to continue boiling away. You then add vegetables, meat etc to the pot. You can use chopsticks to dip strips of beef in and cook just how you like. You then have dipping sauces that are spicy, sweet, sour, and bitter.

It was at the meal that Yaa had invited me for a drink afterwards and so I end up on the back of a motorbike, heading out of town, through the village where I train in Muay Thai (a little), and on to Yaa's friends shop where we drink rum and whiskey.

Six of us then go on to what Yaa had said was a Country Pub. I should perhaps say - what I had misunderstood to be a country pub. The pub itself was back in the main town and happened to have the word country in it's name. Something like 'The River Country' I think.

Despite being next to a main hotel and near to some of the guest house locations, I was the only Farang there. One farang in a sea of Thai. I mean this place was busy. It turned out that a live band was to play. They were pretty good. We got up dancing so I guess they were good, or perhaps the alcohol had reached my limbs and the part of my brain that says ' you need to dance.'

We then headed home though I somehow found some new friends who were celebrating someones birthday at one of the bars closer to my appartment and so my night was not quite ready to end. Some beer and several whiskeys later, I find myself getting to bed when the sun was coming up.

It was a very good night, though one that I doubt will be repeated any time soon. Still I managed to experience a Thai night out, at least by Nong Khai standards, and had a good old time doing so.



My trip so far has had a certain amount of Rest and Relaxation but today was certainly more Recovery and Recooperation.