The pictures are here:
http://drake.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16376&l=f9445&id=512610984
Annie was the photo documenter for the trip and her pictures are here:
http://princeton.facebook.
http://princeton.facebook.
http://princeton.facebook.
So we got a bus to Ubon on Saturday morning after having some language issues and finally figuring out that a bus is never full, we got on a bus to Ubon but the seats were harder to come by. Annie somehow got a seat right away while Aaron and I leaned against chairs for 30 minutes. All of a sudden a woman and her son moved over and motioned for me to sit with them. Wow! That's the kind of thing most people wouldn't even think to do. Maybe because most people can't actually share two bus seats with three people but that's never a question with the small Thais. Aaron had to stand for most of the way...being a man is sometimes tougher as people expect everyone to accommodate women, not men. This is true for Thais and not just us farang. We made it alive and actually met another woman who spoke English. She is from Korea and is teaching Korean at a nearby University. She spoke Thai pretty well too so she was a lifesaver at times!
We were staying with Annie's landlady's (Busha) friend. Busha is from Ubon but ended up not coming with us. Her friend, Addy, still hosted the three of us. I have never been hosted so well by someone I didn't know. She and her friend (I would say boyfriend) drove us all over town to see the different places they were still preparing for the festival. Then they drove us to this wat and eventually to the Khong River (known incorrectly as the Mekong River which actually means Kong river river) that separates Thailand and Lao. So I have now seen Lao! It was beautiful to be out in the countryside. The King had even stayed at this lodge near the river that we saw. Very special. I unfortunately overheard that all the tree stumps in the water was not from a natural disaster. Addy was telling Annie (and Annie was trying to make sure I didn't overhear!) that the Ubon province cut down 20 MILLION trees so they could make furniture and make more money for the province. The very negative impacts of development. Addy's English was just ok so my only hope is that she mixed up her numbers!
Addy and her friend were leaving for a financial conference the next day but they still allowed us to stay at their house with her 15 year old daughter. We were so grateful for their kindness...it's hard to know how to express that especially with a language barrier. I said many times how good this was, how happy I was, etc. In English, we have so many different ways to say we are enjoying something but it's very hard for non-native speakers to learn all the different ways. So I end up feeling like I am repeating myself because I am only saying good instead of saying special, fantastic, great, interesting, etc. Annie's Thai really helped us get across our gratitude.
The next day was the start of the Candle Festival. It was amazing to walk around and look at all the intricately designed sculptures and floats. There was an International Artist's competition of wax sculptures, a high school competition and then the enormous floats themselves. Our pictures don't really do it justice. It is amazing to work with wax and not something I have seen many artists do. I have no concept of how long it would take to design and produce all of the pieces. I was amazed by the final products. I didn't think it would be as amazing at it ended up being. Wow!
Many of the students in Ubon had an assignment to talk with English speakers so we were constantly being stopped and asked questions. The typical questions:
What is your name?
Where are you from?
First time in Ubon?
Do you like the festival?
Can we take photo with you?
Some of the students had pretty good English and others just laughed, shoved us a piece of paper and pen and had us write our answers. I am totally the Julia Roberts of Thailand. I think all the attention will totally go to my head. I'm already thinking I should dress trendier, get a new haircut, get some fake nails and start wearing make up. I'll send you pictures. But then you should send me home.
We saw everything having to do with the festival. We eventually met up with the Korean woman we met on the bus, Sooh. While we were walking and looking at the floats for the parade that would take place the next day, some Thai women came up to us and invited us to a dinner. We were skeptical but finally followed them just to see what exactly was happening. The women (who are college aged and spoke English) grab our hands or link arms, but not with Aaron as it's only something you can do with the same sex, and take us to this tent with a buffet of food. It was delicious and absolutely free. We even got free rice to take home! This was the first meal that there wasn't vegetarian so I just picked out the big chicken pieces...I couldn't taste it and I'm not sure if it's because I don't remember what chicken tastes like or because I didn't eat any. Either is fine.
I'm going to make a small reference to the 2 hours after dinner when we were trying to find a specific bar to meet some people at except we were lost and never made it. I think we walked most of Ubon and somehow we could not find it. The next day Sooh texted me to say she walked by it! Sometimes maps aren't even helpful.
The next morning was the actual parade of the huge wax carved floats. It was a similar kind of parade that I saw in the small village when I first came here. Each town had it's float and it's dancers and band. Definitely on a different scale than in the village! It was incredibly hot and I sported the umbrella over my body for shade. When you are here you will totally understand why people do that. The parade was at least 4 hours long! We stayed for 2 hours I think, then went to get lunch, it was still going on and we left the area. It was really just the floats we had gotten a close look at the day before but now they were moving and had music! Not really worth the heat and the crowds. At one point Annie turned to me as we were walking and said "this is how people die in crowds". So true Annie. The close quarters makes it even hotter, people not really pushing (except one woman who flat out was straight arming some people, as Annie found out!) so you are not really moving. Then all of a sudden you are through. Yuck!
By that time we had had enough of the festival, heat and the hordes of people. We had seen everything we wanted to see so we set back to Addy's house. I got that exciting feeling when I noticed we were back in Khon Kaen. It really does feel like home. Good to travel away from but it feels so comforting to be back here.
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