B

Eating lunch in Ban Sang

During June and July we were in and out of Ban Sang, Phayao, and Chiang Rai. We've listed them in order of importance to us, which happens to be from smallest (in population) to largest. Ban Sang is a suburb of Phayao, and, more importantly, where Jhap Bates grew up and has a home with her husband, Dave Bates, who just happens to be Jan's younger brother.

Here you see Jan with Pi Dom Punkeaw, our brother-in-law (he is married to Jhap's sister). We are eating in a small restaurant run from the house of a neighbor. The food is delicious. We were treated to some wonderful food in Ban Sang both in restaurants and in the Punkeaw home. Some favorites from that trip are Ban Mei Kiao, king prawns, and sticky rice with anything. Better still perhaps were the fruits gathered direct from the garden. We ate the most delicious jack fruit and longan (similar to lychee) there. Sadly on this trip the mango trees weren't in fruit.

The Dedication

The Funded Dragon

The photos above are of a temple in a village close to Ban Sang. After Jan's Mam died in March of 2000, Dave and Jhap made a donation to the temple in Mam and Dad's name. The donation paid for the dragon that ornaments the main steps up to the temple and the dedication nearby describes the gift. We took the photos to show the family in Darlington what a lovely memorial it was.

On the day we took this photo we had bicycled to the temple from Ban Sang and got caught in the rain - you can see that the yard is wet. We were not unhappy with the rain, because it did bring the temperature down for a while even though the humidity of course went up!

Pi Dom, Gerry, Jan, Pi Bol

Sadly of course, all good things must come to an end, and so it was with our stay in Ban Sang. The photo shows us with Pi Dom and his wife Pi Bol (pronounced Pi Boon), who is Jhap's older sister. We are on our way from Ban Sang over the mountain to Chiang Mai and have stopped at the top of the pass to look back over Kwan (Lake) Phayao and Ban Sang.  

Pi Dom and Pi Bol and all of Jhap's family were incredible hosts and we remember them with great warmth and affection.