A near-kiss in Khorat

The last leg of the trip led me from Savannakhet, the big disappointment of this trip, over the Friendship Bridge 2 to Mukdahan and then all the way through Isan to Khorat (= Nakhon Rachasima), the Khmer ruins of Phimai and back all the way to Bangkok.

I was sure that this would be the most relaxing part of the trip since we'd be back in Thailand and since the sights would be few and rare, and the muscles and brains sore and tired. I could not have erred more.

The trip from Savannakhet across the border and to Khorat couldnt have been smoother. The border crossing was quick and surprisingly efficient - and the connection on to Khorat - a luxurious first class bus - waited for us already. The drive through Isan was boring - it was all flat, dry farmland and I could hardly see anything due to the dozens of stickers on the bus-window.

Having arrived in Khorat, we took a tuk-tuk to our hotel - 60 baht without bargaining for the not-so-short trip - I liked this town instantly! Arrived at the hotel, the owners welcomed us warmly - and were impressed with my educational credentials...

Of course, most people nearly have a heart attack when they discovered that a) the farang man and woman are NOT a couple and that b) the farang speaks Thai. I can understand their shock though.

My friend was hungry like a starving lioness, so we had settled for the first "restaurant", friend rice with water for 38 baht, including an extremely nice cook and an old lady with breast cancer who talked to us in English. She said she only had 3 months to live and it was very sad to see her brittle appearance.

Then we walked past a few bars (more later) into the "town centre". Khorat has a huge town centre but there is no obvious centre of the centre. It just has about 8x8 blocks of shop-houses and some surprisingly fashionable cafes. I liked the athmosphere - there were absolutely no tourists and the people were so friendly!

Later we went to the night bazaar, where I bought little cards to learn how to say "mango" or "pineapple" or "doctor" in Thai - cute! On the way back, I suggested we have a drink. We walked past a pub, Bule Saloon (it's not a spelling mistake!) and a handsome young man smiled at us (me) and waied. After 2 further bars, I urged my friend to go back there - much to the delight of the young man.

The following 3 hours, I will never forget. It was simply a firework of looks, smiles, talks, approaches, which all nearly ended in a big bang. The man in question is a guy from Khorat, maybe 180cm tall, quite skinny but very sporty - manly look, half-beard, short-hair with the top-part styled like a rooster, roundish face and very alert eyes. I instantly liked him - not just for his looks but also for his upbeat attitude!

Mister Waiter kept lurking around our table and I stroke up a conversation, him obvsiouly surprised at my command of Thai. I dropped the word "puan" (friend) as many times as I could so he would understand that my female French friend is only a friend! Whenever I drank some of my LEO beer, he would come and serve me with a huge smile and whenever my friend went to the toilet, he would come and stand next to me to talk, only to retreat when she was back.

Later, the place got busier and mister waiter gave me less attention. That did not change even when my friend went back to the hotel. I was now alone at the table with a full big bottle of LEO - and quickly getting drunk. (I hardly ate that day) Slowly I finished my beer and mister waiter urged me to drink more. I said: "drinking alone is no fun" and he smilingly said: "well then you should drink with someone!". I replied: "but I cant find anyone". Was that a hint?

Then, he got more and more busy and I went to the toilet one last time, before leaving. When I walked past a Thai table, I heard them utter the words "na ruk" (cute) to the waiter (probably meaning me) - I walked past him as he faced away from me.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, he ran after me! Then, he took my hand with both of his hands and bent down a bit and held his face close to mine, waiting for a kiss. I had no idea what to do and stumbled: "you are so handsome". He said: "can you please come again tomorrow?" Sadly, the only possible and sensible answer at that time was: "No, I have to go back to Bangkok" - and we parted.

The next day, I went to the Khmer ruins of Phimai with my friend, and then returned to Bangkok, where we arrived at about 8pm. The night before, and the whole day I could not forget mister waiter. He was exactly my type and I was in desperate need to get close to someone - I wanted to hug him so badly! But I also realised that the only thing which brought us (nearly) together, was attraction. I didnt even know where he was from and what he did in Khorat... (apart from waitering) so obviously, there was no reason for me to explore my options.

This experience has shaken me quite a bit and I was nervous to see the boyfriend back at home in Bangkok. It all turned out well though. I was really happy to see him back at home and we had a very long talk about temptation and how to behave in a relationship. I did confess him that I faced a lot of temptation but that, even though it may not sound like it, it was not hard for me to resist it. It was quite amazing for us to talk so honestly about temptation and understanding and respecting each other - it seems we have really matured in our relationship and it seems that as sad as it made me, I made the right decision, not to kiss mister waiter.