The quest for the silkworms in the Isaan region

Thailand as it once was, simple, wild, poor, unadulterated, genuine, exists still in this region. Isaan is the north eastern region of Thailand surrounded by the Mekong River in the north and east on the border with Laos and by Cambodia in the south. The name Isaan derives from the Sanskrit word “Ishan” which means "north east direction". This region is famous for its “wild nature”, cultural characteristics closer to Laos and Cambodia then Thailand, delicious and original wild food, agriculture, hot and dry climate, muay thai boxing, cockfights, silk and poverty.

We came to the central big city of Khon Kaen. We spent the whole day looking for an agency to rent a motorbike and had trouble finding one. This is a student city, but unlike the rest of Thailand, people here are not so used to foreigners. Especially in the suburbs and villages around. So there is no special demand for rent-a-bikes.

This region is a surprise compared to the rest of Thailand. It is much poorer and the locals here say there is nothing special to see. Below are some pictures from the roadtrip in Isaan, especially the wonderful people we met on this little expedition of the quest for the silkworms.

We went for a couple of days around Khon Kaen with our bike. Roads became dusty, dry and everywhere were plains with some rice fields. The idea was to find not only the production of silk fabrics and garments for which this region is known, but to find silkworm farms.

Isaan surprisingly has many sorts of cattle that usually walk on the road. This last cow I called "the dumbo cow" (see picture above).

The greatest thing in Isaan are its people. They are simple and nice, they always smile and they really helped us in our search for the silkworms. Almost no one speaks English, and in some villages they came out onto the streets to see us. One time the police stopped us to ask us what we're doing here, because tourists do not come here. We were the only tourists in the bus and almost the only one in the train back from Isaan. We had to learn a little bit Thai for basic communication and ordering food. Here below are the good people of Isaan, who offered us food and women for marriage.

When you are invited to lunch look twice at what they eat. This region is known for its wild and crazy food, so there are pieces of meat but also intestines and all sorts of insects. The Kingdom of Thailand began to encourage the cultivation of poultry and pigs, which is on the menu now. However, insects remained an essential part of the menu because of poverty.

Mango salad with dried shrimps, fish, mango, onion and chili peppers (see picture above).

"Fried rice" with chicken and cucumber (see picture above).

Fresh chopped chilli, lime juice and fish sauce (see picture above). Within a month I have lost 8 kilograms. Apparently hot and spicy food speeds up the digestion.

What's on the menu? :)

This is a "petrol station" in Isaan. In addition to standard petrol stations around urban places there are also these in the villages. In these bottles you have petrol or diesel, you can by a glass, a bottle or half a bottle (see picture above).

We encountered a little Buddhist village that worships the spirit of the turtle. Everything here has a symbol of that animal. The village has a lot of turtles that live here, so these turtles have become famous and sacred. We went looking for the turtles with the village children (see pictures above).

The idea of this little expedition was born several years ago when I was watching a documentary about the silk produce. That's what I wanted to see with my eyes. Specifically, this region of Thailand is known for its silk, the specific method of weaving and the colors. An often seen image in these rural areas is women weaving silk in their yards. But we wanted to dive a little deeper and find the actual production of the silk worm and the silk thread. In two days of learning Thai and drawing worms on paper and the like, we found a village and a family that has welcomed us. This example is around the little town of Chonnabot (see pictures below).

An often seen image, weaving machines and women weaving in yards or on the streets (see pictures above).

A woman shows cocoons of silkworms. In these flat baskets they keep the silkworms, and feed them with mulberry leaves until they enclose themselves in cocoons (see picture above).

Little silkworms in a basket (see picture above) feed on the mulberry leaves. When the worms reach a certain size they move them to more baskets as needed until they enclose themselves in cocoons.

A mulberry tree that grows in a small backyard of the silkworm farm between banana trees (see picture above).

Ripe cocoons of silkworms are placed in boiling water. As the worms enclose themselves in silk thread creating a cocoon, the same thread is now released and unwound in hot water. The silk thread of one single cocoon is 300 to 900 meters long.

The reward upon the return to Khon Kaen was the Loi Kratong festival that happens here annually in October. Thousands of people gather around the lake and celebrate the end of the Buddhist year and the full moon. For the young there are games, and for older people there are concerts, food and alcohol. The biggest thing is the lightning of the lanterns and putting small ships made of banana leafs into the lake. In small ships they put candles, flowers and a few coins. This festival has its own version in every city of Thailand and the largest and most beautiful is here and in Chiang Mai in November for a full moon. The most beautiful photos with thousands of lanterns originated from the city of Chiang Mai. A Buddhist teacher in the north of Thailand said: "We do it to ask for forgiveness of mother earth for all the bad things that we have made. We release the lantern and a small boat in the river to ask for forgiveness if we chop down a tree. We ask the river for forgiveness if we pick a flower. The river is the one who gives life here".

Loi Kratong in Khon Kaen (see pictures above), and a modest celebration of the same festival in a village with banging on trash cans and singing (see picture below). Btw, what you see on palm leaves is money that is put into the palm as a gift.

The rest of the pictures and stories from this trip are given below..

Although accommodation in Thailand is not expensive we slept in hammocks with mosquito nets (see pictures above). Fortunately there is enough trees and we also like the wild. One should sleep raised above the floor because of all the creepy crawlies. At night the ground becomes alive. We made camp one night beside two holes that we established are python holes. The python hissed and crawled around two times in the night. In the morning we found feathers around the holes from his dinner or breakfast.

A small holy place. :)

We came to a village where some families keep king cobras underneath the house. Men prove themselves in battles with the cobras avoiding bites and the like. The cobras still have teeth and the guys are full of scars from the bites (see picture above). Btw, this kind of cobra grows over 3 meters long.

"The Yogurt Man" :) He has no refrigeration but the yogurts are great.

The Thai army is drawing a map for us and showing us the way. Everything would be cool if they would  know some Latin alphabet. :)

This is something that we bought on the street but it is very sour and inedible. It has a nice fragrance but how it is used is still a mystery even now (see picture above).

One of the best fruits that we ate. Here in the wild, pick and eat as much as you can. It's called carambola or "starfruit" due to its star shape.