Liz Willoughby on mon 5 jan 04
Dear Claybuds,
I am back home, in a daze, but wanted to tell you all, some of the
highlights of my trip, with Denys James, Louis Katz, and Suwanee, as
the leaders of the trip. There were around 12 of us.
I am filled with visions of village potteries, and the kind humble
people of Thailand. Denys did a great job of organizing this trip,
and Louis who has been there knew where to go, and what to see.
Suwanee, who has a pottery in Dankween always was willing to help,
with translating and explaining. She was a gem. I am not going to
make this a long message, but wanted to give my impressions.
In Bangkok we visited Wats (temples) travelling there on the river
boats. They have to be seen to be believed. Bangkok is hot and
polluted, but worth the trip. On to Ratchiburi, a town of stoneware
potteries. We were lucky and stopped at one during a wood firing.
We saw them making, decorating, and firing pots. Large pots, stacked
by the hundreds everywhere. Louis calls it the "stoneware capital of
the world". On to Korat and Dankween, where we were very fortunate to
stay in a Thai house. This belonged to a relative through marriage
to Suwanee, and an experience I will never forget. Peak, the owner,
had a museum in the center of the house that belongs in a museum.
Cabinets and cabinets of priceless porcelain and stoneware of all
kinds. Dankween is a pottery village, each house seems to be a large
pottery, they wood fire the pots, and then if you believe it, paint
them for export. They are highly decorative. Roosters, dogs, and
cats everywhere, and of course the smiling Thai, always gracious.
On to Phimai, Angkor-period ruins, museum, and to Mahasarakham.
Another village of potteries. This time cooking pots. One of my
favorite places. The women made the pots by hand, taking a large
lump of clay, opening it up with their fingers, placing it on a tiny
wheel, then walking! around the wheel to make the pot, using a clay
rib on the inside and a wooden paddle on the inside. The clay is
from the river/pond by the village. A man takes a boat, (carved out
tree), pushes it out , gathers the clay, walks the boat back, and
shovels the clay to the land. Rice husks are added to the clay, it
is made into large balls, stacked, fired with pieces of wood. This
is the grog that they add to the clay that is also taken from the
river. Cooking pots are made from this clay. These pots cook food
over clay cylinders that hold charcoal. I brought one home, and can
hardly wait to try it out. The pots are low fired in wood tunnel
kilns.
On to Sukhothai, a visit to the old city temple ruins, (my favorite
wat), very very beautiful, and then to Chaing Mai. More potteries,
silk weaving factories, paper making factories, and more, more, more.
This was a wonderful trip. New friendships, and a look into another
world. My first trip to Asia.
My head is still full.
Now, I will shut up. except to say, that Louis, who is in love with
Thailand, and can't seem to get enough of it, showed his joy by
yodelling, every now and then. The Thai, just loved it.
Happy Belated New Year to everyone.
Meticky Liz from Grafton
--
Liz Willoughby
RR #1
2903 Shelter Valley Rd.
Grafton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 2G0
905-349-3130
lizwill@phc.igs.net
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