In the last week or so, I have been so busy and had rare internet connections, I was able to post a few photos, but didn't have time to attach the stories. So here they are:
Story #1: Chiang Mai Cookery School.
You've seen the photos but haven't heard the details of how great my cooking course was. Those two days of cooking were definitely a major highlight of my trip in Northern Thailand. Each person had its own little station and we cooked five to six meals for each person. We learned how to make curry pastes, visited markets to buy our ingredients, cut and cooked galangal, coconut cream, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, papapa, to name a few. I now have tons of ideas of recipes or new food crops to include in a future garden/greenhouse! And off course, can't wait to try those recipes at your table :)
Story #2: A Ridiculous Night at the Hilltribe Village
A few days after cooking in Chiang Mai, we headed northwest to a village named Tha Tom, a few kilometers from the Myanmar border, where we began our journey to find our homestay Lahu village. We road a long tail boat for a couple of hours to a small village where we met our next drivers; our friends the elephants (!). Gabrielle and I rode the elephants through gorgeous lush forests. Two hours later, we arrived in the small Lahu village, atop a hill with great views of the valley. After some good food and some chit chatting with the locals, we all headed to our beds, for a peaceful night in the jungle, away from the crazyness of the civilized world...We should have known better...the Lahu people were celebrating their New Year. It was their sixth out of seven day of new year celebration. As a result, they had got this huge karaoke machine, sub speaker system included for the fiesta. The music, actually the same exact five songs, played in repeat until 6:00 AM, with singers drunker and drunker. This night was completely surreal! And surreal in an hilarious way. The calm serene ambiance we had all expected from this village in the deep jungle ended up being one of the noisiest and craziest ever! And to top it off, as another celebration custom, that same early morning, the tribe decided to slaughter a pig..right under out hut! I think back about it and I still laugh! Because, there was nothing else to do other than laugh. Those people were celebrating an exciting event and those stupid foreigners just had bad timing.
More stories coming soon!
Veronik
Karaeoke and slaughtered pigs underfoot in a peaceful village. Love it. Sometimes, those end up being some of the best memories. Your cooking school sounds like fun too! What an amazing trip. You are dearly missed at RAYMONDS.. we are closed this week while the boys compete at the Gold Plates in BC. Hope to see you soon!! Cheers Gabe.
ReplyDelete