Category: News

Ok so since I have been here in Thailand there have been lot’s of up’s but also lot’s of down’s. All of what has happened has now lead me to Hilltribe in the City. HitC is a non-profit charity that Greig and I have recently started. We will begin by bringing 6 kids from the Om Koi village (that I have been involved with for 15 months now) down into the city of Chiang Mai. Next year we plan to have more kids in the house, some may be from other villages or from the Wat Don Chan as some of the kids really do not like living here. We will provide them with a safe, loving home to live in, send them to a good school, have tutors available, medical care when needed and help them to have choices and a chance at a better life. This is something most of their families have not had. We will also be buying rice and vegetables from them for our house and we will be teaching the family to make some jewelry that we will then buy from them along with their Lahu hilltribe bags. We can sell these things to help us with the up keep of the house and to help the villagers have a chance at more income.

See the kids only go to school 10 days out of the month and at the age of 13 most of them then go work in the family fields. There are only 2 teachers in the the Musser Nai village and all of the 45 kids are packed into 1 classroom. I have been in there during class time and let’s just say a little more structure could be helpful. Most of the people in the village cannot read and write Thai and this makes it difficult to make enough money to provide for their families. There is also a bit of a problem with drugs and alcohol in the village. See we are not trying to tell them what to do we are just providing this for the families that want something better for their kids and for themselves. We want to help out as much as we can, we love this village and the people in it.

Where I live right now, the Wat Don Chan, only let’s the kids with any family go back home for a visit 2 weeks every year, I think this is unfair. Hilltribe in the City plans to send the kids home every summer break (2 months), every holiday (total about 6 weeks) and we will visit about once a month. We want the kids to stay connected to their families, their village and their Lahu culture. As well the families are welcome to come and visit with us and stay in the house whenever they like. This may get them to do more with their farms and then come to Chiang Mai to see the kids and sell their crops…More money. Yes, I know money is not everything but I am just talking about enough to feed the family and maybe buy a blanket for the winter, you get it.

We have a management team, official visitors to check up on things from time to time and just to hang out with us at the house and we are looking for ambassadors  (people that will help us to spread the word about HitC and help to raise funds all year long) that consist of foreigners and Thai’s. We are in the process of getting all of our paper work together for the recognition of the non-profit here in Thailand (ton’s of paper work and lot’s of jumping through hoops) as well as looking for the house, getting the bank account, planning the fundraiser  here in Chiang Mai and hitting the markets for donations. Lot’s more to info to come….check out our under-construction website, hilltribeinthecity.org. Peace always, -Stu

Well, this weekend was AMAZING! I am having some really bad back pains and I did my best, thank goodness Greig was feeling fine. Today is worse, I guess I over did it a bit, oh well anything for the kids. So we went to Om Koi the village that we help out as much as we can, the plan, give out clothes from the students at Chiang Mai University and fix all of the desks in the school.

The desk were topped with large pieces of wood which were not even so it was really hard to write anything on them and they were very shaky. We went to Global Home (Thai Home Depot) a few days before, we bought wood, screws, sandpaper, paint, brushes and all the rest of it. Friday morning after stopping to pick up some food and coffee, off we were. After 5 1/2 hours of driving to the village we were greeted by a very nice family 14 of them that was at the village for 2 days, it was a surprise to us, a nice surprise. They spoke pretty good English and told us that they go there once a year to make a donation and bring some school supplies, food, clothes, etc. They shared their food with us and then set off some fireworks, which the kids loved. Later that night we sat outside by a fire, grilling and eating pork ribs and we drank a bit of whiskey, it is Thailand after all, LOL.
The next morning we were looking forward to speaking with them more over breakfast but it was raining all night and I think they felt it was better to get on the road sooner then later, good idea. We were not in a 4×4 so who knew how we would get out of there or if we even could get out. I will tell you about this soon.
After 2 cups of coffee we were off to the races. We had about 15-20 kids around to help us and it took about 8 hours to repair the desk. We were able to do one coat of paint but since it was raining and lot’s of moisture in the air, we would have to wait until the next day to do another coat. Greig and I had so much fun and so did the kids but it was a lot of work. Cutting, hammering, painting! None of the desk were the same size so it took a while to have to do everyone custume. We were also lucky that there was some power from the solar cell to power the drill, it could have taken a lot longer.

Later that night after Na Nu made us diner we met with some of the kids and parents to talk about future projects and they are very keen on the future and us helping their kids, us too.

More rain, oh no, it is going to be hard to get out of here….We laid out all of the donated clothes and let 5 people in the school at a time and they could each take 3 things but after several minutes of this many more people came in so we said have at it, you are all on your own, just be nice and fair. Not one thing was left, if they can’t wear it, they will make something with the fabric. We checked out the coffee plants that were planted last time, cross your fingers for them to have coffee to sell in a few years, it will be a lot of work. I did get to eat a few beans from an older plant, who knew, well I didn’t but it was sweet.

Now it is time to leave and it is raining a bit so the teacher said we should take some of the kids with us to help IF we get stuck and that they will walk back to the village after. I felt bad that they would do that, it is 16 kilometers and raining. So glad they came, we got stuck several times because it was very scary and dangerous at times. I thought we were going to have to sleep on the mud road and someone would have to come rescue us but these kids would not give up, I LOVE THEM. These kids were amazing, pushing, shaking, digging, they were covered in mud. Greigs car was damaged a bit, sorry buddy. When we finally got out we took them for noodle soup and ice cream and we came upon someone in a 4×4 form the village going back so they took the kids and the teacher with them. The end, for now…Next trip planned for 3 to 4 weeks from now, stay tuned.

So since it has been sooooo long since I have had time to write I will fill you in with some quick rants, LOL.

Halloween was really fun here even though they do not celebrate it here. I hung out with a bunch of friends from the states and we went out and did it big. We all wore costumes and found a few places that were having parties, what a fun night, I was a Thai Boy Scout. LOL

There has been a funeral going on here at the Wat for a week (this is normal for Buddhist) for a policeman, he was 50 years old. I am so sorry for the family but they seem to be doing OK as they feel his next life will be great. Today is the last day and they are getting ready to take him to be cremated shortly. The thing I find crazy is at 8 AM, I saw 9 police officers drinking a huge bottle of whiskey, they were getting the party started. You can make your own opinion on this.

Then class was cancelled for some teacher program, I hate when they do this last minute. The kids only get English classes once a week and they NEED it. I really wish they could find a better time to do this so the kids can get what they need.

I had the time so I went to do my “90 day immigration check”, you just have to show up and give your address so they can keep tabs on you. I can take a long time and be a pain in the butt. They have made changes to their office and I was in and out in under 10 minutes, AWESOME!

Last week I got 12 new beds delivered for the little boys here at the Wat. The beds are really bad here and full of bed bugs and dirt. It is now cold season so it will be better but we still need a lot more beds but it is a good start. I want to thank Ruth, Keith, Pam Jackie, Neal, Deb ans Jim for their donations that made these beds possible.

I also got some money from Jemma of DCCT to use for Chatree and the boys bakery kitchen. They need some new equipment and supplies and this will go a long way, thanks Jemma.

Sasha and Maria from Toys for Thailand are here in Thailand doing more good and they will be spending x-mas in Mae Hong Son with some Hill Tribe schools. They really do some great work and I am happy to help them whenever I can. I got the kids from the Wat to make them some hand-made thank you card, they are really great and they will be given out to some of their donors in the states. I am looking forward to seeing what else in in store for T4T…..

My old PC died after 6 years of pretty good service, RIP, PC. Larry Hahn my former boss and till great friend helped me to buy a new Mac Book Pro, it is amazing, I love it, thank you so much Larry. I will now hopefully be able to put more videos on this site now, Mac makes it so easy.

Happy Hanukkah! This is my second year here during the holiday and I want to send all of my love to all that celebrate. Last year was really hard, my Dad had to go in the hospital and it did not look good for a few days, so hard being here when things like that happen. I spoke to him this morning, one year since this happened and he is great and it makes it much easier this year.

I am sorry to say that I am no longer involved with that hill tribe hostel that I written about before, I am sad and miss the kids but there are so many things there that do not make sense. I will fill you all in on more about this when I write my book. I have a friend living here now, Charles and he is a writer. Now that he is finish with the first draft of his book, he is going to help me out YEAH!

I have had several friends here to visit over the past few months and I hope more of you come here, you will fall in love with Chiang Mai, the people, the food the culture, it is amazing. Good to see you Joanna, Patrick, Sandra, Doug and Andrew. Please come back there is still more to show you.

We also had a big holiday here, Loy Krathong. There are pictures from last year on here and I plan to put some up from this year. So many people in town, tons of fireworks and fire kites. Next to the Song Kran New Years festival, it is the best. The kids had so much fun, not the safest celebration but fun. If you can imagine 650 kids with matches and hand-made fireworks, OK nuff said, lol.

My friend Greig (yes that is how you spell his name) and I are working on something BIG, well big for us. It is going to be a great project to help kids from the hills to get into good schools here in Chiang Mai and give them a better chance at a better life for them and their families….Stay tuned for more info on the next blog

If I can think of anything else I will add it but for now, now you are up to date.

Peace and blessings to you all. -Stu

POVERTY n.

 1. The state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts.

Building a Fence:

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About 3 weeks ago my buddy Greig, pronounced Greg and I went back to Om Koi to help build a fence. Toys for Thailand raised the money to buy everything for it including food for me to cook for all of the villagers to help. It was a great time and great work got done. We used 80 cement post and for every cement post, in between there are 4 wooden post and I got to help cut some with an axe, hard work! We also used barb wire and we will be going up soon to add some large chicken wire type stuff for the bottom to keep the baby pigs out.

We built the fence around the school area, soccer field, a small veggie garden, fish pond and an area where the village will begin to grow organic coffee. See the animals eat everything the moment anything starts to grow so this will help. It took us 2 days to get it all done, 60 villagers one day and 50 the next day. Both days I cooked a protein packed meal, loaded with veggies too, we were starving after all of the work and the kids helped out a lot too, great job.

Toys for Thailand, Greig and myself are working on helping them become more self-sustainable by working with the school, in the school area and the villagers that help out can also get some of the benefit of the work. The ones that do not help, well sorry but you must help yourselves and some people are to busy or lazy to help out. Please, I don’t mean to sound mean but it is the truth, HELP THE TEACHERS AND THE KIDS.

They will be planting coffee plants to begin to grow organic coffee in hope to at least slow down on growing opium. I have asked to see where it is grown but I was told it would be way to dangerous for me to see it, point taken. The only issues is that it will take about 5 years for them to get any profits from growing the coffee so we are working on figuring out other things they can grow or do in the mean time to get some money. They really want to grow the coffee and they know it will take a while but imagine working for 5 years an making no money for the hopes to get the money later. We are thinking herbs or lettuce since they grow quickly and if they can get it to a market then there you have it.

We also brought 10 bags of cement and now they have a new floor for a new kitchen and eating area for the kids at the school. The kids are so great, they all help to prep, cook and clean for their lunch everyday. 2 weeks from now my dear, dear friend Joanna Gillis is coming for a 10 day visit, which I am sooooooo excited about I can’t even tell but she will join Greig and I to help finish the fence. I already picked up all of the supplies and can’t wait to get there and get it done…OH and there are only 13 frogs that have made it but they are growing and the day after we left they were getting put into a bigger are to give them more space to grow. Also someone, not sure who but someone gave them money to buy 250 catfish and food for the fish so as soon as they grow a bit the kids can have fish with their lunch, SWEET! More later, peace. -Stu

Teaching:

Sawadee Krap…Hello.

So this update is about my teaching. I have been teaching here at the Wat for a while, English to the hill tribe kids in the morning. Now I was asked to teach at a Technical College in Chiang Mai. I was not sure I wanted to do as I am not a formally trained teach but they said no problem and since I am a “native speaker” all will be fine.

I started about 6 weeks ago and it is going great! I have learned so much and now my teaching at the Wat is better. I never, ever expected to be a teach but now that I am I am happy. The only problem is I have less time to work on cooking with the kids. I am hoping soon that we can begin to do somethings on the weekends. Wisit, the principal at the school at the Wat wants to see things here and so do I so I feel this will begin to happen soon.

Another thing I am working on is a fundraiser here in Chiang Mai at the Bang Krock Noi, hill tribe hostel. It is a great place an a few friends of mine and I are working with Bobby (the guy that runs it) on putting something together. It will be in November and we will have hill tribe music, dancing and food as well as a soccer (football) and Cricket games between the kids and some local guys, it is going to be a blast. All of the money will go to helping them get fans, new wiring for the building and some more food, EXCITING! Last month I took my friend Sam over there and she taught the kids how to make greeting cards.

Sam has done this at other places to help them get money for their lunches, check out her site, stongwillseed.org. She is amazing and only 16 years old! She has helped so many kids with much mre then teaching them how to raise funds. We will sell these cards at the fundraiser and I will sell them to anyone that wants them, I will put up pictures soon.

I have lot’s to report about the Om Koi hill tribe village but that will come soon. Take care of yourselves…

Well, did I have a great week or what??? I was so busy running around with Sascha and Maria. They are 2  ladies that stared an organization called Toys for Thailand after the Tsunami. They brought toys to kids that lost everything. They also have done lot’s of work where I live at the Wat Don Chan. That is how I met them and they are from San Diego and after my 2 weeks at the Wat in 2008 we hooked up after I went back to LA.

As I said they did lot’s for the WDC but the money and things they brought to the table were under-appreciated and not managed so their work and money were wasted. They sadly had to pull out. It is tough to get donations if people see their money is not being taken care of. So what did they do, they began to go to villages and work with the people to be more self sustainable so they would not have to send their kids of family members to places like Wat Don Chan and teach them to be better. I love this idea and since I live here and see what goes on, I agree. I am lucky because they money that was donated to me get watched by me and I only buy things that I am using for my projects here and, well I also have now taken some of that money to use on other projects. For example going into the hills and doing the same as Toys for Thailand. Now I am working with them and they are getting more contributions and I get to goto the jungle with the money and supplies. Kind of like a project manager I get to go and make the deliveries and help bring it all together.

While they were here we met with the Mayor, the Head of Social Services and the Head of the 2 tribes we are working with in Om Koi. This was so helpful and now we have people we can goto to be accountable for everything. Also since there is no phone service where we go these other folks  (since some of them live just outside of the hills), we can get a hold of. We plan to do things at the school inthe village and the villagers that want to help can get involved and they can get some of the rewards. The ones that don’t help can just continue as they are. The King in Thailand has been trying and helping to change things for years and there is still a ton of work to do so the ones that don’t help, well we understand but we need to focus on the ones that want to help themselves.

We also met with the Heifer Corporation and they are going to check out the village and if it fit’s into their guide lines they will give animals to help and also go to help teach about raising them…To be continued, I will let you know when I do how this pans out. Also we met people fro the Royal Project of Thailand, one of the projects anyway. This one teaches eco friendly projects, like raising frogs, fish, organic veggies and coffee and building mud huts. They are going to teach me for free on weekends these things so I can then go to the village and show them. This way they can stop cutting down the beautiful jungle for growing areas and homes. There is plenty of mud there during rainy season so I am excited to learn and then go teach. They will also send some people there to help me get it started. This is one of the main reasons I came to Thailand and I am so, so happy. I mean I have done a lot and I have learned a lot but this will be awesome. Oh and I already learned the frog thing and I took 20 babies to the village and the kids are taking care of them, I can’t wait to see them when I go back.

I took lot’s of great pictures but still waiting to get my computer back to download everything, you will see them soon enough. I did get to go to Om Koi the week after Sascha and Maria left, it was just an OK trip. Toys for Thailand gave me the money so I could buy everything to build a fence around the school so we could stop the animals from going in that area and stop them from eating everything planted for the kids school lunches. We got everything but it rained so bad for the 3 days that we could not begin the building part, next time. I plan to go back August 14th and the villagers will help and I will bring food to cook for their lunch and dinner. Also I ate something really bad on my way to the village and I was SO sick while I was there. I could not eat anything and slept11 hours per day, it was really, really hard. To be sick and sleep on a bamboo floor, in that heat and lot’s of rain and no one was there with me to speak English, tough. They were all very sweet and brought me different herbs and honey drinks to try to make me feel better but it just need to run it’s course…Anyway I will post more and pictures when I have it for you all to see. I also just want to say thanks to the ladies from Toys for Thailand.  Peace Y’all.

Hello, wow it has been a long time. Thing have been a bit nutty around here kind of like an out of control roller coaster ride. About 2 months ago my favorite Monk, Phra Wit left the Wat and with that left my biggest connecttion to everything that goes on here with the kids. I was so sad but Ithink he will be happier, living a life without the saffron colored robe on. I then became close with 2 others, Phra Num and Phra In. I began teaching them English everyday and it was really great and they were beginning to speak very well. Then Phra Num left and went back to Myanmar to be near his family. Phra In is still here and our classes are still going well.

 Part of the reason these Monks left was beacause they are no longer taking as much care of the kids, there is a new person in this place and I will refer to him as Ego-Man…He has been a friend of the Wat and the Head monk for many years and has been volunteering with sports programs for a long time. Ego-Man and the Monks do not see things the same and to be honest nether do I. He has made it very difficult for the kids and anyone to really get things done. That being said he has made some good changes but his methods, SUCK! He is always wanting to make the boys “tough” but when you are 6 and new to this place, sometimes a hug goes a lot further.

 We have newly let in 12 kids that are not old enough to go to school yet and there is not enough supervision here so the older kids have to take care of them. This I think is CRAZY! If we are not equip to help these kids better, we need to help find a place that is, right? Ego-Man is taking care of the little ones during the day but a 2 year old without some motherly love, come on… OK, let’s try to talk about some good, we have a new kitchen and it is out of the girls dorm finally. They also have someone to help cook the lunch time and dinner meals so now the kids just have to do breakfast on their own. This is something I was hoping for for a long time. We have a new school building that is almost finished but there are no bathrooms in it, this would not fly in the states, not for a second and it should not here. We now have a new water filter system for all here, it was so need. Now we just need to make sure they change the filters. The schools have been cleaned up and we have a few new teachers that are really great and here for the kids.

 The boys dorm now has a new washing tub for bathing and washing clothes. They also have a volleyball/little soccer area. The girls got some new beds that Toys for Thailand donated forever ago, I am so happy for that. They just kept moving them around here and all I tried to do for 6 months was give them out, done and done. Some of my favorite students left and I was so sad to see them gone but I did bump into a few of the in town last week. They said they were going to a new, better school with better living conditions, I am glad for them.

 What else…Been cooking with Chatree a little more, we made some killer Blueberry Pound Cake the other day, we lost Khru Jum (an English teacher) to another school last month, she will be missed. New fencing made of bamboo, by the Monks is now all around the Wat, some more of the dirt roads here have been paved. I have been teaching a lot more, thanks to Jirapron (a new English teacher). I am always much happier when I am busy. I have also had some friends come to visit me so I got to get out and see some more i the city and I am really loving this place. It is rainy season but it is not as bad as I thought it would be. Been drinking some good organic coffee, grown from the hill tribe people, you know I love coffee and the hill tribes so it is a win, win.More soon and as always thanks for the support. -Stu

Let me start off by saying that before coming to the Wat Don Chan, I had no idea what Cricket was. Well, I knew it was some kind of game but that was it. When I got here I saw that the kids were playing  the game with 3 super dedicated coaches Chris, Martin and Puy. I started to ask questions about the game and began going to every game the kids had, anything to cheer them on. The team had many problems with the powers that be here at the Temple and the whole program was canceled several times but like I said the coaches are so dedicated that they kept fighting to get it going again. I mean come on the kids love it and as we all know any type of team sport can only do good for kid, right! Anyway I called the team the bad news bears, they did not have nice uniforms or great shoes (some did not even want to wear shoes) and they were kind of sloppy.

Cut to the end of the season and they are now tied for #1 and 4 of the boys had the chance to go play in Bangkok for a major tournament and could get scholorships next year at an amazing international school for Cricket. Ok now these kids are from the hill tribes and just a few years ago were not in school, never wore shoes and who’s families make only like $500/year. AMAZING, yes I know…

Now back to the powers that be, long and short of it as I still have to live here, they kicked a couple of the kids out of school and canceled the Cricket program, yes I agree, BS. So now back to the coaches, they found a great place for the kids to live,  better schools for them to goto and now a great place to practice. This place only has 100 kids and does cost some money, Wat Don Chan is free. It cost 10,000 Baht/year which is right around $315/USD  for the whole year, cheap, if you ask me…I now sponsor a 13 year old boy named Bounchouy and we have a total of 12 kids there and we are working on getting another 20, maybe more. The boys will play their last game of the year in June, for the championship, very exciting and to think they almost could not play for the trophy because someone got upset since they did not say goodbye before going to a game…Oh, did I say (type) that out loud????

Sponsor a kid for $315/USD, email me and i’ll tell you how also check out watdonchancricket.com.  As always, peace and blessings. -Stu

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So this time we brought ICE CREAM we were welcomed with open arms again but when they saw what we had well you can imagine. We did not get there until after dark so not everyone was around and we were worried that we would have too much ice cream and no one to eat it. We bought a bit more ice to put around it before we started up the mountain and since we were on the mountain and it gets pretty cold at night we were able to save it and soon as everyone finished breakfast we gave out the rest. After everyone had a brain freeze we then gave out the clothes that were donated which was mostly larger sized things but since I have gotten a lot more things for the kids for the next trip.

No this trip was very different since only Greig and I went so there was no one with us to speak Thai and all of our contacts in the Village had left the village. Some for holiday which would be 3 weeks but luckily the main contacts would be back in a few days. This wound up being great, it gave up time to connect a little more personally with the people and figure out some other things about how we could help and how to approach these things. We brought a bunch of food and after cooking Greig and I went on a hike to see where their water source comes from and why we had no water for the past 2 days…Holes in some of the pipes, OK we can raise some money to get new one’s, check. We then got to hang out with an older kid named Bus, he is blind but spoke really good English. He speaks Thai Musar and English as well as writes all 3 in braille. He goes to school in Chiang Mai at the Northern School of the Blind but was home on holiday and we were lucky to meet him and hang out for the afternoon. Then we got to play with all of the little kids in the creek, which we wound up doing this once a day with them, it was really hot and not having much water, it was our shower.

This day began with a delicious breakfast of fresh picked jungle veggies and a few eggs (we brought them) then we went on a hike with some of the parent and kids, we ended up in a cave and we thought we could hear water  and it was cool (it was so dark) but we were wrong it was the sound of the thousands of Bats flying all around us. The kids were happy as this Tribe is really big into hunting so Bats would be on the menu if they got any and they did 15 of them. I told them I would probably not be eating them and I did not. I am up for most things but looking at them in the bag was enough. Also the cave had some really beautiful Limestone and no wonder that stuff is so expensive, if they have to get it from places like this it is not easy and then to have to hike it down…WOW, it was really great to see. We then eat some kind of tree which I still can’t remember what they called it, it was not the best thing I have ever eaten but fun anyway. The whole way down we would pick anything we could to cook for dinner and then came to a creek where the kids got a few little fish, crabs and a frog. Now we ended up at a cabbage patch as well there were tons of other veggies and the guys working there let us take a bunch of things and they were also added to our dinner, the lunch I cooked when we got back and for the next few days. I tell you it is really great being a Chef when I can go into the field, pick veggies then go back and cook for a bunch of people in the village.

The first thing we did the next morning after eating breakfast was watched 3 baby boy pigs get castrated, no pictures for you, it’s all in my brain and that’s enough. I can’t believe I was able to see something like that…We wanted to connect with some of the villagers that we have not had time to meet yet so we just went for a walk and did just that met some new folks. We had a nice time and then we were invited to lunch in NaPers house, she is a very good cook and really sweet. She is the mother of Bus, and we got to meet her other 2 kids also, 1 little boy about 9 and a 13 year old girl. Two of the people that are our main connections to the village came back, Sak and his wife, on of the teachers Na Lah so we had time to catch up with them. The first thing they did was pulled a papaya of of a tree and we had Som Tom (spicy papaya salad, very spicy). We figured out a few things for a plan of action for the next few trips, rooves, a bathroom, new pipes for the water system, etc. One more swim with the kids in the creek, this time about 15 joined us so the water fight was on.

We were invited to a special dinner being put on by a few families, they were serving pig. You see they kill chickens to eat all of the time but only for very special occasion’s will they kill a big so this was big. I was sad for the pig but this is life and they have to eat. They had the leader of the village come and do some prayers, they put bracelets on all of us and then we ate, to be honest it was not the best meal we ate while there but it was an honer to be part of this. After we just hung out with the kids playing games and laughing. It was much like any holiday dinner you would have with any family and minus the language barriers it was a blast. We then spent the remainder of the evening with several villagers, learning their language, joking and laughing, truly a memorable night. See even when you can’t speak the same we were still able to spend hours together just bonding, AMAZING…

This was going to be our last day and we woke to a fresh breakfast of beef, for me I do not eat much beef but since this was really fresh (only 2 hours) I was game to try it. They made us a dish called Larb, very spicy and topped with rice powder, for them they ate the same but with raw beef. Since it was just that fresh it was ok to eat but I had to pass, sorry. We then got some banana stalks which is part of the plant to chop and mix with water for the pigs to eat, fun. Time to make a list of what to bring next time, do some final measurement’s for the lining of the fish pond and water the garden. The past 3 days we had no water so we were now able to do this and let me tell you it was so needed. A bit more fun with the kids and on we went. We are always wanting to stay longer and I am sad to go.

There is what looks like a Temple about half way between the village and the main road and you can see a beautiful Pagoda from the road. This time we planned to check ot out on the way home. It was so beautiful and peaceful and we found out it is a place for Monk’s  to go and get some rest, for their mind and body, I can see why they would pick such a place. Check out the pictures and you will see…Until next time, thanks for checking out my blog