Napar was busy preparing the food for our evening meal, as well as the feed for the menagerie of animals on the doorstep. Pigs, chickens and dogs all living in harmony. She was also managing the laundry and finding time to sweep and look after their young daughter, Naboo. She would shyly come over to see what the farang were doing in her house, before running off to play with the other children before Richard could take her photo. That proved a difficult task but one that Richard wasn’t going to give up on.
Feeding time.
The shy Naboo.
Watching the children playing was a fascinating, if humbling experience. They had no gameboys, PS3’s or other modern luxury toys that the kids in the west take for granted. They seemed happy chasing each other around the village. All of them with an ear to ear grin. I have never seen a group of children as happy and content as the Lahu kids. Richard and Monica were amused by the smallest child in the group. He couldn’t have been more than three years old. He was scrutinising a small sachet in his hand that one of the other kids had given him. He put his hand inside and pulled out a large amount of powder.
“No Way! He isn’t” exclaimed Richard.
Yes, the little child was going to put the spicy chilli powder in his mouth. This is Thailand so it must have been really spicy. The kid soon spat it out. The other children were laughing hysterically. Incredibly the child wasn’t finished. He put a little more in his mouth and ate the lot. No way!
Kids at play.
The other fascinating insight into village life was the work effort. Chlaa was busy constructing something with bamboo. Ame told us that he was building a roof for his new house. He was helped by an old man who must have been long past retirement age. He was slitting the bamboo to make long drainpipe shapes. The light was virtually gone now. We could barely pick out his features in the dusk. He showed no intention of packing in for the night. He continued in the dark, ignoring the shouts of Napar to go home. In the end she went to him, paid him his wage and pointed to his hut. The old man smiled, content with his pay, picked up his knife and cut another couple of bamboo trunks before finally heading home.
It was time to scrub up for dinner. We washed ourselves from the tap that was perched over the balcony of the terrace. In fact it was an attachment to the terrace, you could see the pigs underneath from the gaping holes through the bamboo. The freezing cold water snapping you out of visions of crashing through the bamboo and being eaten by the pigs.
Scrubbing up for Dinner.
The evening meal was the fish and crabs we had caught earlier in the day. Ok, what Ame, Richard and Monica had caught. I’m a lousy fisherman. The highlight for me though was the delicious sweet potato soup with rice and pumpkin stew.
After dinner we settled down on the rug with our beer. A number of elderly neighbours came over to see us. Monica thought that this was what the women of the village do in the evening. Chatting on the terrace beats Eastenders hands down I suppose. The women soon turned their attention to us. Apparently they had come over to offer us a traditional Lahu massage. Richard and I were content to stay on the terrace with our beer. Monica decided on the massage. She was attended to by three of the women for the bargain price of 100 Baht.
Meanwhile, Ame entertained us with his bamboo puzzles. He set various challenges with the sticks. The first was a matchstick pig. We had to make many pigs by moving only two sticks. Impossible we replied. Only two sticks? How many pigs do you want Ame?
“Many pigs, all same size. It’s easy” Ame replied with his infectious grin.
Defeated, he tweaked two sticks to reveal a pregnant pig.
“See. Many pigs. Same Same!”.
We took more care over the next few puzzles. Overall we managed a 50% success rate. Meanwhile our host Chlaa was making an interesting contraption with huge hooks at either end of a bamboo tube. It turns out he was making a trap for Bamboo rats. Apparently they are really tasty treats. Maybe next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment