The boaters were collecting seaweed this morning as we headed out on another day around the lake. It is used in cooking, as fertilizer and also in the floating tomato gardens. A particular type is harvested, sun dried than laid out on the water where it floats. Bamboo poles pin it to the lake bottom and then soil is piled on top and tomatoes are grown on these floating pads. Acres of this construction is laid out in rows so all the tending and collection is done by boat. Ingenious.
We travelled up river today to visit some villages and do a short "trek." Actually we went for a walk on a dusty road with a couple of guides and got lost. We did find the village eventually where the cheery Aussie cop distributed some much needed school supplies. Teacher looked about 14 years old - kids were very cute!
A group of four women came out of a masonry building to check out the visitors. One older lady (she was 84) had such a great face that everyone wanted a pic but she wanted cigarettes in return. Lucy obliged with a couple of cheroots from yesterday.
We travelled up river today to visit some villages and do a short "trek." Actually we went for a walk on a dusty road with a couple of guides and got lost. We did find the village eventually where the cheery Aussie cop distributed some much needed school supplies. Teacher looked about 14 years old - kids were very cute!
A group of four women came out of a masonry building to check out the visitors. One older lady (she was 84) had such a great face that everyone wanted a pic but she wanted cigarettes in return. Lucy obliged with a couple of cheroots from yesterday.
Had some curried tofu for lunch along with a massive fresh
coconut at a nice little open air restaurant near the landing. The clouds
started getting darker as we boated home but our resort had nicely provided
both umbrellas and fleece blankets for the chill and damp. The rain didn’t
amount to much but it did fill the lotus leaves in the lagoon with jewel like
drops of water!
We had a complimentary Shan style dinner on our final night:
lentil soup and various tidbits of fish, chicken, eggplant etc. served on
banana leaves. The dining hall in this place is a massive teak structure – two
stories high with I’m sure seating for 200 inside. There was a lovely flower
and lights arrangement in a canoe at the entry.
At breakfast the next morning, the owner came over to chat
with us and wish us well on our journey – I believe that he is 3rd
generation Chinese. A very gracious host – and multilingual too as he was
chatting with German, French and Koreans as well.
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