So many mulberries!

Fourteen hours and three flat tires later I arrived at the organic mulberry farm in vang vieng, Laos! 

One of our flat tires:

There are two ways to travel in Laos (and Thailand). You can take a mini van packed with hungover holiday'ers that will only talk you about getting drunk and where the best dance clubs are. Or you can take public transportation where you will be one of the only "farong". They cost around the same price but the mini vans are much faster by 3-5 hours. I find the experiences you gain on the public transportation makes it worth the extra time. 

During my ride form Nong Khaiw to Laung Prabong we had 17 people, 2 babies, 5 chickens, loads of veggies and friut; all stuffed into the back of a truck. I was sitting next to an old women who loved talking to me in Lao, pinching my cheeks and then laughing. Each time we got a flat tire this old lady and I would walk along the side of the road and pick edible plants. By the third flat tire I was a master at identify editable ferns and leaves. Back in the truck we all ate the greens with sticky rice and an assortment  chily sauces. I love how caring and generous Lao people are. After each flat tire we had to stop at the next town to get the tires fixed at a shop. During these stops we would all get out and wait, I decided to whip out my hula hoop while waiting. Everyone loved playing with the hoop. We were all laughing and drinking "beer Lao".

I arrived at the farm around midnight. The next morning I woke up at six. I decided to have a walk around the farm. While looking at the goat house I was soon put to work, sweeping poop into the compost. 

Goat house: 

 

After poop scooping I got to milk the goats and then feed the milk to the babies! 

Heres a picture of all us volunteeres on the farm. 

For breakfast, lunch and dinner I normally roam the mulberry fields! 

This was my first experience with mulberries and I LOVE them. They look like raspberries but taste like blueberries. And the best part is the bush dose not have thorns making it easy and fun to pick. 

I treated myself to some yummy banana spring rolls with a mulberry/pineapple sauce. 

The Nam Song river runs trough the back yard of the farm! At around 5pm everyone in the village walks through fhe farm to bathe in the river. 

I like to take a walk to my new favorite friut shake stand.  

This picture is looking out onto the road. 

This is typical vehicle for many Lao people. 

Tomorrow I will head to a more remote farm 20km from here called Sae Lao. I will have no electricity for two weeks! 

Stay tuned for there is always more adventures to come! 

Life on the Mekong

Two weeks ago I arrived to Laos! I decided to take the slow boat, a two day journey down the Mekong rive to the city of Laung Prabong. 

We stayed over night in a small village along the way. While all the tourist hurried off the boat to check into a guest house, I decided to walk down a smaller road and just ask if I could sleep at someone's house. A very nice Lao family invited me into their home. They fed me and provided me with a mat and blankets! I woke up the next morning and did some dishes and helped the girls get ready for school by putting makeup on. When I was leaving I tried to give them some money for my nights stay. They would not take my money, so I left the girls some clothe and headbands. 

This is a picture of the sunrise on the river. 

The haze is actually caused by all the farmers burning the forest. They use this slash and burn method all over Asia. It is becoming a growing problem for the environment and peoples health. Ages ago when they started this method it was okay because there were not as many people. But as the population grows so does the fire and smoke! 

Lao kids along the river bank: 

This picture is too perfect for words: 

My boat trip ended at a dock 2km outside of Laung Prabong. There was a steep climb up a large set of wonky stairs to the street. A small Lao lady was carrying a hudge load of food and bags. All the tourist and macho men hurried past her almost knocking her over. I decided to help her by taking one of her bags. At the top she thanked me then offered me a ride into town. On the way she asked me where I was staying. I told her I was just planning on walking around I until I found a place. She invited me to stay at her house. Only if I tought her and her daughter hula hoop tricks! I decided that was a good deal! 

I decided one day to bike 32km to these amazing waterfalls outside of town. 

There was a bear rescue center at the waterfall. 

I learned that the mother bears are being captured by people and kept in very small cages while they take bile from them. The bile is the sold to people in china and Vietnam and used in medicine. Many baby bears are dying because they cannot survive without their mothers. And the mothers are being treated very bad. This orginazation: free the bears. Has camps all over Asia. They rescue momma bears and help to find the babies as well. 

I decided to head north to some remote villages. 

This is Nong Khaiw. A small village along the Nam Om river. 

5 days ago I spontaneously hopped aboard a boat headed for an even more remote village called Mong Nogi. I spent a couple peacefull nights here. 

From there I walked 3 hours to the next village. I have no pictures of that because I left my bag and phone at the families house I stayed at in Mong Nogi. 

The people of Laos are very nice. They will take you into their homes and feed you papaya and Lao Lao (triditional rice whiskey). And give you a place to sleep for little to no money. 

Tomorrow I will head south to stay on a farm! I'm ready to get my hands dirty again! 

Stay tuned for more adventure! 

Yum yum done

The past month has been a busy blurr full of wonderful times... 

On February 17th I started cooking for a permaculture course at Tacomepai in pai Thailand. Myself and two other friends/volunteers took on the challenge of cooking three healthy meals a day for thirty people! 

This was a typical breakfast of sticky rice/ brown rice porriage, friut salad and a green salad. 

We made lots of starfriut chutney! 

And raw cookies! 

Raw beet/carrot/oat/nut ball: 

We also did a lot of foraging. I learned how to first identify and then cook with new ingredients. For example the banana heart, banana flower, tapioca roots and leaves, morning glory and pandana (a leaf that taste sweet). 

During one of my weekend nights off So friends and I went to a place 45 min outside of pai called moon village. This is a Japaneese community that throws a 108 day festival/party. I met a girl from Santa Cruz and we hula hooped and played around with poi. During my time there I got bit by thousands of sand flies on my ankles. The next morning my ankles were very swollen. I wanted to heal it naturally. 

I learned that turmeric mixed with water will draw the poison out. So I made some beautiful turmeric wraps:

The wraps really helped for the pain. I also learned eating an entire clove of garlic every hour helps heal infections. So I tried that aswell. 

After four days my feet started to turn blueish and I got a fever.  I decided it was time for some good ol' weastern medicine! 

When I got to the hospital the doctor took one look at my feet and suggested that I stay in the hospital for 3-7 days. I did not see the hospital being the best place for me to heal. So as an alternative I convinced my doctor to let me come in every 6 hours (that's four times a day!- 1am, 7am, 1pm,7pm). That fun lasted for four days. 

During my healing time I decided to do some sewing so that I would not be tempted to be running around. These are some items I stuck together or beautified with bells and lace:

These are some happy hippie headbands:

Yes that is 200 bells I put on my pants. Only to learn how annoying it is to be jingling all the time! 

Front 

 

Back 

Zoom 

Two shirts I stitched together:

Skirt made from my shirt. 

As my Thai visa was coming to an end I decided that I needed to be back at new land one last time. I spent a week there practicing my machete, bamboo and jungle knot skills. The days were also filled with baby ducks and chicks, puppie love, yummy raw food and watering plants. 

I made a drying rack. In this picture we are drying banana trunk to weave baskets! 

This is a jungle twist! It's all in the wrist:

 

This is a fire place I constructed:

This hammock was falling apart and was almost going to be thrown away. I saved it and brought it back to life! 

I decide one day that the farm has a lot of really pratical things that served many purposes. So naturally I had to make something completely useless. This is what I came up with: 

Stay tuned for more adventures.