Lazing Amongst Paddy's

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Breakfast was served up st the main house and the owner couldn't have been more accommodating. His Dutch heritage shows in the fusion breakfast which included a green pancake fringed with bananas (?).
After yesterday's travelling we all just fancied a day of kicking back. The kids watched some films, Ed and Zi played chess and droughts. It also took an age to upload seven days of blog pictures as it had been impossible in Batu Karas. Finally, Cas and I completely rethought the Cambodia and Laos itinerary and redid it to reduce travelling and create more time for activities/day trips.
We took a car to a local restaurant. Cas wasn't feeling too great when we'd ordered - it was probably the heat as it was both hot and very humid.
After lunch we asked our hotel guide if he could take us on a tour of the local village. It was very poor in terms of buildings, infrastructure and general living conditions. It was also a place of strong community and everyone we saw looked happy and content. We talked to the kids about this and time will tell if this leaves them with a balanced view about the true nature of happiness. The guide took us to see an Indonesian shadow puppet maker who taps out flattened buffalo skins to make his incredibly intricate puppets.
As we walked through the paddy fields in the evening, there were numerous flashing fireflies which the kids found fascinating.

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