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Published: August 6th 2007
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Gorgeous sky
Around sunset The morning I left to go back to the farm Jen and I had a discussion about Tibet. Jen expressed quite a bit of interest in seeing Tibet as well, so we decided that Jen would think about it a bit more and then we'd talk in a few days. I caught the bus to Vang Vieng after saying goodbye to Jen and the Kiwis (Nick, Rochelle, and Jimmy). I thought seriously about flying back to China, but I decided to go overland instead.
I've been negligent in my blog updating so I've forgotten some of the specifics from the farm, so this is going to be a pretty short entry. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's get on with the post!
I ended up spending eight days at the farm, and it was a really relaxing and enjoyable time. Most of the days were spent hiding from the sun at the restaurant, in the river, or in the dorm. The weather this time around was completely different from the last time. Most days were around 100 degrees, so not much happened until things cooled down at night.
One morning a bunch of us got up
early and set about making mud bricks. The process involves mixing dirt, sand, straw, and rice husks in a pit with a bunch of water. The resulting mud is a thick, heavy concoction that makes rather impressive bricks when it's packed into forms. We spent the entire morning mixing the mud and making the first batch of bricks. By 11 or so, we were so hot that we all ran over to the river and spent some time cooling off before having lunch. We finished off the mud in the afternoon and went for another swim after admiring our handiwork.
Several of us helped out in the english classes during the week, which was a great experience again. One evening, the older kids got split into groups and they all wrote little skits. The groups got to act out the skits in a later class, and it was amazing to see how well they did. I was especially proud of my group. Everyone came to class with their lines memorized, which really surprised me. They did a great job with the acting as well, and the whole group had a blast. It certainly wasn't something that they were used
Local wildlife
Found in the bathroom to doing!
I had been at the farm for a few days when I got a call from Jen. I was actually really worried because I couldn't think of who knew I was at the farm. It all turned out fine, though. Jen had been reading about China and had come across some information about the Labor Day holiday which was due to start on May 1st and run for a week. Of course that's when I was planning to get to China and I wasn't exactly keen on traveling in China during a holiday. So, I told Jen I'd do some more research and get back to her. Two days later, Jen turned up at the farm since we had definitively decided to go to China together. The plan was to go overland, but plans change and we made the decision to stay at the farm for a while and then head south to an as yet unnamed Thai beach.
With one exception, the evenings were a lot milder than the previous time I was at the farm. We did have one pretty wild night though. The occasion was Mr. T's birthday. Mr. T is the wonderful
Mud bricks
The results of our efforts owner of the farm, so a rather large celebration was in order. The evening began with cake (four pancakes stacked with chocolate poured over them) and banana liquor shots. It progressed to Beer Lao and poker. Early the next morning, after the beer cooler had been locked up, we ran out of beer. Emma, Sasha, and I decided to go out and obtain some more. We didn't consider the fact that it was after midnight and absolutely nothing was going to be open. We walked up the dirt lane towards the main road for a few hundred meters until we came to another guest house/restaurant. It was all closed up, but we saw that they had a beer cooler so we decided to get some beer. There was a wall that had to be scaled (I helped Emma and Sasha over before jumping over myself). In the process I lost one of my flip-flops (brand new, too, since my previous sandals got stolen earlier that day). So, I was busy searching the ground with my hands looking for the errant flip-flop, while the girls went over to the restaurant. Eventually I gave up on the shoe and joined them. The
cooler was open so we grabbed some beer and then left a bunch of kip stuck to the cooler to pay for them. I helped the girls back over the wall and then proceeded to limp my way back to the farm without flip-flops.
Once back at the farm I decided to go and retrieve my flip-flip. I grabbed my headlamp and then hobbled back up the rocky road. I hopped over the wall again and found it in about 5 seconds. I can see why I missed it without the light, it was about 15 feet from where we jumped over somehow. I made a hasty retreat back over the wall and rejoined the girls at the restaurant where we finished off the beer and called it a night around 3.
The next day was really hot (105 or so) and I had a wicked hangover. So, I spent most of the day trying to stay cool by taking showers and sleeping in between. The rest of the time at the farm was pretty uneventful. On our last night I shaved Maya's head with my electric razor. She had it shaved before and was itching to get
Maya and I
After her haircut... it back that way. It was a lot of fun for everyone, especially when I gave her a really lopsided mohawk.
That's it for the return to the farm. I said my goodbyes to Mickan and the gang again, and Jen, Maya and I set off for Vientiane.
Stay tuned for the next entry.
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