Turns out these two days were contrasts in every possible way. The Homestay was a four hour drive to a Muslim village, where we spent the afternoon and night in the extremely hospitable (and of course alcohol-free) company of a local family. The walking tour of the village was a real education - we saw bull-fighting bulls in their pens, ate delicious fruit straight off the tree - a kind of grapefruit but with a thick green outer shell, learnt about the Thai system of supporting small farmers in cooperatives, and most amazingly saw rubber collected straight from the tree in a plantation. Dinner was incredible. All home cooked, the group did the prepping, and group leader Alif was head chef. Every ingredient was prepared from fresh, including the base red curry sauce. The food was
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