Work starts ...

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Geo: 16.392, 103.924

It is time to start work on Jai's cassava farm this morning and as we bike out there is a real bustle in the village as people are getting ready to go to their farms for the day. We normally miss this but I know that Jai enjoys feeling a part of the routine.
When we arrive and I look at the field stretching away into the distance then I look at the tiny hoe in my hands it is daunting to say the least. We start work about 07:45 and keep going for about 2 1/2 hrs before I call a halt. I don't want to do too much today until I find out where and how much it hurts me later on. Jai gathers up enough stuff to make a 'free' curry for lunch - her favourite type of curry. An old lady was wading through a pond we pass when walking back to the bike and she gives us a bundle of water lily stems. Reminds me of a scene from one of the Crocodile Dundee films when he cons Linda Kowalski into eating something bad; "You can live on it but it tastes like sh*t" he says and that is definitely true of these lily stems. Taste just like the muddy water they come from !
Get back for a shower, snack and a coffee then sit down with a book as Jai gets to her mat and things are quickly back to normal routine in our household.
Bike to farm late afternoon to give the trees another drink. Will make this a daily job for a while as the ones we planted late last year are looking a bit sad. We haven't had any rain since middle of October and don't really expect any now till May ! Come back with a large ripe papaya and a bag of leaves for another curry; this one is quite nice.

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