bird legs getting bigger

 I just got back from a very mild trek and and overnight home stay outside of Savannakhet Town. It was such a wonderful experience! I will try to make a shorter length entry about it with hopes that my photos can complete half the story. I'll post the photos in a few days hopefully.

We Started at 8 in the morning a couple of days ago. Our first stop, by tuk tuk was to a salt mine! At first I thought this sounded not too exciting but it actually was so interesting and visually amazing to see! Again, my photos will speak better here. - It was beautiful! It was like being in a snow crystal wonderland! -Hahah but soooo hot making it really bizarre. There were different areas for for all of the different process and so it wasn't uncommon to see random buildings with Salt growing down the sides! - And like I said, it looked like snow and icicles - In the middle of this hot orange country-side it looked like the buildings had snow stuck on them.

After the Salt we -(Me, Jessica, Sean, David, Johan and our Guides) took the tuk tuk to a trail in the forest. We then walked about 3 hours in the hot forest. It was so delightful though because it wasn't a hard trek. - NO hills, all flat and easy, so we just got to walk and enjoy what was around us. We saw many strange bugs -including a spider the SIZE OF MY HAND, and a Scorpion!!! Also the guides showed us many leaves and berries that were edible - they were delicious! Around noon we stopped at a large patch of grass for a lunch pic-nic. The food was fantastic! - All cold. The main thing to eat was cabbage wraps! There were herbs (like dill!!!), sticky rice, tomatoes, peanuts, and noodles that we wrapped in cabbage leaves and then dipped in a tasty spicy sauce. We also had banana fritters and yummy rice cakes and salads.

After lunch we walked a couple more hours stopping in between to play some stick games and make jewelery out of leaves and reeds. Eventually we ended up in the village where we were spending the night. The village was beautiful, very clean and lots of wood fences and chickens and dogs and playing children and well kept gardens. We dropped our bags off at our home stay house and then our guide took us for a fun walk! We ended up going to a temple and getting incents to make prayers and also got prayed for and received bracelets. After the temple our guide bought us some desert on the street! A foot long bamboo poll filled with warm brown rice and black beans and sugar!!! We also got *fresh* sugar can juice - it was sweet but so natural tasting and maybe one of the best drinks I've ever had!

After that we were given a couple hours to just relax and do what we wanted. This part of the story I am mainly writing for Mum because she will appreciate the awfulness (for me)! :
We were all hanging out in our bedroom which was old and wooden and very airy. Our mattresses for the evening were stacked in a line - They were thin mattress that could be folded 5 times to make a tidy small rectangle. We had sat down on a mattress each to talk about what we wanted to do. Then Sean undid a fold of his mat so that he could sit on cushion and lean his back against the rest. Good Idea - I unfolded my top layer and, a hem, THREE Silverfish wend scurrying from the fold creases and down to the ground. Of course I screamed! And, not only the 3 silverfish, but also swarming with Ants. Our guide ran to see what was wrong and unfolded my mat all the way, and THEN a large Cockroach came out of another fold, this time at least 3 of us screamed! The guide took my mat outside and shook it off. I asked Sean and Dave if they could shake it again, but they suggested going out for a beer and letting it air out, and then shaking it again when we came back. And the silverfish portion of the story is over for now...

We went for a beer and it was a lot of fun, the people in this village were very friendly. It was so nice to have a beer with some good people and hear tales of travel in India and watch the Village life pass by...

We went back to our room about an hour later and I got Dave to shake my mattress right away. Immediately while shaking ANOTHER Silverfish fell out and I screamed and ran to the other side of the room. Dave shook some more and put the mat back down beside Sean. - *Then* I caught Sean flicking the mat with his finger. I yelled "WAS that another one?!" and he nodded. I then told everyone I was NOT sleeping on that mattress. But its just *so* funny that it eded up being me to discover all thos bugs on the mattress I claimed. - As it turned out later, boys & girls we not allowed to sleep next to each other, so I got to sleep on a clean mattress with Jessica, far away from the silverfish one *PHEW* We put a sheet on and blocked ourselves off with a mosquito net and were safe and happy.

ANYWAY. Before bed was a very happy time! We had a few beers with the local men and before dinner the family that was hosting us had a welcoming ceremony. In a room, we all gathered around a centerpiece filled with flowers, bananas and chocolate bars(!!) and we held onto the the centerpiece and the family said prayers. They then gave us all a dish each with a banana, chocolate bar, a hard-boiled egg and a bunch of colourful braided bracelets. We held the dish in our right hand and they sang and each person from the home came around the circle, took a bracelet from our dish, and then tied it to our wrist while saying a prayer. It was so, so sweet. The old ladies did it so well, soft and gentle, and the children did it as well - but with less of a soft touch. The children doing it made both jess and I almost cry, it was just so so sweet and magical. In fact, every time I glanced at the little girls all night i wanted to cry. They were so happy and so interested and so shy too. One little girl had a little bob haircut and big brown eyes, and I *could not* look at her - I got too homesick - little miranda.

After the Ceremony we had a Huuuuge family dinner - Piles of rice, loads of veggie dishes and sauces and fish sausage and eggs and fruit, it was TOO much, but so perfect! When we finished eating the family started playing music and singing! They asked us to sing, and since there were 4 canadians we sang the National Anthem for them! It was really fun/funny, and they all clapped after - probably didn't understand any of it! (Only our guide could speak English, so he always translated for all of us). After that they asked Johan to sing a song so he bravely sung his national anthem by himself and  a man played the flute along. It was perfect... Soon after we went to bed! Sleep was good, but I got cold in the middle of the night and sheepishly didn't want to use my blanket with fear of hiding silverfish...

We were awoken at 5:30am where we dressed up and then went to give rice and wafers to passing monks. After that we ate a good breakfee- a grab what you want of rice, eggs, fish, cabbage and coffee. We soon walked for a few hours in HOT sun, passing some villages and trying new fruits and then arrived at another main village. From here we were taken on a tour of the locals working - weaving fabric and living their lives! We also passed thru a school yard full of playing, curious children. We then continued our hot walk for another couple of hours and eventually ended up at a lake where we had another good, cold lunch - this time with some delicious fried fish! After lunch we tuk tuked to another lake where we just sat on a sheltered dock for a while, drinking cold Pepsi and just hanging out, putting an end to our little learning adventure. We were driven home back to Savannakhet and now here I am - A little bit more tan. It was a wonderful Trek and i would highly suggest it to anyone passing by that wants a mild trek and wants to learn more about the locals and enjoy some good food and people. Unfortunately I don't know the name of the company at the moment, but if any travellers are reading this, just ask and I will find out.

Tomorrow we head further south. =)