Kinyin Mekong Boat Ride

I am trying to spend a day with each of the boys  away from school each week  - last week Kinyin and I spent some time on a river boat. Kinyin has been keen to go fishing but was disappointed that during the wet season people only fish with nets as the water is to murky to use line and bait.

Mekong River - This was the size of the boat Kinyin and I were on - just the two of us

Its a big river - 180 degree view up and down

Kinyin on Mekong

Fishing

Buddhist Lent - first day (Khao Phansa)

Kinyin and myself were lucky enough to watch the monks at a local temple accepting offerings. The offering mainly took the form of sticky rice  , money and sweet biscuit.  The day before Lent I noticed on the streets pop up stores opened selling masses of the sweet biscuits that were used as offerings.

Note young boys collecting offerings in the form of sweet biscuits that the monks do not want - some of these boys have enough sweet biscuits for the year -  The monks tended to keep rice and money offerings.

Nam Khao for breakfast...

Our very first breakfast and still a firm favourite! It is called Nam Khao which I think is actually the name of the mixture that goes inside.  

First a liquid of rice is poured on a cotton cloth that is tightly bound on a drum over coals. The mixture is spread around. Then a lid is put on and it steams into a kind of glutinous pancake.

Admittedly that doesn't sound great so far! 

Here you can see the liquid being spread and the silver lid behind.

The liquid is as runny and thin as water and it seems impossible that it will set but it does!

The cook then loosens the pancake of sorts from the cloth with a piece of bamboo and cuts it into pieces as it is quite fragile. 

She uses a fat piece of bambo to drape the pieces over so she can lift them to her preparation area. Then she adds the filling which you can see in the silver bowl and folds them up to make small soggy packages a bit like cold spring rolls but much thicker skins and more glutinous.

You can have them with an egg cooked on as well. 

You eat them with toppings sprinkled like lime juice, chopped peanuts, special sauce that I don't know how to describe, chilli...

I'll try and take some more photos to show them being made and then eaten!

Super yum!

Our school

Every day Kate starts at 8:30 and I walk the boys up for 9 am start. About 1km from our guesthouse. 

The beginning...

It all started with a hair cut...

 

...and picking your hair cut when you don't speak the language is a tricky business!

There were some pictures on the wall to choose from and all things considered, everyone was happy!

Haircuts shortly followed by second breakfast of a firm favourite - morning bananas covered in coconut flour and cooked...