We moved to different hotel because they had a pool. Did I mention how hot it is? 100 or so with high humidity. But the old hotel gave us a gift upon leaving, a silk scarf for each. Yes, it did make us feel a little guilty. We found the veggie restaurant we had been looking for and had an Asian version of an egg McMuffin.... Three slices of bread, with a mushroom patty and a fried egg. Another shake. Coffee is amazing here.
The pool was so inviting, so we lazed around trying to cool our bodies off. Difficult when the pool water is about the same as the ambient temperature. But it was nice to sit still for a few hours. You can only go at full speed for so long. We still had an afternoon adventure planned. We met up with our driver Chin Chin to drive out to an old temple from the 11th century. On the way we stopped at some small villages. The first village specialized in Bamboo sticky rice. They mix up rice, coconut water, beans and maybe something for sweetness, pack it into a hollowed bamboo tube about 10 inches long, and then place the tubes in a trough of charcoal. Once it cools, you peel back the bamboo and eat the sticky rice. It was so smooth and sweet, but with a woodsmoke flavor.
Next stop was the fish paste village. Full disclosure, I did not try any. They start with piles of deboned medium sized fish. Yes, the pile gettting ready for the next batch was sitting in the sun covered with flies. Then they throw all these fish pieces into huge clay pots with lots of salt. They have large paddles for mixing it all up. It sits in these pots for months, fermenting away. Covered, no flies at this point. Once it is ready, they package it into little plastic rolls, about the size of your finger, or small plastic pyramids for a single serving. I'm Sure we've been eating it I almost every dish we've had.
Our last village made rice paper for spring rolls. Today's production was mostly gone, but what was left was laid out on the grassy strip beside the road, awaiting the dew to soften it up.
We visited the 11th century temple ruins and beside it there was a large wat. Apparently this was a special Buddhist holiday so the wat was filled with chanting monks and townspeople. I was allowed to sit on the floor near the back with the other women and listen to the monks for half an hour. Just when I thought I might leave, they came and brought plastic cups of sugarcane juice to everyone... Their version of an energy drink. I finished most of that and headed out the back door only to be invited to sit down next to an old woman. Finished my juice with her and she was very intent on comparing our skin. Personally I thought her even bronze tone was much more beautiful than my freckled, wrinkly version.
On the way back to town I realized that every house had one or two huge urns filled with water out front. Many people were having sponge baths at the end of the steamy day. There was also some sort of secret code, because little kids came flying out of every nook and cranny to yell "hello!" . If you say hello back, the kids are so excited.
We walked down to the food stalls along the river for dinner. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to which vendor served which area. We sat down, and the one English menu was brought out. The food was excellent as it has been everywhere. We did stop for one more milkshake on the way home. Mango this time..
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