LAN NA TRADITIONAL FAMILY DINNER

We had dinner and a garden tour last night at a traditional Lan Na home. The Lan Na people are from northern Thailand. We were greeted at the gate by the man of the house, who presented us each with a beautifully fragrant necklace, like a lei, and a glass of lemongrass water.

There are two homes on the property. The first is a smaller teak house that is about 80 years old. The teak floors felt amazing on the bare feet. The home is built on stilts, to protect against flooding, and to give a cool living area below.

The kitchen

The grandmother of the family lives in the smaller house now, and the younger 3 generations live in the bigger home on the property.

The fun started when we sat cross legged on the floor and all participated in a welcome tea. You notice I said participated, not enjoyed. Here is a picture of the tea. You dont put it in a cup, or add water, you just put this gunk in your mouth and chew.

Can't say I will be looking for this blend anytime soon. We were saved when they passed a brass bucket around and we could spit it out. But wait, it gets even better. Next we took a Pann leaf, add some hairy roots, a Beetle nut and throw in some shaved tree sap for good measure. 

You fold it up just like a spring roll, and pop that sucker into your mouth. Unfortunately for me, I missed the part about not chewing it too much. I chewed and chewed, and all of a sudden my tongue started to feel numb. I thought, this is going to be cool, but then my little packet broke open and I had that crap everywhere. It took everything inside me to keep it in my mouth. I couldn't get that bucket fast enough. I was still picking remnants out of my teeth at breakfast this morning.

We carried on with a tour of the garden, and learned all about the plants, roots, vegetables and flowers that are growing there. The family has a small storefront where they sell their dried herbs and roots.

After the tour, we enjoyed a great dinner served in true Lan Na style, sitting on the ground.

Grandma rolled a few cigarettes for the boys using banana leaves, tobacco and her secret ingredient for added flavor.

This morning we had a quick visit to a silk factory, before saying goodbye to Thailand and flying one hour to Luang Prabang, Laos.

The lobby of our hotel in Chiang Mai, The Empress....

We have just returned from a walk into town. 

We went out for dinner, had 2 large beer, 

And some great local food, and it was only $125,000 kip, such a deal! Actually it was, works out to $16!! When we went to the ATM we took out a million kip.

Looking forward to exploring the area tomorrow, stay tuned...