Lunch in amongst the Rice Paddy.

A lazy day - again

The others got up early to leave at 4:30am to go hike up a hill to look at stuff. Not likely for me. I had an awful night and was quite happy to loll and finish yesterdays blog, of course after I had done Wordle, Worldle, Connections blah blah and of course a Spanish lesson. 

Not being one to eat breakfast I broke the rules and went to join the others when they returned from their hike. And yep of course I had breakfast. With a vast array of food I started my day with a dosa (not crispy like the Indian ones), chicken curry and the staple string hoppers which look like white vermicelli, taste of very little and have the stretchy consistency of Ethiopian ingeera. Maybe not quite as bad. But the curry was great!

Lazing round the pool while our rooms were serviced was just what the doctor ordered. The water was refreshing and a pleasant change from the heat. Its not so humid here but still bloody hot. 

Time to move on and we board our bus. The ever present tuk-tuks speed past.  There are very few private cars, probably too expensive but there are hundreds of tuk-tuks. 

We stop near a shrine and pile into waiting Jeeps to take us across the rice paddies and off road to our lunch venue. A rustic space with crude tables, a wood fire and a couple with smiling faces and gentle natures. We are surrounded by green; rice paddies, banana trees and palm trees. It’s like being in paradise. 

A young girl, Tenouri, who is 7 years old gave us a flower as we arrived and we sat around a space watching our hosts prepare our meal. What a sublime setting. 

As we sat round the outdoor space we watched our host make a Pumpkin curry. 

Then saw snake gourds being scraped to remove the outer fibres (which can be boiled and then eaten to help with heart diseases). The gourd grows on a vine and looks like an elongated cucumber. We had it thinly sliced in a salad with carrot, red onion, coconut, garlic, salt, pepper and tomato.  Oh my god. What a flavour bomb. I don’t need anything else but this. 

Next we see them making a coconut sambol, one of my favourites. I’m watching this one as I be making it as soon as I get home. Ananda tells us we get a booklet with all the recipes when the tour finishes. The guy never fails to amaze. 

As well as the pumpkin curry, the coconut sambol and the salad we have a jackfruit pickle, rice, fried lake fish and popadoms. 

Ananda gives us a run down on the health benefits of the different vegetables. He is such a hive of information. Amazing. 

We pile up our wooden plates lined with a banana leaf and once again go to heaven. 

OMG that salad and the pol sambol (coconut sambol) were out of this world. The zing of the chilli with the coconut and refreshing lime took me another level. 

Dessert was a macaranda peltata leaf (an australian tree) wrapped around a paste of grated coconut, sugar or coconut molasses and millet and called halapa. Once the leaf is folded over the filling the packages are steamed. A little like fruit leather, softer and more delicious. 

Not only did we have an exceptional mouthwatering meal but our hosts went to pains to make sure we learned about everything.  A fabulous way to spend a few hours in the shade fanned by a gentle breeze. 

Experiences like this are exactly why a tour can give you something that solo travel cant. Magic. 

The others have gone out to see elephants. Been there, done that and not interested but being so far out of town there’s nothing to do but relax. I am desperate to get out and explore and a bit disappointed that again tomorrow we are staying somewhere far from the township so we will be relaxing even more. 

At the moment I am sitting round the pool having just had a swim. The only sounds are those coming from the myriad of birds that call the property home. Far in the distant is the call of a peacock and closer in the lapping of the water against the sides of the pool. Tough life. 

Dinner saw a few of us having a beer and eating together. I ordered a devilled pork dish having been told it was super hot. It wasn’t, apart from a few chillies. The pork was a bit like concrete, over cooked and concrete like but the flavour delicious. The first dud meal. 

The night comes to a close after a few laughs about the lack of accounting knowledge of our waiters. A fun end to a super day.