I stayed with a family in a little village up in the mountains above Soppong for two nights. It was pretty cool and definitely and experience!

The family is part of a hill tribe called the Lisu people. They are one of many very old tribes in northern Thailand, and they migrated from Tibet a few hundred years ago. The village I stayed in is called Nong Tong and is entirely Lisu people. They have their own language, very distinct culture and wear very colorful clothes!

I saw an ad for a homestay while I was on the bus, and it turns out that an American by the name of Albert has married a local Lisu woman called Susanan and they set this homestay up, along with a Lisu crafts school.

I stayed in the little guestroom they have, in a big teak house with 2 floors. There is obviously some American input because they have a TV and a western toilet... Albert and Susanan live with Susanan's son and his wife. They have a garden with loads of fruit trees and stuff growing and a pig pen and a chicken coop.

The kitchen is separate from the main house, in a big shack that looks hastily put together with a corrugated iron roof and planks for the walls. No floor. They grow rice in the fields above the village, and while I was there we ate porc, lots of unidentified veggies and leaves, and of course, rice. We ate on a little round straw table and sat on squat chairs, on the ground outside the kitchen.

On my first night, as we were finishing dinner, there was a scuffle inside the chicken coop and a little chick fell out through the bottom! (It was raised off the ground, and the bottom was loose mesh with big holes). So the poor chick poked around for about 20 minutes screaming for mummy until finally locating the walkway back to safety.

On my first full day I had quite an adventure (see next post!)

On the second day, I was taught how to give Lisu style massages! Susanan gave me one first to give me the general idea, then I spent over two hours massaging her while she chatted to her friend. I made most of it up and tried to remember what she did to me... but it seemed to be right. So Lisu massage anyone?

I'm gonna be so popular when I get home, with my master chef skills and now master masseuse skills!