Woke up at 4:10 this morning, quickly showered and got ready. Our group met in the hotel lobby at 5 am to go feed the monks. We walked for about 20 minutes and purchased a food combination that consisted of sticky rice and a plate of crackers and fruit. We had to kneel down on a carpet that was laid out on the side walk and had to drape a scarf around our shoulder. As the monks passed by, we would grab a bit of sticky rice or something off of the plate and drop it into their basket. Within 5 minutes, all of the food I purchased was gone. There were quite a few monks and they walked quickly through the line. There was supposed to be around 200 monks throughout the early morning, but we probably only saw half of them. After the food was handed out, we stood on the road and took a couple of photos before we had to leave.

We headed back to our hotel and checked out at 6:30 am and hopped on a slow boat that headed to our home stay location. The boat was a long, boring ride and it took us 8 full hours to get to our destination.

We arrived at the home stay around 5-5:30 pm and we were informed by our tour guide that the individuals in the tribe speak their own native language; they do not speak Lao or Thai. There were three different tribes living in the area, with a population of around 350.

As we walked through the village, it was apparent that the village was not used to seeing foreigners. But the village was adorable, since there were so many animals running around. There were dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, goats, and cows; all of which also had babies. There were also a bunch of kids throughout the village, and we would stop and take their photo. After taking a couple of photos of a group of children sitting with an elder, I went over to them and showed them the photo and they started giggling over seeing themselves. There was also a cute little boy and when his mother saw us coming through, she kept on standing him up and making him pose for us so we could take his photograph.

The house that we were planning on staying at over night was very basic; with only a select number of houses having electricity and no wifi. The washroom had a western toliet, but the toliet seat was removed and you had to place water in the bowl for it to drain. Toliet paper was to be placed in a bin. Unsure whether or not there was a shower in the house, as the tour guide said that he often doesn't shower when there and he suggested us not to bother.

When it came to the sleeping arrangments, three of us were in one house: Rhiannon, Laura, and I; while Rachel and Corina were in another house, and Mark and the tour guides shared a room with locals in a third house. We also had to get the bed ready by placing a mosquitto net over the mattress that was on the floor.

After we got ourselves organized it was time for dinner. The family made us a lot of food which included ginger chicken, curried chicken with vegetables, and a vegetable dish; all of which was served with rice. It was tasty!

After dinner, the village became dark. Our house seemed to be the only place that had electricity, and we were only able to see and hear children running about outside with flash lights. It was neat to see that the village had fireflies, and we were able to see them flashing in the dark.

Just as we assumed it was time for us to go to bed, our tour guides surprised us by telling us that they required our help. Apparently some of the children in the village have been learning how to speak english but they have yet to speak english with westerners. So a group of children arrived at the porch and we were handed a couple of books and asked to go through a couple of exercises with the children and get them to learn and speak english. Everyone was split up into groups and Corina and I had two girls to teach. For the first few minutes they seemed to be interested and focused on learning but that quickly passed, and in the end they seemed to have enough and just wanted to have fun. So we stopped teaching them and gathered them together and our tour guide quizzed them on our names and asked them a couple of questions which made them all laugh. Then we said good night to them and headed off to bed.

It was a fun day and I was able to gain a better understanding of what the Hilltribe tour is going to be like, when I am at the homestay for 2 nights. I am looking forward to it, minus the washroom and showering situation..