I woke up about 2:00 PM, showered and dressed as we had been invited by Chom-nom to attend an Akha Festival in Ban AYO. After saying good-bye to the folks from Burma we left Mae Sai a little after 3:00 PM.
It was a little smoky but traffic was pretty light. When we made the turn off route 1 onto the Mae Salong Road, there were two farang (non-Asian) back packers standing by the road. We stopped and asked where they were going. They told us Mae Salong but the songtail, actual Thai name is "Sǎwngthǎew", (small pickup truck with a people carrier mounted in the pickup bed) would not go unless there were eight people or got paid for eight people.
We told them we could give them a ride about 12 kilometer but that may strand them. They said that would be great. We managed to put their two large backpacks and them in the back of our Nissan March. She was from Spain and he is from Switzerland but were traveling as a couple.
After talking with them, we felt they were a nice couple and ask them if they would like to go to the Akha village of Ban AYO with us. We called Chom-nom to see if his Mother had room on her floor for two visitors to sleep the night. He said: "Yes." so we brought them with us.
It was nice to see Chom-nom's Mother, Mee-chu. We talked and laughed a little. They were building a new restroom, here called a water room as the whole room is built to be wet.
It has a toilet, squat style, along with a big tub for water. To flush the toilet you just take a dipper of water from the tub and pour it into the toilet. To shower, you pour the dipper of water over your body, soap up and then use the dipper of water to wash off the soap. Because the water is cold, it is pretty invigorating.It needs water piping for the water and some tile or concrete rendering and it will be ready to use. In the mean time she and her guests use the neighbor's wet room.
The only thing I don't like with this kind of restroom plumbing is the sewage goes to a cesspool and not a septic system, septic tank first before the cesspool.
We talked and laughed until after five o'clock. We put their backpacks in Mee-Chu's home and drove back, maybe a kilometer, to the area they were having the celebration. It was on the top of a hill that had been leveled and a huge concrete pad had been pored. It is my understanding that Nok Airlines did this for the Akha Village. It would make a great helicopter pad.
At the end of the concrete a stage with lights and PA system had been set up. Because Thai people tend to park were ever they want, we parked by the entrance so we would not be blocked in so if we wanted to leave before the complete show was over at around midnight. We were going to go back home, about 50 kilometer, and sleep in our own bed.Chom-nom met us and took us to a table that had been set up for us so we could eat. We had Akha (mountain) rice, vegetables, pork and spicy sauce. The folks we had picked up loved it.
After eating, it was almost dark, the entertainment started. It was very nice to see Chom-nom taking control of the event and singing, too.
It is also great to see the Akha ladies all dressed up. This lady had a great voice, as well.
Everyone was having a wonderful time. I would guess there were over five hundred folks here. It is our understanding that this will be the first of an annual celebration here on the mountain. We think it is to celebrate the Akha heritage.
Daeng had her picture taken with the Thai/Akha super star comedian that was headlining this entertainment. I laughed at his signature joke. He says he is so scary looking, he can only come our at night. The audience loved him.
We said good-bye to the gang.
Time for us to go home. When we got to our car we found that we were parked in by over a dozen motorbikes. We were grateful they were no cars blocking us as we could move the motorbikes out of the way.
After starting the car and turning on the headlights so we could see, we moved all the motorbike out of the way. We drove down the mountain and home.
It was a fun trip
