A
TASTE OF TRADITION - a traditional craft experience
An
opportunity to learn about traditional crafts and
activities in the village - silk weaving, basket making and
rice cultivation, to sample local Isan cuisine and to try your
hand at food foraging.
Day 1
Meals: Dinner - tour starts in the afternoon.
Pick up from Sida bus stop or Bua Yai train station and transfer
to homestay.
Meet the family and some of the local people.
Take a walk through the family rice fields and learn the process
from planting to harvesting. You can visit the villagers' homes
where the various traditional processes take place. Alongside the
rice fields you will find irrigation canals where the Ko Phet villagers
have planted an organic vegetable garden, growing squashes, beans,
peppers, chillies etc. [Please note that these activities
are dependent on your arrival time and also the weather.]
If the school is open, you can visit and talk
to the teachers and children and look at their work.
Return to the homestay
house and garden where you can sit in the shaded splash pool while
Lamai prepares a typical Isan meal, followed by a drink on the verandah
to watch the water buffalos amble homewards while the sun sets over
the lake.Overnight
at the homestay.
Day 2
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Following a leisurely breakfast, travel by car
to a small, rarely-visited village, where you can see the local
craftspeople carry out their part in the silk-making process, depending
on the time of year. They may be boiling silk worms, spinning the
silk, dyeing it or weaving it. You will have the whole process explained
to you.
It is important to note that this is not set
up as a tourist "silk village". This is an Isan rice village
where many of the women supplement the family income by spinning,
dying or weaving silk in their own homes.
In the afternoon, visit Bua Yai market to learn
about the exotic fruits and aromatic spices used in Isan cooking
and experience the traditional lifestyle of the region. Lunch will
be taken in one of the local restaurants.
On the way home, time permitting, visit the 11th
century Hindu Temple at Prang Ban Sida and hand-feed the tame catfish
in the pond.
Return to the guesthouse in the evening to enjoy
a meal in the beautiful gardens.
Evening meal and overnight at the homestay.
Day 3
After breakfast, you will accompany Lamai and
her mother on a food-foraging trip. Depending on the season, they
will take you to their favourite source of edible insects. These
will be collected (usually in a wicker basket on the end of a bamboo
pole) and brought back to Lamai's mother's home where she
will demonstrate how best to cook them. You are welcome to sample
them but it is not compulsory!
In the afternoon, you can again go into the countryside,
this time with a small trowel, when you will dig for bamboo shoots
and pick wild mushrooms - delicious with rice and certainly worth
a try. OR
You can spend the afternoon visiting one of the
villagers who specializes in making baskets of all shapes and sizes
from bamboo. If you choose something small to make, e.g. pot-pourri
basket, you can take it home with you.
Day 4
Meals: Breakfast -Tour ends after breakfast.
Transfer to bus- stop at Sida or Bua Yai train station for onward
journey OR
stay an additonal night OR combine with one of our other tours.
PRICES
2-4 persons 4,546 baht per person
Children under 2 - FREE in parents' room. Children between 2
and 12: 70% when sharing same room with 2 adults and one extra bed
is required.
Transfer to/from Sida bus stop - free.
Transfer to/from Bua Yai train station 200 baht.
Services included in the price:
All meals as outlined in the itinerary
Admission fees where applicable
Services not included
in the price:
Alcoholic drinks. Flights, trains, bus fares and other
transport costs other than those outlined in the itinerary.
