That afternoon we had our first
experience of hill tribe hospitality and they their second experience of
hosting. It was Christmas Eve and the headman agreed to a Q and A
session. We provided the evenings
entertainment, a game involving the flipping of beer bottle tops, great
cultural ambassadors we turned out to be
Our breakfast
was prepared by our hostess, the wife of the headman and his daughters
Bubbles are a great ice breaker, children who were very
unsure of us quickly came around when they were produced, as did their
mothers
Children too young to walk are
carried, strapped to a mothers or a siblings back or
maybe riding side saddle
Black Lahu
This village was a hive of industry. We
quickly discovered the
villages (and we) wake early. Babies cry to be fed, dogs bark,
cocks crow, pigs grunt and at first light there is the rhythmic sound of
rice being pounded
Every boys dream is to have his own cockerel. They tote them around with a string attached to a leg
and occasionally
two will be thrown to the ground to fight. Children's birds
have no spurs. With such beautiful photogenic children
around it is no wonder we had to ration our film to avoid running out in
the jungle