If you never heard my plug this place the first time I came to Thailand, here it is: If you visit Thailand, the Cave Lodge is the one place you must not miss. The food, culture and activities paint a very representative picture of living in Northern Thailand.
This time I went for about a week with some good friends from Jackson, Nate and Tina. We signed on for a trek where you hike up through the jungle and spend the night with a hill tribe. On they way up the guide points out just about every root, shrub and tree that is used in their day to day lives; from mushrooms used in soups to herbal spices used for pregnant women in steam saunas. During the 7 hour hike we would collect enough food to feed both us and the family we stayed with.
Over the next couple of days I saw some pretty freaky things. A couple of years ago the prime minister of Thailand instituted a program which installed solar panels for every hill tribe villager so they would have electricity. The place we stayed modestly used it for lighting, however at least 2/3 of the huts were using it to run their televisions for 2 hrs a day.
The food we made was probably the hottest thing I've ever put i my mouth. I was torn, because it was also some of the tastiest food I've ever had. Which on a side note, be very, very careful if you ever eat wasabi in this country. I've come very close to booting in public multiple times.Oh yeah, before I forget here is a video of some villagers getting rice ready for harvest.
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