Today was a long day of driving from Chiang Mai to Melanoi; about four hours. It was a rainy dreary day, but the scenery was beautiful.
We passed rice fields, green mountains, rivers, ornate temples, a huge Buddha statue in the mountains, and many stilted houses. We were met by Ra Pi’s brother, Wi, who started teaching us Thai the moment we met him. Speaking Thai is very difficult. If a word is pronounced correctly it can still be misunderstood if the tone is incorrect. The word maa can mean dog, horse, or to come depending on the tone.
We are staying in a rather large two story house in a tiny little village. Shortly after we arrived Wi asked if we would like to see a cow being cut up. Of course everyone wanted to go, so we piled into the truck and drove to a hill where local men were gathered. I grew nervous as we walked closer and I could see the color red. Several men were working on cutting up the cow with knives and machetes. The chopping noise was a little hard to handle as well as the breaking of the ribs, but the sound of air escaping the cavity was even worse. What really got to me was the smell. As gross as it was to see the cow being chopped up into pieces, it was very interesting too. Once most of the cow was cut up, Wi took a leg (hoof and all) and we headed back to the house. We did not have beef for dinner, but I’m sure we will have some eventually. In fact I hear them chopping up the meat now.
The pictures are a little graphic so check out “My Pictures” to see them if you really want to.
