Earthen Building at Baan Rung Nok, Chiang Mai

Its been a long time due to slow internet and just too much fun to stop and internet! From about Feb.6 to Feb. 17 we helped build an earthen building with the owners Ryan and Non, a young couple living in Thailand. Ryan is an American from nothern California that is primarily a photographer but likes to earth build and Non is from Thailand, she is primarily a builder but enjoys photography - it all works out very well :)  So we helped Ryan and Non build a new office for their compound which already includes a small hut where they live, a new composting toilet, a beautiful open air kitchen, a solar shower area, and a solar panel that allows them to be completely off grid. The office we built is rounded on one end for Ryans desk where he can work on his photographs and there is also a small loft for a bed and some built in furniture such as a bench, bookshelves, and some recycled bottle art to let in more light - also a veranda in the front that you will be able to walk on and see the sunset. I took notes on how to do everything so that one day maybe I can build my own earthen house (although I'll need alot of help so some of you reading this might get an invitation sometime in the future to come for a building party!) The bricks, mortar, plaster, and paint for the house are all made completely out of dirt and some fiber such as rice husk but in different proportions of clay, sand, and top soil -  nothing goes to waste! Best of all, the thick mud walls keep cool air in during the day when the hot sun is beating down and by the time the hot air has seeped in, its much appreciated during the cool nights. Fun and dirty business though working with mud bricks all day - but there just so happened to be two beautiful lakes within 15 min. walk from the compound. At the end of each day I would walk to a lake (usually the cleaner one that was technicially a reservoir) and rinse off the clay coating I had collected, maybe even use some soap and shampoo! Really fun work (especially when Mason would throw a clay bomb and then the sneeky mud ball attacks would break out) and I will miss the other visitors working with us. Nicco: a french engineer on 3 year holiday who recently cut off all but one of his dread locks, also carried around 200 kangaroos cut out of paper; Shana: a young girl from New York just traveling who liked her sugar with a hint of coffee; Marina: from Germany who quit her job because she was burnt out and wanted time to enjoy life, rocked out to Nena; Rdik: a Czech man, one of the funniest people I've ever met, had dreds that looked like a squirrel nest, wanted to mass produce coconut moto bike helmets for babies (it all started with a conversation about him wrapping and carrying his baby in his hair like women in africa do with cloth on their backs) and all the people that were there building for the actual workshop going on for the first week of our stay.

I really enjoyed it at the Bird Nest House, building and helping Non cook our giant meals every day but Dylan and I decided that we wanted to visit the Phillipines. We are now set to leave for the Phillipines March 30 which changed our plans a bit. So, in order to fit in some of the other things we wanted to explore in Northern Thailand, we left the building site at the Bird Nest House on Thursday. Stef and Mason decided to stay so they will be able to tell us what we missed and maybe get some pictures of the office/loft with all the plaster and paint done.

For the past couple days Dylan and I have been staying with a connected friend Veechai and his wife Da and son Witsh in their very welcoming home. In Chiang Mai: temples, tigers, binturongs, elephants, elephant snot, getting blessed by monks, celebrating buddhist holidays, countless markets, and amazing food that is very different from southern Thai food - and also learning more Thai from a seven year old than we have anywhere else we've stayed.

The plans for the next few weeks are up in the air so we'll see where the wind takes us - perhaps a botany school just south of Chiang Mai, maybe Laos?

Really miss cheese right now!

Lizzie

Just Floating...

So, due to three different farms canceling on us - we have not been to another farm yet!!! So I don't have any new stories about things I've learned or people I've lived with and come to know. I can't describe to you any simple ways of life I've discovered or new skills I've learned but I can tell you of Southern Thailand's beauty. I'll write again soon with more detail but you can always check Dylan's blog for some elegant descriptions and funny stories.

We may head North!