We signed ourselves up for a half day cycling tour to "see fish farms, shrimp farms, rice fields, talk to the local farmers", with the highlight being a delectable home style lunch prepared by the village chief's Mrs. Indeed, the highlight was delicious! Simple but really really delicious. Perhaps we were hungry from cycling a few hours in the sun. But still, the hoi sin kangkong, tom yam chicken, seafood vemicelli, and a very very simple egg omelette totally whetted our appetites. With our bicyles safely parked under a tree (without having to chain it like a prisoner in Guantanamo, as Olof said it), we headed into the village chief's shed (yes, it was a shed, with no walls or any concrete) and sat at a table already laid out with cutlery. The chief tends a rice field, shrimp farm and a fish farm, just like any other farmers in the same village. 
Although we never met him, his humble abode was not flambyoyant and his gentle-mannered wife was certainly nothing other than friendly and amicable, although she, like many fashion conscious Thai woman, had colored hair and Chanel-red lipstick on. The TV was rumbling on in the background all the time when we were there. The ladies looked at it only every now and then. Most of the time they were staring into space, into the rice fields or at us. Their way of life was indeed quiet and tranquil, and we appreciated that. But perhaps only for an afternoon, said Olof. Too much of that will bore us to death, I reckoned.
We, urbanites, complained all the time that city life is very hectic, stressful and unfulfilling. Yet, our longing for a more simple way of life lasts no more than an afternoon. After a few hours into the real rural, we can't wait to go back to the exciting, happening, and comfortable urban living again. What wretches are we!
Honorary mention of Olof here that he was quite sun-burned from a day out beside the pool at our hotel on Saturday. We were excited (perhaps abit too over) and went crazy over finally being able to bask ourselves in our newly-bought swimwear (of course with the intention to show off to the Bangkok-nites) under the sun (to be precise, it was cloudy actually) THAT we totally omitted the sun block. That was really reckless. My mom eventually pushed the blame to me on Olof's sunburn. "A seasoned sun-baker like you should know better!" she screamed. She was quite right. I was slightly burnt too, but Olof looked like a cooked lobster, oh man. Very delectable, except you have to remove quite some hair before digging in, perhaps.
We ended up having to do damage control by smearing ourselves with layers and layers of moisturisers. Our last check this morning: Olof's red is slowing fading away. My nose is beginning to peel.
Waiting at the airport now to embark on our next journey to Koh Samui, we can't wait to dive into the clear sea waters and play with the fishes and be awed by the rainbow-colored coral reefs. Hopefully no more sun burn... but more sun kisses....
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