Fried frogs and hand-rolled Thai cigarettes

Today’s adventure was a journey out of Chiang Mai to the town of Fang (pronounced “fong”) where Miriam grew up. Enroute to Fang, we visited several locations and people important to Miriam, houses she lived in and her aunts and uncles. Miriam’s brother Lek drove us, stopping for a lunch of noodle soup in a small town north of Chiang Mai. This town also had a small market where the local people sold what they caught and found, mushrooms of many variety and frogs. Big ones to stuff and bake and these small deep-fried ones. Whole small frogs (I think they had been gutted before frying)… They tasted kinda like beef jerky, but not as beefy. More chewy than crispy. That’s Phillip and Lek with their fried frogs. I tried the frog there, and again, later in Fang, I had a couple with a Thai beer… beer and fried frogs, a nice little snack!

We stopped at a market about an hour north of Chiang Mai to visit Miriam’s aunt who works there. Lek smokes cigarettes, and told us about the hand rolled Thai cigarettes, made of tobacco, available in the market. Sure enough, at this market, a lady was selling the tobacco and the dried banana leaves for rolling them. She also would roll them and sell the cigarettes. Don’t think Marlboro here… no filters and almost as big as a hot dog. You’ll get to see her product later in this post.

It was a total of about three hours of driving thru the mountains of Thailand to get to Fang. In addition to the stops to visit relatives, we stopped on the way at a rest area and took this picture. The background gives you an idea of how beautiful the Thai countryside in this mountainous area is. Phillip and David aren’t smiling because the sun was in their eyes, and unlike Miriam and me, they weren’t wearing sunglasses.

In Fang, David had arranged for us to stay at a new hotel near our destination, Miriam’s childhood home, which is next to the house of another of Miriam’s brothers. Our hotel has been open for less than two months, with air conditioned rooms and wifi, Only 350 baht a night (about $12). Also, it is pink. Really pink, outside. inside. on the walls. pink flowered tile on the floor. Hello Kitty décor. It is just for one night. Thankfully.

We walked across the street from the hotel for dinner at Miriam’s brother’s house. The family still owns her parent’s house and it is currently vacant, so Miriam walked me thru, showing me her room and telling me about growing up here with her brothers and sister. While dinner was cooking, I decided to light that hand rolled cigarette. It really is tobacco, it just looks like it might be something stronger. Without a filter, it was harsh, and I did not smoke the entire thing. I let Phillip try it. As you can see from the heavy cloud of smoke around him, he puffed it like a cigar, even if he held it like something else! After I lit it, Lek told me he never smokes them because they are so strong with tobacco. I found the tobacco to be rather mild in taste, but the smoke was tough to take without a filter… and the smoldering banana leaf wrapper probably didn’t help. 

One of Miriam’s uncles had given us fresh, ripe jackfruit when we stopped for the visit. Miriam showed me how to cut it up and prepare it. This was the best jackfruit I have ever eaten! They are huge, with a lot of individual pieces that you pull out, clean off, and take the seeds out of. Well worth the effort. I’ll be looking for jackfruit at the Asian market now!

We had chicken, rice, bamboo shoot soup (bamboo shoots from the other uncle we visited), various hot condiments, and the fruit. The family seated David, Miriam, Phillip, and me at the table, and they spread out in a more traditional arrangement on the floor. We enjoyed the food and hospitality, although our spoken communication with them was thru David or Miriam.

After dinner, one of the resident lizards came for his dinner of the bugs around the lights. Thailand is warm year-round, so much of the living is done outside. The above view of dinner is also of their kitchen and dining area on the open porch. The little guy in the picture to the left wasn’t so little… he was about a foot long. He has  suction cup-looking feet and has been living there for quite awhile. David  remembers this lizard from his visit two years ago. Miriam’s brother said the lizard never bothers people, even at night (he can get in the house, it is open around the eaves), he just does a good job eating bugs. I like lizards, but I’m not sure I want this one to have a key to my house!