Are you ready to go over the mountains and through the woods rice fields to see the new village? Come along!
As we head North to Phayao province to meet our co-workers, we will see many many wats, or temples.
Of course the whole way, there are rice fields and corn fields.
If you look carefully, you can see a group of people on the hillside planting corn, I think.
Overpasses and roadway arches are often decorated with images honoring the king and queen.
These bird figures are holding lamps, and often decorate the long tailed boats as well.
Photos of the king and queen are displayed prominently many places.
We meet up with our partners and head out bearing Northeast to Nan Province, city of Thaa Wang Phaa. The boys and girls are wisely split up into separate cars. 
Phayao is bustling as we make our way out of the city, stopping at the market for some fruit, both for us to munch on and to bring as a gift to the village headman.
The day is beautiful, clear blue skies with billowing white clouds, verdant hillsides, fragrant with the aroma of fertile earth and thick vegetation. If green has a smell, this is it.
This lady and her child become our traveling companions for a while. We take turns passing each other as we make various stops.
We need water and snacks and stop at this little shop. And yes, take your shoes off before you go in to browse around.
Ah, there is the sign for Tha Wang Phaa, we are getting close!
It is probably best to make a pit stop before we get to the village, so thankfully there are 7-11’s all over the place. This one even sells mangos conveniently at the gas pump!
We wind our way through a small clump of houses, follow the spit of road through the rice fields waiting to be planted, round the bend and finally, after waiting months to get a glimpse, we are here! Muubaan Don Haang, or Bee Tree Village!
Our co-workers introduce us to the headman and his wife, explaining that we too would like to come live with the Thai Lue in this village, and they welcome us warmly. After some time of conversation, we are ready to go see the two houses available for rent.
The first one is right across the street from the headman’s house.
It is a huge, old, wooden house. If we were to move into this one, seriously, we would use only about 1/3 of it. Especially since we hardly have any furniture of our own!
Leah will be our lovely tour guide to the big wooden house. Ready to go in?
This staircase is a bit scary. The stairs are very narrow, and at the top, there is actually a little rope help you not fall backwards!
Leah, is that a brave face you are putting on? Yes, this is the kitchen. There is a bit of clean up needed here. But the wooden windows are new!
One of the bedrooms upstairs.
I think we are in need of a case of Murphy’s Oil Soap!
The other house is cement on the bottom and wood on top. It shares a plot of land with another house, belonging to the son of the current residents. This is its own consideration, but really, our neighbors in Chiang Mai live just as close or closer.
The house we looked at is the one in the back, with the white lower half
Can you guess what the family grows? It smelled tantalizing!
This is the outside kitchen. I will want an oven and cooktop in the house, but it could be nice having somewhere outside to cook too.
Here is the indoor kitchen, sorry, the picture was taken through a screen. The walls are slats, which provides nice ventilation. The floor was newly done, I think in consideration of the new farang families!
The sweet grandma in this house told me she wants me to live in her house. When her daughter, the headman’s wife, introduced us, she told us right away how old her mother is, that she is very old. I told that grandma that it was OK that she was old, but that I was sure her heart was still young. Right away, I made my first friend.
Really, both houses are more than we expected when we imagined what a village house would look like, and now come the part of how to decide which family goes in which house. There are benefits and tradeoffs to each one, so we will pray about it, and discuss it as a team.
As we head back to Phayao, school is letting out, and the sun begins to cast more shadows. Finally, cool breezes blow in our open car windows and the quiet villages we passed in the morning are now coming to life as kids head home and parents come in from the fields or other work.
Travelling along we do need to be careful of watching the road as well as the scenery. Oops, only half a road here!
We now have a picture in our head of the people group we will be working with, a specific place to be praying for and looking forward to living in. The people of Don Haang do not know the Lord of Life, have no eternal hope, no Scripture in Thai Lue. This is the people group God is sending us to, would you pray with us for them?
Thanks for coming along for the trip, come back any time!
