Not Published Padi
for food. This time it was chapatis. We went to a little place, well hidden from the road but obviously very well known to the locals. The place was packed and people were queuing for chapatis. We managed to secure a seat and ate freshly made chapatis along with chicken, beef and mince all of which were delicious.
Next stop was the fish man. This particular friend rescues street cats, he currently has 20. He buys fresh fish from a local fisherman every couple of days. He told us the cats have become so used to the fresh fish, they now turn their nose up at frozen fish!
We then headed to Gunung Keriang. This area has a huge limestone rock where people go to find crystals and also to rock climb. First we stopped at the shop to look at the crystals, which were very beautiful. There were also lots of moneys around outside but they didn't seem interested in us at all.
A short drive and we were at the Paddy Museum opposite the limestone rock. It was way too hot to climb the rock but inside the museum (which unfortunately was also rather warm as the air conditioning was broken) there is a replica of the rock which you could walk up into, like entering a cave, with all the same sounds of dripping water and birds.
At the top is a domed area which had been painted by a Korean artist and was an exact replica of the view you would see from the top of the rock. The detail in the painting was very impressive. You then sat on seats and the area revolved to give you a 365 degree view!
We wandered through the museum and learned about how rice used to be cultivated by hand and the evolution to the machinery which is used today.
After the museum we were dropped back at our hotel for a later afternoon nap, which was needed after all these late nights.
At 8.30pm we were picked up by another friend, who had invited us to have dinner with him and his wife. On the way to his house he told us his wife was rather surprised when he told her he had invited 2 English people he had just met over for dinner!! Luckily she was happy to have us and welcomed us into their home had prepared a feast!
We had fish, prawns, crab, veggies and rice, all absolutely delicious. After dinner we sat chatted and were able to try the wife's cookies. She is a school teacher but her passion is baking. She already has a small baking business making amazing melt in the mouth cookies and would love to retire to concentrate on this but needs to work another couple of years first. We sat chatting until midnight and were then heading back to our hotel when we spotted some of our other friends at the cafe over the road from the hotel, so we joined them... Again chatting until 2am and leaving with invites to go out again tomorrow. These truly a few the kindest people we have ever met!
