Beautiful chaos

We set off on a day trek with the pint size, hyperactive Thai Basil Fawlty and the French honeymooners, so it was quite an adventure. We requested a walk that was suitable for an old(ish) guy with bad knees and ankles and a couple of kids and we were assured it would be fine - "no problem, no problem". Noi cut us all bamboo walking sticks and we traversed muddy slopes, bamboo groves, dry hillsides and wobbled over small muddy creeks. Noi bounced along hardly touching the ground, machete in hand and chatting constantly to no one in particular. At one point he darted off into a bamboo thicket to cut some special bamboo to cook our lunch in. We walked into a Lahu hill tribe village and rested in a hut while Noi busily prepared our lunch. We had delicious grilled chicken and sticky rice cooked served inside a piece of bamboo.
It was then time for a long-boat ride down the river to a Akha village where two old ladies in traditional dress were waiting by the shore to sell us their wares. We were told that one of them was "naughty" and she was certainly the pushier of the two but they were both lovely and we bought a few sweet bracelets. The villages that we have visited seem relatively affluent. They generally don't wear traditional garb and many of them have converted to Christianity. There are many ways for them to make money but they often choose to only work about four hours a day, just making enough for what they need. Apparently younger people are moving to town, wanting mobile phones and all the mod cons.
Nok and Noi have a rather disorganized but wonderful business that they started three years ago after working as trekking guides and speaking to the tourists about what they wanted. They bought a magical piece of land just past a village and up a rather treacherous dirt track. It now houses seven huts all built with traditional materials but also with modern touches like hot water and flushing toilets. There's only solar power and no wifi or Internet connection. In the evenings everyone gathers in the small open dining room and chats into the night as they wait for their meals (green chicken curry being the hot favorite). Every night there's a fire lit in fire pit on an elevated bamboo platform which is the perfect spot for star gazing and listening to the sounds of music, chatting, roosters and dogs from the local village.
Our trek finished at the thermal springs and we took a bath in the steaming hot water. Noi took off with his dog Khao (pronounced cow but meaning white) to walk home while we waited for Nok to come and pick us up on her way back from town. We ate a firey green papaya salad and had some drinks with our lovely French honeymooning friends and wondered if Nok would ever turn up to get us.
Our lift turned up and when we arrived home there were half a dozen people waiting to be put into their rooms and there was smoke billowing out of the kitchen. Noi was hopping around, racing off mid sentence to try to iron out some problem or other. It's chaotic but hilarious and we love it to the moon and back.