lunch

While we were near the top of the rice terraces we were getting pretty hungry but because it was low tourist season none of the little restaurants were opened. So when a lady in a little village motioned out the window for us to come in, we blindly obliged. The house had wood, stone, and dirt floors with a fire pit right in the middle of the kitchen. There were few decorations and no lights or technology other than a TV with cable (which was super odd) living room.



They sat us down in a barren house around a fire and began making us food and selling us some "home-made" materials. They seemed nice so we didn't really agree on a price (being the trusting, apparently naive, people we are) for the food before she began making it for us. The one lady



said we could pay whatever, they were just glad to have us. When we finished and we needed to leave we gave them some money (more than what we thought it was worth, but we figured they were nice and hospitable). But then the old lady shook her head and said 5x what we just offered. It was about this time that I realized we been had. We finally awkwardly talked her down to 3x what we thought was fair and just decided to give up. Honestly we had a really fun time there and she only duped us out of a few dollars a piece, but that back-handed approach for some reason just really made me angry and kind of ruined the experience for me. The experience taught me 4 important rules. 1) Always make sure the price is understood before agreeing to anything. 2) Never trust anyone on a tourist path. 3) Never trust Chinese people 4)Never trust women.

And yes, I am still bitter about the situation and this post was difficult for me to write.