4 Days Isan Village Full Experience Into Basket & Mat Making – Northeast Thailand

A great experience to learn the Isan traditional crafts of bamboo basket and reed mat making in an unspoiled rural rice village.
Your stay will help to supplement the village income. Ko Phet is essentially a rice village but for nine months of the year, they need to find another source of income – a cottage industry where there is no capital outlay required.

• Learn a couple of the traditional crafts of an Isan rice village.
• Visit some of the local homes where home-made machinery processes the rice
• Learn the art of rush mat making – Isan style.
• Learn how to split bamboo, shape it, weave it and create the object of your choice.

Arrival: Welcome to village homestay

Meals: Dinner
Pick up from Sida bus stop or Bua Yai train station at 2PM and transfer to homestay. Evening meal and overnight accommodation will be provided. Meet the host, Lamai and her family as well as some of the local people. You can also explore Ko Phet Village – Take a walk through the family rice fields and visit the villagers’ homes where the various traditional processes take place. Alongside the rice fields you will find irrigation canals where the Ko Phet villagers have planted an organic vegetable garden, growing squashes, beans, peppers, chillies etc. [Please note that these activities are dependent on your arrival time and also the weather].
If the school is open, you can visit and talk to the teachers and children and look at their work.
Return to the homestay house and garden where you can sit in the shaded splash pool while Lamai prepares a typical Isan meal, followed by a drink on the verandah to watch the water buffaloes amble homewards while the sun sets over the lake. Overnight at the homestay.

DAY (1): Preparation for Mat Making

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
The first morning will be spent walking around the lake, collecting the rushes from the lakeside and drying them. When this is done, you can walk through the family rice fields and, depending on the time of year, can participate in the planting or the harvesting of the rice. We will also visit some of the local homes where home-made machinery processes the rice and you can, if you wish, buy a bag to take home.
Later in the afternoon, you will make your loom, ready for tomorrow’s weaving.

DAY (2): Make your own mat

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Under a shady mango tree, you can learn the art of rush mat making – Isan style. You will split, cut and colour the reeds, then set up the loom. You are then ready to start your mat. By the end of the day you will have an attractive small mat or wall-hanging to take home.

DAY (3): Make your own basket

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
What would you like to take home? – a small chicken-pen or perhaps a pot-pourri basket? You decide. You will learn how to split bamboo, shape it, weave it and create the object of your choice.

DAY (4): Departure:

Meals: Breakfast -Experience ends after breakfast.
12PM Transfer to bus- stop at Sida or Bua Yai train station for onward journey OR stay an additional night.

Remarks:

Max number of pax: 8 persons including children (Children under 11 years old are free.)
Rate per pax: USD.141
Pickup point: Bus-stop at Sida or Bua Yai Train Station. Please state your preferred pick-up location in the Order Nate at Check-out.
Items to bring: Comfortable clothes and personal belongings for 3days-2nights homestay.

Our rate includes:

• Transportation including transfer from Bus-stop at Sida or Bua Yai Train Station
• Children under 11 yrs. are free
• All meals as outlined in the itinerary
• Admission fees where applicable

Our rate exclude:

• Alcoholic drinks.
• Gratuities
• Flights, trains, bus fares and other transport costs other than those outlined in the itinerary.