It was one of the crazier things I've done—heading off-road at dusk, into the rugged Thai mountains near the Burmese border in the middle of summertime rains. I was looking for Auntie Glen. I was looking for an oven in the jungle. I found her in the dark, at the bottom of a steep hill beside a forceful stream, there in her little oasis called Forest Glade. Auntie Glen is a retired Australian who bakes a cake every day and fills her place with homey touches—crocheted pillowcases and wooden ducks, and the scents of grandma's kitchen. Auntie Glen moved here to Pilok more than 40 years ago with her Thai husband, who ran a tin mine before it folded in the 80s. He has since passed on, but Auntie remains. The dozen Burmese families who live in wooden huts nearby would not be here without her. They would have no work, so she creates jobs for them. She opened her home to visitors and built a handful of basic bungalows with decks overlooking the stream. The gardens are vivid, the bathrooms shine. For less than $40 a day, you get a room with three homey meals, and all the conversation and cake you desire. Chocolate, orange, banana, carrot—she bakes them all in the middle of the jungle. And jungle it is—an elephant herd lives a few valleys over; and just a few years ago, Auntie Glen spotted a couple of tiger cubs by the roadside. She'll tell you all about it over a cup of tea.
Pinterest
