The first night at the homestay where we stayed was completely different from my usual nights. I missed my family a lot, as I had to leave them behind to supervise practical exams in a remote school. But work is work, and I had to fulfill my duty.
We started our evening with a barbecue, grilling marinated lamb and chicken wings. Our head supervisor had marinated 5 kilograms of lamb and 5 kilograms of chicken wings just for the eight of us. The marinade was absolutely amazing! But with so much food and just a few of us, we couldn’t finish it all.
The lively evening took a turn when the electricity suddenly went out, and it stayed out until morning. Luckily, about an hour later, the homestay owner’s son came to connect solar power, so at least our grilling area had some light. Still, we had to endure a hot, fanless night.
After finishing the barbecue around 8:30 p.m., those of us who brought fishing gear got ready to fish. I even dug for worms as bait using my mini shovel. The night was beautiful, with the moon peeking through the clouds. That’s what I love most about this place, the big river, full of fish and prawns, including freshwater prawns with blue claws!
Around 9 p.m., two friends and I started fishing. We even made a little bet, whoever caught nothing would have to treat us to food the next day! My first catch was a 7 inch baby catfish. It fought hard, which is the thrill every angler looks forward to. Live worms turned out to be the unbeatable bait, even though I had also brought store bought preserved corn and crickets.
We fished until midnight and ended up with two small blue claw prawns and four small catfish, all caught by me. My two friends weren’t so lucky and didn’t catch anything. I tried experimenting with the preserved baits, but they didn’t attract any fish.
We ran out of worms exactly at midnight, which was a blessing. Otherwise, we might’ve stayed up even later fishing! I was pretty happy with the night’s catch, it had been a while since I fished for prawns and felt this excited about fishing. The sound of the river made it even more relaxing and peaceful.
Even though we went to bed late, the coffee I had earlier kept me awake. I really missed my wife and kids, and that made it harder to sleep. I ended up waking up earlier than everyone else, so I had more time to get ready.
The biggest challenge here, though, is the lack of stable phone signal. Even at the school, there’s no coverage at all. I’m worried my daily hive post streak might break, I’ve been posting consistently every day this year!