Day Seven (17/10/2024): Really getting our hands (and legs) dirty!

 Rice is a main staple of life here so to truly appreciate its importance (and how hard it is to grow!) we visited a project called The Living Land Rice experience

We had been warned that we were up for another activity day, this time involving mud so shorts was the best outfit choice.

On arrival we were given rice farmer hats which wobbled around if you didn't have a perfectly round head!

The friendly guide Son told us there were 13 stages in the growing and preparation of rice with the fourteenth stage being Eating!

My memory was not clear about each stage so I asked for advice from the others. It took a long time to work out - and agree - on the stages and I wouldn't say we were 100% accurate!

Here's our best guess!

1.Wash rice : remove any grains that float.

2. Prepare rice field by ploughing with water buffaloes.

3. Start planting by throwing seeds on top of dry mud and throwing water on them to germinate. Wait. When seedlings appear remove in clumps.

4. Jump into the mud clutching a clump of seedlings. Be prepared for mud to reach your knees and create enormous suction every time you try to move. Plant small bunches of seedlings 30 cms apart (or less if you don't want to move far!).

5. A few weeks later get back into the mud and weed. Wrap the weeds into small balls and bury them deep in the mud so they can decompose and provide compost. Divide the seedlings so they have space to grow. Get rid of snails.

6. In four months when the rice turns brown, sharpen your scythe and harvest (carefully!).

7. Leave to dry out.

8. Thresh the stalks to release the rice grains. Very therapeutic activity as you have to belt the hell out of it!

9. Transporting the grain to the farm buildings by using baskets and a lot of careful balancing.

10. Winnow the rice to separate husks from grains using large flat basket/sieves.

11. Pounding the rice using a huge grinding wheel and a lot of muscle power. 

12. No idea!! Soak rice before cooking: overnight at least. Use rice water for shampoo or medicine!

13. Cook in a cane basket over a saucepan with a small amount of boiling water (over a brazier if you're really keen!). Do not let the water touch the cane basket. Don't add any extra water to the wet rice. Cover top of basket and steam until cooked. Use sticky rice from Laos!

You can see these stages in action from the photos of us attempting them. 

To be honest none of us will be giving up our day jobs (although we are mostly retired anyway!).

 It was exhausting work!

 We washed the mud off our legs……mostly! And headed for the stunning Kuang Si waterfall.

Now this one was by far the loveliest waterfall we have seen. It was lots of water tumbling down a limestone mountain which seemed to make the water a beautiful shade of green. From the highest waterfall at the top of mountin it creates aquamarine pools all the way down the mountain. Fortunately we used an electric ‘bus’ to get to the top and wandered down the walking trail alongside the tumbling river to a restaurant - Carpe Diem - perched over a pool, for a Lao lunch. Very pretty spot to eat.

Our last stop for the day was the only Buffalo Dairy farm in Laos. The tour company's  description in our notes mentioned rollicking rabbits, playful pigs and cheeky chickens as well as the buffaloes.

We were getting weary but revived ourselves with a Buffalo milk icecream on our arrival. Buffalo milk has a higher fat content than cow's milk so it was very creamy and they had some delicious flavours: lemongrass, ginger,etc. I bought some marinated feta and mozzarella which proved to be delicious later, especially with a G&T.

The tour of the buffalo farm was far more interesting than we expected. The primary project focused on enabling local farmers to rent their buffaloes to the farm so they were innoculated and well looked after and so they could produce offspring . In return the farm milks the female buffaloes and makes icecream and cheese.  

However they also donated milk to malnourished children and had expanded their philosophy of assisting poor communities to have access to a wider range of food by including rabbits and pigs into the options. (Not sure what happened to the 'cheeky chickens'?). The farmers are taught how to care for these animals, ensure they reproduce well (go rollicking rabbits!) and the whole village benefits from better quality food.

The capacity of projects like these to expand their focus and utilise and create opportunities for expansion into different areas is really impressive. 

So the tour consisted of admiring the pigs wallowing in mud in a large pen, watching the rabbits rollick and then feeding the bigger buffaloes green stuff. One bull who was making amourous advances to one of the cows, who seemed completely disinterested, gave up and was keen to be fed. He's only got 48 hours to do his thing so let's hope he was received with more enthusiasm next time !

Then it was off to feed the very demanding calves from huge bottles of milk. There was a lot of jostling and pushing which made it difficult for all of them to be fed. Anne was determined to feed a small calf so she tried to lead it further along the the fence but all of the other calves pushed the small one away. Boy they were keen!!

Then Kerryn had her moment in the spotlight as she was the only one of us who had milked a cow. We're a group of Townies that's for sure! The buffalo was firmly held in a bamboo frame but the rest of us weren't keen at all! Kerryn actually did get some milk from the buffalo so that was impressive.

We were glad to get back to the hotel and collapse in the pool as it had been hot and steamy all day.

Then a few of us headed into town for a meal at Main Street. Some of us had prawn Pad Thai which was delicious.  

We were happy to go back to Villa Maly and collapse into our very comfortable beds.

Your slightly muddy correspondent

Dianne