We are lucky to be able to try one of Southeast Asia’s local natural work, rice farming, at a very nice farm right next to our hotel.
We start off at 8:30 after a warm welcome. First we need to create the right mixture of salt and water to see which rice seeds are good for planting. We know this is the good density when a fresh egg floats at the surface. Now we need to add rice grains from the previous harvest along with the seeds we want to plant. Some seeds will float, others will sink. The ones that are good are the ones that sunk, this means they have a full grain.
When this is done, we need to guide the buffalo around the mud field in groups of two. One person holds the rope holding the buffalo, the other person holds the metal instrument dragging into the mud to turn over the earth to be able to replant more rice.
The next step is to plant the rice. We just plant the rice in without digging a hole. In four days, the seedling will have grown a stem. In a month, it will be ready to pick.
Now we can travel in time by a month to go to the already grown rice to cut off the stems (this was too dangerous, the man just showed us how to do it). Now we can take our harvest for beating, to separate the grains from the stems, this is very hard and muscly work!
With our backs already aching, it’s time to take the rice back home. The highland farmers carry their basket on the back like a backpack, the middle land farmers carry their basket with a strap over the head. Lowlanders balance the rice baskets on a carrying pole over the shoulder.
The next step is the one traditional Lao women need to know how to do to be able to get married 😬, husking the rice. You need to throw the rice up and down on the bamboo basket. Now we need to grind the rice to turn it into flour.
As we have worked hard, we get the treat of trying Northern Lao cuisine, yummy 😋😋😋! Mama immediately falls in love with the typical local stew Or Lam which has a special “magic” ingredient: pepper wood. It is a kind of stem that gives a unique flavour to the stew: a bit spicy, but also fresh. It slightly numbs the tongue when you bite on it. Delicious. We buy a small bamboo tea filter and receive our diplomas: what a super cool morning!
