Monday, June 6, 2011

Home, Home on the Range....

On Wednesday we went to a rice farm that still farms the old fashioned way that  includes using water buffalo! When we first arrived, I wasn't sure what to make of the place!
But then, just around the corner, I saw something familiar!
And then something not so familiar!
That would be a momma water buffalo and her kid (calf?.. I don't know). They seemed to be quite used to people and some of them were quite trained. This one needed a bath before the show began!
First things first: The pro told us all about the water buffalo and about the commands it responds to. It was kind of like having a horse. You could ride them and they would follow your commands to go different directions and speeds. A few people chose to ride him! (I did not. haha)



We learned how the water buffalo were used to power the irrigation system:
And Kendyl bravely demonstrated how they were used to plow the fields:
They showed us how each rice plant needed to be hand planted! Now that is some hard work!
They let us have some fun as well ;)
Before this guy:
Told us all about how it's the woman's job to: break the rice from its hull using this device...
That is a lever that you push down with your foot and the other side is kind of like a mortar and pestle. 'The woman' has to sort out the rice that has been de-hulled from the still hulled rice and continue this process for what seems like an eternity.

You can see in the above picture the woman who is the pro along with the mortar and pestle side of the contraption and the sorting discs. This was hard work! I was really trying to pay attention but I just could not get over the beauty that surrounded me.  Rice fields for miles...

And the mountains!

And some other beautiful scenes...


Education and beauty. Now that's the whole package!

1 comment:

  1. I really like the last line. Who can argue with that?

    This was a visual treat. Thanks.

    Ajarn Rob.

    ReplyDelete