Living LandIf you are visiting Laos, the likelihood is that, like us, you are fond of South East Asia and already quite an experienced traveller. Luang Prabang is one of the best kept secrets as a destination and we have reported elsewhere on Hotel de la Paix as well as a couple of other activities in the locale. We were keen to find out more about the lives of ordinary Laotians and as life here tends to revolve around the rice cycle, what better way to get to grips with Lao life than to visit Living Land.
We first read about Living Land on TripAdvisor but they now have their own website and you can book directly or via your hotel concierge. We would agree with all the contributors to TripAdvisor who describe this as a fantastic experience and a "must do" in Luang Prabang. At first sight it doesn't sound cheap given the destination but afterwards we felt it had been great value too at $40 per person. The pickup from the hotel was by motorcycle tuk-tuk which arrived on time and was comfortable. Our guide for the day, and director of the program, Laut Lee was absolutely brilliant. He is a very passionate and ebullient character who is clearly very proud of his heritage and also a great teacher. |
Lee's English was fluent and there were other visitors in our group from Italy and Brazil as well as the USA and nobody had difficulty understanding.
After an introductory talk about the tools used and the nature of the rice cycle, it was down to the rice paddy to learn how to plough with a traditional ox-plough, Susan. Don't try this if you're squeamish or fussy about mess. We were up to our knees in mud in no time and you know what cows do everywhere. We thinned out rice seedlings into a nursery plot then rinsed off our legs under the bamboo cane shower. It is absolutely fascinating to discover how many uses there are for bamboo, rice and banana plants. Everything depends upon them from building material to irrigation, clothes, shoes, toys. You name it, it's made from one of those three plants. Then we reaped rice from a mature paddy, threshed the rice, wafted the chaff away with huge fans, pounded the rice to break the husks with a huge kick-hammer, sifted out the husks and put the rice to steam for our lunch. While the rice was steaming, we were put to work once more on the enormous bamboo press which produces a gorgeous, refreshing grass-green sweetish juice drink. Lee also tried to teach us how to stilt-walk but we were hopeless at it. Then our teacher showed us how to split the bamboo and weave the strips to make toys such as little birds and frogs. |
Finally, we sat down together to eat a huge range of things made from the local variety of sticky rice some of which were dipped in buffalo jam. The only buffalo in it is skin, which is like leather. You don't eat the skin, it just flavours the jam which is more like a chutney or relish. We also drank from the 'ceremonial' rice-brandy which tastes somewhat yeasty.
Overall, it was a really good half-day activity and one we wholeheartedly recommend, if you don't mind getting muddy.
Overall, it was a really good half-day activity and one we wholeheartedly recommend, if you don't mind getting muddy.