Adventures in Rice Planting 

Sometimes some of the most memorable moments of a trip are the ones that happen unexpectedly. On our drive from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, I wasn’t expecting to get to do much other than look out the window and enjoy the scenery. I was pleasantly surprised by an interesting turn of events!

Sometime after lunch, we were driving among some rice paddies, and our guide asked if we would like to stop and take a picture. At first, no one answered, and it seemed like we were about to move on. But thankfully someone must have agreed, and our bus stopped, for what I thought was going to be just a quick stop.

We took some pictures, and then our driver started showing us how rice gets planted in the rice paddies. Then I noticed some of our group was under some sort of a gazebo further out in the paddies, so I joined them. We could definitely get a better view of the work from there!

Then, I noticed that our guide and one woman in our group had walked all the way out to where the people were working! My roommate and I decided to wander out, carefully balancing along the mud edges of each square filled with water. When we reached our guide and our groupmate, they were talking with the local people, asking questions to learn more about the rice planting process. We learned that in years such as this one when there has not been much rain, the people must use irrigation systems to get their water, and they must pay for the water that they use.

We were just turning around to make our way back to the bus, when our guide asked us if we would be interested in trying to plant some rice. Of course we were! So the three of us were led to another part of the rice paddies where we would learn how to plant. We removed our shoes, and, realizing maybe I didn’t pick the best day to wear a long skirt, I rolled it up to keep it from getting wet.

The people handed us a bunch of small, young rice plants, which looked almost like blades of grass. We were instructed to take a few at a time, and gently press the root end into the mud, making sure that the green part was out of the water far enough so that it could soak in the sunlight. That part was easy. The hard part was staying bent over in the hot sun, trying to plant the rice in straight rows, all while working quickly. The whole time, I was concerned that I was doing it wrong, and the last thing I wanted to do was mess up the economy of these people just because I felt like trying to plant some rice. But they let us work for quite a while, which must have been a good thing. And our guide told us that we did a really good job, and he doesn’t usually let tourists do that. So that made me feel better! Plus it was a unique experience that was not a part of the itinerary!

We eventually stopped planting, and wandered back to the van, stopping to clean off our muddy feet and hands along the way. What an interesting experience, and I now have a greater appreciation for rice!