Agro-Tourism

Friday (March 18th) we went on an Agro-tour. The tour, and the industries along the tour, were set up by the Thai government (or the King, I forget which) to help low-income Thai's who used to be rice farmers, but can no longer make a living growing rice. We visited a lotus farm, an orchid farm, a crispy rice "factory," and a fruit orchard. All of these were along a small river and we were transported from one to the next in long boats.

The lotus farm was really neat. The lotus flower is a symbol of the Buddhist religion. The grow in water, standing about 3 to 4 feet high, with only the top 6-12 inches out of the water. They are harvested by wadeing through the water and collecting them one at a time and adding them to a bundle, which is then hoisted into a wating canoe. We were taken out in a boat and allowed to pick some.

After the lotus farm we visited a small snack plant where women come to make extra income after work and on the weekends by making various Thai snacks, including dried fruit and rice cakes with various toppings (dried sweet pork or sesame seeds). We also went to the back where this really strange water vegetable grows. From the bank, it looks like white sausage links, but when you pick it, you remove the white part to get to the stalk, which is then eaten. The white part feels like wet cotton and keeps the vegetable afloat.

The next stop was an orchid farm, which was a large green house with purple orchids as far as you could see. After which, we visited a fruit farm. The most interesting fruit, of many, I have yet to see in Thailand is called Jack Fruit. It can grow larger than two bowling balls and has no real distinctive shape except that it is covered with triangular bumps. At the fruit farm we were able to try a lot of the fruits and Jack fruit has a really interesting texture, similar to dried apples, but not dry and the taste is really like nothing I've ever tasted. Not exactly pleasing. The Thai's enjoy dipping their fruit in a mixture of sugar and (very hot) chili seeds, or fish sauce, sugar and chili seeds. That is one Thai custom I will probably never understand. To the western palate it is horrendous.

At the fruit farm we were treated to a ride around the orchard and rice fields on a contraption that was part tractor, part trailer with a ladder-like contraption attaching the two. The tractor engine was at the front and the driver sat on a seat in front of the trailer (picture the type of trailer that pulls lawn equipment behind a truck) and steers using the "ladder." We started out smoothly enough, but as we picked up speed heading straight for the nearest Jack Fruit tree, I began to get a little nervous. Suddenly the driver reached his arms out as far as he could to the right, literally turning the front wheels with the ladder contraption, almost falling out as he did so and we turn abruptly the to left, barreling down the bank of the rice field. Once everyone had gotten over their hysterics at my display of sheer terror, we settled into a festive mood and learned to hold on tight and practice blind faith at future impending turns.