Asian Rodeo: Mountin' Water Buffalo!!!

Kimi was out of town with her host family. They went on a trip to Bangkok. Ralph flew to India to set up future internship opportunities there. Neither wanted us to do anything too fun while they were absent from Chiang Mai.

So the Brother that drives the Roat Dang recommended going to the Water Buffalo Farm. (Funnest time EVER!)

Often times when I find myself in a foreign country with other Americans...I realize that the Americans shock me more culturally than the natives of the foreign country. I guess I just assume that other Americans are like me. But APPARENTLY "we aren't ALL from Louisiana!" (Quote from Stanley when he once exclaimed that "We are eatin' in the back of a truck!"--inferrin' that he was livin' life on the edge! Bein' wild and adventurous! And I replied, "You've never eaten in the back of a truck?!?!"--ya'll can imagine my dismay!)

Well, it was the same sort of experience at the buffalo farm.

First they taught us about commanding the buffalo. Then how to mount. [Quite exhilarating I might add!]
After the mounting station, we went to an area where they hook the buffalo up to some ropes and a wood-majig. Then he walks around and around and churns/grinds brown sugar (which we got to try...sort of like sampling at the Commissary...but not quite.) Then we went to an old rice field that was filled with water/mud/old rice stalks. They let us get in with the buffalo and plow the field up. After we plowed up the field, we were able to plant rice anew. They said in three months we could come back to collect our rice. :) Excellent! I will be comin' home in three months and want to bring some Thai delicious rice with me!
At this station, Chelsea refused to participate...Heaven forbid anyone get dirty! The boys were good sports, but I was shocked and amazed (rather just baffled!) that they didn't know how to act when they got out of the mud hole. "How do we get clean? Where is the water?" Thankfully my southern rearin' and six years of military training prepared me for this moment of demostration! I showed them that they needed to get out of the water...then bend over and scoop some relatively settled water into their hands and splash it on their legs to wash the mud off. Eurika! Quite a genius concept...that didn't seem all too difficult until I found myself in the midst of South East Asia with a bunch of high so. peeps. haha. After this station, we went to a HUGE basket. They wrap the rice stalks in between two sticks. Then you hammer/bang the rice stalks into the basket to separate the rice from the blades. After the separation of rice from stalk, you gather the grains from the basket into a bucket. Then you use your foot with this wooden hammer-majig to beat the coverings (?) off of the rice. After rice beatings...we feed the buffalo the grass stalks. Then we mounted up and rode the buffalo around. [Even though I don't believe in reincarnation--if it happens to be true...I definitely don't want to come back as a water buffalo. Poor creatures. :( ]
After the buffalo had a hard day of entertainin' us, they let them swim in the little lake like 'gators. I wanted to ride my buffalo in the lake...but that wasn't an option. Proceeding the buffalo farm we went up to some mountain somewhere [name is pending] and climbed up ten waterfalls. In the tenth and final waterfall, we swam in the pools. Quite beautiful and relaxing. And then everyone decided it was a good idea to jump into the pool from the high rocks...and I freaked out and went a little postal on Alex (I cussed at the poor kid! Then spent the rest of the weekend apologizin'. Blame it on PMS?)

All in all: MAGNAMIMOUS excursion!

P.S. Afterwards, we went to the Street Market in Sankamphaeng and bought dinner from different vendors. It was my first time to have mangos and sticky rice. I'm a fan.