Laos Buffalo Dairy

 I have a new goal in life: 

To be that crazy person that walks her buffalo down the streets in whatever town I retire in.

One day, you'll see me walking with my buffalo down the street, directing them to the best grazing spots.

Facts

1. The Laos Buffalo Dairy once tried cows but they weren't as easy to keep as buffaloes.
2. Buffalo have higher fat content in their milk.
3. Laos Buffalo Dairy IS about helping the local community and started a few years before COVID hit in 2020.
4. They rent buffaloes from the local community for calving season, offer board and healthcare and wellbeing check ups while they are boarding the buffalos.
5. Calves have a better chance of surviving after birth at this Dairy because of the dedicated staff there for the maternity and calving season, so calf mortality at the dairy is less than 1% as opposed to if there were complications, out in the farms and out in the field.
6. The Dairy has a back stock of colostrum and milk for the calves just in case the mother rejects the calves and or the milk is not available through the mother for some reason.
7. The Dairy brought in experts from Thailand to teach them Buffalo husbandry and now, they are the local experts, offering classes, workshops and even English tutoring for local farmers and members of the community.
8. The staff are very attentive to the buffaloes and well informed on the care of these majestic buffs.
9. Local university students come here and learn Ag husbandry and have a lot of hand on experience.
10. Lots of out reach and mutual cooperation between the Dairy and the community.

Just look at their beautiful teeth!

They also enjoy being watered (hosed down and brushed) but they are very gentle despite their rotund and somewhat intimidating stature. 

Dairy Products to try:

1. HIGHLY recommend the ice cream ~ If you are only stopping by for the ice cream after a day of traveling, Pumpkin Pie is an amazing flavor.  I had Ginger and it wasn't bad but not as strong of a flavor as I would have liked.
2. Take the Tour. It's only $9 USD as of 10/2023. The tour comes with a taste of the ice cream and a cake...? they have seasonal flavors and I really wanted to try lemongrass as it's such a unique flavor. If you try it, let me know how it is.
3. The Caprese Salad is also great! So refreshing and the house mozzarella is lovely. 

Who wouldn't want one?

DO on the tour:

1. Not only are there Buffaloes on the tour, but you can pet and feed pigs, rabbits, the dairy cats.
2. ASK questions! Be involved and interactive. The staff enjoy answering questions and teaching us about how their day to day routines are. Our hour tour was a lot longer because of how engaged we were about their business, not to mention the tour guide (Cheep (?)) wasn't hurrying us along and let us take our time.  He told out about the different breeds of animals and even their personality and mannerisms.  He helped make the our experience there pleasant and enjoyable.
3. we BOTTLE FEED the calves!! Just look at the milk 'stache from that cow!
4. WATER and Brush the Buffas! They loved being hosed down and brushed under the shade.
5. Milk the buffalo.  Let me just say, it's a bit harder than it looks but some people just have a knack for it.  I'm not on of them.
1. If you get milk, sometimes the dairy cats wait by the milking area and then get a snack once we are done milking them.

Dairy cat waiting by the buffamom and waiting patiently for the milk.

Goat on a stroll and will be joining us for the ice cream and other snacks in the cafe.

Let me just say, this was a moth we found that would have blended in perfectly on a tree and I would have been none the wiser if it were not on the white wall.

The day's bounty after cuteness overload!

Ghermu to Tal (Back log - forgot to post)

I've come to the conclusion that most of these guides for the Annapurna trail low-ball you so as not to discourage you from doing it.

Let me show you an example.  Here is an altitude map:

Looks straight forward enough right?

Ah!  WRONG!

These guys don't tell you that you will be going up and down switchbacks on the road and god forbid if you chose to take the trekkers trail, you're royally fucked with literally climbing up a mountainside, up steep cliff faces and it can be slick and dangerous as fuck.  

Do they tell you this, NO!

Maybe some of you reading this are saying, "Duh! It is the Himalayas for crying out loud" but when your guide book, let's call it OnlyLa AntetPlay says and I quote, "The rocky trail crosses the Marsyangdi Khola leaving the road on the other side of the valley, and follows the river steadily upstream to Tal (1700m), a former lakebed."  Does that sound that treacherous to you?

Nah, it really doesn't but it gives you no sense that they can potentially be harder than it seems. Only once it makes mention of steep crossing  on a cliff face but nothing more.  

As this is my first major hike - I've also looked on other websites for info but didn't find that much either - I'd say the information on that book was rather lacking.

Going from Ghermu to Syange is easy enough.  Jagat has a few switchbacks uphill but also managable.  After Jagat really killed me because that "cliff face" was a HUGE one made of granite and also had a nice stream running on it so it was at times slick.  Chamje gets worse with those cliffs and Sattele is the same.  Sattele has only ONE inn so you better make your choice then and there if you want to stay or keep on going.

* I stopped writing this years ago and it's 2023 so I'm writing it now looking back on this experience*

We plugged on and kept on going.

It was tough.

And wet.

And SOOOO much uphill.

There were really slippery rocks that had imminent death at the bottom waiting at a rushing river.

THEN, towards the top, at the tent, we saw people wave at us.

We couldn't tell who they were from our standpoint but I was definitely done before we saw them.  Seeing friendly silhouettes at the far distance was enough of a push I needed to motivate me to the top and get to Tal.

It was our two friends Michal and Sveta and they were kind enough to get us tea!

God sent, those two were (I was so tired my English was failing me more than normal)

They said they were waiting for us because they knew we were on the way and then knew it was going to be tough for us, so they got us tea and waited for us. 

Honestly, this moment was what sealed our friendship, I think, in my mind. 

Kindred souls, looking out for one another, though we just met a day or two ago and then this gesture of kindness and empathy still resonates deep within me.

I will always look back at this moment as a highlight and example of meeting people that will look out for you, even though we were acquaintances at that point, but I would do anything for them. 

Plain of Jars in Phonsavan, Laos

 

First off, I just learned that it's pronounced as Lao - no 's'.

The French added the 's' and it just confused people. 

It still does. Mainly because the locals will say LaoS because they know us falang - foreigners - will call it that.

Moving on.

JARS!

There are 3 main sites for the Plain of Jars and since most tourist only have a limited time, they only go to Sites 1-3 or in some cases only Site 1.

Site 1

• closest site to the city
• easy to get to with taxi, tuk tuk, motorbike (we drove motorbikes)
• out in the open - definitely bring sunscreen (I'm brown and I still got Sunkissed but that was mainly from riding the motorbikes all day no long-sleeved shirt to protect my arms)
• lots of Jars and Cave

Site 2

• Roughly double the distance of the town to Site 1
• FAVORITE SITE
• can walk a longer trail if you have time - we didn't 
• Jars in the Forest - LOTS of shade
• Jars on a beautiful hillside with a gorgeous vista as a backdrop - some shade
• Warning or Point of Interest *for me Interest* - Lots of BUGS!

Site 3

• 10 mins walk through beautiful rice patties
• under tree cover but not as much as Site 2
• Great place to wide down from a long day of seeing...Jars.

This is Site 3 - our last stop of the day of driving in motorbikes. We just took pictures, sat around the jars and listened to the cows.

This is Site 2. The Best site in my opinion and with such a different setting from the other two sites.

This is the Site 1, the 1st site we visited that pretty hot since there isn't much tree coverage here. Still a great site, but I'd say knock this one out first and foremost but don't spend all your time here.

This pic and the pic below are of the cave at Site 1. The coolest thing I've ever seen was the bees seen at the entrance of these wild hives. I've never seen wild beehives!

Not only that, they are pretty gentle. 
How do I know, well, you can stand directly below - as shown below - and they won't attack you.

If you were near a hive with African Bees, a.k.a 'Killer Bees,' you wouldn't be able to stand that close without getting stung.

Just don't be a dick and throw something at them. That'll piss 'em off and then you'll get attacked.

Jus' sayin'.

You can walk into this cave and see two holes at the top - manmade or blown.

What We Did:

• We had 2 full days in Phonsavan
• 1 FULL day of just Jars - all 3 main sites
• rented 2 Motobikes from Kong Keo - I think it was 300,000 kip per person.
• Put it into perspective 100,000 Kip is 15 USD. It's worth it.
• BRING sunscreen, long sleeve shirts (preferably breathable ones), snacks
• coconut biscuits
• mama noodles or any other noodle brand that you can sprinkle the salt pack, mix it up and eat dry - yes, dry! Great to satiate you for the day and gives you electrolytes (Did this on the Annapurna circuit in Nepal and it worked well)
• bread
• water
• Find a pharmacy and get electrolyte packets to put in your water - keeps you better hydrated
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Camera
• Power Bank and cord
• Towel - can use a bit of water to wet it and use it to keep you cool

I mainly go to these sites to take pictures and I hope to make a photobook of it soon. Site 1 was our first one and I highly recommend getting this one out of the way because it's HOT! Get there early in the morning and explore, by the time it's the heat of the day, you can leave for the other sites, both of which are a LOT cooler in temp because there is actual tree coverage.

I was pleasantly surprise that there were TONS of bugs in all the sites.  You just have to look harder.

Site 2 and Site 3 are about 2x the distance and takes some time to get to. I thoroughly enjoyed Site 2 because of the forest the Jars were situated in and there were tons of cool bugs to see. Lots of Spiders there so if you have arachnophobia, just be warned that these jars have a decent amount of them just chilling - They won't do anything but look intimidating to some, neat for entomology hobbyist like me!

Leave 2 hours before sunset if you want to drive out before dark. We left Site 3 around 4:30 and sunset was at 6:10ish. We didn't make it in time but I also stopped at the site of the road and took some pictures of the water buffalo traffic (! :D ) and sunset.  I actually was caught in a traffic jam of cattle because them come home at the end of the day of grazing the neighborhood.  

Account for Cow Traffic -->  Cowfic. 

Go at your own pace, or if you feel more comfortable, get a taxi.  I think the taxi was around 450,000 kips but I can't honestly remember the costs.  This is mainly to give you a ballpark on what to expect for costs.

Starting up...Again

 I know I have been saying I'm going to write again, Stop, Start, Stop

...Lather, rise, repeat.

So, I'm starting up the writing again!

Good writing habits of just writing for the sake of writing. I've been bad over the years of keeping track of our journey through different countries and whatnot so, I'm giving it another go.

For your own preference on what and how you view, Click on the pull-down menu where it says 'Classic' in the above pic *right under Google Operating...

• mine will be at the top of the page under the title
• Just choose one.

I'm working on LAYOUT and currently I recommend using:

1. Magazine View
2. Timeslide
3. Mosiac
4. Snapshots

Still trying how to best display my photos but if you have me on Facebook, you already have access to most of what I post picture wise.

Highlights of Chefchaouen, Morocco

 

Those blue buildings are part of a gorgeous town...village in the Atlas Mountains called Chefchaouen.

Many people will just call it the Blue City, and there are many stories for the origin of the blue, but one thing is for sure, this blue is very stunning.  

Yes, you can say the first words that come to mind when I think about Chefchaouen is Doors, Cats, and Obviously, the color Blue (blue like Cinderella)

Blue alleyways with charming details on doors and around doorways, arches and entryways.

And even feline friends that greet you at every corner…literally.

There are oodles of cats but not oodllea of poodles or dogs for that matter.

When you walk past the restaurants in the main square, the first left by a place that has a Starbucks lookalike logo has a wonderful shop that has been there since my first visit in 2017. The wind picks up the scents that fill this shop.

If the scents wafting through the air doesn't draw you in, the colors of the soaps and solid perfumes will. My personal favorite is a dark forest green solid perfume and yellow soap but I already forget what it's called. It's very citrusy and clean. 

Go on in and take a huge whiff of everything!

Chefchaouen will call to all your senses and my only suggestion is to take it all in slowly as there is so much to take from such a small town in the Atlas Mountains.

FYI, I am an Amazon Associate or affiliate so these are my links on this blog.

 So, I have to put a disclosure that I am an Amazon Associate or Affiliate. 

These days, side hustle is such a buzz word everyone is using for having a side gig or job to bring in extra moola. 

Welp, I'm throwing in my hat and trying my hand at doing Amazon reviews and the like.