As you may recall, my two concrete goals for this Southeast Asian journey were 1) to meditate in Myanmar; and 2) to volunteer at the Vang Vieng Organic Farm.
The first goal I accomplished to my satisfaction back in July, and since then I had been eagerly anticipating my stint with Mr. T in Vang Vieng.
Years ago, a friend of mine volunteered here and had the time of his life, working with a bunch of village kids to build a community center out of mud bricks. Â I am happy to report that the community center is in good shape and still a beloved activity area for local children.
I was hoping to spend some time in the quiet countryside and learn basic organic farming techniques. Â Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed the first day I arrived.
In the last couple of years, locals have built a row of tubing bars along the river just downstream of the Organic Farm. Â These bars blast deafening western pop music from about 11 AM to 5 PM everyday, sending tangible vibrations through all matter, living or not, within a several hundred meter radius. Â It was impossible to concentrate, relax, or enjoy myself with the thumping bass and sickeningly catchy melodies constantly forcing themselves into my eardrums. Â Even my trusty earplugs were no use.
The organic farming front wasn’t much better. Â It was the end of rainy season and not much planting or harvesting was going on. Â All I could do was help take care of the goats – which turned out to be even more fun than it sounds.
First thing every morning, we’d get up to sweep goat shit. Â The goats live in a raised structure with cracks between the wooden boards, allowing their pellets to be swept onto the ground below. Â Once the poop is on the ground, it is swept up and placed into earthworm composting tubs. Â Every few months, the contents of the tubs are emptied and used for fertilizer.
And here, the story of our goat cheese begins.
extremely knowledgeable young readers may know that goat cheese is made from goat milk. but where does goat milk come from? Â can you keep a secret? Â goat milk starts as leafy vegetation!
kids get exclusive access
Once the goats have had a few minutes to eat, the breast-squeezing milking starts! Â Kids, I know what you’re thinking – goats are efficient milk-making factories, but they aren’t that fast! Â The milk they give us today was made from the plants they ate yesterday.
obedient goat
Before milking, the goats obediently place their heads through two wooden slats, one of which is moveable. Â We then use a string to tie the moveable slat in place so that the goat remains still during milking.
kids, this is what goat boobies look like when they're full of milk.
proper milking hand position
Milking goats is not as easy as you might think! Â It takes a bit of finger and forearm fortitude. Â First, as shown in the picture, the thumb and index finger squeeze the tit shut so that the milk can not flow back into the boob. Â Then, while maintaining a tight grip with the thumb and index finger, the remaining fingers squeeze hard, forcing the milk out of the nipple. Â Repeat over and over again until the forearm cramps up, or the boob is empty. Â Don’t be too gentle – the goats get impatient when milking takes too long.
halfway done...
one down, five to go. my forearms haven't been this tired since that time i "got the flu" in middle school and stayed home for 3 days.
- a cheesecloth is used to filter out any goat hair before the milk enters the pail
over five kilos of milk, not bad!
six hours after a spoonful of living culture is mixed into the fresh milk, it is ready for miss muffet (curds on the bottom, whey on top).
the whey is poured off and the curds are scooped into open plastic cylinders placed on a strainer
the separated curds are placed in a screened cabinet for further settling
24 hours later, the cheese is almost done. place these stumps in the refrigerator for another 24 hours, and...
...delicious handmade organic goat cheese!
And that, kids, is the story of organic goat cheese. Â Have a wonderful sleep!
December 19, 2011 at 15:59
so did you go tubing? the post you link to makes it sound very fun.
December 19, 2011 at 16:30
I didn’t go tubing. First, because I used to go tubing in Texas all the time when I was a kid, and second, because the music really pissed me off. It did look fun, though. I definitely would have gone if I was travelling with someone who wanted to go.
December 16, 2011 at 01:50
I checked out the link and tubing looks like an awesome party. I’m amazed that you didn’t join in – at least just to try it!
All the pictures in the link were of white people. I don’t think I saw a single Asian on that page. Where are all these white folks from? Australia? Europe?
Is it like that in most of Laos, or just the party places, like Vang Vieng?
December 19, 2011 at 16:38
I walked through the bars and watched silently, brutally judging all of the fools partaking in the revelry. Just kidding. It did look like a lot of fun.
Haha, yah, there weren’t that many Asian partiers. Most of the white folks were from UK and Australia. One regret – I should have gone tubing with those two girls from Dublin.
I saw a number of Japanese tourists in Laos, and a smattering of Koreans. I met a few people from Malaysia, one from China, and nobody from Taiwan. I don’t think I ran into a single other Asian American.
December 16, 2011 at 00:17
that looks pretty tasty!
December 19, 2011 at 16:42
yah, so tasty i took a bite before taking a picture. sorry if that disgusted anyone.
December 29, 2011 at 23:53
it was damn good. i’m going to make my own goat cheese some day. some day soon.