--- type: "Article" title: "Rice farmer for a day in Laos" description: "There’s more to rice than boiling a cup of basmati in the microwave, as Justine Tyerman discovers on a trip to Laos." resource: "https://travelmemo.com/laos/rice-farmer-luang-prabang" author: "Justine Tyerman" publisher: "Travelmemo" photo_count: 16 tags: ["Culture", "Nature", "Laos"] entities: - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/places/laos" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/places/singapore" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/culture" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/nature-tourism" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/culinary-tourism" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/itinerary" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/restaurant" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/experience-travel" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/organizations/swiss-international-air-lines" generated: { by: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/tyermanj", at: 2026-07-04T14:10:12+00:00 } sources: - id: photos resource: rice-farmer-luang-prabang.md#photos title: "Original photography by Justine Tyerman" author: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/tyermanj" last_modified: 2017-06-21 timestamp: 2026-07-04T14:10:12+00:00 --- # Rice farmer for a day in Laos > Living Land Farm near Luang Prabang, Laos offers visitors a hands-on 'rice farmer for a day' experience, guiding guests through all 13 traditional steps of rice production on a community-run organic farm. ## Destination Living Land Farm, near Luang Prabang, Laos ## Getting there Singapore Airlines flies from Auckland to Singapore daily, from Wellington four times weekly, and from Christchurch daily. SilkAir flies from Singapore to Vientiane and Luang Prabang three times weekly. Lao Airlines flies from Vientiane to Xieng Khuang. ## Why visit A rare chance to experience traditional Lao rice farming hands-on, guided by entertaining local staff, while supporting a community enterprise that employs people with disabilities and assists children from poor families. ## What to see - **Paddy fields and organic gardens** — Extensive organic gardens, shade houses, and working paddy fields form the heart of the farm. - **Bamboo craft demonstration** — Local men craft intricate animal and bird shapes from bamboo shoots to give to visitors. - **Terrace Restaurant** — Shady balcony restaurant overlooking the green paddy fields where rice-based snacks and rice wine are served. ## What to do - **13-step rice production experience** — Guests participate in every traditional step from selecting seeds and ploughing with a water buffalo to threshing, husking, and cooking sticky rice. - **Grinding rice and pressing sugar cane** — Visitors grind rice into flour for noodles and extract sugar cane juice using an ancient wooden press. - **Rice tasting** — The experience concludes with sampling rice-based snacks and rice wine prepared by local Lao women. ## Good to know Living Land Farm was founded in 2005 as a fully organic community enterprise. It supplies leading Luang Prabang restaurants and hotels, employs workers with disabilities, supports children's education and medical needs, and offers free English classes to village children. ## Photos ```yaml photos: - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-Khamia-assistants.jpg" caption: "Khamla’s delightful young assistants" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8589, longitude: 102.1033} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-Laotian-girls.jpg" caption: "We were greeted by these lovely young Laotian girls" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8596, longitude: 102.1036} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-sticky-rice-farm.jpg" caption: "Sticky rice steaming in a bamboo basket over an open fire. It’s the staple diet of the Lao people, eaten three times a day" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8592, longitude: 102.1035} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-Justine-Tyerman-harvested-rice.jpg" caption: "Justine with her harvested rice" keywords: ["Justine Tyerman", "rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8587, longitude: 102.1034} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-Rob-buffalo.jpg" caption: "Rob, one of our Innovative Travel-Singapore Airlines team, ploughing the paddy field with the help of Rudolf, the water buffalo" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8592, longitude: 102.1035} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-buffalo-Rudolf.jpg" caption: "Rudolf at rest" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8592, longitude: 102.1035} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-Khamia-rice-basket.jpg" caption: "Khamla turns the back-breaking task of carting heavy baskets of rice into a comedy skit" keywords: ["Khamla", "rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8592, longitude: 102.1036} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-journalists.jpg" caption: "The Kiwis off to plant rice in the paddy fields" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8592, longitude: 102.1035} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-terrace-restaurant.jpg" caption: "We sat on the shady balcony of the Terrace Restaurant overlooking the green paddy fields and sampled a range of delicious rice-based snacks and rice wine" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8593, longitude: 102.1033} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-Khamia-bamboo-deer.jpg" caption: "Khamla with a deer he made from bamboo" keywords: ["Khamla", "rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8595, longitude: 102.1035} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-bamboo-shapes.jpg" caption: "Local men making animal and bird shapes out of bamboo shoots" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8592, longitude: 102.1035} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-bamboo-bird.jpg" caption: "Bird figures made for visitors out of bamboo shoots" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8592, longitude: 102.1035} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-shade-houses.jpg" caption: "Shade houses in the organic gardens at Living Land Farm" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8587, longitude: 102.1029} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-Sia-Lee.jpg" caption: "Living Land Farm assistant manager Sia Lee whose passion for his work radiated from his beaming face" keywords: ["Sia Lee", "rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8593, longitude: 102.1032} - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Laos-rice-farm-Sia-Lee-house.jpg" caption: "Sia Lee's house" keywords: ["rice farm"] captured: 2017-06-21 geo: {latitude: 19.8592, longitude: 102.1035} ```