Banana Trek

Just before school started, one of the big boy’s relatives decided to give the school a bunch of bananas if we would go get them. So 15 of us, students and staff, climbed into a truck and drove 20 minutes down the road. After parking along the side of the road, we all jumped out and were on our way on a 1 hour trek through the jungle, across a sesame field, up a slippery slope in the bamboos (it is clay soil here, and when it is wet, it is very slippery), down the backbone of a small ridge, through a small stream, by a rice paddy farm, through a small irrigation ditch for the rice paddies, on a dike in the rice paddies, up another slippery slope and through the jungle, through another sesame field, and finally we arrive at the banana plantation next to the Moei river (the border between Burma and Thailand). We were so glad to get there, because we were very hot, sweaty and thirsty.

Most of our group after arriving at the plantation.

After getting some water, I watched how they harvest bananas. They take a machete, chop a notch about three feet from the base of the banana tree to bring it down so they can cut the banana stock off, then they chop the rest of the trunk up in large pieces and throw them to the side. (The tree is cut down because banana trees only bear one stock of bananas.) After cutting down over 15 stocks of bananas, they tore off all the hands of bananas and put them into rice sacks.

Then they decided it was time to roast some green bananas. Sharon helped peel a bunch of green bananas, while some of the students built a fire to make some hot coals and others are made long, slender sticks from bamboo for roasting the bananas. Some roasted them whole, others sliced them, then roasted them. Some of the bananas fell into the hot coals and got burned while others fell into the ashes. So we had some ashy, burnt, green tasting bananas! Then the owner gave us some dried, sweet bananas and I liked those better.

After some fun with that, it was time to go back with our load of bananas. Each person grabbed a sack and slung it over their shoulders or plopped it onto their heads. Sharon carried her sack both ways. I was the photographer. So I had my hands full. :) Anyway, the most adventuresome part of the hike was yet to come as we retraced our steps all the way back. The clay soil is very wet and slippery and going up the steep parts of the trail are not so bad, but it is another story when you have to go down those same steep slopes with a sack full of bananas and you’re wearing flip-flops. We had quite a few people sliding and grabbing onto brush and trees, some actually ending up sitting on the ground. That usually sent the banana sacks flying onto the ground. Then the students would all break out into laughter. By the time we got to the truck, several of us had mud all over us and we were hot and thirsty. So to top off the adventure, we stopped at a local store and bought some ice cream. Yum!