Fishing, Isaan Thailand Style

This past week, I had a fun opportunity to go fishing...not with poles, bait, and tackle...just with bare hands. In our area of Thailand, people will often make a small pond in their rice fields. When the rainy season comes, and the lakes and streams flood over, the fish spread all across the rice fields. After harvest season is over, some people will invite friends and family to come "fishing" at their place. They then proceed to pumping the water out of the little pond, which leaves some water and a lot of mud. You then crawl down into the mud and reach around, trying to find some fish. We probably ended up with a couple hundred fish, mostly small, but a few big ones. Then they cook the fish over a fire (no need to clean the fish). After peeling off the outside of the fish, the fish taste great with some sticky rice. I was also fortunate enough to eat some kind of an ant and ant egg concoction some of the older men made up...it wasn't too bad. Here are some pics.