One day the clan moved out for an adventure beyond belief. The day started with an adventurous jeep ride and a visit to a rubber plantation. The "rubber tappers" get up for work around 2 am to begin their day. They use thin blades to cut diagonal lines around the rubber trees so the latex will bleed out. As it drips out, the latex is caught in ceramic cups. Later in the day, all of the cermaic cups are collected and the latex is placed into a large pan to harden. Once hardened, the latex is run through the first mangle to stretch it. Then, it is run through a second mangle to squeeze out all of the liquid in order to make the sheets pliable. The finished sheets are hung out to dry. The current rate for latex sheets is about 30 baht per kg. That translates to less than $1 for over 2 lbs!
