He asked me if I wanted to join him, but I declined. I read somewhere in a travel book once that there is a bacteria in rice fields that isn't very friendly to foreign born stomachs. Still I felt a bit silly standing next to him in my sandals, shorts, and sun glasses, holding my camera, whil he was up to his ankles in mud. I couldn't tell if he was humored by my curiousity, or just irritatd. Either way he aquiesced, and allowed me to take a few shots of him while he worked.