Leaving Laos
Trip Start
Dec 31, 2006
1
33
52
Trip End
Jul 31, 2007
Luang Prabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Sunday, May 27, 2007
What have we done? Well, a top thing was we went to cooking classes. We joined one recommended in the LP although there are two or three in town and they all look good. Ours involved a trip to the local market which was fascinating. Our English speaking guide spent a long time pointing out alsorts of weird and wonderful things and was even able to get us little tasters of things. The stall owners were friendly, polite and more than happy to pose for photos, so expect there to be a lot of those when we get back!
We even saw some delicacies. My favourite was a large plastic bag full of live butterfly pupae. Thinking these might be like huhu grubs I asked the guide if you ate them raw. He said no, they were deep fried, so I asked what they tasted like. At this point he said he had no idea, they looked so gross he'd never touched them! This is my kind of town!
We then went back to the restaurant where the school is. Had a go at chopping up all the basics of Lao food (lemongrass, ginger, spicy roots, garlic, shallots and lots and lots of herbs), then watched our teacher demonstate two typical Lao dishes which were delicious. Finally it was our turn. We each made a dish. Mine was steamed chicken in banana leaves, Matt's was spring rolls. The rest of the group made their dishes and we spent the afternoon sitting in the sun and eating ourselves senseless! It was a perfect day and we've even got the cookery book, so watch out!
The following day (Saturday) we went to see the Wats that are around Luang Prabang. They're excellent. Many have been recently restored and have an array of beautifully painted walls and ceilings. They're also fully functional so you see monks going about their business and, if you visit in the evening, you can hear prayers and singing coming from the main buildings. It's quite idyllic.
Today we took a trip on the Mekong and visited some local caves. These caves are fully of Buddha statues and, whilst impressive, it was the boat trip which I really enjoyed. It was lovely to be moving along such a great river, to see the jungle coming up to the banks and the odd village just tucked in amongst the green.
The boat trip does the usual compulsory stop at a village along the way for shopping and it was hilarous. LP said that it was touristy and we expected a Thai village experience, a la Chang Mai where the first thing you see is the Coke vending machine! It turned out that there were 8 toursits in the village (including Matt and I!) and the hard sell was distinctly low key. We actually did get to see life in a Laos village, albeit with a tourist spin!
Well, it's Cambodia next and I have very high hopes it's going to be good. Matt can't wait to see Angkor Wat and we might be able to work off some of the yummy bakery goodies we've been stuffing down for the past week!
Bye for now.
Sasha
