Laos
some food in luang prabang
while the food generally in laos isn’t necessarily anything to write home about, we did manage to find some good local grub in luang prabang (in addition to some fancier french food).
a noodle soup for breakfast
a yummy curry
a pumpkin soup
and some fried chicken…
most of which was found at the little river side restaurant.
things about luang prabang
1. UNESCO heritage town
2. hmong night market
3. best craft and textile shopping
4. baguettes
5. waterfall
6. mekong river
7. french food
8. monks
9. temples
10. just got electricity 10 years ago
11. sticky rice
12. weaving and dyeing at ock pop tok
13. buffet style food market for 10,000 kip a plate ($1.20 US)
14. french colonial architecture
15. river weeds snack
turns out dinosaurs do exist
while it might not be clear from this picture, this weird pre-historical looking bird (aka the lesser adjutant stork) is actually enormous and tall and was casually hanging out on a rock next to a temple. clearly Laotian people have seen a lot of dinos because we were freaking out and no one else seemed to notice.
things about vientiane
1. the capital of laos
2. lots of ngo’s and ex-pats
3. japanese sponsored social programs and buildings
4. really really good japanese food
5. $10 a night room and no bed bugs
6. stolen flip flops
7. the mekong
8. you can see thailand
9. a good mall with really good textiles
10. endangered animal parts for sale
11. mystical medicines
12. snakes
13. passion fruit yogurt
14. empty tourist sites
15.dinosaurs
SQUAT OF THE WEEK
cleanest squat ever: behind the Talat Sao market in the not yet opened new mall. vientiane, laos.
things about vietnam
1. possibly the best food so far
2. the american war
3. white skin is really important
4. full body coverings (including face masks and skin tone stockings) in the sun.
5. tattooed eyebrows and lip liner
6. padded bras
7. high heels for any every day occasion
8. easy rider motorcycle adventures
9. bahn mi
10. very cheap beer ($1 or less)
11. love of ho chi minh
12. propaganda posters and billboards everywhere
13. night food markets
14. mekong river
15. fish sauce
16. coffee plantations
17. motorbike traffic
18. sand dunes, rice fields and beaches
19. $10 a night hotel rooms
20. no upset stomachs despite eating every possible street food
21. unemployed water buffaloes (the farmers have found hand-pulled tractors)
22. conical hats
23. vietnamese tourists on family vacations
24. traditional hill-tribe clothing
25. agent orange
26. war buff tourism
27. dog meat restaurants
28. divorce is recently acceptable and somewhat rampant (as well as babies out of wedlock, according to our lovely tailor)
29. silver chains on babies bring good luck and protection
30. women do everything and men sit in hammocks drinking coffee, beer or rice wine
31. homemade rice wine
32. cafe su da (white iced coffee)
33. eating sea urchins in the south
34. squid fishing (sort of)
35. foreigner vs. vietnamese prices
36. horizontal sleeper buses
37. pho (official breakfast food)
38. fruit shakes
39. government has a more than 2 child tax per family
40. dispute with china over property rights of islands in south china sea
