Food for Thought (in Laos)

Coffee - coffee with condensed milk. Mmmmmmm..... 

Sticky Rice - grab a pinch, roll it into a ball, dip in sauce(optional), and pop in mouth. The Laos people call themselves the children of sticky rice so one can only assume how beloved this staple is in Laos. 

Jeow Bong - dipping sauce with tomatoes, garlic, buffalo skin, sugar, and chili.

Ivy Gourd Soup - very gentle soup of ivy gourd leaves, tofu, and scallions. 

Soop Phak - a mix of fresh steamed vegetables topped with roasted sesame seeds. 

Laab - the unofficial dish of Laos. Minced meat and vegetables with lots of fish sauce, lime juice, and fermented fish sauce. The one pictured below is fish but can also be made of any meat you can mince. 

Khao Soi - spicy flat noodle soup.  Many street stall kitchens only serve one kind of dish and it's usually a type of noodle soup. It's nice and spicy and always comes with a basketful of mint, Laos basil, lettuce and another basket of chili flakes, chili peppers, and chili sauce. Only downside is that it's usually made with pork. Sad face.

Laos phô - much like its Vietnamese neighbor's phô but lighter.  It's a beef noodle soup with slices of beef and lots of herbs. Although it takes seconds to serve, the broth itself takes hours to prepare. 

Sandwich - We see these everywhere and I'm not sure if it's because it's a simple meal for tourists or it's something the French gifted the people. It's lacking the crackle of the crust but not a bad baguette. (I'm a baguette snob)

-Priscilla 

The Secret War and the Plain of Jars

Do you know about the "Secret War" the US conducted in Laos during the Vietnam War? I had no idea of the shocking scale: Laos is the most heavily bombed country in history. Here's the short version:

Laos was a French colony before WWII, part of French Indochina. After struggling against French rule Laos won full independence in 1953, just in time to become a key ideological battleground in the Cold War. Civil war began between the Western-backed Lao Royalists, neutralists, and the Communist Pathet Lao. The proxy war escalated, and in 1964 the US started bombing targets in Laos. From 1964-1973, the US extensively bombed Pathet Lao areas in the north and Ho Chi Min Trail areas in the south. "Extensively" isn't a strong enough word: 580,000 bombing missions flown and two million tons of ordinance were dropped, the equivalent of a B-52 mission every eight minutes for nine years. Massive saturation bombing against all targets, including civilian, to deny resources to the Pathet Lao. The US publicly denied involvement, thus, the "Secret War."

The lasting legacy is unexploded ordinance: UXO. Most of the bombs dropped were antipersonnel cluster bombs, which scatter hundreds of submunitions ("bombies") over a wide area. 30% failed to explode, leaving an estimated 80 MILLION unexploded bombies in Laos.

UXO is everywhere, in fields, under roads and schools, in the forests. Farmers hit them while tilling the soil, kids don't know any better and blow them up while playing with them or while hunting for scrap metal. People die driving a stake into the ground or lighting a cooking fire. 20,000 have died since the war ended, and on average one person a day is wounded or killed every day even now. It's appalling.

It's such a part of life that locals use scavenged cluster bomb cases as planters, fire pits, feeding troughs, etc.

We visited Phonsavan, the largest town on the Plain of Jars, a major strategic objective during the war. Several NGOs operate visitor centers there to educate visitors about the dangers of UXO and inform about the work they do. The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) trains Laos ordinance disposal teams and provides technical expertise. COPE (pics from Vientiane) helps rehabilitate and make prosthetics for UXO victims. The Quality of Life Association likewise provides support for UXO survivors.

The Plain of Jars itself was the site of an ancient, unknown civilization. 2,000-2,500 years ago this civilization carved hundreds of giant stone jars and left them strewn in clusters around the plain. Most likely used for funeral rituals to hold bodies until they decomposed, but local legends are colorful: the jars belong to a race of giants, or were used to brew alcohol to celebrate an ancient king's victory in battle.

We took a pink scooter around to some of the most notable jar sites. The sites are progressively more remote, and some are atop hills, others in forests, some surrounded by fields and pastures. Time has not been kind, and many have been destroyed by bandits or bombs. Bomb craters are everywhere, and MAG has marked the safe paths which are cleared of subterranean UXO.

Reminders of the UXO are everywhere.

-Peter

Konglor Cave, the headlamp at the end of the tunnel

There's nothing in Konglor Cave to be afraid of, but your imagination more than makes up for it. The cave is 7km long and has a river running through it, so the only way to explore is to board a tiny wooden motorboat and cast off into pitch black darkness.

It's like sailing into a vast monster, like the asteroid worm in Empire Strikes Back or the whale in Pinocchio. The river winds through the cave, never less than 10m wide, but the caverns can open up to more than 100m around you, lost in the deep deep shadows. Your puny LED headlamps make no difference, but your guide's is strong enough to punch a thin line through the gloom so he can steer around the rocks and rapids. All you can see is the hint of enormous caverns and feel the warm humid wind in your face. It's too easy for your mind to wander and dream up terrible monsters or losing your way, but it's just in your head.

Luckily part way through they've illuminated some of the rock formations, so you can check your eyes are still working.

After 7km upstream the river exits the cave and you reemerge blinking into the sun. There's a village on this side, and the cave is their only route to the outside world. Take a short break and then it's back into the cave for the return journey.

Konglor village is in the middle of nowhere, which is part of the appeal. Nestled at the end of a valley of sheer limestone cliffs, less than 1000 villagers and only the bare minimum of tourist infrastructure. Take it easy, wander around the village, and watch the rice harvest.

Now that we're off the main tourist trail travel is much slower. There's maybe one bus a day to your destination, and it usually leaves at 7 or 8 AM. That's ok though because the roosters woke you up at 4:45.

-Peter

"Sleepy" Vientiane

Laos is one of the five remaining communist countries (can you name them all- answers below) but it's hard to tell as a tourist. You'd expect the capital Vientiane to be full of grim imposing architecture and giant statues, but it feels pretty restrained. There are lots of state-owned enterprises and a few hammer-and-sickle flags, but if you didn't do your homework you'd have no idea. Laos had the good grace to skip Stalinist and brutalist architecture and instead fuze French colonial with Buddhist forms.

Vientiane is the quietest southeast Asian capital, but it's a welcome cosmopolitan change from the rest of Laos. We spent most of our time enjoying good food (sushi, burgers, cheesesteaks!!!) and the rest at the obligatory capital museums, temples and monuments.

The National Museum covers the entire history of Laos, but the focus is on the communist struggle and the second Indochina war. Excellent photos, and I'm sure the Laos propaganda is great, but the English translations leave a lot to be desired. For example, Karl Marx is listed as "Katmat". Sections on archaeology are much better.

More Wats: Haw Phra Kaew and the national symbol of Laos, Pha That Luang:

The Patuxai monument commemorates those who died in the struggle for independence from France, and is appropriately taller than the Arc de Triomphe:

More unique is the Buddha Park concrete sculpture garden. Awkwardly far out and maybe not worth an hour each way by tuk-tuk, but still fascinating to explore:

The highlight was undoubtedly the COPE Museum on the tragic impact of unexploded ordinance and the efforts to educate rural communities and rehabilitate victims, but I'll be covering this extensively in our upcoming Phonsavan post.

From above: communist countries are China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam.

-Peter

Slow boat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang

I took the slowboat 6 years ago and they definitely have made some upgrades since then but it's still just as slow. Slow is the best way to enjoy the Mekong River though. It's a two day journey drifting down the river of lush vegetation, fishermen with their giant fish nets and bamboo sun hats, naked children splashing in the riverbanks, and even an elephant sighting if you're lucky.  It was a pretty nice trip considering some of the horror stories you hear. Seriously, if you google "slow boat Luang Prabang" you'll read some entertaining stories about tour scams, loud and obnoxious party people, and propellers falling off the boat and having to spend the night in the jungle. Luckily, our journey to Luang Prabang was boring and safe.

Luang Prabang 

We woke up as the sun was rising to see the Buddhist Alms Giving Ceremony which is a venerable and humble ritual where locals (and tourists) line the streets offering food to the monks. 

Since we were up so early, we had decided to get going on our day (after a quick 10min nap of course). First stop was Phousi. After climbing 300 some steps, we were honored with a spectacular view of the city, the river, and the surrounding mountains. The hill also contains numerous mini wats, Buddha statues in all positions, and an enlarged Buddha foot impression. 

Next was the Royal Palace museum conveniently located across the street. It was once the main residence of the King Sisavong Vong during the French colonial era. It's your typical royal palace but what really makes the place are the Japanese glass murals on deep red walls. The grounds also has a royal theatre where a ballet of selections from Laos' version of the Ramayana is performed nightly, which we also saw. 

It was only noon after our museum visit and we had only one thing left on our items of must-sees in the city: Wat Xieng Thong. A beautiful temple with roofs that practically sweep the ground and a golden tree of life is the main attraction. 

After visiting the most important temple in Luang Prabang, we decided to sit staring out onto the might Mekong and contemplate our thoughts. Really it was because we saw all we wanted and didn't know what to do next. Luckily, two English students came up to us and asked if we wanted to be interviewed as part of their homework. Questions consisted of how do you like Luang Prabang, would you live here, and do you like Lao skirts?  They have a presentation to give on us the following week!  Too bad we couldn't stay long enough to see it. 

We also visited Ock Pop Tok, a weaving center focused on textiles from different parts of Laos. Our textile man explained to us all the different types of weaving styles and patterns.  We now know what tapestry means!  

-Priscilla