“This place is a shxxhole.” These were Dan’s first words when we arrived in Vientiane. We had just spent several hours on a dustbowl trail, which eventually transformed into Grapes of Wrath meets full blown industrialized pollution. Oh, and the scowling faces.

Someone forgot to tell these people that the rest of their countrymen actually smile. Vientiane's roads seem to cake pained looks onto the faces of its motorbike drivers who struggled to breathe as they drove without face masks.

Our perspective didn’t change for the next hour as every decent guesthouse turned out to be fully booked. We continued down darkening streets and stumbled into a guesthouse with an eclectic group of characters hanging out in the lobby. We weren't sure if we'd accidentally walked into a brothel or a refugee hotel. We were exhausted, so we ignored the flashing red intuition panel and checked in. The water heater in our bathroom informed us we had to turn it off after 2 minutes or it would explode. Literally.

After nice frosty showers, we walked down to the waterfront and our luck began to change. We were greeted with endless food stands showcasing giant prawns and salt-encrusted, lemongrass stuffed, grilled fish (tilapia). We ate like kings for under $7 together while enjoying an evening along the Mekong River. Vientiane wasn’t looking, or tasting, so bad after all.

The city isn’t overflowing with amazing sites to see. To its credit, though, it’s a place to relax, take in a temple or two and walk around. On the way to the market, Talat Sao, we found blocks of traditional medicine stands on the sidewalk selling bags of tree bark, roots, herbs, amulets and mysterious potions in murky bottles ready to cure what ails. In a city that has a distinct wiff of international aid money (make note of the NGO SUVs), the row of traditional healers offered a small pocket of authenticity squeezed between the shiny buildings housing these foreign organizations and the restaurants catering to their apparently outsized budgets.

Lasting Impressions of Vientiane

We left Vientiane a few days later, having made peace with it. It may not be our favorite capital in the region, but it’s not a shxxhole either.

Photo Essay: Vientiane, Laos

Video – Dining on the Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane Travel Tips: Transport, Accommodation and Food

• How to get there: We traveled by kayak from Vang Vieng, with a transfer to songthaew (pick up truck with benches in the back) for the last 100 km. Other options – bus on a windy road from Luang Prabang (take your motion sickness medicine) or plane.
• Where to stay: Mali Namphu Guesthouse – an oasis in the middle of Vientiane. Clean, air conditioned rooms for $14-$16/night, including breakfast in a pleasant courtyard. Highly recommended. Address: 114 Pangkham Road
• Where to eat: Outdoor restaurants on the banks of the Mekong. Don’t expect anything fancy – plastic tables on dirt – but expect perfectly grilled prawns and fish. Highly recommended.

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We took the boat to Nong Khiaw to visit a less developed area than Luang Prabang. Most people stop off in Nong Khiaw on the way to more popular Muang Ngoi Neua. We decided to stay a couple of days to explore and take advantage of the trekking we’d heard was available in the area.

Nong Khiaw Tourist Information…A Little Lacking

A visit to Nong Khiaw’s tourist office yields distinctly little information. And what information we could extract from the attendant and the shiny, NGO-sponsored information pamphlets had nothing to do with Nong Khiaw. Donor money had built a nice office, but did not provide training or funds to reprint materials or develop the skills necessary to answer basic questions – much less promote local tourism.

Armed with our trusty hand-scratched map from the tourism office, we set out on a paved road out of town and headed towards the caves and waterfalls. We came across several villages along the way where simple village life lay in plain view. Even though we more or less kept to the main road, it was one of our most enjoyable treks, replete with beautiful views, friendly people, and lots of waving, smiling children.

In the second village we handed out the first of our Big Brother Mouse children’s books. The children we gave them to were bewildered. Although their village had a school, but they had yet to see a book before, much less understand what to do with it. When Audrey opened one of the books to show them, they pointed at the pictures and squealed out the names of animals and giggled infectiously. It was our own private Lao lesson…and possibly our own private life lesson. Next book you grab off the shelf at Border’s or Waterstone’s, consider for a moment that there are villages without the concept of what one is.

Nong Khiaw Caves and American Bombs

Along the hike we visited the Tham Pha Tok cave where Lao villagers hid out during American bombings in the 1960s-1970s. The inside of the cave showed where village elders would meet, eat, and take shelter.

The sign in the photo was above a huge crater in the ground next to one of the caves. According to our guidebook, the American government dropped over two million tons of bombs between 1964 and 1973 as part of the “Secret War” to root out communist sympathizers. Parts of northwestern Laos are still riddled with pockmarks and unexploded ordnance. Going off the beaten path in these areas is not an option. We are not munitions or math specialists, but if you run the numbers, that works out to about 3,600 300 pound bombs dropped every day for 10 years. Round up, round down, do whatever you like. But that’s staggering to us.

Despite this relatively recent history, we never felt any resentment or animosity towards us when we said we were American. Quite the opposite, our nationality was normally met with smiles and handshakes. Absolutely amazing.

Photo Essay: Nong Khiaw, Laos and Mountain Villages

Video: Trekking Nong Khiaw, Laos

Nong Khiaw Travel Tips: Accommodation, Food and Transport

• How to get there: By boat or bus from Luang Prabang.
• Where to stay: Several guesthouses line the main road of Nong Khiaw and offer very basic accommodation for low prices ($3). Take a walk across the bridge and stay in a river bungalow. We stayed at Sunrise Guesthouse, on the left-hand side when you cross the bridge where our own bungalow with a basic bathroom and a pleasant deck with riverside views will run about $4.
• Where to eat: A few restaurants around town serve basic Asian and quasi-Western foods. Our experience tells us that it’s acceptable to magically turn the chicken currry you just ordered into buffalo stew.If your palate craves something different, check out Nazim Indian restaurant for delicious and inexpensive vegetarian curries.

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Imagine having to sit, in all your adult fullness in the kindergarten chairs of your youth, perhaps a bit smaller…for 10 hours and without access to a bathroom. And we paid money for this.

The boat we took along the Nam Ou River from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw snugly fit about 12 people and their backpacks. Our trusty captain didn't say much, but he navigated our rickety little boat through dry-season shallows and swiftly up small rapids with impressive skill. Every now and then he'd stick his hand out and the other boat traveling astride would float over and hand him a lighter to light his cigarette. Not a man of many words.

Photo Essay – Mekong Boat Ride: Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw

Video of Mekong Boat Ride: Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw

Practical Details – Boat Tickets from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw

• Tickets: Can be bought at most travel agents in Luang Prabang for around $10. No one seems to make a phone call when they sell you the ticket, indicating that no one keeps count against the number of seats on the boat. So when you arrive at the pier, getting a seat is like shooting craps in the middle of musical chairs. It seems that everyone gets a seat eventually, even if it means launching more boats and moving people from one boat to another. Arrive early to secure a good seat and bring padding for your tush if you have it.
• Take food and drink with you: As opposed to Vietnam, there will not be Oreo and Pringle loaded boats sidling up to the boat, nor forced shopping stops along the way. Stay hydrated, but limit your liquid intake – we only had one potty break during the entire trip.

The post Traveling in Laos: Boat Ride to Nong Khiaw appeared first on Uncornered Market.

Big Brother Mouse (BBM), a book publishing and literacy program in Luang Prabang, produces children's books in the Lao language to help promote the love of reading and learning in children. The organization was started by a retired American publisher who saw the need for children's books and decided to try to fill the gap himself. The project is taking off and growing.

The stories and designs for the books are co-developed with university students, student artists and teachers to maintain a uniquely Lao look, feel, and sense of humor. The first six books were published in early 2006, with a total of 24 books published by February 2007. Many books are in English and Lao so that students can use the book to improve their English and Lao reading skills simultaneously.

Travelers Giving Back with Big Brother Mouse

One of the organization’s challenges is book distribution to rural villages and schools. BBM has creatively enlisted travelers by offering a program that encourages travelers to purchase books to take with them and distribute on their hikes/treks to and through rural villages. This accomplishes the goal of increasing book distribution to remote areas while allowing travelers to engage with children through something more lasting and productive than candy or toys.

Big Brother Mouse Conversation Hour

In addition to book publishing, BBM also runs a center where travelers can help novice monks and children practice speaking or reading English. When we stopped by, we helped edit some Lao proverbs translated into English for an upcoming book. Translating proverbs and humor from one language and culture to another is surprisingly difficult and time-consuming. So the staff are thankful for any assistance they can get.

Employment and Training

As a by-product of its activities, the program also provides employment to young educated Lao graduates. BBM is run like a business and gives its employees on opportunity to work with people from other countries and provides hands-on training and experience in western business practices. The founder is transferring his knowledge of how to publish books to the Lao staff, so that BBM can eventually become a fully-Lao run operation.

Handing Out Big Brother Mouse Books

We purchased a package of 10 books and took them with us to Nong Khiaw. We noticed a school in the village, so we figured there were some literate kids somewhere who could make use the books. Audrey handed out one of the Lao alphabet books to some children in one of the nearby villages.

Based on their reactions, these kids had never seen a book before. Imagine that. They simply did not know what to make of it, nor what to do with it. She tried to show them how to use the book, flipping the pages. The kids got a kick out of pointing at the pictures and saying the word in Lao. Lots of giggles.

Great Reading in English

Before giving the books away, we enjoyed reading them all ourselves, especially the one entitled “The Cat that Meditated”. The moral of this particular story: don't trust a cat that says it’s a vegetarian (i.e., we can't go against our nature). The moral of another story – the effects of teamwork are bigger than the sum of the parts. When an elephant goes bad and begins to take advantage of the other animals in the forest, they take advantage of their strength in numbers, as the bird plucks out the elephant’s eyes, the fly lays eggs in its eye sockets in order to cause infection and blindness, and the frog plays ventriloquist, tricking the blind elephant into thinking it was headed towards a lake, when it was in fact headed off a cliff towards its death. We don’t see this becoming an American children’s book classic any time soon.

Thank you, John

We thank John Bingham, a volunteer at Big Brother Mouse, for taking time out of a busy day to talk with us about the program and his contribution to this blog entry. His excitement about the program was contagious.

Practical Details – Volunteering with Big Brother Mouse

Contact information: Big Brother Mouse
Follow the mouse: Just follow the wooden signs with a mouse on them to find the office and reading center in Luang Prabang. Smaller offices are located in Vientiane and Luang Namtha.
I think this is a really cool project. What can I do to get involved?

• buy books and distribute them to schools or children while traveling throughout Laos
• donate money
• write non-fiction books for BBM to translate and publish
• give rights to publish your own book
• hang out with Lao kids and novice monks to converse and read in English
• sponsor the publication of a book

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Diversity is tucked into the hills surrounding Luang Prabang. Our trek took us through three distinct layers of hill tribes, culture, and life – Lao, Hmong and Khmu. Our guides patiently waded through all of our questions – from life in the villages to the American bombing of Laos in the 60s and 70s – and our group (two Australians, one Guatemalan, and two Filipinos) kept the conversation lively throughout the day.

1. Lao Village

The first village in the low-lying area was ethnic Lao, their livelihood coming from the river and agriculture. The Lao makes their lives and livlihood from the river and low-lying agriculture. The elementary school was in session and we dropped off some books from the book publishing and literacy program, Big Brother Mouse. As we did, kids curiously peered out at us from the classroom. We felt guilty for disrupting the their school day, but the teacher didn’t seem to mind…and neither did the kids.

2. Hmong Village

As we rose in elevation, we came across a Hmong village. The Hmong, descended from Mongolian nomads, have higher cheekbones and wider faces than the Lao. They are known for living in the hills and highlands, with their homes built on bare earth (rather than on stilts, like other hill tribes and ethnic groups ) in order to accommodate their livestock and protect themselves against the highland winds.

The first Hmong kids we saw when we entered the village looked at us like we were aliens. Although we were on an organized trek, the villages apparently weren’t accustomed to foreigners. One little boy started crying when he saw our group. Our Hmong guide told him in the local language that he was also Hmong and the big white creatures were OK. It still took the boy a few minutes of eyeing us to believe it and stop his crying.

Lunch Discussion

Laos is a communist country, but its flavor of Communism is different than that of Vietnam where people openly complained about the government. Our guides would often speak in hushed tones after more probing questions, indicating that if people heard him talking about that topic he might end up being questioned by the police. He overwhelmingly praised the government and the development projects they’ve undertaken since 2000.

3. Khmu Village

The last village we visited was a Khmu village. Khmu villages are normally quite poor and most do not have electricity. The one we visited, with a new school and new houses, was relatively well-off. In contrast to the Hmong, the Khmu build their houses on two levels, with the main living area elevated on stilts. We left the remaining books from Big Brother Mouse with the chief’s wife to give to the school.

Questions About America

On our descent from the hill villages back to Luang Prabang, one of the guides started asking us about America. He explained how he gets confused sometimes when he meets American tourists who are not white-skinned, wondering how someone could be American yet not white. We tried explaining America’s melting pot origins and its diversity, drawing on similar analogies where different ethnicities co-exist throughout Southeast Asia, in order to provide a context that he might relate to. His curiosity piqued and he began asking us about the war in Iraq and politics. Always an interesting topic of conversation, it was especially so with an educated Lao to hear what information had made it into Lao news and what had been conveniently left out.

Photo Essay – Luang Prabang Hill Tribe Trek

Video – Our Hill Tribe Trek – Luang Prabang, Laos

Arranging a Village Trek Around Luang Prabang

White Elephant Tours: Located on the main street of Luang Prabang, White Elephant advertises educational and environmental tours. The villages they go through are less touristed, providing a more realistic view into village life. The daylong trek described above is around $30 per person.

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Luang Prabang's laid back atmosphere is one of its biggest charms. It's what draws people in and makes them, like us, extend their stay.

We arrived in Luang Prabang, a former French colony and now UNESCO site, after spending three weeks in northern Vietnam where we were used to bustling streets, ceaseless honking, weaving motorbikes and endless activity on the sidewalks. One of the first things we noticed was how quiet and peaceful Luang Prabang was. We could sleep without ear plugs and cross the street without wondering what might happen to us.

At first Dan said he was feeling understimulated, but soon we both fell into the Luang Prabang rhythm.

Luang Prabang Rhythm and Routine

Our days would start with breakfast overlooking the Mekong River and the rest of the day would continue at the same pace, maybe with a visit to a Buddhist temple or stroll around the Nam Khan River. Temples and monks in saffron robes occupy a significant slice of Luang Prabang's visual and conversational space. Novice monks are happy to connect to tourists, chat about life, and improve their English.

We rose early one morning to watch the procession of monks collecting food as alms at the break of dawn. We chose to stand near the Wat Nong Temple, away from the main street. This street was empty, save the few women who sat on mats with their baskets of sticky rice. Each woman gave a small amount of sticky rice to every monk that passed. Each temple takes a different route around town, making sure that there is a steady flow and pace.

Monks are only allowed to eat until 11 or 11:30 in the morning and forsake food for the remainder of the day. It was good to see how the locals take care of feeding their monks. The monks in turn try to take care of others in the community who do not have enough, forming a sort of social system.

We had originally planned to stay three days, and had to pull ourselves away more than a week later.

Photo Set – Luang Prabang, Laos

Video of Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang Travel Tips: Transport, Accommodation, Food and Activities

• How to get there:We flew from Hanoi direct on Lao Airlines. Bangkok is also an easy hop away by plane. It’s also accessible by boat and bus from Vientiane.
• Where to stay: Kinnaly Guest House (856 71 22 416) and Nam Sok Guesthouse 1 on Sisavangvatthana Street, near the Mekong River shore. $13-$15 per night for a double room with hot water. Close to the Mekong and main street, but quiet.
• Where to eat: Tamarind Café across from Wat Nong has tasty samplers of Luang Prabang food. We became fans of the hole-in-the-wall restaurant, creatively named Fruit Shake Restaurant, for authentic Lao dishes like Or Lam or Laap. Restaurants along the Mekong have tasty Thai, Lao and quasi-western dishes for $2-$3. Nazim and Nisha restaurants offer tasty Indian food for travelers craving a bit of the subcontinent while in Southeast Asia. The Scandinavian Bakery on the main street (Sisavangvong) offers good breakfast deals with bagels or croissants.
• What to do: Relax, wander and rent a bicycle. Strike up a conversation with a novice monk at a temple or at Big Brother Mouse. Take a trek to nearby Hmong and Khmu hill tribes. Hop on a water taxi to the other side of the Mekong to visit Xieng Maen, a quieter village scene which feels almost a world away.

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Authentic Lao food can be difficult to find in well-touristed areas like Luang Prabang where Thai curries are often cloaked as local fare. Fortunately for us, we stumbled upon Tamarind Café early in our stay. Its unique menu made a point of introducing and promoting Luang Prabang cuisine.

Tamarind Café's sampler dish, with dips made from roasted eggplant, sweet tomatoes, and cilantro, makes for a delightful afternoon snack. The dark mixture in the white spoon is jaew bawng, a thick sauce made from roasted chilies that does a nice job of balancing sweet and spicy. The dark triangles are khai paen, pressed river weed (think of it as an inland version of nori) fried with sesame seeds. Roll it with sticky rice, dip and you are on your way.

Luang Prabang Market Tour

After chatting with Caroline Gaylard, Tamarind Café’s co-owner, and witnessing her passion for and knowledge of Lao food, we signed up with two other visiting American foodies for a tour of Luang Prabang’s Phousy Market.

Our morning tour offered us a unique window into Lao culture, its people, and their food. Friendly vendors smiled at us and got a charge out of our genuine interest in their bags of dried buffalo skins and pots of fragrant padek (heavily fermented fish paste). If we had a question to which Caroline didn’t know the answer off-hand, she’d employ her Lao language skills and elicit giggles from vendors with questions like, “So how exactly do you cook that skinned pig’s face?” or “How do you eat a full pig’s uterus?”

At first glance, Lao markets resemble their counterparts throughout Southeast Asia – freshness and bright colors feature prominently in the early morning market buzz. New items do appear, though, like sak khan, a special wood that imparts a spicy numbness in the mouth, featured in Or Lam (a Lao stew). A true taste sensation, the likes of which we'd never felt before.

Lao Food Specialties

Thanks to Caroline and this tour, we had a greater understanding of Lao food and were motivated to carve out an authentic Lao food experience during the remainder of our stay. The assumption is that most tourists aren't interested in Lao food, but we found its tastes unique and refreshing. Each time we would request a traditional Lao dish at a restaurant, the staff would perk up, often making it for us even if it wasn't on the menu. And like any non-threatening curiosity that you express as a traveler, this one is rewarded with smiles and the occasional free plate of food!

Or Lam

This is a spicy stew with mushrooms, eggplant, meat, lemongrass, chilies, dill and spicy wood. When you chew the wood, it delivers a peppery, numbing, and oddly satisfying sting. A truly bizarre sensation for those of us used to the limitations of the usual taste dimensions of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

Laap

Laap is a traditional Lao salad made from minced meat, crushed herbs (lemongrass and mint), galangal and lime juice. Its light and zesty flavor makes it a perfect complement to a warm day.

Sticky (or glutinous) Rice

This is a staple of the Lao table and is a critical element of the Lao identity. Varieties of Lao rice are not in short supply. We were easily hooked on Lao sticky rice, especially the darker kernels (purple, brown) whose nutty flavors can be found nowhere else in the high-volume production rices of Southeast Asia.

Reflection on Laos Cuisine

We welcomed late afternoons in Luang Prabang as an excuse for a snack of khai paen, jaew bawng, and sticky rice washed down with a cold Beer Lao to accompany the close of another day along the Mekong.

Authentic Lao cuisine is definitely worth a try. Like anything simple and accessible, it has a leveling, democratic quality about it. The irony is this: if it’s not showing up in the highest of high class Asian restaurants in world culinary capitals such as New York and San Francisco (now, or in the very near future) with a 10x price tag, we’d be very surprised.

Laos Food Photo Essay – Phousy Market, Luang Prabang

Video of the Phousy Market – Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang Travel Tips: Restaurants and Markets

• Tamarind Café: Located across from Wat Nong in Luang Prabang. Open from 12:00 – 6:00, with special dinners planned several nights a week. Market tours to Phousy market with Caroline cost around $8.
• Fruit Shake Restaurant:We became fans of the hole-in-the-wall restaurant creatively named Fruit Shake Restaurant for authentic Lao dishes like Or Lam or Laap. Across from Wat Sene a few doors down from Morning Glory Cafe.
• Restaurants along the Mekong River have tasty Thai, Lao and quasi-western dishes for $2-$3.
• Phousy market: Luang Prabang’s main market is a short tuk-tuk ride or bicycle ride outside of town. Go early in the day, as vendors start to pack up around noon.

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One American traveler we spoke to quipped that Luang Prabang actually felt like Sante Fe, New Mexico. A fair comparison, we suppose, given its café-equipped, mid-mountain artsy demeanor and copious artsy shopping opportunities. These features ensure that tourists will keep ‘a coming to this quaint yet polished French colonial outpost on the Mekong.

But if you are looking for a deeper cut of authenticity, catch yourself a water taxi to Ban Xieng Maen, a peaceful village just across the river, but half a planet away. Its simplicity and low-key temples belie the fact that we were only minutes from well-traveled Luang Prabang.

When we arrived on this literal “other side”, we were welcomed by a village girl holding a duck in her arms, fresh from the market perhaps. Villagers were extraordinarily friendly – kids ran up waving excitedly and adults smiled as we passed by. People here were happy to interact with us, but busy with their Sunday program of eating, drinking and singing.

Apparently, most tourists aren’t aware of this opportunity or couldn’t be troubled to make the trip. We were among only a small scattering of tourists we saw on our hike. Though the temples are pleasant enough, there are no spectacular sites to see. Here, the people are the main draw.

A hop across the Mekong makes for an easy way to witness authentic Laos so close to Luang Prabang. And if you are concerned about boat safety, choose the one with expensive electronic goods in it. The locals know that’s the safest of the bunch. Watch the video below for a how-to.

Video of Ban Xieng Maen – Luang Prabang, Laos

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