OK, if it isn't official it should be .... LAOS has to be the worlds most laid back capital city .... people are so chilled! A complete contrast to Hanoi. Have found ourselves staying almost a week here doing pretty much nothing except watching the sun go down from one of the many riverfront bar shacks.
Something else that has struck us here is how religeon is so integral to the Laos way of life ... monks in their orangs and golden robes are everywhere here and they are of all ages from 7 to 70. It's lovely to wander in the temple compounds and see the local people interacting with the monks on a day to day basis. Once again, like in Cambodia, we have been awed by the peoples friendliness, humility and good grace ....... all the more amazing given the fact that KLaos was one of the most heavily bombed places on the planet (Cambodia was the most heavily mined).
We decided to learn a little about weaving and dying techniques and wanted to support a good cause so we visited a not for profit organisation on the outskirts of the city which teaches disadvantaged Lao people to weave .... it was great fun but incredibly back breaking work. After preparing the wood bark and beetle dyes we sat and stirred it whilst it boiled over an open fire (burning a hole in my trouseres in the process). Then we tied up our scarves before dipping into the dyes and stirring around for a bit ..... have to admit that the colours were beautiful (mine was a golden yellow whilst Emmas was a vibrant purple).
We then went onto the weaving loom which looked incredibly basic and yet complicated too! Aftera 20 minute briefing we were let loose ....... 5 hours later we had both completed about 35 x 5 inches of weaving. Neither of us could get up from the weaving frame having completed the manouvers required for weaving using a Laotian loom!
Both Emma and I picked up something in Hanoi and we are still trying to shake it off but we can't think of a more gentle place to recover than Vientiane.
Something else that has struck us here is how religeon is so integral to the Laos way of life ... monks in their orangs and golden robes are everywhere here and they are of all ages from 7 to 70. It's lovely to wander in the temple compounds and see the local people interacting with the monks on a day to day basis. Once again, like in Cambodia, we have been awed by the peoples friendliness, humility and good grace ....... all the more amazing given the fact that KLaos was one of the most heavily bombed places on the planet (Cambodia was the most heavily mined).
We decided to learn a little about weaving and dying techniques and wanted to support a good cause so we visited a not for profit organisation on the outskirts of the city which teaches disadvantaged Lao people to weave .... it was great fun but incredibly back breaking work. After preparing the wood bark and beetle dyes we sat and stirred it whilst it boiled over an open fire (burning a hole in my trouseres in the process). Then we tied up our scarves before dipping into the dyes and stirring around for a bit ..... have to admit that the colours were beautiful (mine was a golden yellow whilst Emmas was a vibrant purple).
We then went onto the weaving loom which looked incredibly basic and yet complicated too! Aftera 20 minute briefing we were let loose ....... 5 hours later we had both completed about 35 x 5 inches of weaving. Neither of us could get up from the weaving frame having completed the manouvers required for weaving using a Laotian loom!
Both Emma and I picked up something in Hanoi and we are still trying to shake it off but we can't think of a more gentle place to recover than Vientiane.
