I decided not to take the excursion to the Bolaven plateau because it seemed like too much time on the road and a very foreshortened trip since I had to be back to take the plane. Instead the plan was to rent a bike get started early in the morning bike around a little bit, come back for lunch and a shower and to cool off and then relax in the afternoon before heading to the airport at 3. It didn’t work out that way. I got on the bike that I rented from the hotel and peddled happily for about 20 minutes along the river before I noticed that it was not just a flat tire but the whole rear wheel had basically come apart. Boy was I angry. I had to  drag the bike back to the hotel in the sun all of which took about a half an hour out of the morning. I gave the hotel rental agency hell about the whole thing but I didn’t really feel like renting another bike. Number one I no longer trusted them to rent me a bike that wasn’t going to fall apart and number to losing that much … Continue reading →

Whether Asian or Western the breakfast here is terrible. No matter. I set out early for Wat Xieng Thong, the richest and most elaborate temple in Luang Prabang. It took a half an hour to get there not the 10 minutes that the hotel manager, Kim assured me. It didn’t matter. It was a pleasant walk along the riverfront. The the main Temple was begun in the 16th century but other parts of the temple complex were built later. It was every bit a royal Temple. In addition to the gilded wood on the exterior I was also amazed by the mosaic in Japanese glass. It was the style that I had seen yesterday in the Royal Palace but never anywhere else. The temple is still very much a place of worship. In the chapel of the sleeping Buddha, also called the red Chapel, there were gifts of Buddhas from the villagers in addition to the ancient sleeping Buddha. There was also the Chapel of the Sacred Buddha that had a mosaic with a tree outside which represented the tree of Illumination. On the inside there was a long trough that serve to bring the grand Buddha out on the … Continue reading →

Cooking school, that is. 12 of us gathered at Bamboo Tree restaurant at 9 this morning. Over coffee and tea we scanned the little recipe book that the restaurant had provided us. We were all happy and excited to begin learning how to make these wonderful Laotian dishes. We selected a total of 6 dishes including spring rolls fried and fresh, fish in banana leaves, stuffed bamboo shoots, stuffed lemongrass, and of course sticky rice. After the selection we all piled into minivans and a tuk-tuk and headed for the local market. Linda, our teacher and Chef for the day, was a delightful and personable young woman with excellent English. Going through the market was a revelation. We discovered baby eggplant In two sizes, one no larger than peas. We learned that Thai Basil and Laotian basil are two completely different herbs! There was also a vegetable called water grass which was not in any of our dishes but which I had seen on various menus. We we saw a number of items that were not to be used in our dishes such as dried fish, and dried rat. After the market we headed back to the restaurant where the … Continue reading →