It is March 19, and I have arrived in Laos! I took a car ride to Muang La, a province in the northern part of Laos. We will stay in Muang La for 4 days!
Day 1- Today is our first day in Muang La! For breakfast I have a vegetarian noodle soup and ginger and lemongrass tea. After breakfast, we meet our tour guide; his name is Don. First, we go to the salt mines. This is where the hotel collects its salt.
Next, we went to the rice fields. There, we learned how to plant rice. First, you have to wait for the monsoon season. Next, you make the rows with the water buffalo.
Finally, you plant the rice, which was not easy.
Then, we went to a farmer’s house. There, they showed us how to harvest the rice. First, you pick the rice seeds. Then, you smash the rice grains to take out the shells.
Finally, you shake the rice grains opposite the direction of the wind, so you are only left the the part of the rice we eat.
Now it is time for lunch. For lunch, we had a very very very SPICY papaya salad, rice with vegetables, soup, and fruit. After lunch, we walked through the village and met an adorable group of puppies.
I probably spent ten minutes playing with them. Next we visited a temple.
There we sat and meditated a little. It is already time to go back!
When we arrived back at the hotel, we met a little monkey! The monkey climbed all over us.
He was so cute, or so we thought! At 5:00 PM we left the hotel to participate in the Baci Ceremony. Leaving the hotel, we were stopped by the monkey. Due to how much my brother and I provoked him, he bite my brother’s leg!!!! Not so cute anymore! Since the monkey had been vaccinated twice and my brother was wearing pants, the bite did not go through; it only left a bruise.
We quickly left to the Baci Ceremony, which took place across the street. This ceremony is performed to bring back all the 32 spirits that live in our bodies. This ceremony is performed by the elderly men in the community, but the person who leads the ceremony is a former monk. He recites the prayers to our wandering spirits to come back. Then, they tie cotton string around our hands to keep the spirits in our body.
These cotton bracelets will only stay on our wrists for three more days.
After tieing the cotton, they share food with each other. Then we thanked them and had to leave. That concluded our first day in Muang La. Today, I will sleep peacefully, with no wandering spirits.
Day 2- Today I had the same breakfast as yesterday! It is very good because in the morning Laos is quite cold, so soup and tea really warms me up. After breakfast, we left to meet Don. Today we will take a tour in the mountains to visit the three main ethnic tribes in Laos. The first tribe we visit is the Aka tribe. In the village, we meet many children that wave to us and say “hello!”
We also meet with the Shaman of the village. He tells us about his family and his village. The Shaman is the village leader and healer; anyone who needs advice or help comes to him. Then, we visited the Hmong and Khamu villages.
Most of the people that live in these villages are rice farmers. However, in all the villages we saw a school with a teacher, so all the children could have a basic education. In the Khamu village, the windows and door were all painted with bright colors 
and in the Hmong village I bought a necklace that a little girl was making. One thing that made me really sad was all the plastic that was littering these beautiful villages.
I wish that I could do something to help clean up. Next, we had lunch. For lunch I had rice with vegetable, salad, and tangerines. After lunch, we went back to the hotel. That concluded our second day in Muang La.
Day 3- Today we wake up super early to go to the morning market. At the market, we buy the ingredients we need to have our cooking class. The menu is: Mok Paa (steamed fish in banana leaf), Laap Kai (laap of chicken with herbs from the garden), Tam Mak Ung (Lao green papaya salad), Khua kai sai khing (sauteed chicken with ginger), and Khao tom (coconut sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf). After cooking, we have our lunch! It was very good!
At around 7:00 PM, we have a traditional Lao dance performance. That concluded our last day in Muang La.
Tomorrow morning we will leave for Luang Prabang!
Day 4- Today is our first day in Luang Prabang! First we go to the morning market. The morning market is where people from the mountains come to sell their goods, especially rice. There are two types of rice, wet and dry. The dry rice is more expensive because to plant it, you have to burn the area, but it takes less water. The wet rice is cheaper, uses less water, and is grown in July. Some produce that I saw at the market were: eggplants, bamboo, tomatoes, fish, chilli, sarongs, beans, oranges, onions, garlic, butterfly cocoons, seaweed, bananas, many herbs, tadpoles, and crickets.
Towards the end of the market, there was a woman selling birds. We bought three birds and released them. It was beautiful to see them fly away into the sky.
Next, we visited the royal temple and palace. Inside the temple, there is a golden Buddha made in the first century in Sri Lanka. When King Pangun married a Khmer princess, he inherited the golden Buddha which she had received as a present from Sri Lanka. He then gave it to Laos as a present. King Sisauang began building this temple and the royal palace, but in 1969, the communists took over, and the temple was left unfinished. However, the palace was finished. When the communists took over, they told the royal family to visit the countryside to see how the countrymen lived, but it was all a scam. While they were away, the communists took over the royal palace and turned it into a national museum, but the temple was left unfinished until 2013 when Luang Prabang became a Unesco World Heritage city.
Next, we walked to the royal palace. This palace was not the original palace. The original palace was made of wood, but it was destroyed when the French came in and the existing royal palace was built. When the communists took over the palace, everyone in the surrounding city of Luang Prabang left because they all worked for the king and queen and were afraid of what the communists would do to them. Finally, when the communists began to give people their land back, Luang Prabang was no longer a ghost town.
The first room you enter in the royal palace is the reception room. The walls of the reception room are paintings of stories or events in Lao history. The first painting depicts a love story. The next shows the old royal palace that was destroyed by the French. The third one is a scene of the morning market. The next shows the former royal temple. The fifth shows the tradition of the soon to be prince meditating for three months in the royal temple before he became king. Next, it shows the oldest standing temple in Luang Prabang; it is 365 years old. The seventh is the bamboo bridge and the last painting depicts how the Laotian people live. The next room is the throne room. The whole room is painted red and the corners are covered with gold engravings. Over the red walls there are beautiful mosaic pictures of everyday tasks. The throne is also decorated with gold engravings, and there is a red candle next to the throne. The crowns of the kings and queens are on display next to the throne. 
The next room is the library. Inside the library there are Buddha scriptures. Next, is the queen’s bedroom. In the bedroom, there are portraits of her five children, the king, and herself. Her bed is made of wood, and opposite the bed is a beautifully engraved wooden table. On the table there is a bowl with a gold rim for the queen to spit out the Betel nut juice. In general, the room is sparsely furnished. The king’s room is also sparsely furnished. On the back of the bed, there are three elephants. Next to the bed, there is a portrait of the king. On the far side of the room, there is a huge wardrobe. The wardrobe is so tall that there is a tool for the king to grab his clothes. The next room is the grandchildren’s playroom. There are musical instruments and traditional dance clothes hanging on the walls. The next room is the dining room. The room is very french. There is a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and chairs to sit on. This is probably not surprising to you, but in Laos, people sit on the floors. The last room is the queen’s reception room. Here the queen talks to all of her guests before they meet the king. There is huge painting of the king. When you move left to right, it seems like his eyes and feet are following you. There are benches with cushions on either side of the painting. There is a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a silk embroidery of a waterfall that looks like a picture.
There is also a picture of a stuppa. If you move to the left side, it looks like the sun is rising, but if you move to the right side, it looks like the sun is setting. The reception room became our farewell room. Outside the palace we asked our guide to take a picture of us and a Chinese man walked up and also took a picture of us!
I guess we have to start getting used to that! Next, we climbed 338 steps to reach the stuppa and to see the beautiful view of the Mekong and the city.
The name of the mountain is Pu Si. Pu means mountain and Si means hermit. Two hermits lived in this mountain. They died in 1804 and the king built this stuppa in their honor. Every morning, the people bring offerings and they hit the gong every three hours.
Next we visited the largest temple in Luang Prabang. It was built in the 16th century. The walls of the temple was decorated using the leftover stone from the royal palace throne room. On the back side of the temple there was a huge mosaic of the tree of life.
Our guide told us what stories the mosaics represented; they were teachings from the Buddha. Inside the temple there was a gong that you would rub your hands and it would make a loud, deep sound.
After that, we went to have lunch at Coconut Garden. Then we walked around the city a little bit. Finally, we went back to the hotel.
Day 5- Today we will spend our day on a boat. First, we visited a clay making village. The villagers make the roof tile for temple and houses, jars to ferment wine with snake designs on the rim, lanterns, cooking pots, and mortar for crushing chilli.
To make these products, first you shape the clay into what object you want. Next, you dry it for two weeks. Then you put it into the kiln. Finally, you take it out! We went back to our boat to visit the seaweed village. To make the seaweed paper first you collect the seaweed from rocks. Then, you make it into a ball and boil it with tamarind in water. Next, you take it out and make the ball flat by hitting it with bamboo. Then you add seeds or tomatoes and you put it to dry on the thath.
Now it is time to have lunch. We stop at a nearby island and have lunch. After lunch, we go to visit the cave. The cave is one big cave with many small caves or crevices inside. All these cracks and crevices are filled with statues of the Buddha.
After visiting the caves, we went back to the hotel.
Day 6- Today is our last day in Luang Prabang! Today we will go to the waterfalls. First, we stop at a small village to see how to make cotton cloths. First, you put the cotton ball through a roller to take out the seed.
Then, you hit it to fluff it up.
Next, you spin it to make a thread.
Then, you dye the thread and sew it to make a cloth.
 |
| The plants they use to make the colors |
After we finish making cotton clothes, we take a short car ride to the waterfall. At the waterfall, there is a sanctuary for bears in extinction.
We go and have lunch. After lunch, we go back to the hotel. That concluded our last day in Luang Prabang!
Today we are in Vientiane! We got picked up from the airport by the volunteer organization. It is very late at night, so we go to sleep when we arrive there. The next day we will begin our culture week!
Day 1- First we learn about the Lao Culture. There is a hierarchy for respect. There are different positions to place your hands in when you are greeting people.
- Buddha (monks)-hands on your nose bridge
- Parents-hands on your nose
- Teachers-hands on your mouth
- Elders-hands on your chin
- Friends-hands on your chest
Then we learned about the Lao language.
Hello, hi-Sabaidee
Good morning-Sabaidee ton sao
Good afternoon-Sabaidee ton tieng
Good night-Non lap fun dee
Good luck- sok dee
Goodbye- la kon
How are you doing?- Jao sabaidee bo?
I’m doing well, thank you. And you?- khoiy sabaidee, khop jai. Jao day?
What is your name?- Su khong jao man yang?
My name is sticky rice- Su khong khoiy man khao niew.
Nice to meet you!- Yin dee thee dai hu jak
Nice to meet you too!- yin dee send gun
I- khoiy
You- jao
After language class we had the rest of the day to ourselves.
Day 2- First we went to a temple in the city. In the center of the temple grounds, there was a huge Buddhist tree. The leaves of a Buddhist tree are shaped like the Buddha’s heart, thus the name.
Next to the tree there is a drum tower. The novice monks would hit the drums at 3:30 AM on a Buddhist holiday. Surrounding the temple grounds, there is a short white wall. On the inside of that wall, there are many colorful stuppas holding the ashes of the village elders. The Pagoda itself is still being built, but it already looks very beautiful.
After the temple, we walked around the village and bought the supplies for the flower offerings we are going to make. After we buy the supplies, we go back to the volunteer house to the flower offerings.
Then, we had lunch. After lunch we went to a pagoda. The pagoda had so many bright colors: red, gold, and green. Guarding the entrance to the pagoda, there are two nagas (a water serpent that is the god of the sea) with three heads.
We go into the temple to have a meditation class. First, the monk asks us to close our eyes and clear our minds. He tells us to breathe in and breathe out, counting each breath. After five minutes of meditation, he asks us to act out our conflicts with someone. I choose my mom. We decide to act out a scene where I am doing something wrong and she is trying to tell me how to do it correctly, but I am not listening. The monk then asks us to switch places; I am put in my mom’s position, and she is put into mine. He wants us to understand how the other person is feeling. Then, we sit in a circle, and he teaches us how to listen. There are four types of listening.
1. Listening to yourself-caring only about what you want and what is best for you.
2. Listening to it-you are listening to the other person and understanding what they are saying...but your point of view is better.
3. Listening to you-you are listening to the other person and you are feeling empathy for them. 4. Listening to now-you are at peace with the other person and you are aware of the present, you are not thinking of the past or future.
I think that most people don’t even know that there are different types of listening, so unconsciously they do number one and two. I want to be able to unconsciously do number four.
After having our Buddhist class, we left this pagoda and went to a nun’s temple; there we prayed and placed our flower offerings that we had made during lunch on the altar. Then, we had to go back to the volunteer house to have dinner.
Day 3- Today is March 29, the most important day in my life; it is my birthday! Today we will visit Vientiane. First, we go to visit Cope, an organization that helps victims of landmines. Outside the building there is a statue of a mother and and her child holding hands.
This statue was made of the the broken remains of bombs. Inside, we watch a documentary about bombies. I put the link to this documentary at the end of my post on Laotian history. After watching the documentary, we had to leave to visit the market. The market was huge. They were selling all sorts of things such as honey, fruits, seaweed, sarongs, vegetable, and of course rice. After the market we went to have lunch. For lunch I had noodle soup with vegetables. After lunch we went to see the victory monument!
This monument was built to celebrate Laos’s independence. From the top of the victory monument there was an amazing view of the city.
Also, from the top we could see Thailand just across the Mekong River, which is the 12th largest river in the world. It runs through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Next, we went to see the golden pagoda. The ceiling of this pagoda was filled with images of the life of the Buddha and his teachings. Since our guide had been a monk for 14 years, he told us some of the stories.
The common theme of all the stories was that a bad person wanted to hurt the Buddha, but somehow the Buddha always escaped and taught the bad person to be good. Then, we went to see the Buddha. There was no one in the room except for us. We sat down in front of the Buddha and meditated.
To meditate you sit in a comfortable position and take deep breaths to calm your mind. Then we left the golden pagoda.
Next, we went to the Scandinavian Bakery to sing Happy Birthday. For the rest of my life, I will always remember this birthday!
After having many pieces of cake, we went to the night market. They closed the whole street to set it up. This street is to the right of the Mekong River, and Thailand is on the other side.
On the street, there are many stalls filled with clothes, food, books, and more. On the other side of the street, there are many bakeries. Then, we had dinner and went back.
Day 4- Today we begin volunteering. The program that we will be doing is childcare. We wake up at 9:00 AM and have a quick breakfast. Then, we get on our bikes and bike for about five minutes to the volunteering place. The place we are volunteering is not an orphanage; it is just a place where parents drop of their children when they go to work. The age range for the children is two to three years old. Since they are so young, it is very hard to teach them; therefore, we only do the alphabet, colors, animals, and body parts. Then, we play with them. They climb on our laps and bounce up and down.
We carry them and play games with them. At around 12:00 we feed them lunch. They come up to us when they feel like eating and open their mouths, asking for food. After giving them lunch, we say bye-bye and ride our bikes back. There we have lunch, and at 1:30 PM we get ready to leave again. This time we ride our bikes to a school. Here it is more organized. There are classrooms, toys, and an assistant teacher, but the kids are more rambunctious.
After they settle down a little, we begin teaching them the colors, animals, alphabet, numbers, and body parts. After teaching, we play with them. The teacher puts out legos, and they all attack the pile wanting to get the most. I help a little girl and boy build a bathtub for a hippo. Then, around 3:30 PM it is time for us to leave. We say bye-bye to kids and cycle back to the volunteer house. There I work on homework until it is time to have dinner. Then, I do some more homework and then go to sleep.
Day 5- Today is our last day in Lao PDR. Today, unfortunately, is only a half-day. We have breakfast and bike to the child care center. Today there are two other volunteers joining us there. We teach them the days of the week, vehicles, and numbers. Then, we review the colors, animals, body parts, and alphabet. Then, we play with them. There is one little girl that reminds me very much of myself because she is a very active child. She is always moving and wriggling out of my lap. I carry her and spin her around! I love to see her smile and laugh.
Then we feed them, and it is time to say bye-bye. It is amazing how strong of a bond we can form with these children without having to use words. We go back to the volunteer house and have dinner. Tomorrow we will go into Vientiane Airport to take a flight to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. As our airplane lifts off from the ground, I say “goodbye Laos! I will come back!’
Fifi,
ReplyDeleteEstou adorando seu Blog. Laos parece ter sido incrÃvel, fiquei com muita vontade de conhecer. Adorei tb saber sobre os types of listening. Vou trabalhar para estar sempre no tipo 4!
bjs querida.
Muita sauade.
Tia Bibi