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Published: March 24th 2010
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Papaya Salad Stand
Little round green eggplants, tomatoes, lime juice, at the end there's shaved green unripe papaya, and then in the jars you have all the flavorings. I think most Americans would feel vain if they had a photograph of themselves as their phone background. But in Lao, most young people I know have a sexy photo of themselves gracing their phones. In no way do they think that would be construed as strange, vain or egotistical. They just think it’s nice to have a beautiful photo of themselves to look at. As a related issue, many young guys have a furry stuffed animal key chain attached to their motorbike key. In no way is this considered un-masculine or childish. It’s just cute.
A friend of mine just opened a new café in town. Her kitchen is tiny, so she’s put her dishwashing sink and her fridge in the small room adjoining the kitchen. Only problem is, this room happens to be a bathroom, so in between the sink and the fridge there sits a toilet. This may constitute a minor health violation in some places, like California where she has another restaurant, but here I think she can get away with it. Besides, she doesn’t let anybody use the toilet.
It is 90 degrees out, and the air is hazy with smoke from slash and
That is not fog, it's smoke
Today is the worst day yet, the air is thick with smoke burn farming. The locals that must work outside are wearing coats, pants, jeans, socks, shoes, hats and gloves to keep them cool and protect them from the sun. (Many locals believe the more clothes they wear in the heat, the cooler they will be.) All over the countryside farmers are burning their fields to renew the soil for future use. They will return to the burnt field in a few years and the soil will be rich again. But miles away, in town, the smoke burns your eyes, makes your throat hurt and causes you to cough and feel ill. It goes on for about three months, with ash falling from the sky all day and night, like black and gray snow. It’s pretty bad. The air quality decreases to a low, low level.
Children complain that they can’t breathe. The balcony at my home is covered in big pieces of black ash no matter how many times it is swept clean. One positive is that the sun, now looks like a solar eclipse, sometimes partially eclipsed, sometimes fully revealed in a stunning orange through the haze. I find it impossible not to stare at, its so beautiful and
peaceful and in fact I think it’s so covered in thick smoke that staring could even be safe now. In the countryside, you see huge swaths of land that are black and barren, only tree stumps or burnt trunks remaining. It makes you feel sad. The government doesn’t want farmers to burn their land anymore, but the farmers don’t know any other way.
There was a shipwreck two weeks ago on the Mekong River, a new luxury cruise-boat sank, because the water level is at an all-time low, revealing rocks never revealed before. Everybody believes its because of the new dams in China, and China retaining and letting out water at it’s leisure. Two years ago, Luang Prabang flooded, for the first time in memory, because China decided to open its dams all at once, with no warning, wreaking havoc on Laos and Cambodia, lying downriver. China's actually been making a public effort to defend itself, claiming its not their fault, that the Mekong is naturally dry. And new scientific research backs up this claim, calling the low water levels the result of terribly minimal rainfall. Whether it's China's fault or the fault of global warming, the residents here
have never seen the water level so low before.
The boats that transport tourists from the northern Thai border to Luang Prabang had to stop running, devastating the tourist industry in Pak Beng, a small town that all the boats stopped in overnight. Actually, before the boats stopped running they continued running for as long as possible, even though they couldn’t reach Pak Beng by dark. Probably the drivers and workers couldn’t afford not to run the boats, and so they didn’t warn passengers that the boat wouldn’t make it to a town before dark, fearing the passengers would not come.
For weeks, tourists arrived in Luang Prabang telling stories of how the boat stopped on a dark beach along the Mekong, and they were told to sleep for the night upon the boat decks or upon the beach. Nobody had any bedding or mosquito nets or any additional food prepared for this. Far fewer tourists showed up in Luang Prabang after the boats stopped running as this was the low coast route, the way most budget travellers arrived from Thailand. Three days of rain last week brought the water level up to a decent level and the
boat service has resumed.
Civilian murder is basically unheard of in Luang Prabang. But two nights ago, there was a murder in the streets here, with one gangster in his late twenties killing another gangster, in his late twenties. The police are still seeking the killer. The crime happened on a quiet, dark stretch of a major street at about 1 AM. There is no Luang Prabang newspaper, despite the city being one of the biggest in the country. So news about the murder, like all other news, is spread by mouth. Meaning, what I am telling you is by no accounts correct, for who knows how many people the account I heard traveled through and how many facts were changed.
Though murder is unheard of, accidental death is sadly, extremely common. Laos doesn’t have all the safety precautions that protect and limit us in America. Motorbike deaths occur almost daily, as there are no driving schools, no rules of the road, no legal driving limits, and laws that are unevenly enforced, causing spotty usage of helmets and licenses and unpredictable passenger numbers.
Another difference here from America, when you order papaya salad at the market, they
The Maid's Son
Playing on a car with an elephant and a monkey make it for you on the spot, pouring a bit of each ingredient in to the mortar: garlic, chili, sugar, fish sauce, shredded green papaya, cherry tomatoes, tiny round eggplants, pa dek (fish sludge, unless you ask for them to exclude it), and pounding them together with a pestle. Then they pull a bit of the salad out of the mortar with the pestle and offer it to you to try with your fingers, to ensure its to your liking. They can tailor it to your tastes if you want it more spicy, sweet or salty. I’ve never had this happen in the US; that the chef comes out of the kitchen, asks me to try his dish, and then alters it according to my advice. It’s pretty great.
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BrittBisk
"Life is Short and the World is Wide"
Hi Guys! January is a great time to come to LP, it's not too hot and the burning hasn't started yet. Now, the air quality is awful and I and I think many others, have felt awful as result for weeks. Ugh, a side effect of living in paradise. Hope you guys are well and getting excited for China. You go soon right? Lots of love, Britt