Hanging out in Vientiane

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This morning we visited Carol Cassidy Lao Textiles. On display were a large number of beautiful silk designs, unfortunately, all with rather large price tags! We spent some time watching the weavers at work, Valerie clearly impressing with her knowledge as she advised me on the processes involved.

Returning to the bright sunshine, we stopped at a local cafe for a coke each and wandered to Wat Si Saket, the oldest and most spectacular Wat in Vientiane. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter the main complex but were able to appreciate at least some of its ancient charm.

Lunch was at a restaurant called Makphet which means Chilli in Laos. The food was good and the service excellent, which is just as well since it’s the new training centre for the Peuan Mit Street Children Project. They are a non-profit organisation that gives street children the chance to learn restaurant based skills, thus enabling them to go on to jobs in the growing hotel industry.

Another Wat then, Valerie, Monica and I visited to the ‘local’ market. This was a real eye-opener as we only saw one other westerner during our time there. One stall simply sold chillis - by the sack load - one we saw being weighed was 14Kg!

On the way back we stopped for quick cold drink in bar on banks of Mekong. A ten year long development project has cleared and possibly reclaimed a huge area alongside the river. Before long this will be covered with new buildings and facilities to support the ever expanding city.

Early night as the next few days will be hectic and we have the dreaded home-stay tomorrow night...

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Comments

[Andy & Claire]

Wow look at the size of those bags of chillis!! Don't worry about the homestay it will be a once in a lifetime experience that you will cherish (in time!)