Give Me Some of that Good Ol' Lao Lao

The Little Ol' Lao lao Lao Maker

After we had visited the blacksmiths of Baan Hat Hien we went out to Baan Xang Hai which is refered to as "Whiskey Village".  Baan Xang Hai turned out to be a further drive from Luang Prabang than I was expecting.  It turns out that that Baan Xang Hai is 25 KM from Luang Prabang.  Many tourists visit Baan Xang Hai as part of a organized boat tour to Pak Ou Caves.

Baan Xang Hai villagers used to make the clay pots that are used to produce "Lao Hai" (Rice Wine) which is a step along the ways of producing "Lao Lao" (rice whiskey).  The villagers now focus on making the Lao moonshine, Lao Lao, and silk weaving.

Duang and I had enjoyed our share of Lao Hai, rice wine, on our previous visit two years ago to the Khmu village during their New Year Festival.  The wine is produced in small clay pots by fermenting rice.  The sweet wine is then sucked out of the jars through long reeds or very small diameter vinyl tubing with the reeds and vinyl tubing being passed from person to person seated or squatting around the clay pot.  As the wine is consumed from the pot, additional water is added to the clay pot to keep the party going.

On our last visit to a refugee camp along the Thai-Myanmar border, Duang and I enjoyed glasses of freshly fermented  Lao Hai with our friends, Khun La Mae and Khun Ma Plae.  Since there was quite a bit of rice hulls and rice debris to strain through your teeth when drinking from a glass,our preferred mode for drinking is through the vinyl tubing or natural reed.

"Process" Diagram for Making Lao Lao

We walked through the gauntlet of booths at the front of the village.  There were many stalls selling bottles of Lao Lao which also contained some type of animal or plant.  There were bottles of whiskey with small snakes some of which were cobras.  There were also whiskey bottles containing centipedes, scorpions, or geckos.  My knowledge of botany is rather limited so I was unable to identify the plants that were immersed in th the whiskey.  I have read some accounts that the plants and creatures are immersed in rice wine but I believe that the liquid is actually whiskey.  Whiskey is a much better preservative and makes for a more potent "medicine".  The various vendors told me that the bottles contained "medicine" of course most of the medicine was purported to aid sexual performance. These bottled concoctions are readily available at all border crossings in Laos and appear to be "THE" souvenir of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

There were also many stalls selling silk cloth.  We saw several looms for weaving cloth but did not see anyone working.  We walked back through the village towards the Mekong River.  We prefer to explore the back roads and back streets of the locations that we visit.  The back locations typically present less tourist centric people and sights.  We stopped at a yard of a local home.  I am not sure if it was a front yard or a back yard - not that it matters over here.  There were two men, a woman, and three school aged children seated at a picnic table.  We stopped and joined them.  It turned out that we had found a whiskey distillery.  Besides selling soft drinks, and silk fabrics, the people make Lao Lao right there in their yard high on a bank overlooking the Mekong River.  I went to the stairs that lead down to the Mekong River and while taking some photographs I took in the serenity of the location.

I returned to the picnic table and had Duang purchase soft drinks for everyone.  As we enjoyed our cold drinks on a surprisingly warm day, we asked questions of the man who appeared to be in charge.  He said that he owned the land and paid taxes once a year to the government.  He stated that he paid 550,000 Kip ($66 USD) each year for his home and business.

A large piece of cardboard was nailed to a wood post next to his still.  Although he did not speak English the cardboard had a diagram on in that detailed the distilling process in English.  The father took great pride in showing me his distilling equipment and describing how he made the moonshine whiskey.




Clay Pot Containing Fermenting Rice

 The process first starts with making Lao Hai, "Rice Wine".  Rice, sugar and water are placed in a clay pot and allowed to stand covered for seven days.  This is how Lao Hai is produced however for making Lao Lao additional water is not added after the initial charge to the fermenting mixture.

The fermenting rice creates a thick mash of about 13% alcohol.  The thick mash from four  clay pots is removed and placed inside of the 55 gallon steel drum that forms the base of his still.   The barrel sits upon a couple of bricks above a shallow trench where a small fire is maintained by small long logs that are pushed forward as they are consumed by the flames.

Lao Lao Still In Laos

A gasket created by burlap type cloth filled with rice hulls is placed atop of the open end of the metal barrel.  A conical shaped steel pan is the placed on top of the gasket to seal off the still.  The conical pan serves as the condenser for the distilling process.  The top of the cone which is open to the air is filled with water.  Every 10 minutes the water is replaced with cool water by pouring new water into the cone and allowing the warmer water to overflow through a small tube above the normal water level in the cone.  Alcohol vapors inside of the still condense on the relatively cooler surface of the cone inside of the still.  The alcohol droplets travel along the cool surface to the apex of the cone where they drop off and are collected by a spoon like device that is attached to a pipe.  The pipe is sloped downwards and exists the still carrying the Lao Lao to fill another clay pot located on the ground at the end of the pipe.  The Lao Lao slowly drips out of the pipe through a terrycloth cloth of uncertain cleanliness and finally into the clay pot.


Lao Lao Fresh From the Still Fills A Clay Pot

After observing the process, I was invited to sample some our the man's handicraft.  Duang does not drink much and especially not Lao Lao, I was left alone to drink with the man.  He pulled a bottle out, a bottle without any critters or plants in it, from a cabinet and poured each of us a double shot.  I have been through this ritual enough times to understand what was expected of me.  I looked the man in the eyes said "Jonkiouw" and downed the shots all at once as he did the same.  The Lao Lao was very powerful and I must admit much better than the commercial moonshine that the villagers drink in Tahsang Village.  Perhaps it was the dirty towel that this man's whiskey was filtered through.

A Lao Lao Distillery in Baan Xang Hai, LPDR

I ended up buying a small bottle of his product to take back home for 30,000 KIP ($3.75 USD) - a good price for even nothing else more than the nice woven bamboo that covered the bottle.  The bamboo had writing as part of the integral woven design - "Lao Lao, Baan Xang Hai" as translated by the distiller.

While I was socializing with the distiller, Duang had located his wife and some other women who were busy embroidering.  But that is subject to another blog.

It was interesting spending time in the village.  The people were making moonshine without any government permits, regulations, licences or any harassment from "Revenuers".  This is hardly what I would have expected in a country known as being a Communist state.

More Bricks For the Wall or Tiles for the Roof

Lao Worker Inside of Kiln Preparing to Remove Completed Bricks

After our visit to the Blacksmith Village, Baan Hat Hien, we drove up the road to visit another village known as Baan Xang Hai, "Whiskey Village".  Our trip up to "Whiskey Village" was longer than I expected but well worth the time but that will be the subject of a future blog.  It was on our return drive from Baan Xang Hai that we encountered the subject of today's blog - the brick factory(?).

As we rolled along the paved road leading eventually back to Luang Prabang, I spotted a group of buildings and a couple of squatty brick towers alongside of the road.  I had Duang tell the driver to stop and backup to the industrial site.  From our travels in Northern Vietnam, I recognized this to be a site where bricks were produced.  One reason why we do not take organized tours is our desire to take advantage of unexpected opportunities such as this.  We ended up spending one-half an hour observing, photographing, and speaking with the workers.  I have found many of the workers here in Southeast Asia more than willing to be photographed and to speak about their work along with their life.  My task is made so much easier because Duang speaks the language and has an outgoing personality.  However I always try to communicate on my own with my limited knowledge of Lao and with a great deal of pantomime.  Often our hired driver is able to help out with communicating with the local people or to explain what we are observing.  It makes each trip memorable, personal, and extremely informative.  I guess the local people like most people everywhere like to talk about their work as well as their life.  Sports is not a part of their life so that topic is off of the agenda.  I also make it a point to avoid any political topics or discussions; it is best for me as well as for the local people.




Mining Clay For Making Brick and Tiles


As we got out of our Tuk-Tuk, I noticed several workers, children, and dogs wandering about the site.  I ascertained that we were arriving at the end of the worker's lunch break.  I would hesitate entering a site like this in America but besides the property having no fencing or security guards, the dogs very seldom present a threat.  In my four years here in Southeast Asia and previous two years in Brasil, I have encountered many dogs.  Only once have I have felt threatened by a pack of dogs let alone an individual dog.  In Brasil the dogs all seemed to have a guilty complex.  They would sulk around with their heads lowered with subservient body language.  In Southeast Asia, other than the dog pack of Wat Yai Chom Prasat in Samut Sakhon, the street or village dogs wander about oblivious to people let alone strangers.  We walked onto the brick factory and were completely ignored by the dogs; not even a closer encounter for them to get a more personal sniff of us.

The factory was a series of low sheds; sheds where the bricks and roofing tiles were formed.  The bricks and tiles were also placed on wood racks and the concrete floor of these low sheds to air dry.
The sheds had a roof of corrugated sheet metal and thatch. The natural air flow through the sheds along with the evaporative cooling effect of hundreds if not thousands of moist clay tiles and bricks made the interior of the sheds at least 10 degrees cooler than the outside temperature.

There were other smaller single story buildings where the workers and their families lived.  This is often the case here in Southeast Asia.  When we lived in Vietnam, our neighbor was having a new house built.  The workers lived in tents in his backyard during the construction period.  In Malaysia I visited a facility that painted structural steel.  The facilities workers lived in plywood and sheet metal shacks that they built on the property.  Here in Thailand, construction workers live in temporary sheet metal shacks at the job site.

A Worker Grabs Some Clay To Make Roof Tiles On A Wooden Mold

We first visited a shed where women were producing clay tiles that are used for roofing.  She stood at a heavy wood work bench.  A large pile of red clay was located to her right.  Every so often, another worker came from the clay pit outside of the work shed and placed another large junk of clay on her pile.  The women grabbed a chunk of clay from the large pile and shaped it into a large loaf of bread shape.  The bread shaped chunk of clay was then forcibly slammed onto a wooden mold.  The worker then sliced the compacted clay to the proper thickness using a special saw; an old style i.e. 1880's handsaw with a taut wire rather than toothed blade to cut the clay.  She then carefully peeled the finished tile from the mold and placed it on a wood carrying tray.  To keep the clay from sticking to the molds, the workers periodically would dust the wood mold with a very fine dust; perhaps cement or it may just have been dry clay fines.  When the carrying tray had several completed tiles, the worker would carry them over to the far end of the work shed and lay them out on the floor to dry out in the air.  I was impressed in the strength of these small Lao women.  I believe that I am capable of carrying their completed tray of tiles at least one time.  However I have my doubts that I could carry the heavy trays for 8 to 10 hours a day.

Slicing A Tile



Worker Lays Her Completed Tiles Out to Air Dry


Next to one of the work stations there was the only piece of production machinery that I saw at the factory.  The only piece of production machinery was an extruder for making bricks that have holes running along their long axis.  The machine was idle during our visit.  All other production activities were accomplished by hand.

The "Bucket Brigade" Sends Clay Up to the Production Shed

Just outside of the first production shed that we visited the clay pit was located.  The pit had been excavated by a front end loader to expose the clay seam.  The actual mining of the clay was done by hand.  A man with a wire saw cut large blocks of moist clay out of the exposed face of the seam inside of the pit.  Another worker removed the freshly cut block from the face and passed it to another worker.  The block of clay was passed from worker to worker from the bottom of the pit up to the production bench in the shed.  Men and women worked side by side to form the human conveyor to transport the clay blocks.

A Block of Clay Is Passed From Worker to Worker



Another Block of Clay Is Passed From Worker to Worker

I wandered up the hill to check out one of the kilns.  The kiln was a large structure that was surrounded by a sheet metal roof porch.  The kiln was not in use during our visit but appeared to have recently completed its task of firing some bricks.  At one end of the kiln the wall was partially removed exposing fresh bricks inside.  Some small diameter logs were located on the ground next to the kiln fire boxes awaiting to fuel the next firing.


One of the Kilns With Its Charge of Bricks Partially Exposed



Fire Boxes Beneath the Kiln For Firing Bricks and Tiles

From the large kiln I walked up a slight incline to two more work sheds.  In one of the work sheds, a woman was working with her young son hanging around.  In America some people celebrate "Bring Your Daughter Day" or "Bring Your Son to Work Day" - one day a year.  In Southeast Asia, for some people everyday is bring your children to work day.  Out in the countryside there are not any day care centers.  Even if there were day care centers the local people could not afford to send their children to them.  Besides these two factors, sending your children away to be cared for by strangers is not part of the culture.  Children are cared for by their mother, their older sister, their grandmother, or an aunt who most likely lives next door.  Children often accompany their parents into the fields at the earliest of age.  This is also true for some mothers that work in cottage industries.




While His Momma is Away, This Little Boy Plays



When his mother carried her completed tiles to the far end of the shed to lay them out for drying, the little boy became mischievous.  He started playing with her large block of clay.  He was aware that I was photographing him but did not mind.  I enjoyed watching him.  Once again a local person was using what was available to meet their needs.  He was entertaining himself by poking and scratching the clay block.  I could not help but wonder if Michelangelo got his start in sculpting in the same manner.

Stacking Completed Tiles

Duang had wandered off and soon was calling for me.  A Tuk-Tuk similar to ours had arrived with several workers.  The Tuk-Tuk had stopped alongside of the squatty kiln that had first caught my attention.  The workers had quickly formed a bucket brigade and were transferring completed bricks from the kiln to the Tuk-Tuk.  I had been invited to go into the kiln to see what was going on.  This was an invitation that could only be accepted.

Transferring Bricks from Kiln to Tuk-Tuk For Transport to Town

A Couple Less Bricks To Go

After socializing with the bucket brigade, I walked up and into the kiln for a look and to take a photograph or two.

Lao Worker Inside of the Kiln With Plenty Of Bricks to Remove

Four Bricks On Their way to Town

We had enjoyed our 30 minute visit to the brick factory.  We had the opportunity to see a small glimpse into the work of some of the people that we could have passed by along the road.  By slowing our own lives down just a little, we were enriched in learning a little more about the life of others in our world.

Some More Bricks For the Wall

As we drove down the road Duang told me that she thought that I would dream about bricks that night.  She was correct - once again.  I guess that she knows me too well.

Baan Hat Hien - Blacksmith Village



Baan Hat Hien Blacksmiths Forging A Cane Knife

 Since we had rented a Tuk-Tuk along with a driver during our trip to Lunag Prabang, Laos we had the freedom as well as flexibility to do some sightseeing outside of Luang Prabang proper.  As part of my research for our second trip to the area I determined that visits to three villages would be interesting.


Baan Hat Hien, "Blacksmith Village" Lao People's Democratic Republic

One of the villages that I wanted to visit was "Baan Hat Hien" which is also referred to as "Blacksmith Village".  According to my research on the Internet Baan Hat Hien is well known for making knives out of reclaimed American artillery shells and other war materials.  America's not so secret, "Secret War", in Laos ended 35 years ago and even though Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world, the amount of available war material has apparently diminished greatly.  During our visit to the village which included three homes where blacksmitting was being performed, we did not observe any brass or bomb materials.  The Baan Hat Hien blacksmiths were creating knives and machetes out of recycled steel - high grade steel from leaf springs of Tuk-Tuks and Somlaws.  Although the amount of material from the war now available for forging into knives has diminished, the threat to the Lao people from the wars remains a real concern and danger.  During our visit we saw Lao government vehicles associated with their campaign to rid the country of unexploded ordinance.

Today the blacksmiths purchase leaf springs from the suspensions of Tuk-Tuks and Somlaws from scrap metal dealers from Vientiane for 6,000 KIP ($0.75 USD) a kilogram ($0.16 USD per pound).  The blackmiths disassemble the leaf springs and cut them into the proper length.  They use their forge to heat the steel in order to cut the steel with a hammer and chisel.  I did not see any oxy-acetylene cutting torches in the village.  Oxy-acetylene cutting torches use compressed bottles of oxygen and compressed bottles of acetylene to fuel a hot flame to cut steel.  I suspect that both the cost and the lack of availability of the gases preclude their use in Baan Hat Hien.  The blacksmiths of Baan Hat Hien heat their steel in small charcoal fires.  Charcoal is a local product and cheap.



A Typical Forge in Baan Hat Hien

I didn't count the number of houses in the village, but I would guess that there were 10 to 15 houses.  From the blacksmiths I learned that there were 5 forges in the village.  Five forges?  Actually there were five homes where the family forged knives over a very small charcoal fire in the front yard of the home.  Typically the 6 inch diameter fire was contained in a rough furnace built with a few bricks and supplemented with a forced draft fan.  Everything was fit for purpose and from readily available cheap materials.  The forced draft fans are small blowers that appear to be recycled truck defroster, heater, or A/C fans.  Air from the fan was sent by a metal tube to discharge beneath the coals of the fire.



 As is typical in these cottage industry facilities and many homes the electrical system was very primitive and suspect.  Electrical cable ran unprotected along the ground from a very small junction box on a post or pole to the blower.  I did not see any protective measures such as metal conduit or a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter).  If there is one thing that concerns me more than being involved in a traffic accident over here, it is having some sort of electrical accident.  My concerns are in general not shared by the local people.




A Husband and Wife Work Together In Front of Their Home

The people working with the hot steel wore no personal protection equipment.  Due to the heat of the day and from the forge, they wore cotton tee shirts and cotton shorts.  None of the workers wore gloves even though they were handling hot metal.  None of the workers had safety boots.  The workers were barefoot or wore their everyday rubber flip flops.  I never saw a pair of safety glasses despite the various activities that could injure the worker's eyes.  If any type of head wear was worn it was a simple baseball style cotton cap.  Despite the soot from the charcoal fire none of the workers wore a dust mask or anything else over their nose and mouth.  Although the workers were handling yellow hot steel and striking the hot steel with heavy hammers causing sparks to fly and undoubtedly small pieces of hot metal, the workers did not wear any "leathers".  I grinned to myself thinking of the heart attack any of the safety men that I had worked with in the past would have had upon inspecting these work sites.  We were witnessing a cottage industry no doubt very much like those operating in Europe or America in the mid 19th century.  The blacksmiths do not go to school to learn metallurgy or manufacturing techniques.  The ones that we spoke to were taught their craft by their fathers.  The workers were masters as well as slaves to their trade.  They pretty much controlled the entire process and means of production.  However, if they didn't produce they did not earn any money.




Two Workers Beat On A Hot Steel Blank to be Forged Into A Cane Knife


The man and wife that we spent the most amount of time with start work at 8:00 A.M. and work 7 days a week until 5 or 6 P.M..  I suspect that their quitting time is more determined by available day light than any defined schedule.  Their product is purchased by a "big company" for 16,000 KIP a cane knife ($2.00 USD) which the company then distributes and sells for $4 USD.  The blacksmith team can make 10 knives a day.  In comparison Lao field workers make $2.67 USD a day versus $20 USD for the blacksmith and his wife.

A Worker Inserts A Hot Blank Into A Bamboo Handle That is Being Prepared


At two of the forges, wives worked with their husbands to produce cane cutting knives.  The women tended to heating the steel in the fire.  They also took the hot semi finished knives from their husbands and shoved the blanks into prepared pieces of bamboo.  Bamboo is a type of grass.  It is hollow but at intervals there is a diaphragm that closes off the interior of the bamboo.  These periodic internal bracing gives the bamboo plant strength and rigidity. The prepared pieces of dried bamboo were cut so that one of the internal diaphragms was close to one end and far from the other end. As the narrow tapered end of the hot knife entered into the hollow bamboo at the long end it eventually burned through the internal diaphragm at the far short end thus creating a good mechanical connection once the blade is completed.  When the blade has been completed the blade is reinserted into the bamboo handle and the void filled with an epoxy.  The day that we visited the women were only burning the internal slot into the handle and removed the still hot blade to complete cooling on the ground.  The handles were set off to the side for use at a later time.

Baan Hat Hien Knives For Sale - We bought one of the antler handle knives

In addition to cane cutting knives, the blacksmiths of Baan Hat Hien produce smaller hand knives.  These knives are presented with a great deal of pride and available for purchase directly from the blacksmiths.  We ended up buying a knife with a simple etched bamboo handle for 50,000 KIP ($6.25 USD).  A short while later we wee presented with some other knives for consideration.  Two of the knives had antler handles.  We ended up purchasing one of them for the same $6.25 price.  We like to purchase local handicrafts on our various travels.  It is a way to support and encourage local crafts and make wonderful souvenirs as well.




Handcrafted Knives with Bamboo Handles

 We spent about an hour at the village and learned a great deal about knife making but more importantly about the people's life.

Once again I was impressed and in awe of people making do with what was available to them.  The people were able to survive with little outside involvement or perhaps more importantly without outside interference.

It is these triumphs of the individual and cultural adaptations that I enjoy witnessing and documenting.

It is crafts, skills, and traditions like these that make up the heritage of mankind.  They are priceless gifts for the future and inspirations for today.

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Luang Prabang Tak Bat



Lao Monks Receive Offerings from Tourists

 Life has a way of presenting pleasant surprises if you are willing to take advantage of the opportunities as they present themselves.  A willingness to take advantage of opportunities often requires an unabashed curiosity and the realization that even though you may believe that you have seen it all before, you most likely have not.

During our recently concluded journey to Luang Prabang in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, I was presented with an opportunity which ended up in a couple of surprises.  Our hotel was located next door to a Vat (Wat in Thai) in the Temple Historical District close to the Nam Khan River.  At 4:00 A.M. I was awoken by the banging of a bell at the Vat.  I had heard a similar sound before from Wats in Thailand as well as Vats in Laos.  I refer to the sound as the Monk's alarm clock.  The heavy walled metal tube is struck several times to notify the Monks that it is time for them (perhaps everyone else next to the temple) to awake and start the day.  For the Monks the day commences with meditation, followed by personal hygiene, and then around 6:00 A.M. their morning alms walk.

Although I have witnessed and documented the morning alms walk, Tak Bat, many times in Thailand as well as Laos, I decided to get up and watch the morning's Tak Bat.  It was a wise decision in that I was able to photograph events that I had not seen before; events that I can now share.

When I went downstairs of the hotel, my hiking boots were still lying next to my wife's shoes beneath the Christmas tree.  Both the boots and the shoes were empty.  Prior to going up to our room the night before, I had joked with the staff and Duang about perhaps Santa Claus would come early and leave something in my boots.  I guess it was too early for Santa or I have been not necessarily a bad boy but more likely a naughty boy this year for the boots never were filled.

I walked out into the very early morning darkness to observe what was going on.  Some of the local people were up and about starting small wood or charcoal fires in refractory lined cans for cooking on the sidewalks.  They were also busy setting up their sidewalk restaurants.  Several Lao women were silently walking along the street in their flip flops carrying large baskets suspended from a bamboo poles balanced over their shoulder.  Their baskets were filled with food, mainly packets of sticky rice, to be offered to the Monks as part of a merit morning ritual.

Tourists Lined Up Along Th Sakkarin In the Early Morning Awaitng the Monks

On the sidewalk that passed in front of our hotel and eventually intersected with the road that runs parallel to the Mekong River, there was a series of long sahts, woven reed mats neatly placed.  Each saht had several woven bamboo covered small containers, gon kao, that store cooked sticky rice.  This arrangement had been set up for the tourists who would arrive shortly by a wide variety of transportation.  Tourists arrived by three wheeled motorcycles called "somlaws".  Some tourists arrived by small trucks called "Tuk-Tuks".  Many of the tourists arrived in specialized Toyota passenger vans.  Some of the wealthier tourists arrived from their resort accommodations in long electric golf cart type vehicles.  It was quite a sight and also a little noisy.  The people were excited about the upcoming ritual and busy posing their family as well as friends for photographs.


Tourists Come in All Sorts of Shapes, Sizes, Nationalities, as Well As Vocations

There was on group that I was fascinated by.  I had not seen a group of Monks before making offerings to other Monks.  Several Monks had arrived and set themselves along with their plastic bags of offerings and gon kao of rice on sahts placed on the sidewalk just like the other tourists.  One of the younger Monks took great delight and interest in filming his companions.  Next to me there was a Lao tourist guide, I found out from him that the Monks that were preparing to make offerings were visitors from Thailand.  I had never seen Monks making offerings to Monks before so this opportunity in itself was worth the early morning wake up.

After a short while the local Monks appeared silently and purposefully walking along the long sidewalk of Th Sikkarin. 


Thai Monks Making Offerings to Lao Monks

I have walked with the Monks in Luang Prabang as well as in Luang Namtha on previous trips, but this morning's Tak Bat was unique.  First of all the Monks did not chant after receiving offerings from the people.  In Thailand I have witnessed and participated several times in the ritual where Monks appear to give a personal blessing to the individuals who had made offerings of food.  In Luang Namtha, the Monks did not appear to give personal blessings to the donors but instead walked a very short ways from the donors and instead appeared to give a blessing to the donor's property. Since most of the land behind the donors was actually Vat property, that might explain the absence of "blessings".

Tourists Make Offerings to the Monks



Young Boys Follow Monks In Expectation of Food Offerings From the Monks

 Another difference in this morning's Tak Bat, was the young children who accompanied the Monks or who waited along the sidewalk for the Monks.  In Tahsang Village and some of the other villages where my wife and I have participated in the Tak Bat ritual, the Monks sat on a slightly raised platform in the Wat complex.  People came to the Wat and brought their food offerings with them.  The family's offerings were then placed upon a metal serving tray and offered to the Monks; typically by a male member of the family.  The Monks would pass the tray along amongst themselves after taking what they wanted off of the tray.   If any food remained on the tray after the Monks had completed their meal it was available for the worshippers to eat.  In Tahsang Village, which is my wife's home village, the worshippers are all friends, family and neighbors so eating the remaining food becomes a festive community social event - sort of a picnic.

A Young Lao Boy Awaits A Food Offering from a Novice Monk

Monks are supposed to eat only one meal a day and it must be consumed by Noon.  They are forbidden to store food and do not have refrigerators.  The assembly line of food offerings along Th Sikkarin in Luang Prabang presents some logistical challenges.  Everyone wants to earn merit by offering food to the Monks.  The more Monks that you offer food to, the more merit that you gain.  This boils down to every worshipper wanting to offer some food to each and every Monk.  It is not proper for a Monk to decline an offering, so in a very short period of time as well as in a short space, a Monk's alms bowl is filled with way more sticky rice as well as other foods than he could possibly eat in one seating.



A Monk Tosses Some Sticky Rice Into Young Boy's Basket

 For every problem there is a solution and often there are more than one solution.  In Luang Prabang, young children follow along with the Monks.  The young children, typically boys, carry plastic bags or baskets into which the Monks place the food that they will not be able to consume during their one meal of the day.  The children are collecting food for their families.  Some of the children set up on the sidewalk and patiently wait for the Monks to pass and hopefully add some food to their basket.  There was one boy who caught my attention.  He seemed to eloquently express his condition without words but with an admirable dignity.  I spent a great deal of time observing him and photographing him - more reason to be pleased that I had gotten up at such an early hour to witness an event that I had seen so many times before.

I have titled my blog "Allen's World" but unlike Disney World or Disneyland this world is not a fantasy world.  It is often fascinating but the occupants of this world, which is as much yours as it is mine, are real people.  They are real people, many of them with many hardships and struggles to survive.  They are not actors employed for amusement or entertainment.  There is a dilemma in photographing and writing about the people and their hardships.  It could be misconstrued that my work glorifies their struggles and hardships which to me would be offensive.  There is nothing glorious or noble about hardships or struggles.  Unfortunately for many people, hardships and struggles define their conditions.  However I believe that there is a need to communicate to other people the condition of others in our world. So my intention in writing and photographing the people in our world is to express my respect as well as admiration for the various peoples and  how they deal with their individual circumstances.  I guess my desire is to speak for those who can not speak for themselves, and to share with an audience that they are unable to address.  My goal is to increase the awareness of  others to the other people who inhabit their world.

Headed Home

A young boy and his sister also captured my interest during the Tak Bat.  They were working together to gather food for their family.  After the Monks and tourists left, they were left behind to consolidate their bounty for the walk back to their home. 

Brother and Sister Consolidating Their Morning's Bounty

Preparing for the Walk Home

The little boy and girl had amassed about 12 to 15 kilograms of sticky rice along with other food items.  The boy, who was older than his sister, supervised the consolidation of the sticky rice into a single thin plastic bag.  This did not look to be a good idea to me.  I was certain that the thin bag would eventually split open spilling its contents on the road.  I got down on the sidewalk next to the children and tried to communicate my grand scheme of placing all the rice into a single bag and then to place the filled bag inside of the just emptied second plastic bag.  The children's suspicions that I was scheming to steal some of their food apparently prevented them from understanding what I was trying to communicate.  A woman who was walking by understood what I was trying to do and explained it to the children.  Even though she spoke Lao, the children remained reluctant - perhaps they thought that we were working together.  The woman got down to the sidewalk level and between the two of us with the children eventually joining in got the sticky rice double bagged.

Off to the House!

With their food successfully bagged I told them to head off to home.  They each grabbed a side of the heavy bag and walked down the street dragging the bag as they went along.  This appeared to me to be another disaster in the making.  I caught up with them and was able to communicate that I would carry the bag of rice for them.  I had developed some level of trust with them by now so they let me carry the bag.  We walked down a side street towards the Nam Khan River and then along the road running parallel to the river towards the Mekong River.  After a while we came upon another narrow street leading up from the river.  We climbed part way up and I saw where their home was.  It appeared that their grandmother was waiting so I returned the bag to the children and continued my pre-breakfast foray about the town.

Almost Home

That night Duang and I had a nice pizza and a couple of Beer Laos for dinner at a restaurant that we had eaten at two years ago.  Some hip-hop music was playing.  The irony of listening to the trials and tribulations of a young American making millions of dollars "singing" his tale of woe and defiance was not lost on me after what I had experienced and observed earlier in the morning - in the real world.

Been There and Done That; Only This Time It Was Different



A Young Hmong Girl Eats Her Snack At the Festival In Laos

We arrived back home in Isaan, Northeast Thailand, last night from our four day trip to Laos.

Here in Isaan there is a phrase that is utilized often, perhaps too often for some foreigners who are of a more structured and precise ilk.  The phrase is "Same, Same, but Different".

At the risk of offending those foreigners I will describe our just concluded journey/adventure as "Same, Same but Different".  We specifically went up to Luang Prabang to witness "Pee Mai Hmong" (Hmong New Years).  It had ended up being a pretty much spur of the moment decision.  I had wanted to attend the festivities last year, but I had a great deal of difficulty determining exactly when the celebration would start.  Actually to paraphrase a recent former US President; "It all depends on what the meaning of the word, start, is"

Hmong Girls In Traditional Festival Clothing

The Hmong New Years celebration occurs in December but it is a 10 day festival with the first two days being allocated for rituals conducted in the homes.  The public celebration, which we had previously witnessed and wanted to see again, starts on the third day and runs for 8 days.  So for Duang and me, the "start" day was for the start of the public celebration.  I called the driver that we had used on our previous trip, Johnee's father, to no avail.  His cellphone was no longer in service.  I suspect that since he was married to a Danish woman, he and Johnee had immigrated to Denmark.  I had the phone number of the headman from the Khmu village outside of Luang Prabang but he was not all that helpful last year - the exact "start" date is determined by the moon and decision of the local people as to exact "start" date.  I researched the Internet and came up with a date of 16 December.  Having made what I considered to be a good go at it by myself, I reached out to a friend of mine with extensive knowledge as well as contacts in Laos.

My friend reaffirmed the difficulty in determining the "start" date.  He had a contact in Luang Prabang did not know the exact date.  I resigned myself to missing out on the celebration for yet another year.  Fortunately, my friend's friend  came through about a week ago with the "start" date of December 6 and a completion date of 9 December or 10 December.  I still did not know the meaning of the indicated start date of 6 December so I figured instead on working backwards from the end date of 10 December and worked to our arrival date of 7 December and departure of 10 December.

Previously we had stayed overnight in Vientiane and caught the 7:30 AM VIP bus to Luang Prabang up Highway 13 to Luang Prabang some 12 or perhaps 13 hours away.  This was a been there and done that experience - an experience that I nor Duang wanted to do again.  I researched flying to Luang Prabang on Lao Airlines.  There is or was or perhaps there is a direct flight from Udonthani to Luang Prabang.  However I was unable to book a flight on the Internet.  I kept getting a message to effect that a flight was not available for one of the dates that I had selected.  Great help; I have encountered the same problem at other airline websites - you are left to try to figure whether or not the problem lies with your departure day or return date or is only a particular flight time that is the issue?

After further research at other sights, I came to the conclusion that the direct flight from Udonthani to Luang Prabang had been suspended.  Later I was lead to believe that the flight has been reinstated now that it is the "high season".  No matter the case I dropped back to Plan "B" which was to go to Vientiane and fly out of there to Luang Prabang.  There are a couple of daily flights from VTE to LPQ.

We were not able to book on the morning flight on Tuesday 7 December so we settled for a 1:20 P.M. departure from VTE with a 2:00 P.M. arrival in LPQ.  This still saved us the overnight expense and time in Vientiane and got us into Luang Prabang 6 to 7 hours earlier than the bus.  With a 2:00 P.M. arrival there was still some time on Tuesday for some touring.  For the return flight, I selected a 5:50 P.M. departure which gave us most of the daylight of Friday for sightseeing.  With no difficulty our flights were reserved and paid for - $320.80 USD.



Hmong Girls Strolling - Seeing and Being Seen

 We had flown earlier this year from Vientiane and Luang Namtha on Lao Airlines.  This month's as well as our flights at the start of the year were great.  The flights were what you used to enjoy and hope for today - no nonsense.  Our ticket included baggage.  There was no additional fee for checked baggage.  We split up the camera gear into two carry on backpacks; I carried one and Duang carried the other.  There was no problem with our carry on size or weight.  Our clothing and other gear was in a single checked baggage weighing 12 KG.  The checked bag was an approved size for carry on by international carriers.  I indicated that there was one bag for two people and it was accepted without question and more importantly no additional fee.  On our return to Vientiane, the bag weighed 14.4 KG and again there was no problem.

Lao Airlines flies ATR72 and MA60 turboprop planes.  We once again flew on the Chinese made MA60.  A Chinese designed and manufactured 60 passenger plane powered by Pratt and Whitney of Canada engines - a common situation in the global economy of today;  an American company supplying aircraft engines through it's Canadian subsidiary for a Chinese company.  This is like a Toyota, a Japanese company, assembling cars in the United states out of parts made in Mexico, Canada, and Japan.  Is it a Japanese car or an American car?  Perhaps the answer is not on the manufacturing details but rather on the financial side.  The answer may be defined as to where the profits are sent.

I had used the Internet, http://www.agoda.com/, to research and book a room in Luang Prabang.  For our travels here in Southeast Asia, I always rely on Agoda and have never had a problem with them.  I am pleased with the discounts that Agoda can offer for all types of accommodations.  We did not like the hotel that we stayed at two years ago so I selected a different hotel, the Chang Hotel, to stay at this year.  The price was roughly double the rate where we stayed before but was well worth the money - but that will be the subject of another blog.

We had our airline and hotel reservations, our plan was once again to trust our intuition and select a driver for local transportation upon arrival at our destination.  Yes, there are people who will rip you off.  Yes, we have been ripped off a few, very few, times.  However most of the people that you encounter in these rural out of the way destinations are typically just an ordinary guy trying to make a living.  Duang and I do not go on organized tours.  Our traveling style is not compatible with an organized group in that we do not like being told how long we have to visit what particular location that they have selected.  We prefer to select our own locations and sights to visit supplemented with knowledge from local people who drive us about.  We are able to get a more personal experience from our travels by closely interacting with local people.  Very quickly the local drivers realize what we are interested in and take us to more unique places that meet and often exceed our expectations.  We run the risk perhaps of being ripped off but if we don't like a particular driver we do not hire for the next day.  I believe that the costs that we have paid for being ripped off are far less than the profit and overhead charged by an organized tour.  The benefit to us is to travel on our own schedule and a flexibility to enjoy serendipitous events or locations.




A Little Hmong Girl At the New Years Festival





This Little Guy Actually Managed to get Some Food Into His Mouth

 So yes this was basically a trip to a place we had been before for things that we had done before.  Same Same but different.

We stayed at a better hotel in a better location.

We ate at the restaurants that we ate at before but I could not drink the free draft Beer Lao that came with our second pizza at the Hive Restaurant; a large bottle and the first free draft Beer Lao was more than enough for me this year.

We went to the same locations for the public Hmong celebrations but this year I had a new and better camera.

We went to the Presidential Palace just as we did on the previous visit but whereas on our first visit the Sala Pha Bang was filled with scaffolding and workers, it is no longer under renovation.  It was a thrill to see the completed renovation but that will also be the subject of a different blog.

On this visit we visited two different outlying villages and saw Lao Kao (whiskey) production, embroidery, silk weaving, knife making, and brick production.  This was different.

Since our visit this year coincided with the Lunag Prabang International Film Festival, one night we attended the screening of a foreign film from Malaysia.  This was different.

We went the Night Market every night.  That was the same.  We spent far less at the market than during our previous visit and that was a big "different".

We ate French pastry at some new cafes.  That was different.

I went to an elementary school for the start of the morning.  I wandered about the school grounds photographing the young students and then photographing the classrooms.  I was ignored by the adults and never saw a security guard or policeman.  I was however like the Pied Piper with the children.  I enjoyed speaking or trying to speak with the children.  They were pleased to see digital photographs of themselves and their friends.  I did introduce myself to a couple of teachers and got to speak with them - a little bit.  This was different - wonderfully different.  But once again that will be subject of a future blog entry.

So this year's trip just as in life was a continuation as well as refinement of the past.  We built upon what was good from the last trip and took steps to eliminate or improve what was not 100% from our last trip.  To keep it all interesting and improve the overall experience we tried some different activities and locations on this trip.

Same, Same but different.

Perhaps even better!