JOURNEY IN LAOS PART 4

The region of Sam Neua is famous for its silk weavings but most of them are sold to Japan through agents as soon as they are made. This intrigued us, so we decided to go and see these villages for ourselves. It was going to take time so we ended spending an extra couple of daysin Sam Neua going back and forth. Each day took us to different areas, accessible only by pick-up truck down extremely bumpy dirt roads. We were not disappointed, as the weaving quality was amazing. it was exotic to meet Hill Tribe people who had never been outside of their province. each single weaving takes a woman 2 to 4 months to make, so they only had very few available. It was a very slow but enjoyable process going around every day to the different villages to search out the people who wove and to buy their creations. out of all the villages, Sam Thai is the one with the most stricking pieces. No wonder you never see those weavings in Laos. They are in such high demand that they are all exported right away to countries where they fetch very high prices.

Our evenings in Sam Neua would take us to the local bustling market. It came to life around 5 PM daily when the farmers and hunters came down from the monutains to the town with their wild animals and foods. We discovered that in this part of laos they seem to eat every-thing that moves except for may-be butterflies! If you wanted to try out eating any kind of animal, Sam Neua was the right place. We saw bats, rats, foxes, iguanas, dogs, worms, insects and hedgehogs, just to name a few.. on sale at this market. If you wanted rat, you had the choice between live or dead ones, from the river or the jungle, fresh or dried.

We love markets, especially the ones we have seen throughout Asia but this one is certainly the most amazing and colourfulone that we had ever come across. We ate fruits and vegetables that we had never seen before. Also, another great thing about being there was that nobody could speak english so we were able to practice our Thai and Lao.

We put a few videos at the bottom of the page. We left out a few that we felt were too gruesome. We just want to show a way of life, but if you are a bit sensitive, it's better to not look at them.

The Lonely Planet Guide has a few mentions of some of the villages we went to visit. We were checking their recommendations on accommodation, on our way, when we came across a funny line. The author was referring to " rat free" rooms being available in the village. We didn't think too much about this until the next morning when we came face to face with a big rat in our bathroom. We wanted to discuss the matter with the owner of the place. The problem was that in the Lao language the word for rat and mouse is the same: "nuu" . So we had to make sure that he understood what size of animal we were talking about. It was not just a poor little mouse but a big ugly rat. Anyway there weren't too many choices of accommodation in the village so we decided to stay and found a way to keep therat out by blocking the shower hole since that was his way of getting in. On the other hand, the couple who owned the place was doing a great job at keeping the mosquitoes out. every evening, at around 5 Pm when the mosquitoes were starting to com in, they would get their electric bats ready and flip them around frantically until they were all killed. They had a routine well worked out and you could see that they loved doing it. it was like their 'relaxation time' at the end of the day.

We headed further north to Vieng Xai. Our primary reason for coming here was to see the caves where the members of the Communist Lao government had lived for nine years during the Vietnam War, from 1964 to 1973. This is a beautiful hidden vale, dotted with karst hills. We met with a guide and organized push bikes to visit the caves to-gether. Our guide was a veteran soldier from that era, so he gave us first hand stories about the war. Some giant caves could hold a few thousand soldiers. We visited the caves of the 5 leaders; each one had his own cave and lived there with his family. They were fascinating to visit. We also saw a theatre cave for visiting performers from Russia and China. Another one was a fully outfitted hospital donated by Cuba, but we were not allowed to see it. In 1973, when the war was officially over, each of

leaders came out and built his own villa in front of the caves where they had lived. They continued to live and rule Laos from here for a couple more years before they could return to Vientiane. After they moved, they kept them as holiday villas. We liked especially the one of the 'Red Prince' who converted to communism after his civil engineering studies in France. He had a heart shaped swimming pool in the front garden built on a bomb crater.
No doubt this place will get a lot of visitors in years to come