Expect the Unexpected

“So why would you go to Laos?” is a question a number of people have asked (and probably many more have wondered). Certainly, the small, landlocked Southeast Asian country wasn’t on our radar screens a few years ago. However, after visiting Cambodia, Indonesia, and Chiang Mai (Thailand) we’ve discovered that we enjoy trips to less-developed areas that include elements of culture and history more than the trips that involve staying on a resort, surrounded by ex-pats (though those are nice at times).

What we’ve also found is that places that sound scary – based on things like their history and politics – aren’t very scary at all (of course, we exercise caution and don’t go to places that are hotbeds of unrest!), especially if you set aside things like politics. The vast majority of people we’ve met in the “third world” places are in many ways just like the people we know from the “developed” world – they love their families, work to support them, and hope that their children’s lives will be better than their own. The biggest difference is, they seem far less concerned about amassing wealth and accumulating superfluous “stuff” – putting food on the table is their top priority. Though that seems grim, it feels like because they have so little that they live more in the moment, actually enjoying life more than many of the super “successful” and “wealthy” people we know. It’s really rather humbling.

Anyway, Laos fit the profile for a great Saunders Family vacation destination, being described as “unspoiled Asia.” And, with no expected uprisings or coup d’états, we figured our biggest risk was the food!

So first, I have to start with the food…

Luang Prabang has one main street that is lined with small shops and restaurants. It’s the activity hub of the entire city.

Most of the restaurants had very expansive menus, including lots of local dishes, other Asian fare, and food that appeared to cater to Western tastes. For our first meal, Dave and Lydia ordered Asian; I ordered a spinach pizza. Funny thing is, my meal turned out to be a traditional pizza crust with chili sauce, Chinese spinach, and a small sprinkling of cheese – it was pretty awful. Dave and Lydia had clearly made better choices, selecting dishes that the cooks actually knew how to make.

Over the next few meals, we all ate more “native style” dishes and learned just how great sticky rice is. Sticky rice is served in bamboo baskets and can be white or purple. You eat it with your hands, rolling it into balls, and dip it in various sauces (or it can be eaten plain). Lydia LOVED it – we’re usually after her to STOP touching her food!

On the third day, we were heading out on a hike with a guide. He said we needed to take lunch with us and asked if we’d prefer European or Lao food. We courageously and confidently said we’d have Lao food – he seemed surprised and pleased. Shortly thereafter, we pulled up to a street vendor to get some food. Yikes! We were thinking the nice little restaurant Lao food. Instead, we faced this:

Holy Toledo. There were all kinds of stuff we couldn’t identify floating around in pots, along with lots of meat on sticks. Now this is a REAL fish stick:

The women working at the stand made a gallant effort of waiving flies off the food, using sticks with plastic sacks tied to the end. However, even Dave, the daring gastronomic adventurer in our little family, agreed that maybe just sticky rice would be enough to get us by. Our guide was undeterred by our hesitance and ordered several things, which were then wrapped up in banana leaves, and we were sent on our way. We not only wound up surviving the meal – we actually liked it.

We went to the local food market (no grocery stores in Luang Prabang!) and saw where all the produce and meat is purchased each day. It was clean and smelled better than other Asian markets, including the supermarket I go to most often in Hong Kong!

Now, the culminating culinary event of the week – one that I would have never, ever thought I would partake in voluntarily: we ate street food for dinner.

There was a small alley off the main street where food vendors set up carts at night to sell Lao food, ranging from muffins cooked over charcoal to intestine kebabs.

There were many that had large carts and offered a “buffet.” We opted for a buffet. For about $1.20 US we could fill our plates with all the noodles, rice, and vegetables – there were tons of options. For about $1 more, you could get meat on a stick. Dave and Lydia decided to forgo the intestines and got chicken. We also picked up some fresh chili dip for our rice (it tasted better than it looks here).

It was one of our best meals! Better yet, no one got sick.

Now I don’t plan to start eating street food just anywhere and I am in no way prepared to take over for Anthony Bourdain on “No Reservations” - but it was fun in Laos and I’d do it again. And this is only one of a few activities that we did that may surprise you!