Other Scenes from Laos

Ock Pop Tok Textile Gallery
Ock Pop Tok is a textile gallery and weaving center where expert weavers and craftspeople demonstrate their skills. They offer weaving classes to visitors! (Probably not a skill many people can repeat at home!)

We learned how silk is made and dyed. Silk worms:

Raw silk:

The dyes were made from colors naturally occurring in plants and trees.

Drying silk in the sun after dying:
Very skilled weavers in the process of making very beautiful silk scarves:

This woman just used her feet to hold the loom in place, sitting straight-legged on the floor. Made my back and hamstrings hurt just looking at her!

A basket weaver was making great progress in the three-day process of making a new basket. He said it’s cheaper for Lao people to make baskets than buy plastic bags! (Sad, but probably better for the environment!)

A couple of other woven baskets – can you tell which one is Hmong-style?

There was also a woman painting batik patterns on fabric. She had a very steady hand!


Wats
You probably have wat (temple) fatigue from following this blog – we’re a bit wat-weary ourselves. But, here are a few snapshots of notable Buddhist temples.


The Royal Palace Museum
Laos was ruled by monarchy until 1975, when the country was overthrown by communists and became the Laos Peoples Democratic Republic. The Royal Palace was built in 1904 when Laos was a French colony and was where the royal family lived and received visitors.

The palace is now open to visitors, but no photos are allowed inside.

The Night Market
Around 6 p.m. each night the market stalls were set up in the streets along the main road in the downtown area. There were very vibrant colors, but a very quiet and calm atmosphere. By 10 p.m. lights were off and the market was over! It was our kind of place - we went there every night!

While there were a few manufactured goods for sale, most were handmade textiles. Many women were working on projects in between sales. You could tell by looking at the inside of items such as purses that they were hand-stitched, not machine made. When we stopped to look at woven scarves, the women would tell us who designed and wove the item and how long it took. Of course, they could have been making it up, but given how we’d seen so many women with looms, we believed them.


Morning Alms Giving
Around 6 a.m. each morning, hundreds of Buddhist monks line up in their robes and hold metal bowls to walk along the road to receive alms from the people of Luang Prabang. Most residents of the city are devout Buddhists, who wake up early to cook the rice and prepare their offerings. The offerings serve as the monks’ breakfast. Apparently, this ritual has been a part of Luang Prabang life since Buddhism was introduced to Laos in the 14th century.

Just a few more things to share...