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While in Pakse, we took a day and a half to explore Si Phan Done, or 4000 Islands, an area of the Mekong bordering Cambodia that is packed with overgrown tropical islands, some of them just tiny speck of land barely big enough for a person to stand. We stayed two nights on a large island called Done Khone. Other than guesthouses and restaurants, the island was a village of rice farmers. We rented bikes for a day and rode along rutty dirt paths between paddies and followed signs to uncover hidden waterfalls and beaches. The day was marvelous. The weather was warm, but bright clouds shielded us from the hot sun. The only sounds came from our tires across the dirt and from animals. Cicadas hummed, dogs padded alongside us, and cowbells clanged from the necks of grazers in the nearby forests. When we grew tired our bumpy ride, we stopped to watch the villagers work. Here's a video of a man tilling with his water buffalo: http://youtu.be/s-xdjVF7_Bw
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Our time in Pakse was a lot of waterfall hopping, most of them on the Mekong. Paseum Falls.Paseum Falls is a beautiful botanical garden. Tad Gheung Falls.I didn’t take any photos of Tad Gheung Falls because the spray from the falls was monsoon-thick. Standing on an outcrop at the base, our clothes were soaked within minutes, and my ears hurt from the strength of the pelting. Even at the top, it seemed like it was raining. The water of the falls is clean so we were able to swim. When swimming in Laos, it is culturally appropriate to cover your body. While men can take off their shirts, it is encouraged they don’t. Women have to wear t-shirts and long shorts. The water felt amazing – unlike Minnesotan summer lakes where the water is freezing and the air is alright, the Pusawan waters were warm like the air. Swimming in Laos is an experience I would recommend to anyone. Khone PhaPheng Falls.Khone PhaPheng Falls is the largest waterfall on the Mekong and one of the largest in the world. It’s not tall, but at 10 km (over 6 miles) across, it is THE widest fall in the world. We visited during the rainy season so the water was crashing and brown from the silt. An island in the falls used to hold the worshipped Manikhot Tree, or Holy Tree, but in 2012 the tree collapsed and fell into the Mekong with its roots still in the ground. I guess the Lao population was not happy with allowing the tree to succumb to nature, so they sawed it off and carried it away from the rapids with a helicopter. It is now preserved in it’s own temple behind glass.To see a video of a skilled man fishing in the falls, check out this url: http://youtu.be/de1WfLgKHeg
Wat Phu is a Khmer sanctuary located near Pakse in Southern Laos. Built in the 11th century, it is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Over the architecture looms a sacred phallus-shaped mountain called Lingaparvata, representative of Shiva’s symbol, the linga. Wat Phu holds a shrine the once housed a linga that was continually bathed in spring water directed to the structure with stone aqueducts. Lingam are often placed inside yonis, or symbols of the female genitalia and goddess Shakti. The flow of water over the linga and into the yoni is symbolic of the generative power of Shiva and the flow of continuance of life. The holy spring water is collected in a stone basin. People pilgrim to the sanctuary to wash themselves or to take some with. The water is clean, but not clean enough to drink. My roommate Denise took some with her in a water bottle. At some point during the night bus back to Vientiane, I awoke very thirsty, grabbed the nearest water bottle, and chugged until Denise interrupted with, "No Lizz, don't drink that!!!" Turned out to be the holy water. It was hilarious until I couldn't get back to sleep due to paranoia I'd swallowed some fatal parasite. Needless to say, I'm still alive and holier than ever. The grounds also contain two rectangular palaces with inner courtyards once used for ritual. Upon entering the Southern palace, the scene was exactly from David Bowie’s Labyrinth when the heroine first enters the labyrinth. To see a video of me walking through the halls, click this link: http://youtu.be/DZ20fmJpOnc Unfortunately the rain caught us as we ascended so I didn't get any photos of the outside of the shrine. Since the roof of the shrine is collapsed, I hid under a doorframe to protect my camera. The inner front section has been transformed into a Buddhist shrine. My roommate Denise makes a wish according to a Buddhist ritual. A person stands in front of Buddha arms spread wide across a long stick and marks their arm span with a rubber band. Then the person lets down the stick, makes a wish, and holds up the stick again. If the rubber band has moved so they can no longer reach it, the wish will come true! Mimosa pudica, also known as Sleepy Plant, Sensitive Plant, or Touch-Me-Not, is a magical member of the bean family I’ve found in Southern Laos. When it is touched, it closes! The mechanics are this: stimulus instigates the release of chemicals that alter ion concentration leading to loss of turgor pressure, or water pressure, in the leaves. When the pressure is lost, the leaves collapse.
Check out this video to see the shy plant in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwrpxQHzAdI Kailuk is duck egg with a developed baby inside. I bought it remembering my experience in Nanjing, China when I ate a goopy, salty, yet delicious chicken fetus. This kailuk, however, was much more developed than my previous chicklet, and according to my Lao friends, more developed than what they had eaten in the past. Nonetheless I took a bite. When couldn’t chew up the feathers, I decided to stop eating it. It’s eaten with a strong salt-and-pepper paste that looks and feels like sand.
The preferred drink of Laos is Beer Lao. As one of the major marketers in Laos, no matter where you go in Vientiane, the green and gold is there – mainly on banners, umbrellas, the clothes of tourists, and the masses of gold Beer Lao creates that are stacked neatly on top of each other outside of restaurants and shops. Beer Lao is 70% barley and malt imported from Europe, and 30% jasmine rice. 49% of the company is owned by the Lao government and 51% by Carlsberg Group, a Denmark brewery. Beer Lao currently exports to about a dozen countries including America. They also sponsor the Beer Lao beauty pageant and print the famed Beer Lao calendar, which shows wholesome village beauties wearing traditional Lao dress.
When we travelled to Pakse, we were able to score a special tour inside the Beer Lao factory, free Beer Lao included. This cookie, called dtok jok in Lao, is airy, crisp, and deliciously mild. It’s flavored with coconut milk and black sesame and is made by dipping a molded ladle first into batter, then hot oil.
I’ve found that Laos and the nearby countries have many dishes that involve wrapping a savory something with khao poon (Lao vermicelli) in fresh leaves and rice paper. These have come to be my favorites. An example familiar to American tongues is the spring roll. However the best are the kind that you wrap yourself. Nam Khao. This dish is Lao. Sticky rice mixed with seasoning, egg, and shredded pork skin is balled up into a sphere and crisped until brown in the frying pan. When chosen to order, the ball is warmed, broken, and mixed with more seasoning and lemon juice, and garnished with roasted chili peppers. The leaves are lettuce, different basils, mint, and banana flower. Pun Pa. Pun pa means "fish wrap". You buy the fish, the herbs and leaves, and the extras like the photo below separately. This dish can easily feed two good eaters for $3.72. The leaves include cabbage, lettuce, cilantro, basils, mint, and sorrel. Nam Neung. This dish is Vietnamese and is named after the Vietnamese sausage. Comes with peanut sauce, unripe bananas (so terribly bitter!), bean sprouts, unripe mango, cucumber, whole cloves of garlic, and a variety of herbs and leaves.
Though not as popular as with generations past, one can still find Lao markets selling betel nut or limestone chew. Much like tobacco, folk will chew this substance for a stimulant high and to mollify their addiction cravings. The betel chew has four main parts with an optional fifth: betel leaf, limestone paste, betel nut, and si siet bark, with something sweet for added flavor like sugarcane. The bark acts as a binder to hold the parts together and turns bright red upon chewing. When chewed, the entire concoction numbs the mouth and stimulates saliva production so that a chewing person appears to be constantly spitting out blood. Consequences of the chew include tooth decay, cancer, and other problems similar to those caused by chewing tobacco.
As part of the SAIL program, all the SAILers plus our program coordinator Lada took a night bus to Pakse, the capital of a province in Southern Laos called Champasak. Pakse borders Cambodia, and the trip took about 11 hours. We avoided a stiff ride by opting for a two-story overnight bus complete with sleeper bunks and complementary condensed milk sandwiches. It was two people per twin bed and one from our group got to sleep next to a local. The road down south was bumpy and sometimes the low-hanging trees whacked the roof of the bus. It rained the entire time and the emergency exits leaked onto unfortunate passengers’ beds. The bus had one bathroom and sometimes the driver would stop for a smoke or a pee. It was an interesting experience.
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