Yes, Laos used to be a French colony, and still has some of the beautiful charm of France. But Laos is still all its own. There are temples everywhere, and their Buddhist faith permeates life here, whether you are devout or not. One of my favorite things is the lively use of color everywhere. Bright … Continue reading Le tour de Vientiane
I felt shame. I usually laugh off American jokes and generalizations, some of them are probably deserved, but recently I wanted to duck away and hide. Walking through the COPE visitor center in Vientiane, I saw the legacy of the Vietnam War in Laos. In 1997, the COPE center opened to provide physical rehabilitation and … Continue reading Watch where you step
I’ve received many requests to talk about what life is like here. Now that I'm about a month and half in, here we go. After two weeks in a closet-like but clean guesthouse room – complete with brick-printed wallpaper – my employer put me in touch with an expat apartment-finding service. I was taken to … Continue reading Life in Laos
The funny thing is, I never even finished posting my photos from my trip to Laos last May, and here I am again. Ka-Pow! In Laos. A one-year resident. My life is weird. Never did I think I would come back. I enjoyed it, added it to my list of countries I'd visited, now time to move … Continue reading A series of fortunate events
I love detail photography. The color and textures that you often walk right by. I get to spend a lot of time with my niece and nephews and they notice everything. They aren't in a hurry to get to the next thing, they are just in the now. It helps me to stop and be … Continue reading Laos – In the details
One of my favorite experiences from my trip was a natural dyeing and weaving class at Ock Pop Tok (East Meets West) in Luang Prabang. The center seeks to keep the traditions of weaving alive and provide the women with a fair trade price for their art. I didn't know about the long history of … Continue reading Weaving in Laos
Today I'm out of words, but I really want to share some photos. So captions will have to do today.
Months of research went into my trip to Myanmar. With Laos, there was none of that. I had cut out and packed the thin Laos section of my SE Asia guidebook, but hadn't actually read it. I didn't know what to expect. Really, the main reason I went was to visit my friend who had … Continue reading Waylaid by Laos
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