LivingOurDream: Full Day Potpourri

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Full Day Potpourri

Hi All,

Our eclectic day began with a visit to the home of the former driver for the Lao royal family. The two gentlemen on the left were drivers at the time of the Communist takeover in 1975. Seven members of the royal family were taken away and never seen again. The drivers were taken to a "Re-education Camp" for two months before release.

There stories were captivating. Both men are still nervous about repercussions from criticizing the Communist government.

Next stop was a paper making factory. Mullberry bark is boiled, bleached and pounded until it is mush. The mush is suspended in a water bath and decorated with leaves and flowers. The frame is then lifted out of the water and set aside to dry. An amazing process and we could buy a sheet like this for $1 US.

Next door was the silk factory. Thousands of silkworms are hatched and fed mullberry leaves. When they mature they spin cocoons which are gathered up, boiled and unraveled to create the silk.

The wings of butterflies make beautiful though fragile ear rings.

A Buddhist temple adjacent to the silk factory has this imposing dragon guarding the entrance.

We next boarded a 115 foot long Mekong riverboat for a cruise north. Along the way, our local guide, Sean, talked to us about the 2,700 mile long Mekong River that flows from Tibet to Vietnam.

We stopped at a rice whiskey distillery and were shown vats of fermenting sticky rice. If left for two weeks, rice wine with 15% alcohol results. Left for another week and it can be made into 100 proof rice whiskey! A local substitute for Viagara is created by soaking a baby cobra in the whiskey.