Keeping it real is the name of the game for Les Artisans Lao High above an art gallery, in a small room in a narrow building off a side street in downtown Vientiane, is a humming laboratory. There, young locals in white lab coats hover over heating and cutting machines, surrounded by glass vials and […]
A country could tell its whole story through food, if only it knew how. When Latsamy Vetsaphong first heard a western friend wondering aloud where they could buy some of the amazing delicacies they had tried while in Laos, she realised there was a gap in the market for Lao souvenirs. And when she heard […]
The capital of Yunnan province, Kunming is a city that confounds expectations. As Mick Shippen discovers, it’s clean, green, and the perfect destination for a memorable getaway. Even as a seasoned food and travel writer and photographer, I have numerous preconceived notions about Chinese cities. You probably share some of them; sprawling conurbations that you’d […]
Europe’s top tables, such as Noma in Copenhagen, have built reputations and garnered Michelin stars on the trend for foraged food and edible insects. But that won’t turn any heads in Laos; such food has always been part of the country’s rich culinary landscape. Intrepid eater Mick Shippen takes a bite on the wild side […]
In spiritual terms, indigo is the colour of intuition and perception. In fashion terms, it’s synonymous with denim – deep of hue and naturally dyed. It’s also one of the seven colours of the rainbow and has up to seven of its own distinct shades. But did you know that indigo also has mosquito repelling […]
Eat Breakfast at Kung’s Don’t miss this hidden gem down a ramshackle laneway close to the centre of town. This family-run courtyard eatery, complete with toy dogs and hanging pot plants, serves authentic Lao food with a twist. The sticky rice pancake with mango and honey is a favourite. facebook.com/KungsCafeLao Lunch at Acqua This […]
It’s a Sunday afternoon in Vientiane, and visitors dropping into a small art gallery near the centre of town can’t stop smiling. On the walls, and scattered artfully about the room, are all kinds of animals – elephants, chickens, turtles – as well as playful human figures with articulated limbs, and slightly leery masks. At […]
Way back in 1994, a Canadian living in Vientiane opened a bakery. Much and More, as it was then called, had two main reasons for existing. One was to produce and supply sandwich bread to surrounding businesses. But its main purpose was to provide jobs for returning refugees, mainly Hmong people being repatriated into Laos. […]
There is grandeur in this view of life… and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved. (Charles Darwin) Darwin would doubtlessly revisit these observations if he visited the botanical […]
It can be hard to say goodbye to a place, especially when you’ve uncovered a special, life-lengthening secret along the way. In 1945, when World War II was ending and the Japanese ended its occupation of Southeast Asia, one Japanese soldier was left behind in Xiengkuang Province. Maybe he chose not to join his fellow […]
ລາວ
Comments are closed.