April 28
Today we wake up and plan to set our agenda on how Hudson is
feeling. Turns out he needs another day
of rest, so we opt to do a close to home option of going to a nearby artisan
village to see their handicrafts. We get
Hudson nicely snuggled into a big bed with plenty of food and drink and we
arrange the trip with our taxi driver, who waits patiently each day outside our
guesthouse to see if we want to hire him for the day. The village is only a short drive away and we
have debated whether to go on foot or by bicycles, but we are assured that it
is much too far for that, so we pile into the back of his open air taxi and we
are off. It turns out that they were
correct, we never would have found this on our own. One of the difficulties of traveling is knowing
when to trust people who have something to gain from you and when to maintain
your position. Each of the cultures we
have visited approach tourism so differently and have a very personal agenda
sometimes for giving you the information they offer. It is very difficult to know when you are
being taken…..you just have to try to find the nuance between the lines. We arrive at the village on the outskirts of
town and are immediately drawn into the working studio of a paper maker. We see her wares displayed around the
entrance to her home/studio and when she emerges to assist us, she gives us a
lesson in papermaking. First, she pulls
out a handful of wet cotton fibers that are soaking in a bucket and places them
into a rectangular wooden form that is floating in about 4 inches of
water. The wooden form is closed on the
bottom side with a netting material. She
spreads the fibers around so they are evenly covering the entire area of the
rectangle. Then, she pulls off petals
from some marigold flowers and sprinkles them around. Finally, she spreads bamboo leaves and
arranges them within the form. She then
lifts the tray out of the water and all of the cotton, flowers and leaves
remain inside the tray mashed up against the netting. She then places the form in the sun to dry
for 24 hours before making the lanterns, books, cards and other
handicrafts. We purchase some lanterns
from her and she places them all into a perfectly beautiful hand-made paper
bag. What a treat. She then shows us how her mother spins the
cotton that they grow in their yard. She
demonstrates how the cotton is combed and then rolled into a long tube which is
then put to the spinning wheel and wound onto a spool. This woman makes around two spools of cotton
thread each day and sells then for 10,000 kip ($1.25) each. They also make the cotton into candle wicks
and dip the candles by hand. And, they weave the cotton into cloth on the large
loom in the corner of the studio (the loom doubles as a perch for the resident
rooster while not in use). This is
fascinating for the kids to see and very humbling to realize how much work goes
into making so little money. After we
say our goodbyes, we visit one more paper maker/silk weaving shop and make a
couple of purchases there too. The next
stop is a silk weaving operation which has the majority of its looms in a
covered porch area in the front of the shop.
We see the cages for the silk worms which house the cocoons. They dying area is next to it with its huge
vats of natural dyes for the thread. A
tour of the looms shows some of the most intricate weaving I have ever
seen…..amazingly patterned cloth is being produced by hand with the most
gorgeous natural colors. These are not
available at giveaway prices either.
While they are a little out of reach for our budget, they are by no
means expensive by western standards, especially given the amount of work and
detail that goes into producing each of these cloths. We visit the sales area and are in awe of the
incredible array of scarves, floor cloths, bed spreads, table cloths. The mother of the sales person is a master
weaver and has learned her craft from her parents. The son explains to us the
cycle of butterfly to larvae to worm to egg….they keep the whole process in
house. Occasionally when there are too
many cocoons to utilize right away, they will put the unopened ones in a cool
place so they will remain dormant and only hatch when they want.
Fascinating! In Laos, the textile
industry is imbued with significance.
The meaning in the patterns is very important in terms of the culture
and their religion. I do not pretend to
understand it all as this is an animist belief system – one where everything in
nature in steeped in meaning to help maintain the balance of good and bad;
animals, trees, rocks….all have a place in fragile balance of life forces – at
least that is my limited understanding.
The people here are very genuine and offer a smile to all. One of our guide books suggested that we
always smile, even if we are feeling angry……it is amazing at how it can change
the way you feel by just SMILING. Although, I don’t perceive the same peacefulness in them that I feel in Thai people, perhaps
because they seem to wear their poverty like a badge. You become keenly aware when dealing with the
Laotian people that they are extremely needy…..they even tell you when you are
bargaining that they are so poor….it makes you feel uncomfortable. At times, I have paid them for something only
to have them produce a huge wad of bills in order to make change. It gives one a slightly awkward feeling and
gets you back to that balance between trusting your inner judgement about
people and ceding over control. I
continue to strive to be what I term as “fair” – to them and to myself. Anyhoo….I digress. We continue on our path along the street
popping in and out of shops and making some purchases before returning to our
taxi driver for the return trip home. We have developed a big appetite and
return to a nearby restaurant for a delicious lunch accompanied by refreshing
lemon & mint shake. Once back in our
little nest, we shower and rest for a
while and catch up on the blog, reading, journaling, etc. Then, we head off to see the local wat – one
of the most famous ones in Laos. We
amble down by the riverside and arrive at the wat only to discover it is now
closed for the day. We are able to walk
around the grounds though and see the outside of the mosaic clad buildings
before exiting out the back door and walking through a neighborhood back to the
main street. We return to the hotel to
gather up our crew and to head out to dinner and end up returning to our lunch
spot. Dinner is great and we are all
happy to head home, full, tired and ready for a new adventure tomorrow.
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