Luang Prabang 1/26

I had no plans for this morning so I decided to take a walk to the paper village. It turned out to be quite a bit more than a walk. When I got to the end of the peninsula, I had to go down steep dirt steps to the river to cross a bamboo bridge. By the bridge was a small hut with two women who demanded 5000 kip (about 70 cents) for the right to cross the bridge back and forth. I tried to find out from them how far the paper village was from the bridge, but they didn’t speak a word of English and just kept pointing at the 5000 kip sign. I paid and crossed the rickety bridge. On the other side, I also had to climb steep dirt steps and cross a mostly dirt field to get to the road. No wonder I was the only one doing it. I followed the road to the village, which was rather disappointing. Almost every house had a shop set up with paper and textiles, but the merchandise was pretty much the same as in the night market and prices were similar, too. I did manage to buy a nice hemp weaving for a wall hanging. In another store/gallery I found hangers for textiles so I bought three, one very big. It won’t fit in my suitcase so I’ll have to carry it. On the way back, after I crossed the bridge, the woman examined the long package sticking out of my backpack as if she was a security guard, but she decided it was OK because she smiled and let me go. I met Laurie and Florence for lunch in the Coconut Garden. We had a minced pork and banana leaf salad, stuffed lemongrass stalks and sticky rice. Fabulous food. Then we walked to TAEC. We saw the exhibits about the ethnic groups of Laos and also about courtship and wedding traditions of various groups. And then we stepped into the museum shop and bought a few more textiles. I hope I’ll be able to close my suitcase tomorrow. In the afternoon I went to a café on the Mekong to watch the sunset, and in the evening the three of us went to the Roots and Leaves restaurant for dinner and a performance of traditional Lao dancing and music. As a bonus, there was also a performance by a contemporary dance group from Vientiane, which was very good. The setting in the restaurant is very attractive with tables by a pond with lotus flowers and the stage in the middle of the pond. Can't upload pictures tonight -- connection too slow.