Luang Prabang Days 2-3

I'm failing to update more often because I feel like I have so much to tell you! So I have new agreement for you... I update more regularly but only tell a good story or short summary, or pictures! It only scratches 10% of all that I'm experiencing but any more is a fool's errand (or a full time job).

With that out of the way, I want to tell you about a highlight of LP for me - food! After saying goodbye to my travel companions, I took a shower and dressed myself up the best I could. Dress, scarf, mascara, these new leather sandals I bought in Chiang Mai... (nothing ruins a nice outfit more than these damn comfy chacos!).

I wandered off in search of a nice restaurant that served Lao food like an experience. My dawdling meant I was trying to eat at around 8pm, and I actually got turned away from several places. I think in Laos they don't use a wait list - nothing like being told a place is "full." My stomach persisted though, and I wandered back by this famous one called Tamarind Cafe a second time. I asked if I could please just wait ten minutes, thirty minutes, anything to eat there. The host relented and sent me across the street to a little bar table and stool. It felt like time out sitting there all by myself, watching the others eat delicious delicious food. "Here Katie, you want some food? You want some Lao food? No! Go sit over there until you feel sorry for what you crave!"
Maybe I looked pitiful - he soon brought me roasted peanuts with garlic and bamboo shoots and I was happy :)

On to dinner. To consider Lao food one must immediately think of sticky rice. How to describe? It sticks together and rolls into a ball (or any other shape) very nicely. You pick up a good clump with your left hand and pass a bite sized portion to your right. Then you use the rice to scoop up whatever delicious food you're eating. It's positively addicting.

So, I ordered a sampler platter and an 'entree,' which is a bit of a misnomer because Lao don't have courses - they eat everything at once. Pictures will follow in the next post. Here are my tasting notes. First is the Lao name, then the English description from the menu, and lastly a note or two with my reactions.

Drink: Tamarind cooler with Lao Lao whiskey.
Snack: dried bamboo, garlic and peanuts
Sampling platter, clockwise starting from top left:
- Som Pak Gat: leafy green vegetable, pickled. Tasted bitter and vinegary, but decent with a lot of sticky rice
- Jeow Nor Mai Som: pickled bamboo with a hint of ginger and a light kick. The ginger was very strong in my opinion and the bitter taste was overwhelming. The only dish I didn't finish.
- Sai Oua: Luang Prabang sausage. I was excited about this one because I love sausages, but it was somewhat disappointing - dry and with only a light flavor.
- Sinh Savanh: 'heavenly' dried buffalo meat, sweetly flavored. This was indeed sweeter than I expected, but not overly so. Chewy like you'd expect but not dry. Addicting.
- Miang parcels: delicate flavored pastes of rice and aubergine (little eggplant), & lemongrass and noodles in a leafy wrapping. The first also contained lime and peanuts, a combination that was divine. The second had a very delicate flavor indeed and suffered from mushy texture problems.

Oua Si Khai: Fragant lemongrass stuffed with chicken, kaffir lime & coriander, and a side dipping sauce. Wow. You gotta check out the picture for this one. I got conflicting instructions on whether or not to eat the lemongrass cage, but either way this was delicious. No flavor was too overwhelming, and the dipping sauce was perhaps a sweet chili? Nice complement.

After dinner I ordered a Lao Coffee, which was mixed with tamarind juice and served in a glass with sweet condensed milk heavy at the bottom. I dodged most of the milk but otherwise a perfect end to way too much food.

Final bill? Only 92,000 kip + 8000 kip tip (not expected here) = 12.5 USD. Mission accomplished.

My food budget has just exploded - I think I'm hooked. Bad backpacker.

Oh, and funny side note:
while I was walking to the restaurant in the dark, I passed by half a dozen novice monks on the other side of the street (a common occurrence, I assure you). Usually they're silent and focused on their destination, such that they almost become part of the scenery in Luang Prabang. Yet these broke the fourth wall and shouted kindly at me "you look lovely!" I blushed and replied, "khop jai" as I walked by them. They continued to giggle and say nice things. Then someone asked, "do you remember me?" with a lot of laughter. I was already passed them and so embarrassed that I just laughed too and hurried off. Were these the novices I caught showering the previous day??

Now every time I see one of the young novices with their muscular arms and cheeky grins I blush and feel embarrassed. I feel like such a schoolgirl, and yet they are just schoolboys themselves! Monks aren't even allowed to take something from a female hand; to exchange an item one must set it down on the ground and step away. Yet these mischievous novices make it clear that they're still teenage boys. Hilarious.

I actually befriended a novice briefly at a different Wat while I was walking around. He was super nice and corrected my horrendous pronunciation of Lao cities. I also met a German girl to whom he was teaching Lao, and she teased him for 'collecting' westerners. He blushed and grinned so big that I felt rather vindicated for my own embarrassment. Cheeky bastards :)

With all my love and full stomach,

Katie