Lunch near the river

brown tributary 

The Lao people greet each other in a similar to the Cambodians but putting their hands together like they are praying. In Laos it's called a NOP, it’s the same as a sompiah in Cambodia.  

Younger people nop their elders ..  I'll give Mum a nop any day ... nope, I won't!

Just a snap

We had lunch near a Lao village on another Mekong Rive tributary. The water was even browner today because the rains washed down more soil from the mountain slopes. Mung made us a picnic – spicy buffalo meat, spicy vegetables, cold omlette and sticky rice. It was easy to tidy up – just throw the banana leaf plates into the forest.

When the French ruled Indochina they had a saying that Mum has told me before:

“The Vietnamese plant the rice,

the Cambodians watch it grow, and

the Lao listen to it grow.”

It meant that the Lao people were laid back and more relaxed.

Mum and I have been looking at what we see in Laos and have been comparing it to what we’ve seen in Vietnam and Cambodia. There is definitely more activity happening in the fields in Vietnam, and Cambodia. But because it is very dry here, it isn’t the time for planting or harvesting.

no lunch box needed