For L we decided to go to one of the few remaining communist countries in the world – Laos. We did not know much about this rural country sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam, so we (especially me, Mama) definitely learned a lot. For example, the ancient Laos kingdom was called “The Land of One Thousand Elephants” and once ruled over modern day Thailand and Laos.  There are also four distinct ethnic groups in Laos, despite being just bigger than Michigan.  Laos is also home to one of our favorite animals – the gibbon, along with lots of other strange animals including the nearly extinct irrawuddy dolphin – and over 200 species of birds.

Here are some more interesting fact about Laos. And for further information, read our presentation here:

• Roads are poorly develop in the rural parts of the Laos, so the Mekong River system is the chief transportation route throughout the country.
• Laos is the most heavily bombed place in the world as a result of the Vietnam War when the US dropped over 2 million tons of bombs across Laos. Around 30% of them didn’t explode.
• Laos is the only place where you can find the native, rare black & white ebony tree.
• Laos is home to Nong Fa Lake – a stunning volcanic lake (about 230 ft deep). Laotians refuse to swim or bathe in the waters as they believe that the lake is home to a giant snake-pig that will consume any who dare to wade into its depths.

FOOD

As Laos is geographically between Vietnam and Thailand, it cuisine is in between the two countries as well. Lots of spices, lemon grass, soups, rice and noodles. We enjoyed most everything we tried!

Breakfast

Khao Piak Sen– This is a classic Lao dish and is pretty easy to make if you use store-bought broth (as we did) Spicy, tangy and delicious! And we had fun making the noodles, too!

Mangoes

Dinner

Laap- This is like a meat salad and was so tasty, I think we might make it again. What makes in from Laos is the addition of toasty, ground up sticky rice and a lot more herbs than its Thai counter part!

Sticky Rice –This is the default national dish of Laos. No country eats more sticky rice than here. And it was quite easy to prepare. We did not have proper steamer so used a fish mesh strainer/colander in a pot on the stovetop.

Green mango salad- Basically just green mangoes, sliced thinly with salt and some vinegar

CULTURE

Most of Laos art is based off Thervada Buddhism, the main religion of Laos. So we decided to look at the different images of Buddha (one site we found was here), and found that there is a posture of Buddha that is ONLY used in Laos. It’s a rare standing Buddha called the “Calling for Rain” Buddha. So we practiced drawing this type of Buddha on our own. Can you guess who did which one?!

…Next up is M, can you guess what African country we will be visiting??