November 4th Ban Nong Bou

We had a slow starting day but arranged to go with a tuk-tuk, Sisomphon and our new friend Martine to visit the Lollopho ethnic minority. Martine is a lively older French woman who is doing research on the Mien embroidery motifs, their placement on the clothes, etc. she is a volunteer at a beautiful museum of Yoa / Mien artifacts located in Avallon, central France.(www.museeavallonnais.com). As there is only one English speaking guide, we shared him to go to this village. We met first with the village chief and distributed a heavy sack of salt, school notebooks, pencils and soap. Martine asked questions regarding the Lollopho ceremonies for marriage, birth of a child and death. It was interesting to hear the differences in the practices between the Lollopho here in Laos and those in Vietnam. We walked through the village and took pictures. We walked past a school that was well built with nice bathrooms and colorful paintings on the wall. Leslie was sure it was the Butterfly Development Center for pictures she had seen on the website. Sisomphom did not know it by that name but said it was built by Singapore people which did not make sense at the time because Bryan Watt and his wife Dr. Leila Schour are Americans.

Martine was also looking to purchase a woman's Lollopho outfit in this village. This took some time, and finally she was able to buy a complete outfit, but the headdress is only the simple black scarf, not the elaborate embroidered one that is more typical. She had been to this village last year during the New Year's celebration when everyone was all in traditional dress.

We also walked to a Thai Dam village and were immediately besieged by women looking to sell their woven products. Martine and I both bought a few items.

We returned to Phou Ou Bunglaows and tried again with the Internet without much success. For some reason google does not seem to like Laos and does not let you easily access your email. We had dinner here at the hotel which is the best in town.