Luang Prabang? For me it's the textiles.

Luang Prabang is a city with a good vibe. You must give it a couple of days, and then you will be able to find your feet. It's a really interesting city architecturally, with a mixture of traditional Lao wooden houses and those of European influence - reminders of when Laos was part of the French colony of Indochine. The city is known for the large number of Wats (monestary temples) that are dotted with their gold roofs throughout the city centre. The three main streets are bordered by the Nam Khan river and the Mekong, meaning there are countless offers of boatrides as you take to the streets.

The first morning here I was woken at 5 am to the soft beat of monks drumming. Following this I got myself up out of bed, like every other tourist in Luang Prabang, in order to see the daily procession of monks through the city for the alms giving ceremony. In which monks collect their daily offerings from the towns people. It is a beautiful sight to see. Kind of. I bet it used to be, when they did it unobserved. What I found almost more intriguing, however, was the people with cameras lining the streets. Soon it will be something that is paid for. I am guilty in that I took some pictures. Yes I did. My bad.

The last few days I have really enjoyed mooching about, so to speak. Yesterday I went to the Traditional Arts and Ethnology centre which was so interesting. One of the things I was looking forward to the most about visiting Southeast Asia was the textiles and fabrics. I have a quiet obsession. The centre had on display a whole range of clothing, weaving and implements used by Lao people throughout history. Some of the garments are incredible! Handsewn and with so much detail. I especially like the headpieces with an immense array of coins and fabrics. In some villages the headpiece is seen as a sign of status and wealth for a women, where it is added to over the years, worn on most occassions. At night some of the villagers come into Luang Prabang and sell their local crafts at the night market. There are rows and rows of scarves, silk, bags, clothing and jewelry. I had to stop myself from buying EVERYTHING. At first some of the prices seem rather expensive. Until you take into consideration the amount of work that has gone into each piece - some silk scarves take a week or more to make.

My fascination with textiles saw me enroling in a dying and weaving class at Ok Pop Tok. I was amazed to learn that wood, leaves, turmeric, tamarind, Indigo and rusty nails are some of the things used to dye silk. If you're an ignoramus like me, you'll be thinking 'No!' But I assure you, those are some of the things used to dye our lovely scarves. I got to crush up some turmeric in a mortar and pestle, while Helen did the same to indigo leaves. We then put these in some boiling water, stirred it for a bit, added the silk, rinsed it, dried it and before you could say Bobs your uncle we have some blue, yellow and pink silk. I was stunned.

We then went and spun the silk, learning from our skilled and very efficient Lao teachers. Weaving and dying have been passed down through generations of Lao women. Mothers teaching their daughters how to do basic weaving at an early age and later teaching them more intricate designs. These often depict aspects of nature, such as plants and animals. Our teachers were gorgeous. The entire afternoon, while overlooking our weaving, they chatted away to each other in their gentle Lao banter. It was actually quite comforting. My teacher smelt like soap. Made me want to hug my grandparents and ask them about their crafts. We wove (sp?!) into the afternoon, and several hours later, had hand-woven a nice pink silk piece (I'd call it a scarf, but it's not that big, more of a ... Wall Thingy). It was a really interesting and rewarding course to take part in. Now I'm even more intrigued by textiles!

Tomorrow I leave this quaint town. It may come as a surprise to most that I am heading back to Thailand. Vietnam is now on the cards for next year (who is going to come with me?!) as I feel I am low on time and want to give it my full attention. Instead, I am on route to Nong Khai to do a week long yoga course. Ahhhhhh yoga, how I love thee.

Few last random facts and doings: Last night Mia, Kate and I happened upon the local hip hop crew. They put on a performance at the bar we were at. I love random little gigs like that. The last thing I would have ever expected was to see a hip hop performance in Laos. Haha. Good times indeed. Also, the restaurant I am in is playing Neil Young. For those that know me well, know the power Neil Young has over me. It just brightened my mood remarkably. And in Laos.