Salt field in Laos

Laos is surrounded by some countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and China. It means that Laos is a landlocked country and there are no seas around it. However, they produce salt. The fact arises my curiosity a lot.

“Where does the salt come from?” I asked a friend of mine.

“Here!” He pointed at the ground.

Was Laos once in an ocean? I don’t know its prehistoric background well but I immediately headed for the village called Ban Bo, which is located an hour drive from Vientiane to see a salt field.

The process of making salt is very simple. They draw up subterranean water from a layer that has collected salt water. Next, they pour it on a big iron plate and boil it until only salt is left after water being vaporized. It’s not complicated but it’s amazing that people do it by manually through the whole process.

When I visited the site, some women were scooping salt from iron plates and put it in bamboo baskets in order to dry it. I bought some hot salt that has just been made.

Lao salt tastes mild and a tad sweet compared to Japanese salt.

It would be good for both using as food and using in a both. If you put it in your bath, you can enjoy thalassotherapy at home.

にほんブログ村

A privileged experience at Sinouk coffee resort in Laos

Laos used to be a French colony and you can find its influence everywhere, not to mention in their food, too. It may come as a surprise but French baguette sandwich is one of typical Lao breakfast item. Coffee was also introduced to Laos during the French colonial days.

When I visited Laos last week, I dropped by Pakse, the second largest city and stayed at Sinouk coffee resort, which is located 80km from Pakse.

Sinouk coffee resort is an agritourism destination. It has a comfortable guesthouse, a beautiful garden with a small river and waterfalls as well as plantation. You will have a unique experience with fresh coffee there.

During our stay, we were the only guests because it was the rainy season. Fortunately and unexpectedly, we had privilege to occupy the guesthouse as if it was our private house. We enjoyed a late breakfast in the garden and walked around the coffee farm in the afternoon.

At night, we always sat down and opened a Las textbook in the dining room because some staff members offered us a special Lao lesson. It was very fun but torturing at the same time because my Lao teacher, Nyon, was very strict with me and never allowed me to step forward unless I mastered what I was being taught.

It was not a coffee harvest season in there but my great harvest was that I leaned to distinguish the two sounds “nun” and “nung” that are very hard for Japanese. Cop chai lai lai, Nyon!