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.

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