Having a meal with a Laotian friend: Chan

in the kitchen with Chan; simple technology,  fresh and  yummy food

As i have mentioned before, being invited to someone's home from the place in which you are visiting is the Holy Grail of Travel.
They are vulnerable; to share their lives and food ; we are vulnerable as we do not speak the language and we can often get ill from  the different bacteria present in the host's food.
Yet, it is This Openness  that  challenges us all in our duality.
We Are All One, despite what we look like or what we have or what we believe in.
Person to person we heal and we love.
Push through the  uncertainty, go beyond the comforts.... and you (we) all will be rewarded

children in the compound playing with, a jump rope


Chan was at the reception of our modest guesthouse.  Ariel and I had been at a posh place, devoid of character and personal interaction and we didn't like the location.  We rode bikes to find one in the location we desired; the old city. Perfectly located; it was a backpacker's choice but fine for us.
As we secured our days and belongings (we were leaving for the Elephant Sanctuary and needed a place to store our stuff), Chan immediately asked Ariel if she would help him in a project for university.  Ariel jumped in..... and i did in a small way.  Ariel, in her usual way, wanted to make it a balanced proposition and asked what he would do for us?  He immediately told us that when we returned we could come to his home.
This is how we were invited......and it was a lovely evening. Friendly and open we learned about their lives and met a young family starting out their lives together.  They have all the desires that people around the world have... and they are trying to obtain them by living near Luang Prabang where there is work in the tourist industry and educational opportunities.

a relative of Chan's cutting sugarcane for us to chew (tooooooo sweet!)

Chan's sister, Singh preparing the food (when she wasn't secretly chatting on her cell phone)

Ariel dicing chili and Singh cutting meat

Vegetable coconut curry with meat base (didn't eat but looked and smelled good) + morning glory veggies (like a really flavorful + sweet spinach.Yum) + rice noodles + veggies + Sticky rice, which you ball up and then scoop food up into your mouth  (eh....white rice..... not my favorite....but it is theirs)

Chan's beautiful wife, Sang and calm mother to his adorable 1 year old baby girl

travelin' woman