Fah Thai Magazine May June 2019

DESTINATION: LUANG PRABANG
Clockwise from Top
Many Lao
handicrafts are
found in the village
of Xangkhong.
Find local restaurant
Bouang at the end of
Sisavangvong Road,
serving up fusion
and Lao food.
A group of elephant
lovers take a
long tail boat
to meet the
pachyderms.
Our guide takes the
front of the boat to
point where we’re
heading.
Bottom, Left & Right
Making ‘khanom
khee noo,’ a popular
and well-known
Lao snack found
everywhere in
Luang Prabang.
Grilled Mekong fish
and a street stall
near “Talad Mued”
or night market,
with a papaya
salad or Tam Luang
Prabang.
a chance to gaze at life along the
river, watching the fishermen’s
catch of the day and water buffaloes
working the rice fields.
When my stomach grumbles,
I give Bouang restaurant a try,
with its fusion Laotian food. The
restaurant is located almost at
the end of the Sisavangvong Road
where rows of restaurants lie. The
food at Bouang is pretty lovely
and delicious. They have their
own version of Mango Sticky Rice
– different from Thailand and
elsewhere – they use purple sticky
rice cooked in coconut milk, rolled
in black & white sesame and fresh
grated coconut.
I ride back down the restaurant
lane where I enter into a small
entrance of an old temple sitting
behind bar and restaurant shop
houses next to Wat Siphoutthabath
temple. Inside, a group of young
After the flour batter is deep fried, they will
be golden, sweet, a bit salty and crispy;
the snack vendor guarantees.
novices work and restore the
walkway. Other people dry hundreds
of pieces of white flour on bamboo
covered with newspapers. “It’s
called Khanom Khee Noo (fried
flour snack) that you see selling on
streets. After the flour batter is deep
fried, they will be golden, sweet,
and a bit salty, crispy,” the snack
vendor guarantees.
I go back to my favourite night
market. Last time, I bought some
interesting cloth wristwatches
made from handmade strips and
beautiful graphically textiles. Even
though it looks pretty much the
same, but there is some thing that
draws people to come back – the
atmospheric lighting, the smell of
street food and people’s laughter.
This time, I’m drawn into a small
alley, the first one on the left when
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