Paper Making
After the dairy, we went to Sa Paper Handicraft Tanh Manipoun for a paper making session. They showed us the tree they get the bark from, the process of boiling the bark down, separating the fibers by hand, and then beating them with a mallet. Then we got to do the fun part, putting flowers into the paper pulp to make pretty designs.
Ock Pop Tok
Our third day in Luang Prabang we spent at Ock Pop Tok (ອອກ ພົບ ຕົກ—a playful way to say East Meets West in Lao).
In the morning we used bamboo to weave placemats. Our instructor came from a bamboo weaving family. He told us there are around 1600 varieties of bamboo and selecting the right bamboo for the job is important. His experience includes weaving fishing traps and houses. He had spent a half day for each of our placemats in the selection and preparation of the bamboo strips. As with the paper, we got to come in and do the fun part.
Our full day class included a set meal. The meal included river weed, fish salad, and mushroom soup. Things we would likely not have ordered on our own, but which we were glad to try.
In the afternoon we went three dimensional with our bamboo weaving and made baskets.
Everything finished!
Our kids wanted to do the treasure hunt before we left.
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