We LOVE sightseeing! Saturday is usually our free day and so we find something fun to do or see, either by ourselves or with someone, most likely the other senior missionary couple, the Bairds. This particular Saturday we were on our own. We visited the Lao Textile Museum, had lunch at a fabulous restaurant next to That Dam stupa that our English students suggested, and climbed to the top of the Patuxay, or Victory, Monument. There were a lot of stairs 😰 but we made it.
That Dam stupa (yes, that is the name 😆). It is old and beautiful.
It is very time consuming to make these beautiful fabrics.
This is a different design.
A simpler design for a men's sarong.
Getting the thread ready for the weavers.
The indigo colored thread is drying.
Butterfly Pea Tea, an herbal drink. It has a beautiful color.
The color changed slightly after I added the lemon juice. Cool!
Craig's pictures with commentary:
These are from our walk about Vientiane on Saturday morning and afternoon. So much to see and learn here! Wonderful place!!!
This is at the Lao Textile Museum. Here they take the silk and turn it into thread, then dye for color, and last they weave beautiful fabrics. Their hands move quickly between the threads as they create their designs.
Here is a better overview.
This is the dyeing process. Suzanne spoke with him, and he said it takes two days for the colors to leave his skin, and one month for his fingernails to return to normal.
A view of their showroom with examples of clothing from their silk fabrics.
This is a French colonial home built over 100 years ago. Instead of renovating or restoring, its decay was arrested, or stopped. A coffee shop operates nearby with the house providing space to sit, talk, and take in the surroundings.
The villa's main entrance.
Entry way and staircase to a floor that is closed off. It might not be safe.
Interior wall.
Breakfast table by the window to catch the morning light.
The house from behind.
City overlook from about 500 feet.
The main park plaza and cityscape of Vientiane.
Very nice! Tony
ReplyDeleteOh, I love everything you posted about the Textile (silk) Museum ... Amazing and beautiful ... My mom learned how to take raw sheeps wool, take it completely through to the woven fabric (which she also designed for her dad's new jacket, which a tailor sewed)
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ReplyDeleteWow! That sounds amazing!
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