Cool things to do in Laos

Cool things to do in Laos
Watch the sun set over the Mekong
Head up to Phu Si Hill in the centre of town in Luang Prabang – you can’t miss it as it has a temple on top that can be seen from every angle. From here you get views of the mountains surrounding Luang Prabang and the point where the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers meet. Stunning. Mekong river cruise in Laos
See one of the nicest waterfalls in Asia
I spent 9 months travelling all over Southeast Asia and I must say that the Kuang Si Waterfall near Luang Prabang is the prettiest I saw. It features a large cascade from which you can jump down into pools below. A series of smaller azure-coloured falls and pools make for excellent swimming holes. (I hope you’re not ticklish, as little fish will be giving you a free pedicure…)
Take a hot air balloon ride in Vang Vieng
Take the chance to fly above Vang Vieng, Laos in a world-class hot air balloon, operated under strict international standards. Your pilot is an internationally trained hot air balloon pilot with years of experience, so there’s nothing to fear. Hot air ballooning is notoriously expensive but in Vang Vieng it is considered to be one of the cheapest places in the world to experience the andrenaline of floating over 900 metres in the air in nothing but a basket attached to a massive balloon. Tours in Laos
Thanks to Alex In Wanderland, we have some great pictures to show with you that she captured on her very own flight over Vang Vieng:

This is one of the only ways in which to truly experience and see the beauty of the limestone mountains & forestry that Laos is famous for.
There are several launch sites around Vang Vieng that you will begin your journey from. Once in the air, you’ll have the chance to float over the Nam Song River, the beautiful mountains and the town of Vang Vieng itself.
After 40 minutes in the air, you’ll make your way back towards ground-level, where a truck will be waiting to take you back into town for a meal or some rest.
Learn to cook Laotian food
Tamarind restaurant in Luang Prabang does a great cooking course, but there are others around the country. There’s a great minced-meat stir fry dish in Laos called Laap, which I highly recommend eating, but I also recommend learning how to cook it!
Of the Lao menu, my personal favourites are the pumpkin curry, the stirfry pork & aubergine, chicken laap and the mok paa (fish steamed in banana leaf). Take note though - on busy nights you should be prepared to bring some patience with you. As each dish is cooked fresh from scratch, service can be slow; but if you have the time it's worth the wait.
I felt it was high time I learned to cook some Lao food, which is not a hugely well known cuisine globally - unlike the dishes of neighbouring Thailand, China and Vietnam - but really deserves to be so. Lao food tends to be much lighter than Thai food and uses numerous flavorful fresh herbs and plants. Almost every meal is served up with a bamboo basket of glutenous sticky rice (known in Lao as kao niao) on the side. More information of Lao cuisine and its origins can be found here, or in one of the books listed at the end of this post.
Anyway, rather than join a big group at one of the cooking schools, I asked Toui if he would give me a private cooking lesson and teach me some Lao recipes.

Nung Ethnic in Ha Giang

Nung Ethnic in Ha Giang Vietnam
Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country with over fifty distinct groups (54 are recognized by the Vietnamese government), each with its own language, lifestyle, and cultural heritage. Many of the local ethnic groups are known collectively in the West as Montagnard or Degar. The largest ethnic groups are: Kinh (Viet) 86.2%, Tay 1.9%, Tai Ethnic 1.7%, Mường 1.5%, Khmer Krom (Khơ Me Crộm) 1.4%, Hoa 1.1%, Nùng 1.1%, Hmong 1%, others 4.1% (1999 census). The Vietnamese term for ethnic group is literally "minority people". Travel Indochina Vietnam

The Nùng (pronounced as noong [nuːŋ]) are an ethnic minority in Vietnam whose language belongs to the Central Tai branch of the Tai-Kadai language family. The Nùng sometimes call themselves as Tho (Vietnamese: Thổ, a shared name between the Tày and the Cuối, literally means Natives). In traditional times, they were sometimes referred by the Vietnamese as Thai. The term Thai Nung is also used to distinguish them with the Chinese Nùng who were the majority ethnic group in the Nung Autonomous Territory of Hai Ninh (1947-1954). The Nùng's ethnic name is often mingled with the Tày as Tày-Nùng.

Nung people mainly distribute in Quan Ba district, they live in valleys nearly rivers, streams or hills and live on farming rice, with high cultivation technique. Their animal husbandry highly developed while other handicraft makings are very diverse such as forging, casting, carpenters, knitting, paper making and especially cloth weaving. North Vietnam tours



Clothing mainly in an indigo color, the Nung women wear five-panel robes with buttons under the right armpit. Men wear shirts upright collar leaving open at breast and belly but having a row of cloth bottons and four pockets without cover.

According to the Vietnam census, the population of the Nùng numbered about 856,412 by 1999 and 968,800 by 2009. It's estimated to be more than 1,000,000 in 2014 (based on the 2009 census and 5 years of population growth). In Vietnam, the Nùng are the third largest Tai-speaking group, preceded by the Tày and the Thái (Black Tai, White Tai and Red Tai groups), and sixth overall among national minority groups.

They are closely related to the Tày and the Zhuang. In China, the Nùng, together with the Tày, are classified as Zhuang people. The Nùng are divided into several sub-groups such as: Nùng Xuồng, Nùng Giang, Nùng An, Nùng Phàn Sình, Nùng Lòi, Nùng Cháo, Nùng Quý Rỉn, Nùng Dín, Nùng Inh, Nùng Tùng Slìn, Nùng Hàn Xích, Nùng Sẻng, Nùng Gửi, Nùng Vảng, Nùng Giang Viện, Nùng Si Kết, Nùng Vên (Én) etc. Many of the Nùng's sub-group names correspond to the geographic regions of the Nùng homeland. Hoàng Nam (2008:11) lists the following Nùng subgroups.

Clothing mainly in an indigo color, the Nung women wear five-panel robes with buttons under the right armpit. Men wear shirts upright collar leaving open at breast and belly but having a row of cloth bottons and four pockets without cover.

Culture

The Nung language resembles the Tay, and belongs to the Tay-Thai Group. The Nung have a written language called Nom Nung (Nung scripts) which has prevailed since the 17th century. The Nung have an abundant wealth of folk arts and cultural activities including folksongs and alternative songs ("sli"). The smooth melodies of the "sli" are harmonious with the natural sounds of the forests and mountains. This type of folksong is a combination of verse and music.

The "Lung Tung" (Going to the Fields) Ceremony is very well known and attracts many people of all ages. This ceremony is always organized on the first month of the lunar year.

They live in wide stilt house with the outer compartment reserved for men and ancestor worship and the inner one reserved for women. Nung people do not celebrate death anniversaries, which makes birthday (celebration of life) for those beyond 50 years old and worship for the dead on July 15th, of lunar calender.

Wedding ceremonies still preserve many ancient customs and the brother of the groom’s mother plays a very important role in representing the groom’s family in mariage proposal and organising all ceremonies related to the wedding. The Nung flokloric culture is very famous with the “Sli”, a love dialogue song of the youth.