South East Asian Trips

Many shops start an hour's lunch break at noon, and some maintain the (now abolished) official French two-hour break. Nearly everything except restaurants is closed on Sundays. Typical Lao dresses in cheap machine-made fabric can be made to order. Handmade Lao silk is one of the most attractive things to buy. The Talat Sao (Morning Market) has dozens of small shops selling 100% hadmade silk scarves or wall hangings with price depending on quality, intricacy of design and size. Beware cheap synthetic fabrics sold as 'silk' imported from China and Vietnam. Be careful also of 'antique' silk. There is very little left but new fabric can be made to look old and worn,

Vientiane

Morning Market (Talat Sao - corner of Th Lan Xang and Th Khu Vieng) - a large collection of indoor stalls selling, well, pretty much anything. There are two floors: the first floor sells mostly textiles, electronics, and watches; the second floor has clothing, gold, and jewelery. Expect to pay about one third or one quarter of the first price you are offered. Despite the name it is still struggling into operation at 09:00 and remains open until around 16:00. Vientiane Department Store (on the center of the Lan Xang side of the Morning Market) resembles the rest of the market so much that you'll be hard put to spot it. It sells mostly imported goods from elsewhere in Asia,

Huay Xai

The most important thing to buy is something to eat & drink for the slow-boat journey to Luang Prabang,

Luang Prabang

A night market (on Sisavangvong Road) caters for the tourists with every kind of souvenir you could want. It is well worth a look and the hawkers are very pleasant to deal with. However the quality of goods and their design is much higher elsewhere. For instance, most of the silk in the night market is synthetic. Laotian asthetic sense is quite evolved in its own way. For instance check out ockpoptok, a silk/wall hanging store. Day markets are along Setthathirat Road. Scarves, wall hangings, "Beer Lao" T- shirts, watches and other local crafts from the small Hmong market or the regular evening market, held along the main street. The market closes rather early -- 10 p.m. -- and usually gets going around sunset, or a little before. The vendors sprawled on the ground with portable lamps is an interesting sight. These are mostly minorities (many Hmong). Weird cast-off Chinese goods at the local market. Laos t-shirts, various local handicrafts, sewable flags, and scrapbooks for your tickets and other items are also available here,

Luang Namtha

There are three sisters of the Akha people travelling from Muang Sing every day to sell their crafts to falang. They are difficult to get rid of, and may follow you around town. Enjoy a bi-lingual conversation with them, it's great fun. If you refuse their wares they might offer you a special treat,

Pakse

A large market is some km south of town on Road 13 near the Mekong bridge.