Some of you need to have some respect for the poster who is posting this thread. He is taking his time in sharing his experiences and knowledge with some of you. If you got nothing good to contribute, than I suggest you do not post in this thread. Thank you.
@Sweet Tears...
Thanks for defending me... LOL. I need a good women like you... If I have someone like you all the time, maybe then I can drop the LONELY part off my name.
@Everyone Else... seriously, continue to contribute if you wish, all I ask is that you keep it civil and clean. I enjoy the debates and welcome them... regardless of your point of view and if you agree with me or not.
@MenyuamHmoob...
Food in Laos... Honestly, I did not want to eat, NOT because I did not like the food or because of the conditions with the dusts and flies. I HONESTLY did not want to eat because I did not want to use the bathrooms there. Seriously, I hated everytime I have to take a $hit... the thought of having to squat over that hole, even for a few minutes just hurts too much. I am a big guy, about 165 lbs and squating over a 5 in hole was not very pleasant, painful even!!! Five minutes and my legs go numb and I start to worry, I was afraid I might miss and get $hit all over my shoes or pants. Dam! That would not be good.
*** For those that have not been to Laos... the toilet is a 5 inch hole on a cement slab. Basically a hole in the ground without a seat to support your butt!. You have to stand over the hole (have a good aim) and squat!***
Am I the only one to have this fear of bathrooms in Laos??? I saw some pretty large Hmong Mekas, larger than me and I often wonder how they deal with the bathrooms there?
fudge!
Ok... so on the issues of eating food. I tried just about everything from fried grasshoppers, deep fried swallows, to rice in cooked in bamboo, papaya salads, bbq pork, bbq chicken, bbq fish, wild boar, steam bums, corns... but I did not try Nqaij Nploos or Nqaij Aub... I think Nqaij Aub is (dog) right? I can't read hmong that well. My cousin offered to cook Nqaij Nploos for me, but I passed.
I did however eat the fruits and veges (ALL of them)... Lychee, Rambutans, Durians, Jack Fruits, Mangos (green and yellow), papayas, pineapples, sugarcanes, mangosteens, (cow horn) fruit, passion fruit, guavas, oranges and something called the MaKaiTain... very sour fruit. I ate yams, water lillies, all kinds of roots I could not name, weeds we picked from the rice patties and large tree flowers stuff with ground pork.
Seriously... I ate 2 Kg of lychee in one sitting once. Love that stuff and it was so cheap. 15,000 kips for 1 KG or 2 dollars for 2Lbs (1 dollar a pound).
Pho was disappointing.
.. not as good as the American version. They also don't have sriracha sauce or hoisin sauce and the broth is not as good... but at 5000 to 10000 kips or about 1 dollar a bowl, who's going to complain!
Soo... there you have it. Probably more information than what you wanted to know!
LHG