Weaving Silk Laotian Style

To quench my ever present need to explore, I spent a couple of weeks traveling around Northern Thailand, Laos and Vietnam before heading back to the US. In need of renewing my visa, I crossed over the border into Laos--lovely, enchanting place I'd love to revisit someday. The Laotian leg of my journey was a quick one, just two days. I spent the first one wandering the rainy streets admiring their ornate architecture and learning to weave silk. I think deep down I've always had an obsession with weaving. I've dreamed of someday having a room in my house just for a large loom where I would weave beautiful things out of homespun threads. The idealist in me has all sorts of ideals and dreams I never quite live up to . . . the thought of the loom is very peaceful to me. Actually weaving though, not so much.



I took a cab out to the outskirts of town. We turned off the main road and meandered down a dirt one until I found the artisans' silk/weaving workshop in front of me. For the random tourist like myself, they offered day courses of personal instruction followed by use of their looms to make a small piece of silk. Personally, I like to learn trades and get up close and personal with local artisans when I travel. Although I read about the workshop in some travel book, travel to Laos in general was off the beaten track and my only classmate was a lady from Japan. The teacher's swift hands and choreographed movements made it look simple--I, on the other hand, was rather clumsy and it took me hours to make just a little progress. My aching back gave me all sorts of appreciation for the "backbreaking" work these women weavers did. Interacting with these women, working with the loom, marveling at the other weavers' skills, learning where dyes come from, biking to/from the main road for lunch--the whole day is etched in my memory as a small piece of heaven. (Although I have backed off the idea of buying a loom any time soon . . . )

My 2nd day, I walked around the capital's main marketplace and marveled at all the scarves and other silk masterpieces. I imagine someday either work or a random trip around the globe will take me back to Laos. I look forward to it.