At The Night Market

The colleagues wanted to go out to the night market at Sisavangvong Road. I was a little hesitant, but I went along anyway. Otherwise, I'd get serious cabin fever.

The stalls spilled out onto the streets. It's amazing how they can just close off the thoroughfare for the night market from 5.30 - 9.30pm. It was the thing to do at night in a sleepy town- buy some scarves, lanterns/lamps, trinkets and knick knacks.

I thought it'd be crazy crowded, but no, it was a surprisingly pleasant walk meandering through the stalls. It was certainly very colorful. I'd would term it bustling due to the sheer number of stalls, but the wares lacked variety. There wasn't a teeming mass of humans elbowing me. It's unlike the ridiculously crowded and hot markets in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. How very pleasant!

The silver jewelry was rather intriguing. But once I realized they were hollow, I wasn't interested in them anymore. I wanted solid silver. There were some very pretty necklaces and accessories made of semi-precious stones in some of the shops at the sides. Pricier, but of slightly better quality. But nope, I didn't fall in love with any.

The colleagues were serious shoppers. They bought so many items and made many stallowners very pleased with their lack of bargaining. Heh. There were 2 items that caught my eye- a traditional village knife and a Y-shaped slingshot. I loved that knife and its weight. It felt very good in my hands. But clearly, taking the knife home on board an aeroplane was out of the question. I considered buying the slingshot. Sadly, it was unbalanced and not very well-made. It wouldn't throw a stone very far. So I left that.

I wouldn't have minded picking out Lao silk tops and all, but this was the wrong area to look for those. There weren't any blouses! Only eeeky tacky tees. I was very happy to come away with a whole bunch of photos and not a single tangible purchase.