Another Day off

We had another day off today and again we tried to take full advantage of it.  Anna got up early this morning to watch the monks walk to the Wat and give alms.  I chose to sleep in today which was awesome.

We took a tuktuk down to Ock Pop Tok which is a living craft center in Luang that has local and traditional textiles and weavings.  We took a class on dyeing silk.  Silk textiles are a large part of the economy here in Luang Prabang.  There were many local women weaving textiles that will be sold to help support the women and their families.  We learned all about natural dyes and were able to color a scarf and 2 skeins of silk.  They use all natural products for dyeing and we actually got to prepare the dyes.  Anna had to pick indigo plants and muddle them to make blue.  I had to chop Annatto tree to make orange.  It was a lot of fun to work side by side with the women who work at the center.  For the scarfs we were able to make a design before dyeing them.  This involved folding and tying the fabric before coloring the scarfs.

After the factory, we decided to go across the bamboo bridge.  This is a bridge across the Nam Khan river that you can only cross during the dry season.  We are just days away from the rainy season so we wanted to do this before rainy season started and it is underwater with strong currents.  It was not nearly as scary as I expected it to be.  Across the river is where many of the local people live.

We also had a change to walk along the Nam Khan river road and found a grocery store!   We were so happy to be able to buy some groceries and a bowl so we can make oatmeal in the morning.  Anna was able to get a nice cold coke and I found unflavored carbonated water!!!