LAO-LICIOUS!

We found a great guesthouse in Luang Prabang thanks to a recommendation from our old traveling buddy Jesse, and it ended up being a big reason why our two days in Luang Prabang turned into ten. It's run by a wonderful family, a husband and wife and their three daughters, and is located in an out-of-the-way alley a stones throw from the Mekong. We met Mathieu there on our second night, and the next day we met Julie, Delphine, and Allan. Great friends. They are the other reason why our stay was prolonged.

Two of the daughters who run the guesthouse offer a cooking class called Lao-Licious! Nick and Mathieu and I decided to sign up for it and holy shit was it awesome! The class started with a trip to the morning market where we purchased our ingredients and got a little lesson on what's what. After that we went back to the guesthouse where we spent the rest of the morning preparing the feast! We cooked four dishes, not including the sticky rice, which is a staple in Laos for every meal. The picture on the bottom left is Moak, a mixture of beef, pork, egg, and other tasty stuff, all mixed together, wrapped up, and steamed in banana leaves. It was quite tasty! The picture above that is Laos Salad, a fresh mix of greens with an egg yolk based salad dressing. Pictured on the top left are the fried spring rolls that we dipped into a homemade peanut sauce, mmm! And to the right of that is Laap, the national dish of Laos. That was my favorite! A spicy beef salad flavored with ginger, garlic, and lemon grass, it was amazing! The feast was extremely delicious, and the whole experience was wonderful. I will never forget that meal as long as I live...