We are often asked, "What is your favorite country." Well, the answer could easily be, "Laos."

We arrived at Vientiane to find a modern, clean, efficient airport. Sailing through immigration and customs, a representative from our hotel was waiting for us with an air conditioned Mercedes van. A short ride to the hotel and once again we found out that the internet had worked - our $45 rate was honored and our room was ready. (The list price for the hotel is $140.)

This could be the country with the most incredible coincidences and the kindest people. We met more people that had connections to San Jose and people who just happened to be know about services that we needed.

It quite possibly is also the country with the most silk. It seemed that we couldn't walk more than a few feet or go more than a few minutes without running into someone selling hand-woven silk, at bargain prices. Jane was beginning to melt down, and it wasn't from the 100+ degree heat

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Laos kept surprising us. We learned that Vientiane was once a beautiful city with tree lined streets and gorgeous homes. The current government is cutting down the trees and cashing in on their value and the old homes are in disrepair. But there is enough of the old Vientiane interspersed with the new that the spirit of the city and the people tug at you. We had the feeling, what with the heat and humidity, that we were in a Laotian version of the French quarter of New Orleans, without the alcohol. Gracious decadence and indulgence with a bit of a seamy side. Hard to describe.

In Vientiane we found the lowest cost of living and the highest quality of silk. In the midst of a city where the annual average income is $100, we saw silk that sold for $700 a meter.

Hopefully our daily experiences will help to convey the attraction that this country has for us.

Our first day we had the complimentary hotel shuttle drop us at Planet Online. A few quick e-mails at 3 cents per minute and it was time for lunch across the street. Our first Lao meal was excellent and cheap - spring rolls, chicken with basil leaves with rice and mineral water for $2.40. The restaurant was conveniently located next to an enticing shop - 3 floors of clothes, bolts of silk fabric, statues, baskets etc. When we started asking the owner about the various pieces she suggested that we walk half a block to meet Carol Cassidy and learn about the silk weavers she has been working with. What an incredible suggestion! We spent the next three hours with Carol and her assistant Susan.

First the coincidences: Susan's husband is from Campbell, he is currently the headmaster at the International school in Vientiane; Carol's brother works at Intel in Santa Clara. The three hours with Carol and Susan was almost intoxicating for Jane. Read Carol's story and you'll see why:

Carol Cassidy is the owner of Lao Textiles. She is an American weaver living in Laos for the past 11 years. Lao Textiles is the first company owned by Americans and incorporated in Laos since the country was opened to foreign investment in 1986. The company employs primarily Laotian nationals, such as the woman below.

Carol is a wonderful combination of artist/business woman with a social conscience. She employees 40 weavers, giving them extensive training and paying them many times the traditional Lao salary. Among other benefits she has instituted a 4 month maternity leave for the women as well as a pension plan. As a result, she has almost no turnover in her employees. When a woman's eyes become too weak to weave, Carol has them work preparing the silk threads.

Additionally, Carol has used her international contacts to raise money to educate the children in the rural areas that grow the silk that she uses in her weavings. Together with Mark and Barbara Rosaco, proprietors of the Kasumisou Gallery in Tokyo, they raised $60,000 in a fundraiser, 'Building schools from silk'. Proceeds from the sale of her silk textiles were donated to a special fund to build a modern school building for the 300 primary students in the village of Tanmixay, Laos. In 1998, the primary school had no electricity, toilets or running water. There were no proper desks or blackboards and very few books of any kind. The building consisted of rotting wooden walls, a leaky roof of rusting corrugated iron and a dirt floor. In 1999, with funds wholly provided by the Kasumisou Foundation, a modern school was built for its 200 primary students. This school is complete with electric lights and ceiling fans; running water and toilets; desks and blackboards and a brighter hope for the future of its children.

The work and showroom are in the old French-Lao colonial building with beautiful grounds pictured above. Carol and her family lived in the house for six years before the growing business pushed them to look for a new home.

Carol has modified the traditional Lao patterns and loom, resulting in weavings that are truly works of art. She mixes traditional Lao and modern techniques in unconventional ways. As Carol says, "It's an opportunity to create some of the finest textiles in the world. I've been weaving for 27 years and Lao people have been weaving for generations. All of the weavings are a hybrid - you can see how the skill and knowledge meet and come together into the piece."

Check out some of her credits:
· Neiman Marcus purchased 10 of her 4-color inlay brocade pieces for their Year 2000 spring line; they will be selling 2 pieces at the San Francisco store. She is negotiating an order with Bergdorfs.
· Carol's work is found at galleries around the world including the Textile Museum in Washington DC, the Asia Society in New York City, the Kasumisou Gallery in Tokyo and the Hardwood Gallery in Ashland
· In 1995 a three-month exhibition of her work ran at the Institute of Fashion Technology in New York, where her weavers taught their the FIT students. Architectural Digest featured one of her weavings from the exhibit in their magazine.
· In 1998 the Royal Netherlands Embassy, ABN Bank and Van Leer Packaging sponsored a show - Treasures in Silk; Textiles in Transition, Laos and Thailand - displaying the work from Carol and a weaver from Thailand.
· 1998 Financial Times article: "Her clients are foreign; 80% of the work is exported. Customers include Thai royalty, museum curators and New York architect Peter Marino, responsible for the refurbished Dior boutique in Paris. European designers commission for houses everything from tablecloths to curtains, upholstery and wall hangings. Commissions account for 60% of sales." "Cassidy is now at a crossroads: it would be logical to expand but she is anxious to maintain quality and integrity. For instance, she has had to turn down an order from New York designer Donna Karan because her weavers can only complete a few centimeters a day."
· 1995 Wall Street Journal article: "Most of Ms. Cassidy's designs are turned into wall tapestries, one of which is in the permanent collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A cream and white design on view at FIT was used for upholstery in the German ambassador's residence in Vientiane." ·
· Her commissioned fabrics were used extensively throughout the public rooms of the American ambassador's residence in Vientaine
· Carol was selected by the Chinese University in Hong Kong as their feature artist of the year; as a result her signature pattern, a naga, will be featured on items that will be sold to raise money for charity; Carol received a similar honor in 1995

In the space of the three hours that we spent watching the weavers and talking with Susan and Carol, at least $6,500 worth of sales transactions took place in the showroom. In fact, as we were asking about one of the $720 weavings, it was sold to a couple from Australia. We ended up putting a few pieces on hold with the agreement that we would return to select between those pieces and two that were on the looms but would be finished in a few days.

Our heads reeling from all of the unbelievably beautiful weavings we had seen, we walked back to the hotel for an afternoon swim. Back on the hotel shuttle for the short trip to town center and a great $4 dinner of BBQ duck and chicken in the brick courtyard of another old French-Lao colonial house. Exploring the restaurant we found that they not only had 4 computers hooked to the Internet in the bar (don't you love it?!), but they also had a wine cellar with bottles from Clos du Bois (listed under France), Kendall Jackson and Wente. We had a great time explaining to the owner that Clos du Bois wine was actually made in California and should be not be listed in the France section of their wine list.

After the first day we realized that we had a dilemma. Stay in Laos or go to the beach in Phuket, Thailand? We love the beach, but we couldn't get ourselves to leave Laos without fully exploring Vientiene and traveling to the northern part of the country. We decided to change our itinerary and skip the beach. Add in the fact that it was 95+ degrees in Laos and you really get an idea of how much we liked Laos! We found the Thai Air office, changed our return flight, walked to the next block and bought tickets to Luang Prabang, and then returned to the Novotel where they made our hotel reservations in Luang Prabang.

Feeling quite smug about how easily we had made these changes, we decided to tackle getting our laundry done outside of the hotel where it would be cheaper. Time for the next coincidence. As we got in the hotel van for the ride into town a hotel guest already on the van asked if we would mind stopping on the way so that he could pick up his laundry. (His wife is an author for text books and was completing a 3 month job in Laos.) Mind?! We weren't exactly sure where to take our laundry so this solved the problem. In 24 hours, our 2 pair of jeans, three shirts and 9 pieces of underwear would be washed, dried and ironed for a total of $3! After the laundry transaction, our new friend insisted that the hotel car take us to our next stop before returning him to the hotel. We said that we were going to check out a place to get our hair cut. Coincidence: it was the shop where his wife goes! We walked into New Wave and asked for Eng, the owner, who had cut hair in a salon in Manhattan, London and Bangkok, and has friends in Piedmont and Santa Rosa! Within minutes we were getting our hair shampooed, with an incredible head and neck massage, excellent hair cuts, all the while exchanging names of favorite restaurants in San Francisco!

Looking better than we had in weeks, we took a walk and immediately found a clothing store that had outlets in Paris and Bangkok in addition to Vientiane. A few silk blouses later we were back walking and found a place that rented motorcycles. For $10 we had the use of a Honda motorcycle for 24 hours. A quick swim at the hotel and we were off on our cycle to find a spot to watch the sunset on the Mekong with a Lao beer for Tim and a coconut for Jane. What more could we need?!

Tim was in love with the motorcycle. He planned an entire day of cycling to different sites. First, breakfast at a coffee bar - the local version of Starbucks. Then a quick ride back to see Carol and set up an appointment to interview her. Finally, off to find the morning market which specializes in.... silk, silk, and more silk. We bought skeins of silk thread dyed beautiful colors that were sold by the kilo (see the picture below), bolts of silk cloth and finished weavings perfect for pillow covers.

There were so many silk shops that Tim finally screamed. Fortunately for Tim the power went out and the market went dark. Time for lunch! We followed the locals to a soup stand on the street - $1.10 for two bowls of soup with noodles, chicken and greens. Re-energized we explored the vegetable and food market and went in search of a shop listed in the guide book. Getting lost, we turned into a handicrafts factory and met a young woman who had spent 4 years in Minnesota and was now back in her native home working with local villagers to weave bolts of silk that they were selling for $2/meter. Their quality was so good that they were selling their silk threads to Carol Cassidy! Leaving with a few meters of silk in Jane's backpack and directions to the shop we were originally searching for, we were back on our cycle. The search was worth the effort. We found Nakone's shop - an interior decorator's dream. She too employs women to weave to her specifications in an area adjoining her shop. While Carol weaves works of art, Nikone weaves and sews silk to create the best quality pillow covers, bedspreads, duvet covers, placemats with matching napkins and napkin rings, etc.

There were so many pieces to buy that we gave up and set up a Monday afternoon appointment to make our selections. For dinner we decided to go upscale and ate at a French/Lao restaurant. Our dinner included pork cutlet; steamed fish served in 4 "cups" made from banana leaves, decorated with a "flower" made from carrot and onion; sticky rice with mushrooms; chicken with mushrooms stir fry; and beer. $8 later we were so stuffed that Jane couldn't even order the crepes with chocolate and coconut

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Auberge Calao: Originally built in 1906 by a Chinese-Lao merchant according to architectural plans passed on to him by a cousin in Macau. As a result, the building represents a mix of Lao, French colonial and Portuguese influences, and is situated in an exceptional location overlooking the banks of the Mekong (it is the only hotel in town facing the river, all of the others are on one of the main streets away from the water). Praised by UNESCO for one of the best architectural renovations, both interior and exterior, in Luang Prabang. The hotel is only 150 meters from one of the most important sites in Luang Prabang, Wat Xieng Thong (see pictures taken at the Wat below).

Luang Prabang is everything we had heard. A sleepy town that has been restored to its height of architectural beauty. It is considered the art center of Laos. You can walk to more than 40 wats, all spectacularly preserved. The entire town takes 2 days to walk, but the heat is so intense that we are only able to be out in the morning and afternoon/evening. Mid day finds us back at the Auberge taking a nap and sitting on our balcony under the fan. With a view of the Mekong from our balcony, the mid day time became our favorite.

Our routine was tough to take: walk down the street for breakfast - Lao coffee, french bread, noodles with chicken (for Tim!) for a total bill of $3.45; walk along the river to a wat and the national museum/palace; back along the river to the hotel, stopping along the way for a coconut shake (30 cents, made with fresh coconut and ice made from purified water); afternoon nap; walk to another wat; beer and chips at the Mekong Star while watching the sunset on the Mekong; walk to a restaurant for dinner (chicken with coconut and bamboo shoots, fried fish with garlic, fried eggplant, steamed rice, mineral water, soda water = $6.11). What we love about this town is that there is so much to see, the people are friendly and don't hassle you, the streets and shops are clean, the food is delicious and inexpensive and its not overrun with tourists. The local delicacy turned out to be our favorite - fried sheets of Mekong seaweed coated with toasted sesame seeds served with a spicy chili paste (I skipped the chili paste!). Honestly, for under $1 it was the best snack to go with a Lao beer or appetizer while waiting for your meal. Eat, walk a few steps, look at a wat, take a few pictures, walk a few steps, take some pictures, walk a few steps, buy some silk, eat... the perfect place for us!

One day we hired a long boat to take us to the Pak Ou caves, famous for the hundreds of Buddhas in the caves.

Along the way we stopped at a river village for...yes, to check our their weavers and silversmiths.

The two hour trip up the Mekong was an event unto itself. The river is relatively narrow and you can see villages and farming on both banks. Just past the banks the thick trees take over and the mountains are covered in jungle. Herds of water buffalo were walking to the river to cool off in the shallow pools along the side. The air is hot and muggy with barely a breeze stirring. The water is muddy brown with strong currents throughout. The motors of the long boats and speed boats plying their trade up and down the river are the only sounds you hear. Quite an experience.

Next week is the Laos new year - a huge celebration in Luang Prabang. While at the National Museum and Palace we saw a woman with her two children dressed in formal traditional clothes, posing for pictures. We joined their hired photographer and caught these moments

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Laos New Year in Luang Prabang is a religious and secular holiday celebrated at the many wats and on every corner, in the middle of every street, just about anywhere that there is a bucket. The New Year gives children license to throw water on people walking by, on people riding in tuk-tuks and especially on those on motorcycles. Usually tourists are off limits for the buckets of water. We avoided a drenching right up to the ride to the airport where we were caught in a water crossfire meters from the terminal. As we were checking in for the flight, the agent looked at us and laughed, "Laos New Year!". We felt like we had made the transition from observer to participant, a wonderful moment for a traveler in a foreign country.