April 7, 2024 Surprise Dinner We were up in Pakse when we got a call from ‘Ham.’ He and Sa have the ‘Library’ and bar up in Hua Det where we make music. Ham plays several instruments, guitar, drums and bass. Sa sings and is an amazing performer. Ham asks, “What are you doing tonight?…
Category: Island Life
Life on the 4000 islands in the South of Laos.
“Fai Faa” our electric 3-wheel scooter
“The Beast,” our old Chinese motorbike, has seen its better days. It would sit in the little shed we had made to cover it for weeks before I would use it. When I did need to ride it, it would be really difficult to get it started. This is because the added dyes to the…
An Interrupted Lunch
Donna said, “I know what is for lunch!” We had been making big pots of vegetable soup, but in light of the fact we had come to the end of this pot, our dilemma was, what to have? Donna had, of course, come up with the answer, “Bratwurst and sauerkraut!” This suggestion sounded good to…
The Family Next Door
One thing is for sure, our life is never boring. A few months ago a family moved into the house behind us. The house has been traditionally vacant except for rice planting and harvesting season. It is a typical Laos house with one room, a porch, and a kitchen that is very open to the…
Sokdee Pii Mai Lao!
Good Luck Laos New Year! Pii Mai Laos is officially three days long but the parties tend to go on much longer stretching a week or more on either side of the actual holiday. The official Don Det Pii Mai Lao celebration starts at the temple, a holy day of prayer. The second day begins…
The Spirits are Angry!
After doing some chores around the house, I walked over to the garden Fred and Lea left us to care for and harvest vegetables from. I heard a commotion of people at the top of the little hill and the rice field road. There was white string crossing here and there. Normally, we’ve seen that…
How did we end up in Laos?
By Donna Howley & Lance Harrison “And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?” — “Once in a Lifetime” David Byrne Beginnings Ok… This is going to take a little while so, get a cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and this is our story! It was in 1990 that Lance and…
A Culinary Adventure
Here on Don Det as the rice is finished being cut, and the grains knocked off the stalks, all those helping, gather for a party to celebrate the end of the work. Our friends Kham Pau and Mr. King invited us to the King family gathering for this event. So we hopped into Kham Pau’s…
Dark Side of the Moo
So, I caught a cow in our yard. I warned the owner that I was going to paint it and while she wasn’t happy about the idea… it happened. She said she was embarrassed that I painted her cow. I told her the best way to avoid embarrassment was to keep her cow out of…
Unwanted Visitor – Viper!
I made a little walkway with bricks leading into our front gate. After everything was set I was moving some dirt around to “landscape” it a bit when I saw Marie frantically running to me with her nine month old baby bouncing in arms, exclaiming, “There’s a big snake on our porch! He was only…