Linguistical Stones of History!

Although I had visited Vat Haw Prakeow 10 years ago, when I visited Laos this past December 2013, I decided to revisit it just in case there had been any changes.  Truthfully, it had changed very little, if at all.  However the one unique addition was that in front of the temple itself, they had put out several pieces of ancient stone slabs that had old examples of the various written scripts used in Laos over the centuries.  I took pictures of each them and have shared them below in a collage.

As someone who has a keen interest in language and Lao history, it was wonderful to be able to get up close and touch (and of course take pictures) of these pieces of history.  Have a looksy!

Laos, une porte sur l'Asie du Sud-Est

France24's show Intelligence économique discusses Laos.  Entitled:  Laos, une porte sur l'Asie du Sud-Est.

Posted by: France24 - Intelligence économique

Lao Word of the Day: To Look "Behind the Scenes"

Luangprabang Public Library Bookstore

In my search for all things literary in the city, I think there were only 4 good places for books in Luangprabang.  This was one of them.  In fact, I found this place by accident.  I wanted to see the library and then found that they had a bookstore right next door which the library also runs.  Quite honestly, while going along the street you'd never notice that there was a bookstore here.  So it was a wonderful surprise for me (me being the bookworm that I am!).

The picture shown here was my first attempt to check out the book store.  Unfortunately on my first attempt they were closed, having gone in the evening (as the picture shows).

Miss Laos 2013 Competition (Full Video)

Lao Children's TV Program - My Village

A behind the scenes look at those who make the production of a Lao TV children's program called "My Village". 

Posted by Youtube user XYZPuna.

Lao Word of the Day: Investment

Book Review: Les Fleurs de la Dévotion

Title:  Les fleurs de la dévotion - ethnobotanique cultuelle au Laos / The Flowers of devotion - ethnobotanical culture of Laos
By:  Biba Vilayleck and Baj Strobel
Publisher/Year:  Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden, 2011
ISBN:  9789932000159
Price: $40USD

Lao Word of the Day: A Mascot

Want to Start a Business in Laos?

The World Bank has a website that tells you how you can start a business in a particular country as a foreign investor.  It lists each step and type of task or documentation needed and how much it costs.  If you're curious to see how it would be for Laos, check out the link below.

RENINC's Digital Library of Lao books - FREE

I don't know what it is but I have been having amazing luck in the last little while in finding amazing online resources and websites for sources of digitized versions of old books and other literature on Laos.  This time from California based Refugee Educators' Network, Inc. (RENINC).  The website seems a bit outdated now and a few of the book links yield no pdf however the vast majority still have active links.  Some notable titles in their library (and keep in mind there's plenty more at the website):
 

• Out of Laos/Tawm Lostsuas Mus: A Story of War and Exodus, Told in Photographs (Bilingual version) By Warner Roger, 1996
  -  Translated into Hmong by Lue Vang, Cory Jasperson, Tsucheng Vang, Terfong Yang
   
• Minority Cultures of Laos: Kammu, Lua’, Lahu, Hmong, and Mien By Lewis, Kam Raw, Vang, Elliott, Matisoff, Yang, Crystal, Saepharn, 1992
   
• Handbook for Teaching Lao-Speaking Students By Luangpraseut, Lewis, 1989
   
• New Year's Ceremony at Basak By Archaimbault, 1971
  - Description of the cultural context and activiites of the New Year celebration in southern Laos.

Lao Word of the Day: Remorseless

We're Back on Blogger!

On November 27 2013 our blog site here that's hosted on Google's Blogger was incorrectly marked as spam and was taken down.  However as of today, January 8 2014, our site has been reinstated.  We've also fully updated it from posts that we made on our Facebook page.

Of course it's greatly hoped that this doesn't happen again.  And to our visitors we hope this didn't cause too much disruption.  And if you were still following us on Facebook when this all happened, then a big thank you for keeping us in mind and for continuing to follow us.

- Laoconnection.com Team

Seated Green Buddha, Vientiane

2013 December Laos Trip - Seated Green Buddha, Vientiane

Glowing Temple

An evening stroll through Luangprabang yielded this unexpected luminescent temple. I was initially following the sounds of monks doing their evening chants.

It was wonderful to wonder around to each temple listening in on their almost hypnotic chants.

2013 December Laos Trip - Evening Temple Photo, Luangprabang.

Lao Language Posters 2013

Love tracking what new Lao language posters that come out in Laos. Here are 2 new ones I found on my recent trip.

Happy New Year 2014! (BeerLao Ms. Jan/Feb 2014)

Happy New Year everyone! Best wishes to all of you for 2014. To help get us started here's Ms. January/February from this year's BeerLao calendar.

Click image to enlarge.