Catastrophe! Never again will I be able to bargain down anything in any market. Have you any idea the amount of time, patience and skill it takes to make anything? I know that we speak of handmade things and nod in deep appreciation but nothing beats actually trying to do it your self.
This is what I am doing today. Learning about silk and the various natural dyes that are used for it. Grinding and pounding tumeric to make yellow, harvesting indigo leaves to make blue and boiling sappan wood to make red. Then I had to spin the yard in neat little pellets that go into the loom. And then I sat there and started making the base of the one and only place mat I will probably manage to make today.
The workshop is on the banks of the Mekong. I like saying Mekong. Sounds so exotic to me. I have great admiration for this river. Specialy since this is my second encounter with it. I have seen it at the other end, at the delta on the border of Vietnam and Cambodia. It’s very different there. More intertwined with the people, shadier and more abundant. Here it is out in the open, more solitary, there seem to be less homes and villages along it. No less impressive even though it is all brown and surrounded by luxuriating green. Every now and then a perfect sand bank can be seen, one that can rival the best beaches anywhere.
The workers at the weaving factory are all women except one. Laos people are very handsome. Delicate features, lovely teeth and a piercing look, like cats eyes but with velvet on their surface. I am the only outsider here today so I was invited to share their lunch. Sticky rice which you eat with your hands working the grains in a little ball to grab the food with – a bit like we would do in Greece with bread to dip in a sauce -fried fish from the river and two kinds of green vegetables. The rice was in little individual wicker baskets and was cold. It is both a staple food and a fork and spoon. Apparently they were all talking about yesterday’s boxing match on TV. Pineapple for dessert and back to work.
I have to say that there is great satisfaction in making something yourself. To knowing how things are made and the kind of labour of love, skill and patience they can be. Not only does it make the price one pays more reasonable it also make the enjoyment of the object more meaningful. Also it is just sheer fun learning. Sharing a day in the life of people not only on the other side of the planet but also on the complete other side of life experience and expectation.
I have spent the entire day working and all I have to show for my efforts is a red, yellow, indigo and silver yarn and a placemat.
I sweated blood over the placemat. At the end of the day I was hot, sweaty, my legs where killing me from working the pedals and my eyes were drooping. I was dead meat. These guys do this every day, except for Buddhist holidays which amount to roughly 2 a month. Respect is due. I will treasure my placemat eternally and it’s a keeper – even if I say so myself.
