Last Day at the Abattoir

It was a bittersweet day as I packed up our temporary apartment on "cuisine street" and moved us into our new pad on West Lake. As a last look from our bedroom window, looking down into the neighborhood where Liz and I had eaten many delicious meals, a pig was slaughtered and sectioned for dinner. Now Liz will never give up her vegetarianism.
Edit 3/9: Liz has chosen the headless pig (head located at the hind quarters) in hopes of satisfying our more graphically demanding family members.

Novice Monk in Luang Prabang, Laos

Neighborhood Game

Hmong Ritual in Laos

Just back from Laos where I had the good luck to wander into a Hmong village during a string tying ceremony led by a village shaman. I had rented a motorbike and was going around the countryside and during a brief rest under some shade was invited into a hut to take part in, and photograph the ceremony being held for a sick 3 month baby boy named Khang Vu. My very basic understanding of the ritual is that it is peformed to call the ancestral spirits with food, drink and gifts to the celebration and to implore their aid toward the good health and fortune of the sick relative and for the family and village.