For travelers being interested in picking up elaborate handicrafts, Laos is an excellent destination and Vientiane stands out among other cities. Within the city, hill tribe crafts, art works, silk, jewelry, home-furnishings and couture-quality textiles are all popularly available. Indochina holidays in Laos
Antiques
Antiques in Laos – source: pinterest.com
Littered around the bigger cities of Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Savannakhet are many antique stores, where they sell Asian pottery, jewellery, ancient coins, clothes, musical instruments and carvings. Please remember that anyone is caught trying to leave the country with Lao antiques or Buddhist artifacts will be enforced fines.
Carving
Carvings in Laos – source: ourglobaltrek.com
From the simple and monotonous to the classic and highly spiritual, Lao craftsmen can create a wide range of appealing pieces from wood, stone and bone alike. Religious imagery and figures such as the Buddha, like most Laotian arts and crafts, provide the affair and source of inspiration.
For ornamental purposes, authentic opium pipes can still be bought in Laos but most countries will seize the ivory carvings if they found them in your luggage, so probably best direct clear. Travel to Laos
Jewellery
Hill-tribe jewelry at Luang Prabang market – source: vietvisiontravel.com
Another skill at which the Lao people excel is the crafting of gold and silver jewellery. The nice works of several of the hill tribes, who use silver and gold for portable wealth and bequest purposes, are some of the best examples of silver jewellery can be found in the country. Most jewellery shops in Laos trade majorly in silver and gold, which you can buy at a much reasonable price than those in neighbouring Thailand. Sold at a set price per gram, Laos gold is 99.99% pure.
Due to its brassiness, some westerns find the look of Lao gold to be manmade, in fact, it is genuine. You can find a great variety of souvenirs in the central markets in Vientiane and Luang Prabang and here bargaining is acceptable unlike the private shops which have fixed prices. However, notice that some copper and silver items which are exported from Laos are subject to tax according to weight.
Lao Coffee
Lao coffee – source: laos-pictures.com
Regarded as the best place in Southeast Asia to grow coffee, Laos offers you the finest coffee. They often call Lao coffee Pakxong as it usually grown on the Boloven Plateau around the town of Pakxong.
Both Lao arabica and robusta have the high quality in flavor and consistency. You can find a wide choice of Laotian beans in the duty free shop in Savannakhet while arabica with condensed milk in glasses are served in a number of stalls on main streets.
Weaving Silk
Weaving silk – source: vietvisiontravel.com
In Laos, where you can find some of the finest silk and cotton weavers in the world living in the smallest of communities, the art of weaving is still very much a home industry.
From province to province, traditional designs and patterns vary and it is possible to purchase the intricate work at much more reasonable price at the source than from many handicraft stores, local markets and hotel souvenirs shops. Although still being available, antique woven pieces are becoming much rarer, often catching the very high prices.
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