We were waiting for the grandma at the khao jee pate stall to come back on her scooter. We did not know where she went or how long she would be gone for, but when she eventually returned, she had what we needed.

In Laos, we found that food stalls also doubled as makeshift moneychangers. Because the kip could not be exchanged outside of the country, we were prepared with Thai baht in hand. Luckily, the lack of a common language didn’t stop us from negotiating a rate on the grandma’s worn calculator.

LOOKING FOR LAOS

For a quick getaway in the region, Laos was often overlooked by Singaporeans partly because airfare to Vientiane was not as competitive compared with other destinations. We really had to keep an eye for the occasional promotions.

But the pace of life was slower and there were less things to do compared to more tourism-savvy Vietnam and Thailand – ideal for my ageing parents who cannot walk as much as before, and my two young children with an early bedtime. It was also easy to book a car on affordable ride-hailing apps such as LOCA.

Besides, none of us had been to Laos before and I knew my parents would enjoy sightseeing, immersing in local culture over staying in a beach resort.

I, too, wanted to see for myself the country I had heard so much about from my ethnic-Lao French friends in France. The Lao community there was among the largest outside of Southeast Asia. It was somewhat ironic that my first encounter with Lao people took place in Paris. And it was also there where I had my first taste of Lao food – mok pa, aromatic steamed fish wrapped in a banana leaf parcel.

I came to Laos expecting to see remnants of French colonisation, but forg...