I sat beside a couple on the plane that were vegetarian and it makes sense more and more if you live in third world countries. There is no doubt in my mind that meat of any kind is not suitable and especially if it is uncooked. The level of hygiene is unsuitable for travellers and be aware that parasites do not come and go, they like to stay.

Most Laos prefer sticky rice to regular steamed white rice. In fact, sticky rice takes longer to digest than regular white rice, so people can go longer without eating, important in an agrarian society like Laos. The rice is rolled by hand into small balls, dipped into food and sauces like Jeow, a dry non-oily chili paste and commonly with a bit of buffalo skin mixed in. The skin of water buffalo is popular, fried, stewed or eaten as a jerky.