26SS #18 NONG KIAW Introduction

Nong Khiaw is a village in northern Laos, located at the entrance to the deep mountains.

In Lao, Nong means ‘pond’, and Khiaw can mean ‘blue’, ‘wind’, or ‘queen’.

The Nam Ou River which flows through the village is a converging stream of the muddy Mekong, but unlike it, the Nam Ou, of a pure blue, flows so calmly you can hardly see the current. Along its banks, sharp, towering mountains rise, like those in Dragon-Ball.

At dusk, the green of the mountains, the blue of the river, and the thick humidity tint the air a soft pink. As the mountains fade into black silhouettes, the sky envelops you in an ultramarine blue tinged with violet hues.

I wanted to see that sky once more. This is why I decided to return to Nong Khiaw, a place I visited for the first time in 2016, for my 26SS collection.

Around Nong Khiaw roads are scarce. The Nam Ou river acts as a route which you navigate in little boats. Traveling north, you navigate waters that mirror the towering mountains, passing numerous small settlements.

Laos is a multi-ethnic country with over 50 distinct ethnic groups, each with its own language and cultural practices. The Lao make up about 53%, with other groups including the Khmu, Hmong, Akha, Ikho…

These communities value harmony with nature, living within it as an integral part.

Around Nong Khiaw, various small ethnic groups coexist, sharing the land and its resources.

One of them live in Sop Chem, a small settlement about an hour and a half north of Nong Khiaw. There, women weave textiles in between working in the fields. They use the plants growing around their house to natural dye the yarn, threading them by hand onto the looms to create patterns.

Meanwhile the children, even those who have only just learned to walk, play in the river with their older siblings.

Here, there are no smartphones nor wifi. 

Bamboo-made houses glittering under the heavy rain.
Children playing in the river or with plants and flowers. 
Water buffalos unwind, rolling in the mud. 
Flocks of butterflies flowing over them in a dancing line.

Animals, plants, insects, wind, water, earth. Everything unites, becoming one. Including humans. A reality close to paradise. 

Life in its most simple, fundamental shape unfolded before my eyes.

The word ‘nature’ felt somehow off, like a term made by humans, for humans.

As if standing outside its own meaning. 

Our model and guide, Keo, was the youngest of nine siblings, with a 30-year age gap between him and his oldest brother. We talked about many things.

When I talked about how, in big cities, people hesitate to have children due to the high cost of food, education, and the need for large homes, Keo answered without pause:

“Food is all around us. Kids play outside, they don’t need toys or big houses. From a young age, they help their parents. We don’t need money to provide for our kids. We never thought of kids as expensive. ” 

Over lunch, Keo shared his father’s story and what he knew about the past 50 years of the area’s history:

“During the Vietnam War, this area was part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, used by Vietnamese forces to transport supplies. To stop the Liberation Army of South Vietnam, the U.S. dropped cluster bombs here, 1 ton per person, every 8 minutes, from 1964 to 1973.

Unexploded ordnance still remain today.

When I was 10, a friend I was playing with in the Nam Ou River found a bomb. He picked it up to collect the metal and make a little money. It exploded.

My friend died right before my eyes.

My father once kicked an unexploded bomb that went off. He still has fragments in his leg.”

While we ate fresh herbs and vegetables with unpolished, lightweight spoons, Keo explained, “These are made from bomb shells.”
We looked out over water buffalo sleeping in a heavenly landscape.

Laos is considered one of the poorest countries in the world.

Its Democracy Index ranks 155th, categorized as an authoritarian regime. Its Press Freedom Index ranks 172nd, one of the most repressive nations globally.

Yet, the life unfolding before me was anything but constrained. 

‘Rich’, ‘poor’, it made me wonder what these words really represent.

A paradise with nothing.