The Morning Market

Despite running all day, the Morning Market in Muang Sing is at its most exciting first thing in the morning, not long after the sun has risen.

People of all local ethnicities flock to snap up the freshest produce, the plumpest bird, the juiciest lizard -- many locals resplendent in their colourful traditional dress.

The produce covers the familiar and the unexpected, varying with the seasons: stuffed grilled frogs on a stick; dried buffalo skin to chew on; stuffed intestines; brightly coloured, sweet coconut jellies; and fried donuts, Lao-style; savoury and sweet. Wildlife is often available ready-to-cook.

Sadly, some of them are endangered species: wild cats, large rodents, rare birds, snails and other insects. Often, when a pig or a buffalo has been slaughtered, every part of its anatomy is for sale; the skin, the head, the ears, the teeth, the hoofs, the blood, the internal organs; even the juice that comes out of its intestines are all used for cooking. Definitely not for the squeamish.