Banlung
« The red town » is the capital of the province.
It has replaced Lomphat, situated to the south on the Sré Pok river, which was destroyed during the war by the US Air Force and is today nothing more than a big sleepy village.
During the dry season a thick veil of red dust hangs over Banlung which has a strong Western flavour with its grid pattern of wide streets and its red houses.
Bag Baskets
This is the first thing you notice because it is carried by the mountaineers that you see walking in the streets in single file, pipe in mouth and basket on the back ( women’s are of course always more heavily laden).
The shape, the size, the colours and the quality of the basketwork depend on the tribe and the skill of the craftsman.
Other artifacts
You can purchase small pipes, earrings made of ivory (more and more difficult to find) bracelets, machetes, crossbows, ancient gongs used in ceremonies, earthenware jars used to make rice wine and funeral totems.
The Gourds
Gourds or ‘klogs’ are small containers often engraved with ethnic motifs, or scenes of daily life ; the stoppers are made witth rolled up leaves.
Clothes
The Khmers Loeu no longer wear traditional clothes but it is still possible to find loincloths, sampots, jackets and blankets in the villages, in the shops of Banlung and, of course, in the boutique of Terres Rouges Lodge.
Attention : Warning : it is strictly forbidden to steal statues in the forest, even if the cemetery seems to be abandoned. For the mountaineers also « dust must return to dust » and the statues are there to accompany the dead. Stealing a statue means interrupting the cycle and the soul of the departed will forever err between the world of the living and that of the dead . You will be able to buy replicas in Banlung.