Our lunch at Buddha Park (Xiang Khouan) in Vientiane, Laos. We ordered rice stick noodle salad (Tum Mee), green papaya salad (Tum Mak Houng), Lao crispy rice salad (Nam khao; ແໝມເຂົ້າ), Pad Lao, with a side order of warm sticky rice from the restaurant located inside the Buddha Park.

I was sipping young coconut juice and nibbling on soft coconut meat while waiting for our order and was not hungry by the time the food arrived. But I made sure to eat as much green papaya salad as I could since it’s my number salad in the world.