One of the mandatory things that many expatriates do once in Laos is to visit one of the fancier studios, get dressed in the traditional Lao costumes (with all the accessories and accoutrements) and get themselves photographed.
True to this expatriate tradition, Nina and Minnie insisted that they too get their photos taken in this manner and we ended up in Studio Venay in Donpalang – the main business district of Vientiane.
The studio came with its range of traditional Lao dresses in all possible colours and shades and jewellery. It also came with an in-house make-up artist and hair stylist in tow.
Nina and Minnie selected their costumes, got their hair styled in the Lao tradition, while the make-up artist worked on their faces. They were then led into the shooting area and the photographer got clicking.
Lo and behold! The two Indian women were transformed into two Lovely Lao Ladies – Lao Lovelies in short or Lao Lalonas in Bengali 🙂 🙂 🙂