However, earliest historical records show that by mid-1500s, the Europeans were already exploring and trading with mainland Southeast Asia reaching as far as Vientiane and Luang Prabang, Laos. Some of the more notable Europeans who had travelled as far as Vientiane and Luang Prabang or wrote extensively about their experiences were Fernão Mendes Pinto (1542–1545), Diogo Veloso and Blas Ruiz (1596), Geebard van Wusthof (1641), Giovanni Filippo de Marini (1642–1648), Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix (1830) and Henri Mouhot (1861). By the time Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix arrived as missionary to Bangkok; the papaya and chilli peppers was already fully integrated in the Lao territory and the Southeast Asian food culture as a whole. Even Henri Mouhot (15 May 1826 – 10 November 1861), the French explorer and "discoverer" of Angkor Wat, during his trip to Luang Prabang, Laos also noted that the Laotians absolutely adores chili peppers.