Absolutely Fabu-Laos
Trip Start
Jul 26, 2004
1
18
23
Trip End
May 31, 2005
Luang Prabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
For those of you without an atlas nearby, Laos is the only landlocked country in South East Asia. It also claims to be the most bombed country in the world -what an honour! During the Vietnam War the Americans spent $7. 2 billion on bombs over ten years, all the while denying they were anywhere near Laos. Apparently now shell casings are used for plant holders and anvils in the north east of Laos
Deathtrap on the water
. Like Cambodia, it is very poor and under a one party government, so there is no free press or vocal criticism of the government, however it has wonderful natural beauty. There isn't a lot of work for the people here so thank goodness for all of the NGO and embassies in Vientiane. They have provided jobs for all of the security guards that sit idle and bored in their creased uniforms, waiting at gates to check the traffic that never comes. There are also many bald monks in bright saffron robes (like Josh on a Saturday night) roaming the street, always a comforting feeling. With this stop we've completed our tour of the murky Mekong River as we've visited it near the top (Laos), middle (Cambodia) and bottom (Vietnam).Vientiane is the capital and centre of all the Lao government work. Here there are long lines of officious and grand embassies and offices for NGOs, though it lacks the adventure and ruggedness of the rest of the country. We spent our time visiting the Puxtaini, their Asian Arc de Triomphe, eating at fabulous French restaurants (our first really great red wine since Australia), walking along the waterfront of a low level Mekong River at sunset with the twinkling lights of Thailand smiling at us across the river.
One of the more unique sights was the home of Laos' former prime minister Kaysone Phomvihane
Kamu girl
. Unlike the impressive and imposing Revolution Museum, with its bronze statues conveying a sense of pride once the Kaysone lead communists took over in 1975, the late prime minister's personal museum sits a couple of kilometres behind in a basic bungalow in a low-key suburb. Unlike other communist leaders of his generation (Mao, Ho Chi Minh) Kaysone actually lived what he preached, a simple life. We nervously handed over our passports to the non-english speaking guard at the gate who seemed surprised to see us. A woman who lived across the street from the former prime minister took us for a tour and gave us as much information as she could (Her: "Do you speak Lao?", Us; "No, sorry. Do you speak English?" Her: "Very little." Us: "How about French?" Her "No. I do speak Khmer." Us in our heads: "How many Cambodians come here to visit?"). It was fascinating. When the prime minister died they sealed up the rooms and encased everything in glass. Imagine if the one night you threw your dirty underwear on the floor and left a trashy magazine on your bedside table you died, then forever people would visit your personal museum and see your dirty laundry, literally. Thank goodness we are not important enough (yet) to warrant our own museums. At Prime Minsiter Kaysone's house you are permitted to see everything from the personal (his winter jackets in the closet of his bedroom used for his visits to communist Russia), political (his books on Lenin, Communist economy theories written in English, French and Russian and the gifts he received as a leader when visiting other countries) private (his yoga mat, his abs-buster - apparently even country leaders worry about the battle of the bulge), and the obscure (a favourite pen and his Tiger Beer clock - ???) affects of a communist leader.
After a couple of days, we tried to reach the beautiful city of Vang Vieng which is half way to Luang Prabang but Chris got sick on the bus ride and we had to return to Vientiane
Laotian Abbey Road
. Imagine being a Lao person minding your own business on the outskirts of town. You don't see many westerners, and suddenly watch as some long haired blond guy with a green face rushes to use your squat toilet. Chris was fine after a day of rest (we're not sure about the Laotian who "volunteered" his washroom), just a little traveller's belly but just in case we decided to fly to Luang Prabang. Flying can be a scary way to travel in Laos, as Lao Air, the only carrier in Laos, is one of the only airlines that do not publish their safety records. Of course, the bus isn't that much safer seeing as there have been a rash of bandits attacking buses leaving Vang Vieng. Pick your poison. We chose to die in a fiery air crash. Notice how we inform people (especially our parents) after we do these things, but there was nothing to worry as we had a smooth landing in Luang Prabang.LP is the jewel of Laos. It retains the same small time vibe of the country but offers classic French architecture, many things for people to visit and do, and is listed as a UNESCO site. We spent a few days just wandering about, visiting some of the amazing golden Buddhist temples, watching our guest house's pet monkey, learning Lao phrases at our favourite bookstore/cafe, and exploring stalls at the large but no-pressure night market where they displayed silk and crafts from the local tribes. It was great to relax in the sun watching as the kids would take inner tubes and splash each other on the way down the Nam Khan river which intersected the Mekong
mekong boats
. A couple of mornings we woke up early to watch hundreds of monks in their orange robes walk through town collecting their food. Quite a sight indeed. As a form of karmic merit Buddhists give them food every day, it is the only way that the monks can eat, as they must be offered food. It was a colourful, silent, solemn procession.Luang Prabang is the gateway to what seems like a million small tribal villages. There you can do hikes of varying lengths, white water rafting, biking, riding elephants. We decided on a hike that brought us to three Lao villages and one Kamu (local tribe) village. Seeing as Laos is composed of a variety of ethnicities (1/3 of the country doesn't even speak Lao) it can be an adventure seeing what each village has to offer. In one village almost every woman was a weaver and had homemade looms set up under their stilted houses. They created marvelous scarves, which took a full day to weave, before bringing them to market in LP. Another village made seaweed paper (a food product) that they sold in the market or overseas.
The more remote village was the Kamu tribe who had their own customs, language and food (we saw some bbq-ed rats charred on a stick, again renewing Lara's resolve to be a vegetarian). Even our guide couldn't speak with them
Monk breakfast
. We saw their school which consisted of a bamboo hut with benches and two blackboards. Being a Saturday, we had to imagine it filled with the local students and one teacher. Of course the children were so excited to see us and made us feel like rock stars, not a lot of westerners make it their way. Unlike the other villages, some of the Kamu adults seemed reticent to communicate with us.With our time coming to an end in Laos (damn 15 day visas!) we had to decide how we would make our return to Thailand snaking along the Mekong River. Our options were:
1. cramped on a slow boat for two days crawling against stream. Boat capacity:45, number of passengers they normally place on boat:85. This deluxe trip also includes a night stay in one of the grungier guesthouses in Laos-no small feat we assure you.
2. take the speed boat (affectionately referred to as the "deathtrap")which crams 8 people in a small boat and skims the surface of the water with its loud and powerful motor. The speed boat averages 1 death a month and more accidents than you want to speak of. When you get on they issue you a life jacket and a crash helmet. Apparently earplugs aren't mandatory, but if you ever want to hear again they are recommended.
Given our choices, we ventured for a third option: take a luxury boat two days upstream, stopping at a couple of sights and villages, while being fed very well and staying in a lovely private bungalow that overlooked the Mekong River. Not exactly backpacker priced but we deserved something for ourselves after being away from home for so long! There were only a total of ten passengers on our boat including a couple of retired teachers (with whom we are still traveling) from Alberta. It was great, the river was beautiful, the food consisted of fantastic local dishes, the weather very warm. We even stopped at a Buddhist cave along the way.
The trip itself was gorgeous. We were completely surrounded by lush green hills and at some points rugged grey and brown rocks. On the shore we passed several remote villages and were constantly greeted with friendly smiles and waves. We had to smile with Eric and Myrna from Alberta when we saw the speed boats/death traps zip by us on our luxury cruiser. We laughed, called them suckers (not that they could hear us) and pointed at the poor passengers, and then admitted that it might be fun to try it for half an hour or so, but not for the 7 hours. Little did we know that we'd get our wish.
When we boarded the boat in the thick mist on the second day we were told that the water level was too low for the large boat to make it all of the way. Our last forty minutes would be in the infamous speed boats. You would have thought we were being told we had to share a bed with George Bush, the other travellers were shouting and screaming -there was NO WAY they were going! We four Canadians lived up to our stereotypes, sitting back quietly watching the chaos, then thanking our crew for taking us as far as they had and donning our life jackets as we boarded 'the deathtrap' .
The ride wasn't nearly as white knuckled an experience as we had been led to believe. Our speed boats were unlike the others as seats were taken out so we weren't crammed in like sardines. We enjoyed the wind whipping across our faces as we sped up river skimming the water at an unimaginable speed (check out the video), although earplugs were a definite must for the ride. Again, not bad for 40 minutes, but 7 hours on a boat like that, with no toilet or food, would have been too much.
And that is pretty much how we said goodbye to one of our favourite countries in SE Asia. From the border in Laos to the border in Thailand was just a 5 minute ferry ride- and then we hopped in a cab with Eric and Myrna to Chiang Rai for the night. 2 more weeks in Thailand awaited us before we said goodbye to the entire continent of Asia. It's hard to belive that we are on the last third of our trip now, and still so many more adventures await us.
A couple of parting notes:
Congrats to Dave and Hils on the birth of baby Clare, and Mark and Keri on the birth of TAJ-Tyler Ardon Jarrett. Finally, a while ago we promised to give you the link to web site we would be featured in. If you want to see us 10 pounds heavier and a little less scruffy check out: http://www.bungalowbay.com.au/accommodation.htm (we're in the camping section). If you look closely we are also in the picture frolicking in the pool. Oh we do like to frolic..
