The capital
Trip Start
Aug 07, 2008
1
38
79
Trip End
Ongoing
Vientiane,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Thursday, October 30, 2008
initially, we were planning on heeding everyone's advice and just get into vientiane the night before our flight... but as we were sitting at the Organic Farm in Vang Vieng, we found this free booklet listing charitable organizations in the capital... so we changed our plans to two nights in Vientiane
we woke up on the 30th of October excited as we had booked a kayaking trip from Vang Vieng to Vientiane... the trip would get us down river toward the capital via kayaking for 3 hours... they also promised us some cliff jumping, class 3 rapids and a home cooked lunch.. we were stoked! we packed our stuff, changed into our board shorts and went to check out... well, what do you know? the kayak company was waiting for us in our hotel lobby... "sorry, no kayak today. three people back out because they hang over from last night... no kayak with just two people in group. you change to bus." sucks!
BUT, vientiane was nice... with its riverside night restaurants, weird chinese community carnival/food type festivals...
what we enjoyed most about vientiane were two things. 1. Makphet restaurant - this is a restaurant that supports and trains underprivilged youth... they take children and teach then the ins and outs of the restaurant business... really nice setup. eunice and i had a meal there. expensive for Laos standards, but two really nice dishes still came out to less that $10... and the food was genuine, culinary style cooking... back home, something like what we ate may have cost anywhere from $15 to $50 per plate... but overall, it was nice to support a good cause.
2. we found a brochure on a place called COPE. COPE is located at the LAOS national rehabilitation center. and as we walked into the complex, i was shocked to see a wheelchair center, a prosthetics/orthotics center and a gymnasium for perspons with disabilities... it was amazing to see something so progressive in a southeast asian country... but, speaking with the director of the facility, therapy in Laos is still very archaic... it is as she described "tiger balm therapy".. meaning, there is no idea of empowerment, independent and adaptation... its still very remediative and "feel good"... massages and what not.... BUT, the COPE center was awesome.. simply, its a center that shows the atrocities and effects of the bombings that happened in LAOS. did you know that LAOS was the most heavily bombed country in the world? and for 9 years, the US and allies ran 30,000 bombing missions throughout LAOS! why? for fear of communism.. during the conflicts in SE asia (vietnam conflict included) Laos was used as a shipping route for supplies. it was also a bridge for the communist forces.... so, the US carpet bombed all of Laos... and with so many bombs falling onto Laos, no only was the land useless for so long, but there are still bombs all over the country that have not yet exploded. they call these UXO's (unexploded orindances)... the problem with these is that the Lao people try to dig them up so they can sell the metal... and when they do, they frequently explode... either killing or maiming the individual. and COPE is set up to deal with those types of patients and more... it was really cool being there.. i got to speak with Jo, the director of COPE... it just so happened that she is an OT (from the UK)... and it was nice getting her perspective...
good times in Laos... too bad we're off to Malaysia next... we will miss Laos..
on a side note, we've been meaning to write about the last envelope for ages... we just keep forgeting! sorry Daegun/Liz/Addy!... the last envelope was from the Chang's... wonderful people, i might add. they organized a goodbye dinner for us and even stuffed some cash in the envelope for us to open up... again, a welcomed surprise!... but the cutest thing is, is that they stuffed inside the envelope a family picture and a pic of Addy for us to remember her... i'm sure she's walking and talking and causing mayhem everywhere (although i bet it is cute mayhem! :))... just wanted to throw in a "thank you" to all our friends... especially the Yun's, Lee's and Chang's for their generosity....
