Lao life

Trip Start Jan 06, 2008
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22
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Trip End Jul 08, 2008


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Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep  ,
Saturday, March 15, 2008

Life has been pretty laid back in Lao so far.  Luang Prabang is a beautiful city, full of french style buildings, flowers, palm trees, and surrounded by huge rivers.  The people here are very kind, especially when you attempt to speak the language.  English is not nearly as common as in Thailand, but most people here know the basics.  Lao people understand Thai as it's very similar to Lao, plus all the TV programs here come from Thailand, so people are accustomed to hearing it.  Some strange laws and restrictions remain in place here such as a fairly strict curfew for Lao people of 11:30pm.  Everything closes at that time and the streets resemble a ghost town.  It is illegal for Lao citizens to have sex with foreigners, if a Lao person wants to marry a foreigner, they must apply through the government.  The government rarely grants permission for these marriages, only about 250 couples have been approved! 

We went to the former Royal Palace yesterday which is now a museum dedicated to the Royal family Wat Laung Prabang
Wat Laung Prabang
 .  It's a little weird and morbid because the last ruling king and queen were taken away by the Pathet Lao during the revolution.  They were held in a cave in a remote region until they died, this is common knowledge here.  The official story at the museum is that that the king and queen fled, but first donated the palace to the Pathet Lao!  Another weird thing about the museum was in the gifts from foreign nations section.  Richard Nixon presented Laos with a little plaque and a tiny moon rock, maybe to let them know he planned on recreating a moonscape here with bombs.  Speaking of bombs, it is also really weird to see many remnants of the war.  We climbed a giant hill to see a temple and there was an old Soviet air assault cannon that kids were using as a merry-go-round!  Many places have decorations made of huge mortar shells and other war trash. 

We are planning to head south tomorrow to volunteer near Vieng Vang at an organic farm check out laofarm.org for more info on that.  It seems like a really cool place.
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Comments

bigdog
bigdog on Mar 15, 2008 at 03:09PM

Hello Melody and Jeremy
War- What is it good for? Making merry go rounds?!
Curlyheaded Lady

amyaustin
amyaustin on Mar 16, 2008 at 01:38AM

War, the gift that keeps on giving
It was like the moon, said Billy Pilgrim

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