Hello all! So we're safely in Mandalay, Myanmar and happened to find the one internet location in the whole of the city (or so it seems)...so I thought I would take the opportunity to write before I forgot everything that happened in the last week or so.
Myanmar (formerly Burma) is incredible. I think both Deanna and I felt that it might be too similar to the rest of SE Asia (and hence not that interesting at this point in the trip) but we were taken completely by surprise. Perhaps because of the oppressive government here, the country has really kept it's uniqueness and beauty. For those of you planning a trip and wanting to go someplace different, Myanmar is certainly worthy of consideration.
The first thing I noticed when we arrived in Yangon/Rangoon was just how different the people were here. There are many Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, as well as the native (Bamar) people and indigenous ethnic minorities. It makes for quite a mix. The men here traditionally wear longyi (skirts) like the rest of SE Asia did at one time before the tradition died out. Here they still do. Deanna has been relentlessly working on me to buy and wear my longyi...that and the incredibly hot temperatures should have me converting at some point. I can assure you that no pictures are forthcoming. Another immediately noticeable cosmetic difference here is that the women wear a "makeup" that protects their skin from the sun which is from a ground-up tree. It's very noticeable (yellow on the skin) and I had not seen anything like it outside of Myanmar. The people here are also (for the most-part) unspoiled, extremely friendly, and very open to meeting foreigners. The english spoken (by who we've interacted with) has been very good.
The government plays a huge role here. We've talked to several people who quietly discuss the lack of education, opportunity, and freedom in Myanmar and how there's little hope of change anytime soon. Contrary to my normal bitching about the US government (and election results)it's been humbling to hear how lucky these people think we are. The government presence still plays a large part in everyday life. First, you can change dollars into kyat (local currency) at the airport for the "official" rate of 450 kyat to the dollar...or change money on the blackmarket for 900 kyat to the dollar. The downside is that since it's illegal, the moneychangers all ask you surreptitiously "change money?" and when you say yes...they invite you into a teahouse where the money is handed to you under the table to be counted and then passing the US dollars back. It really feels like a drug deal...but since it's illegal for most Myanmar people to hold US dollars, that's how it works.
There is also far fewer motorized vehicles here compared with the other countries that we visited. The standard mode of transport for shorter trips seems to be trishaw (a bicycle with a side-car...one seat facing forward and one facing back). Deanna and I took trishaws in the littletown of Pyay to see some old ruins...it's really difficult to sit next to a man peddling for all he's worth up hills when I weigh two times as much as he does. I felt quite guilty and also felt like transport doesn't get anymore elemental than human power...until he dropped us off and we rode the OX-cart. Possibly the only less comfortable mode of transport than the trishaw. And did I mention dusty? I don't think that I've ever been more uncomfortable in my life in the 100 degree heat, not being able to breathe, and not being covered from the sun. Who needs the beach?
From Pyay, we visited Bagan. Bagan is an ancient capital where thousands of pagodas/temples were built. It is absolutely PHENOMENAL. When you climb one of the temples at sunset, there are 360 degrees of temple structures surrounding you. Absolutely stunning and I think the government is possibly the only reason this does not get the billing of an Angkor Wat or the pyramids (I'll let you know when I've been through Egypt). It's one of the most atmopheric places you can ever visit...like out of a movie. One overriding theme in Myanmar seems to be "built it bigger than anyone else"...more temples, bigger buddhas, more gold...it's pretty incredible.
Now we are currently in Mandalay in the north/central portion of Myanmar. We've had several great experiences here...we visited a monastery in Amarapura where all the monks come in from their "alms" round of collecting food to eat their meal at 10:30 in the morning. There are over 1000 monks all silently filing into the monastery...into the dining room, and silently eating their meal. There are also over 200 tourists...not so silent, not so respectful, many off of tour buses (hate them!) and willing to step through the monk's lines to take pictures. We made friends with one of the teacher monks and after the tourists left (got their picture I guess) he actually invited us to eat at the monastery and gave a personal tour to Deanna and I of the grounds, his living quarters (mat on the floor), and a lot of insight into education and the government oppression in Myanmar. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one I will always remember.
Well enough for now. We are on a bus tomorrow to Kalaw, and then visiting Inle Lake before slowly making our way back to Yangon. I'm a little sad to be on the homestretch of SE Asia, but starting to get excited about India!
I hope everyone is well.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Thursday, February 17, 2005
02/17/05: Trekking for the masses
Hello all!
We're still in northern Thailand - currently in Chiang Mai enjoying (not really) the 97 degree weather. I've now disposed of the warm clothing I bought in Hanoi and got rid of the "nice" clothes I brought for all the special occasions we'd happen upon (that would be Christmas dinner and...well...I guess I've worn those clothes exactly one time in four months - a great reason to toss 'em).
In Chiang Mai, we've been relaxing a bit and taking care of errands and such before we head into the government suppressed state of Myanmar (where you can't check/send web-based email - so I'll be incommunicado until March 15th or so...I can actually hear the sighs of relief). At that point, we're back in Bangkok for a few days (to recover) and then onto India!
I had my most traumatic experience here in Chiang Mai - my latest haircut. I learned that "I know English" sounds very similar to "I NO English". But once they start cutting all you can do is make sign language signals for "round" versus "flat". We also got into trouble with the word "short":
"Not too short"
"Short, short...I know short"
"No...not short...long" "Short...yes"
At this point, I am fairly certain that I may be mistaken for a Myanmese (Burman?) militant and be drafted into service.
We also had a very fun time on yet another trek (even after I swore them off after Sapa in Vietnam). This one involved riding elephants (a very fun, slightly scary experience where you've very, very high off the ground); Bamboo rafting (a very fun, slightly scary experience where you're riding about two inches above the water on pieces of bamboo that have been lashed together with some sort of twine); and stays in two hilltribe (Karen) villages.
Compared with our Vietnam trek with the hilltribes, this one definitely felt a bit more contrived and touristy - but what made this one fun was the group of people we were with. 6 people all from the same town in Brighton, England. I couldn't understand anything they said for several hours until I adjusted to the accents. Among the strange/funny events:
- One of the girls warned the group that she had panic attacks when she saw snakes. The guide assured us snakes were very, very rare on these treks. We (and she) saw two in three days. Panic DID ensue.
- One of the guys actually used his survival knife to kill a pig that we were going to eat that night. Quick and humanely done, but still very evident that the pig was in pain and then dying...and then the butchering...stuff this city boy has never seen.
- Our guide was kind of a scumbag/opportunist who hit on the girls, was very obvious in suggesting we buy him drinks, and then got very drunk the second night and had an argument with the group...strange.
- After walking for about three hours, one of the girls complained that we should have been told that we would have to hike so much. What exactly do they mean by "3 day TREK" anyway?
- And finally, the second night was perhaps the coldest I have ever been in my life. Good thing I got rid of the jacket just days before.
Regardless of the situation, we had a great time and I certainly won't forget the eventful trek anytime soon. I hope everyone is well and I'll talk to you after I get back from Myanmar!
We're still in northern Thailand - currently in Chiang Mai enjoying (not really) the 97 degree weather. I've now disposed of the warm clothing I bought in Hanoi and got rid of the "nice" clothes I brought for all the special occasions we'd happen upon (that would be Christmas dinner and...well...I guess I've worn those clothes exactly one time in four months - a great reason to toss 'em).
In Chiang Mai, we've been relaxing a bit and taking care of errands and such before we head into the government suppressed state of Myanmar (where you can't check/send web-based email - so I'll be incommunicado until March 15th or so...I can actually hear the sighs of relief). At that point, we're back in Bangkok for a few days (to recover) and then onto India!
I had my most traumatic experience here in Chiang Mai - my latest haircut. I learned that "I know English" sounds very similar to "I NO English". But once they start cutting all you can do is make sign language signals for "round" versus "flat". We also got into trouble with the word "short":
"Not too short"
"Short, short...I know short"
"No...not short...long" "Short...yes"
At this point, I am fairly certain that I may be mistaken for a Myanmese (Burman?) militant and be drafted into service.
We also had a very fun time on yet another trek (even after I swore them off after Sapa in Vietnam). This one involved riding elephants (a very fun, slightly scary experience where you've very, very high off the ground); Bamboo rafting (a very fun, slightly scary experience where you're riding about two inches above the water on pieces of bamboo that have been lashed together with some sort of twine); and stays in two hilltribe (Karen) villages.
Compared with our Vietnam trek with the hilltribes, this one definitely felt a bit more contrived and touristy - but what made this one fun was the group of people we were with. 6 people all from the same town in Brighton, England. I couldn't understand anything they said for several hours until I adjusted to the accents. Among the strange/funny events:
- One of the girls warned the group that she had panic attacks when she saw snakes. The guide assured us snakes were very, very rare on these treks. We (and she) saw two in three days. Panic DID ensue.
- One of the guys actually used his survival knife to kill a pig that we were going to eat that night. Quick and humanely done, but still very evident that the pig was in pain and then dying...and then the butchering...stuff this city boy has never seen.
- Our guide was kind of a scumbag/opportunist who hit on the girls, was very obvious in suggesting we buy him drinks, and then got very drunk the second night and had an argument with the group...strange.
- After walking for about three hours, one of the girls complained that we should have been told that we would have to hike so much. What exactly do they mean by "3 day TREK" anyway?
- And finally, the second night was perhaps the coldest I have ever been in my life. Good thing I got rid of the jacket just days before.
Regardless of the situation, we had a great time and I certainly won't forget the eventful trek anytime soon. I hope everyone is well and I'll talk to you after I get back from Myanmar!
Thursday, February 10, 2005
02/10/05: Into the Golden Triangle!
Hello everyone!
We're back in Thailand right now and I'd forgotten how great this country is...easy travel, great food, beautiful people...
When last I left you, we were in Luang Prabang, Laos. Truly one of the most laid back cities in the world, there's only 16,000 people in Laos' second largest city! Not a lot of people, but tons of temples, history and more atmosphere than you can shake a stick at. I highly recommend people visit Luang Prabang before it gets "ruined".
Among the highlights of Luang Prabang was a street market that goes on for 10 blocks...tons of every possible local craft you could want but for me what was special was the street of prepared foods (of course). You walk past and there's grills set up with chicken, fish, barbequed pork...there's stalls for soup, spicy papaya salad, and even a vegetarian buffet where you fill up a bowl and they stir fry it in front of you...for 5000 kip (50 cents)! Want some other stuff? Not an issue...buy a grilled fish and bring it with you...or some stewed pork and they'll just stir-fry it with everything else. I was in HEAVEN...I think I actually shed tears I was so happy.
The other highlight was meeting some great people at Nao's Sports Bar...the proprietor, Gary, who quit his job as a criminal/court interviewer from San Francisco and we think got married to a Laos woman and now runs the pub and a bakery. Gary's favorite line: "it's ALWAYS happy hour"...my head still hurts. The other was a British gentlemen named Dave who over the course of several days became my idol. Dave spends 6 months a year in England and 6 months in another exotic locale each year. Dave's great quote: "I don't do winter". He's visited 108 countries (so far) and was just a fount of knowledge on India, Nepal, and Myanmar...and I'm sure many other places we just didn't have enough time to ask about. We're hoping to catch up to Dave in ChiangMai...truly a great guy and so, so helpful.
One thing which was strange was missing the SuperBowl...for the first time since 1983 when I was "grounded" from watching TV. (You're right dad...it didn't kill me but I DO still remember) While we did have plans to wake up at 6 in the morning to watch, we had taken a slow (2 day) boat trip from Luang Prabang to the Thai border. Unfortunately, the town we stayed in between the 2 boat days happened to not have anyplace to watch the game (or electricity during the day for that matter). From what I hear it was a boring game anyway...that's what I keep telling myself. We were the lucky ones though...we heard from others the next day that they could hear rats running in the attic in their Guesthouse and one person even had a rat drop onto the top of his mosquito net. I don't think Deanna or I could have handled that.
Once we crossed the border, we made our way north to Chiang Saen and Sop Rauk...the heart of the Golden Triangle, made famous as one of the highest producers of Opium in the world. There's an Opium Museum there where you can learn all the in's, out's, and history of smoking Opium. I took notes... You can also climb a hill and see the meeting point of Burma, Laos, and Thailand...in true tourist fashion there's even a boat which will zip you between the three to say you've been to Burma and Laos as well. We declined since we're going there anyway.
From Chiang Saen, we took a bus to Chiang Rai and have really done nothing of note just yet. There's (another) great market here and yesterday we just sampled food and watched a bizarre stage act - alternating acoustic guitar with dancing girls dressed in 18th centuryFrench courtesan outfits. What was really strange is from being in Bangkok and Phuket, I really, really, really have to look to be able to tell if they are girls or guys dressed as girls. I'm still undecided about the people in this show.
From here we're onto Chiang Mai where we'll try to sort out some plane tickets to Burma/Myanmar where I expect we'll be for about 3 weeks. During that time, there's NO access to web-based email (the government supresses it along with their people) so although I expect to send one more update before we go, it will be awhile afterwards until you hear from me (I can sense you're thinking "thank god...less spam").
Anyway...happy Chinese New Year and I hope everyone is well.
We're back in Thailand right now and I'd forgotten how great this country is...easy travel, great food, beautiful people...
When last I left you, we were in Luang Prabang, Laos. Truly one of the most laid back cities in the world, there's only 16,000 people in Laos' second largest city! Not a lot of people, but tons of temples, history and more atmosphere than you can shake a stick at. I highly recommend people visit Luang Prabang before it gets "ruined".
Among the highlights of Luang Prabang was a street market that goes on for 10 blocks...tons of every possible local craft you could want but for me what was special was the street of prepared foods (of course). You walk past and there's grills set up with chicken, fish, barbequed pork...there's stalls for soup, spicy papaya salad, and even a vegetarian buffet where you fill up a bowl and they stir fry it in front of you...for 5000 kip (50 cents)! Want some other stuff? Not an issue...buy a grilled fish and bring it with you...or some stewed pork and they'll just stir-fry it with everything else. I was in HEAVEN...I think I actually shed tears I was so happy.
The other highlight was meeting some great people at Nao's Sports Bar...the proprietor, Gary, who quit his job as a criminal/court interviewer from San Francisco and we think got married to a Laos woman and now runs the pub and a bakery. Gary's favorite line: "it's ALWAYS happy hour"...my head still hurts. The other was a British gentlemen named Dave who over the course of several days became my idol. Dave spends 6 months a year in England and 6 months in another exotic locale each year. Dave's great quote: "I don't do winter". He's visited 108 countries (so far) and was just a fount of knowledge on India, Nepal, and Myanmar...and I'm sure many other places we just didn't have enough time to ask about. We're hoping to catch up to Dave in ChiangMai...truly a great guy and so, so helpful.
One thing which was strange was missing the SuperBowl...for the first time since 1983 when I was "grounded" from watching TV. (You're right dad...it didn't kill me but I DO still remember) While we did have plans to wake up at 6 in the morning to watch, we had taken a slow (2 day) boat trip from Luang Prabang to the Thai border. Unfortunately, the town we stayed in between the 2 boat days happened to not have anyplace to watch the game (or electricity during the day for that matter). From what I hear it was a boring game anyway...that's what I keep telling myself. We were the lucky ones though...we heard from others the next day that they could hear rats running in the attic in their Guesthouse and one person even had a rat drop onto the top of his mosquito net. I don't think Deanna or I could have handled that.
Once we crossed the border, we made our way north to Chiang Saen and Sop Rauk...the heart of the Golden Triangle, made famous as one of the highest producers of Opium in the world. There's an Opium Museum there where you can learn all the in's, out's, and history of smoking Opium. I took notes... You can also climb a hill and see the meeting point of Burma, Laos, and Thailand...in true tourist fashion there's even a boat which will zip you between the three to say you've been to Burma and Laos as well. We declined since we're going there anyway.
From Chiang Saen, we took a bus to Chiang Rai and have really done nothing of note just yet. There's (another) great market here and yesterday we just sampled food and watched a bizarre stage act - alternating acoustic guitar with dancing girls dressed in 18th centuryFrench courtesan outfits. What was really strange is from being in Bangkok and Phuket, I really, really, really have to look to be able to tell if they are girls or guys dressed as girls. I'm still undecided about the people in this show.
From here we're onto Chiang Mai where we'll try to sort out some plane tickets to Burma/Myanmar where I expect we'll be for about 3 weeks. During that time, there's NO access to web-based email (the government supresses it along with their people) so although I expect to send one more update before we go, it will be awhile afterwards until you hear from me (I can sense you're thinking "thank god...less spam").
Anyway...happy Chinese New Year and I hope everyone is well.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
02/01/2005: The wonders of Laos
Hello everyone!
We're currently in Luang Prabang, Laos - a gorgeous city with a great laid-back atmosphere (like all of Laos seemingly). The entire city is a Unesco World Heritage site and it's no wonder. Unfortunately the road to wonder is full of pain and hardship. Ground travel in Laos is shockingly slow...when things go right.
But first back to Vientiene - where we stayed for five nights to recuperate from the "drug bus" border run. For a national capital, it's fairly sleepy but there certainly are some highlights. One was a great bike ride where we discovered that you don't have to get very far off the largest national highway (which is easily bikeable...four lanes at it's widest) to get to truly rural Laos. Amongst the other great sites in Vientiene, I thought it important to get back to my chemical engineering roots and visit the Beer Lao Brewery to pay homage and get a plant tour. It seemed like a good idea at the time - trusting my memory of where the plant was (I STILL know I read it was on Highway13) and a tourist map that turned out to not really be to scale (or even directionally correct). After biking for about 15km on very old bikes, Deanna had the inspired idea to actually stop at a store and look at the bottling address on the beer can - and of course we were on the wrong road. So using the trusty map, we decided that if we could just "cut through" we'd save ourselves a lot of backtracking. So off we went - past rice paddies, naked kids playing in a ditch, small ban(villages) with bemused locals looking at the foreigners riding bikes and waving. And on we went - asking for directions using the Lonely Planet guidebook phrases "I want springrolls!", trying sign language, biking in the general direction given and hoping the direction giver would yell across the fields if we went the wrong way. And on we went- pointing to the map (which caused no end of confusion as at this point, we weren't ON the map anymore), or saying "Beer Lao, Beer Lao" and being told that they don't sell Beer Lao there. And finally - we found ourselves being told that we were approximately 50km away from our destination. Discouraged, we biked in the direction we were told (to go back to Vientiene) and discovered ourselves on Highway 13 about a half km from where we had originally turned off for our "shortcut". Ugh. The next day, we hired a tuk-tuk to drive us to the Beer Lao factory where we took a bunch of pictures in the bottling plant and enjoyed a free sample of the product. The moral of the story is to enjoy the journey not just the destination but the true moral is to never walk or ride to where you can just drive. In an bizarre coincidence, did I mention that I've actually gained weight on thistrip?
After Vientiene, we took a trip to Vang Vieng (a backpacker's paradise with tons of great restaurants where you can kick back, enjoy a beer (or other stuff), and watch pretty much any movie in existence or Friends...the world seems to love Friends) and then to Phonsavan to see the enigmatic Plain of Jars. Nobody knows the exact nature of these jars - the current theory is that they're ancient funeral relics - but what really stuck with me was how we had to stick to the paths because there is so many unexploded bombs from the US's Secret War during theVietnam era. There's actually markers on the Plain of Jars sites...if you walk to the inside of the markers (the side of the markers painted white) that area has been swept with metal/bomb detectors. If you walk outside (the red area of the markers) then only visual methods have been used to "detect" the explosives. Being a very poor student of history, I knew nothing of the covert operation to bomb Laos (breaking all international codes on waging war), using US military - who "quit"the military, gave up dogtags, and even used fake names - to fly missions into Laos to drop bombs on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Anyway - the stat that sticks in my head is that more bombs were dropped on Laos than on Nazi Germany during WWII. And we technically weren't even fighting in Laos. Between the different jar sites, we actually stopped at a house in a village and were asked to stay for lunch and try their noodles (the entire village makes noodles). Pretty amazing hospitality considering the guide had never met the family before that day. Our host (an elderly gentlemen who had been the village chief before he"retired") was extremely gracious - offering us several rounds of rice whisky (Lao-Lao), and also telling us (through the translator) about how the entire village lived in caves during the worst bombing years and worked their fields at night to eat. And still - no bad feelings towards America - it never ceases to amaze me. The Lao people that we have met have been very genuine and friendly.
From Phonsavan, we wanted to catch the bus to Sam Neua and Vieng Xai - where the Pathet Lao (Lao communists) hid out in caves during the bombing. We bought our bus tickets at 7am and were told the bus was leaving at 8am. At 8am (with Deanna checking several times during the interim to make sure we weren't missing our bus), we were told the "bus had come and gone" which wasn't true because even some locals had "missed the bus". It just didn't come that day. We instead got onto another "sangthaew"...basically the back of a covered pick-up truck with benches down both sides in back. It's a big truck - but not that comfortable with 33 people jammed in with everything they can carry or feel like bringing to the market (20 is actually the "comfortable amount"). I alternately fought off the nausea (I haven't been carsick since I was 12 but the seats are sideways and it was hot) and tried to provide a comfortable resting surface for the women next to me as she had fallen asleep against my arm as I grasped the ceiling balance bar. This continued for 6 hours. At that point, we rolled into our connecting stop where it turned out that the driver hadn't waited. So...our one English speaking Lao friend suggested we wait on the side of the road for passing buses/trucks/cars that might want to give us a ride. He found one...three hours later, we had not. So we stayed in a pretty horrid guesthouse (as Deanna says "like camping...but inside!") where I think we both got bed-bug bites. Anyway, the next day we took the sangthaew to Sam Neua...this time at a more comfortable 30 people packed in...for another 5 hours.
When we finally got to Vieng Xai, I was amazed by the natural beauty of the entire area - extremely hilly with amazing valleys and natural splendor. The caves were great - there is one that is said to have housed up to three thousand people...it's huge...and many of the caves(especially of the leaders) have a true internal stucture...bathrooms, bedrooms, walls, and even emergency rooms with oxygen generators in case of chemical attack. Kaysone - the Pathet Lao leader - and his cabinet actually lived in caves for NINE YEARS before the US stopped bombing. That's amazing to me. I only lived in my craphole apartments for four years in college...okay five to be technically correct.
As I am tired of hearing myself talk about bus rides, I will give the abbreviated version of our trip from Sam Neua to Nong Khiew (on the way to Luang Prabang). The journey is about 200km and is supposed to take 9 hours. 5 flat tires later we arrived...20 hours after we left. There were two people in the aisle in each row and we were WAY overloaded with baggage as well. The Hmong boy next to me was throwing up the entire way except when he was sleeping on my shoulder, the women behind me threw up several times, at one point a women sitting in the aisle had to make a dash to the window to throw up. I don't think the Lao people (especially the ethnic minorities in small towns) get to ride in a car that often...and it showed. We stayed at a place (after waking up the proprietor at 4:30am) that made me wish for a tent inside the room.
From Nong Khiew, we took a beautiful river journey to Luang Prabang. No mishaps. And for the record (in case my accounts don't fairly portray the trip) I am still loving being here.
Take care everyone -
We're currently in Luang Prabang, Laos - a gorgeous city with a great laid-back atmosphere (like all of Laos seemingly). The entire city is a Unesco World Heritage site and it's no wonder. Unfortunately the road to wonder is full of pain and hardship. Ground travel in Laos is shockingly slow...when things go right.
But first back to Vientiene - where we stayed for five nights to recuperate from the "drug bus" border run. For a national capital, it's fairly sleepy but there certainly are some highlights. One was a great bike ride where we discovered that you don't have to get very far off the largest national highway (which is easily bikeable...four lanes at it's widest) to get to truly rural Laos. Amongst the other great sites in Vientiene, I thought it important to get back to my chemical engineering roots and visit the Beer Lao Brewery to pay homage and get a plant tour. It seemed like a good idea at the time - trusting my memory of where the plant was (I STILL know I read it was on Highway13) and a tourist map that turned out to not really be to scale (or even directionally correct). After biking for about 15km on very old bikes, Deanna had the inspired idea to actually stop at a store and look at the bottling address on the beer can - and of course we were on the wrong road. So using the trusty map, we decided that if we could just "cut through" we'd save ourselves a lot of backtracking. So off we went - past rice paddies, naked kids playing in a ditch, small ban(villages) with bemused locals looking at the foreigners riding bikes and waving. And on we went - asking for directions using the Lonely Planet guidebook phrases "I want springrolls!", trying sign language, biking in the general direction given and hoping the direction giver would yell across the fields if we went the wrong way. And on we went- pointing to the map (which caused no end of confusion as at this point, we weren't ON the map anymore), or saying "Beer Lao, Beer Lao" and being told that they don't sell Beer Lao there. And finally - we found ourselves being told that we were approximately 50km away from our destination. Discouraged, we biked in the direction we were told (to go back to Vientiene) and discovered ourselves on Highway 13 about a half km from where we had originally turned off for our "shortcut". Ugh. The next day, we hired a tuk-tuk to drive us to the Beer Lao factory where we took a bunch of pictures in the bottling plant and enjoyed a free sample of the product. The moral of the story is to enjoy the journey not just the destination but the true moral is to never walk or ride to where you can just drive. In an bizarre coincidence, did I mention that I've actually gained weight on thistrip?
After Vientiene, we took a trip to Vang Vieng (a backpacker's paradise with tons of great restaurants where you can kick back, enjoy a beer (or other stuff), and watch pretty much any movie in existence or Friends...the world seems to love Friends) and then to Phonsavan to see the enigmatic Plain of Jars. Nobody knows the exact nature of these jars - the current theory is that they're ancient funeral relics - but what really stuck with me was how we had to stick to the paths because there is so many unexploded bombs from the US's Secret War during theVietnam era. There's actually markers on the Plain of Jars sites...if you walk to the inside of the markers (the side of the markers painted white) that area has been swept with metal/bomb detectors. If you walk outside (the red area of the markers) then only visual methods have been used to "detect" the explosives. Being a very poor student of history, I knew nothing of the covert operation to bomb Laos (breaking all international codes on waging war), using US military - who "quit"the military, gave up dogtags, and even used fake names - to fly missions into Laos to drop bombs on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Anyway - the stat that sticks in my head is that more bombs were dropped on Laos than on Nazi Germany during WWII. And we technically weren't even fighting in Laos. Between the different jar sites, we actually stopped at a house in a village and were asked to stay for lunch and try their noodles (the entire village makes noodles). Pretty amazing hospitality considering the guide had never met the family before that day. Our host (an elderly gentlemen who had been the village chief before he"retired") was extremely gracious - offering us several rounds of rice whisky (Lao-Lao), and also telling us (through the translator) about how the entire village lived in caves during the worst bombing years and worked their fields at night to eat. And still - no bad feelings towards America - it never ceases to amaze me. The Lao people that we have met have been very genuine and friendly.
From Phonsavan, we wanted to catch the bus to Sam Neua and Vieng Xai - where the Pathet Lao (Lao communists) hid out in caves during the bombing. We bought our bus tickets at 7am and were told the bus was leaving at 8am. At 8am (with Deanna checking several times during the interim to make sure we weren't missing our bus), we were told the "bus had come and gone" which wasn't true because even some locals had "missed the bus". It just didn't come that day. We instead got onto another "sangthaew"...basically the back of a covered pick-up truck with benches down both sides in back. It's a big truck - but not that comfortable with 33 people jammed in with everything they can carry or feel like bringing to the market (20 is actually the "comfortable amount"). I alternately fought off the nausea (I haven't been carsick since I was 12 but the seats are sideways and it was hot) and tried to provide a comfortable resting surface for the women next to me as she had fallen asleep against my arm as I grasped the ceiling balance bar. This continued for 6 hours. At that point, we rolled into our connecting stop where it turned out that the driver hadn't waited. So...our one English speaking Lao friend suggested we wait on the side of the road for passing buses/trucks/cars that might want to give us a ride. He found one...three hours later, we had not. So we stayed in a pretty horrid guesthouse (as Deanna says "like camping...but inside!") where I think we both got bed-bug bites. Anyway, the next day we took the sangthaew to Sam Neua...this time at a more comfortable 30 people packed in...for another 5 hours.
When we finally got to Vieng Xai, I was amazed by the natural beauty of the entire area - extremely hilly with amazing valleys and natural splendor. The caves were great - there is one that is said to have housed up to three thousand people...it's huge...and many of the caves(especially of the leaders) have a true internal stucture...bathrooms, bedrooms, walls, and even emergency rooms with oxygen generators in case of chemical attack. Kaysone - the Pathet Lao leader - and his cabinet actually lived in caves for NINE YEARS before the US stopped bombing. That's amazing to me. I only lived in my craphole apartments for four years in college...okay five to be technically correct.
As I am tired of hearing myself talk about bus rides, I will give the abbreviated version of our trip from Sam Neua to Nong Khiew (on the way to Luang Prabang). The journey is about 200km and is supposed to take 9 hours. 5 flat tires later we arrived...20 hours after we left. There were two people in the aisle in each row and we were WAY overloaded with baggage as well. The Hmong boy next to me was throwing up the entire way except when he was sleeping on my shoulder, the women behind me threw up several times, at one point a women sitting in the aisle had to make a dash to the window to throw up. I don't think the Lao people (especially the ethnic minorities in small towns) get to ride in a car that often...and it showed. We stayed at a place (after waking up the proprietor at 4:30am) that made me wish for a tent inside the room.
From Nong Khiew, we took a beautiful river journey to Luang Prabang. No mishaps. And for the record (in case my accounts don't fairly portray the trip) I am still loving being here.
Take care everyone -
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