Having a meal with a Laotian friend: Chan

in the kitchen with Chan; simple technology,  fresh and  yummy food

As i have mentioned before, being invited to someone's home from the place in which you are visiting is the Holy Grail of Travel.
They are vulnerable; to share their lives and food ; we are vulnerable as we do not speak the language and we can often get ill from  the different bacteria present in the host's food.
Yet, it is This Openness  that  challenges us all in our duality.
We Are All One, despite what we look like or what we have or what we believe in.
Person to person we heal and we love.
Push through the  uncertainty, go beyond the comforts.... and you (we) all will be rewarded

children in the compound playing with, a jump rope


Chan was at the reception of our modest guesthouse.  Ariel and I had been at a posh place, devoid of character and personal interaction and we didn't like the location.  We rode bikes to find one in the location we desired; the old city. Perfectly located; it was a backpacker's choice but fine for us.
As we secured our days and belongings (we were leaving for the Elephant Sanctuary and needed a place to store our stuff), Chan immediately asked Ariel if she would help him in a project for university.  Ariel jumped in..... and i did in a small way.  Ariel, in her usual way, wanted to make it a balanced proposition and asked what he would do for us?  He immediately told us that when we returned we could come to his home.
This is how we were invited......and it was a lovely evening. Friendly and open we learned about their lives and met a young family starting out their lives together.  They have all the desires that people around the world have... and they are trying to obtain them by living near Luang Prabang where there is work in the tourist industry and educational opportunities.

a relative of Chan's cutting sugarcane for us to chew (tooooooo sweet!)

Chan's sister, Singh preparing the food (when she wasn't secretly chatting on her cell phone)

Ariel dicing chili and Singh cutting meat

Vegetable coconut curry with meat base (didn't eat but looked and smelled good) + morning glory veggies (like a really flavorful + sweet spinach.Yum) + rice noodles + veggies + Sticky rice, which you ball up and then scoop food up into your mouth  (eh....white rice..... not my favorite....but it is theirs)

Chan's beautiful wife, Sang and calm mother to his adorable 1 year old baby girl

travelin' woman

B.C. Archeology/A.D. Bombing

remnants

This will be the most difficult subject to blog about.  Prior to travel blogging, I wrote long and descriptive letters to my Mother and Father and friends voicing all that I was witnessing and experiencing.  It was a voice spoken to a singular person, it was intimate and it was thoughtful.  Its original purpose is not within the same realm in how we communicate electronically.  I believe that we will mourn and regret the loss of  the introspective, revealing and  importance of letter-writing; historically it has be invaluable.

The subject at hand is the legacy of the American bombing of Laos; a kind of collateral damage that may be thought  intellectually as history, but in reality it remains as an overt presence.

reminder of how long we were there secretly, using a neutral country: Laos as a pawn

No, these are not flower urns

bomb craters abound + scorched earth policy 50 + years later

Originally, Ariel and I planned to go to Phonesevan to see the ancient Plain of  Jars (dating back 4000-2000BC).  Knowing it was on the Ho Chi Minh trail and the headquarters of the Pathet Lao (revolutionary party- Communist) I knew i was confronting history.  Full disclosure: I have not been to Vietnam for just this reason.  The shame/pain that my government caused to this nation has not been one I have been able to confront.  In Cambodia, the atrocities of Pol Pot eclipsed the US's; not that we weren't culpable for the political vacuum it caused, but in Laos the evidence remains.
The first thing you notice is the barren land..... going on for miles and miles..... up and down the terrain; No it is not slash + burn...... but Agent Orange  used  over 50 years ago....still poisoning the ground and the water table.  The Laotians have just begun a program to plant eucalyptus trees so that they may take up the poison and the land may be arable again.  Then the landscape is marred by huge craters; provided relentlessly by the
methodical use of carpet bombing.   Remember these terms?  To see them wrought is to see Evil.

Re-use, recycle, re-purpose...... (is this what we had in mind?)

 Bomb shells as household tools/

"Bomb Oven"

no matter how much black humor it may elicit

Bomb Planter with spring onions

We visited a  Hmong village and they were re-purposing a lot of "Materiel".
Remember the Hmong?  These are the persecuted hilltop tribe that created a secret army (including 12 year old boys) to help the Americans; as they were promised autonomy. At the end of the war and the fall of Saigon they had to flee. Most of the Laotian people emigrated to the USA are from this tribe.

A brief timeline of the history of Laos during this period is that
after the French left Indochina....
 during the 1950's, an agreement for Lao independence was granted, but internecine fighting between the Pathet Lao (leftist) and the First Coalition gov't  erupted into a coup d'etat
that renders the country into NEUTRAL status in 1960.
The CIA the comes in and forms a covert army. (to help them in their agenda to win  the war in Vietnam-vertical porous borders with Vietnam)
 With their presence in Laos secured, the US then turns against Laos as the Vietnam war spills over, and the Pathet Lao becomes the "communist" enemy. In 1964 the  bombing in Laos begins in the Plain of Jars....and continues until the ceasefire of 1973 with Vietnam. Nine years of Terror.

Now, is where it really gets tricky and I cannot truly decipher it.
It is a Communist run country until 1991 (when the Soviet Union collapses and the money stops)  the  Lao PDR (People's Democratic Party???????) is created. I am told by Vilan it's socialist.
Frankly, it seems like the same ole same ole.... as in Vietnam.... Economic mobility/restructuring.... but little else that defines a democracy.  Vietnam is the "poster boy" for SE ASia; look at what's happening in Myanamar.  It's only about the economic system. No other reforms occur.


A very good book on this subject is by the recently deceased journalist, Stanley Tarnow; his tome "Vietnam" is thoroughly readable and historically accurate.




So as if this landscape isn't surreal enough it's  also punctuated by these huge granite and sandstone "jars" recently found to be dating back to 4000-2000 BC. (roughly similar to the period the pyramids in Egypt were built)
There are hundreds of them, and below/and around these monolithic relics are  more recent burial chambers filled with
precious and everyday items  of the dead.
There has been a lot of conjecture as to what "filled" these jars + lids but there remains no organic material to be carbon dated.
The area itself contains quartz stone (boulders moved there) which attracts lightening.  In other words, it is a place of great
electric currency....and I add spiritual energy.

Our guide, Vilan spoke beautiful English. (a real rarity in Laos, even with people in the hospitality trade)
His Father was the man who in the 80's recognized the significance of the site and opened it to tourism.  His Father has a real survival tale being from the royal family (650 years of monarchy ended with Communism).
But, really Vilan's purpose to his Father's legacy is an even deeper one; Mine Removal.
All around this area, are UXO's ; unexploded mine ordinances.
(some of you may remember that i volunteered for CPI , Clearpath International ).  MAG (originally Princess Diana's organization) leads the crusade in mine removal in this area.
Up to now, they have cleared 5%

Therefore the population is still very vulnerable along with all the grazing animals.  All this land....... but very little is used to feed the people or give them the security to use their land.

It was a very difficult day for me.  9 hours of touring, eating something bad at the roadside lunch, or at the Hmong wedding (more later) left me feeling like I had a virus.  I crawled into bed and tried to fend off the remnants of how policy truly affects people, or as it's euphemistically spoken about, "collateral damage".

 travelin' woman

Sumptuous Temples

It's a misnomer to call Buddhism a religion as it is thought of more as a philosophy.  Even though you see representations of the Buddha, he was a man (a prince..... who sought out the truth of the world and how to survive it.... i've written many times about it.... you can refer back to the blog entitled "Borobodur") and not  "God".  This is a philosophy for life and one's own awakening to it and its essential truths.

the images behind the Buddha represent his journey to enlightenment

the fanciful spirit houses

 Part of the attraction for me in visiting Laos (too short a visit!) has been to visit the wats.  They are open to anyone to view, pray and meditate.  One just removes their shoes and for females the shoulders and the knees must be covered.  Each country's temples/wats convey something different.  Sri Lanka's were very austere. Cambodia's were few, because of Communism.  Thailand and Laos' are fanciful and ornate.

the gong

the tree of life, an image all over Laos

As always, the tribute toward the ecclesiastical is reverent and sumptuous.  Whether you are a follower of religion or not; the homage toward it is some of humankind's greatest works of art.

the restoration of a temple

travelin' woman

Gentle Luang Prabang- Laos

Buddhist monks everywhere you look: young men novices

very French -the former  colonist: hence great baguettes

crossing one of the bamboo footbridges in Luang Prabang on the Nam Khan River- to reach some semi-rural villages; good walking

Whereas the trip to the Elephant Conservation Center was filled with tranquility in nature   and the "gentle giants", Ariel and I have returned to Luang Prabang, our first entree into this very small Buddhist country with a low population. (rare for Asia)

My first and continuing impression of this country is how gentle, soft, and timid the Laotian people are.

There is a saying," The Vietnamese people plant the rice, the Cambodian people watch the rice grow and the Laotian people listen  to it."

Monks are everywhere as there are many many temples.  It is part of their education as a male Laotian.  Each boy  comes to a monastery for a minimum of  3 months for their spiritual experience as well as educational.

Even their second largest "city" is a very small, slow and languid kind of experience.  
Set between two rivers, the Mekong and the smaller Nam Khan the waterways are still used for transportation, commerce as well as tourism.  

the entire landscape is gentle.......it's the dry season now...the river's low .. and the roads very dusty!

the long boats for travel ..   down the Mekong...into Thailand....or Vietnam........or rural Laos

Ariel and the woman we bought an offering from .  Ariel and I have been dear friends since 1974; we met at Bennington.

monks are people too (ask me about Sri Lanka?!)

Tuk-tuk

walking along the delightful Mekong River

I felt immediately safe here bicycling around the town as the traffic is tuk-tuks, motorcycles and small busses. Everything is small scale (including the people.)
 Among the population are well-fed and tended dogs, not the usual scrappy and mangy creatures one avoids.

vegan buffet at the night market


 Originally part of the Thai kingdom, the people are comprised of several ethnic groups being the Lu (dominant tribe- Thai origin) Hmong (the highlanders, Chinese features), Khamu (Austro-Asiatic, Magyar features+ very white skin). The range of how people look is broad, but we all agree that the Laotian people are very beautiful.  

The Buddhism they practice is Theravada (as is Sri Lanka,Cambodia +Thailand). The emphasis is 3 teachings: all is impermanent,
life is suffering and there is no "self". It is the oldest form of Buddhism.  This philosophy is deep and quite prescient for the times. I just give a small glimpse into it, but there is so much more.
  

Our days are filled with walking and exploring;easily done.  People are very friendly and still not used to seeing Westerners (not jaded). The rhythm is very slow and the cadence is a nice change from the usual hustle-bustle.  It's hot and the river(s) are always close by to catch a breeze and observe men repairing their fishing nets, painting their boats or children splashing in the rather brown Mekong.
The old city is completely taken over by hotels, inns, guest houses, restaurants, stores and of course temples.   It is the hub of the tourism trade and westerners.  Outside of the old city you are more apt to see Laotian people going about their lives.  It's pretty charming and certainly less impoverished than I witnessed in Cambodia.

young monks playing with the well appreciated Man's Best Friend

well tended garden by the river

travelin' woman