Laos Chaos (far from it)

Going to Laos from Vietnam was a welcome transition. We could take a breather from the commercial assertiveness of the Vietnamese on the tourist trail and enjoy the laid back attitude of the Laotians. Culturally, the Laotians are very similar to the Thais (their languages are almost the same — thus, we could say that we were equally ignorant of Thai AND Lao, which though unrelated to Vietnamese, have just as many or more tones), while the governing philosophy is closer to the Vietnamese.

1998

(New Year's Eve was not observed by us.)

Vientiane

The smallest, and by the far the most pleasant, Asian capital city we've ever been to (pop. 160,000), was suffering from constructionitus. It had to happen, the roads had to be paved and sewage pipes replaced one day, we suppose, but we could have done without the resulting dust. Dust was a major culprit in H getting sick twice, once with sinusitis, and another time with some stomach disorder, quickly and violently resolved. (Now, everyone should say: aaaaaaaaw, poor thing.)

You Want Me To Fly In That?

We flew to Luang Prabang, also on Laotian Airways. The propeller planes were old Russian or Chinese models but they worked and we were also relieved to see that Luang Prabang had finished building their control tower.

Luang Prabang

Shangri-la is no longer in Tibet. It is in the former royal capital of Laos, called Luang Prabang. (Don't ask what happened to the royal family.) A town of 16,000 people, its major industries are Buddhism and tourism. Tourism is newer than Buddhism of course, and the temples ("wats") far outnumber the hotels and guest houses. We saw perhaps five of the thirty-three wats, and snapped two roles of film at the most beautiful one.

The Matchbook Famous Artists School

We went to the riverside, found a boat to take us to the caves and precariously made our way across a skinny plank over the mud and into the boat. The boatman's wife was aboard and neither she nor her husband spoke English, so we were left to our thoughts. The boat was long and narrow. There was a cabin in the front, where the man steered the boat (he did this carefully - the Mekong river, which is one of the longest rivers in the world, seemed a bit like the Mississippi - lots of sand banks and rocks to avoid). Then there was the passenger section and after that the engine in the back of the boat, to which the wife and daughter were banished. We made a stop at their village of origin and then went on to the Pak Ou caves, which were filled with thousands of Buddha statues. On the way back we stopped at a village. We were expecting to be accosted by lots of kids wanting to sell us something, but we were completely ignored by the villagers. It was so nice! The boatman's little girl, who looked to be about 7 years old, had joined us on the boat after one of the stops. She appeared to be very shy. No English or French, and we no Laotian. So W took out an elephant postcard and began to draw an elephant on the other side. The girl's curiosity overwhelmed her and she couldn't help but look over his shoulder. Eventually we got her to copy some pictures and enhance ours. Who needs language lessons?

Cross-Cultural Conversations in the Buff

Besides wat (defined as a Buddhist temple complex inhabited by monks) touring and boating, the thing to do in Laos was take an herbal steambatH Wonderful for a sinus cold. We found it to be quite the communal experience. Crammed together in the steam cubicles - one for men and one for women of course - was an interesting mix of Laotians and foreigners, all wearing lungies and sweating profusely.

UFOs (Unidentified Floating Objects)

Our second excursion from Vientiane was to an"ecotourist" resort called"Lao Pako," a camp in a former logging forest started by a German ex-pat. It was wonderful to have a bungalow overlooking a large river and hear hooting jungle noises. [It reminded W of his stay in Peruvian Amazonia.] Upon arrival (one hour dusty bus ride, half hour motorized canoe ride) we were greeted by a snake with a colorful red neck slithering across the sandy steps. The management encouraged us to hike and swim. Indeed there were ex-pat Swedish families doing the same. So we took the available inner tubes and went in. We soon found that the current was stronger than it looked. One easily glided down river, but the best swimming strokes only kept you in the same place. We decided to take the matter seriously and thrashed over to various branches, which were sticking out of the river bank. From branch to branch we could probably have made it back 100 more yards (with a lot of effort), but fortunately the Laotians shouted down at us from the restaurant above to give up and float down to another staircase which we had not seen. We decided not to swim again, not because of the current, but because of the sewage we had seen floating by us while we were in the water.

Harmoney

Upon returning to Vientiane, we availed ourselves of some of the beautiful fabrics, which are made in Laos. Purchasing these woven wonders involved nothing but the gentlest of bargaining sessions. Fortunately, we had run out of cash by that time, and so did not spend too much.

Ms. Saigon

We were once again met at the airport by a gungho female employee of the Blue Sky Hotel - it was almost like coming home. W bounded forth to his former discovery, the best patisserie in Saigon, and had tea and pain au chocolat. We had a quiet few days, mostly off the tourist trail, punctuated by a visit to the zoo, where we witnessed some burley German circus trainers training Saigon's captive elephants who were rewarded with a bulging bounty of bananas. The bunches of bananas were devoured, stems, peels and all by the elephants simultaneously.

Occidental Assurance

We went at a good time because Vietnam and Laos have developed sufficiently to provide the basic creature comforts and infrastructure for civilized travel but without the flip side of over-development - pollution, congestion, high prices and complacency.