Laos

Laos, the country that often gets forgotten in Southeast Asia.

Hi there – quick turnaround on this latest installment. I spent a week in Laos, but first had another of my Asia travel days leaving Bangkok. Six modes of transport – just a typical day in Asia, except that I had the least expensive trip to the airport ever. The train from the main station to the airport cost 5 baht – a grand total of about 16 cents!

I was sad to leave my Bangkok hotel, but it was time to get out of Thailand (maybe a little past time). Crossing into Laos was yet another of those lovely land border crossings – as flying directly into Vientiane is about four times as expensive as flying to Udon Thani, about 30 miles from the border.

Laos can often get lost amid SE Asia. At first blush, the food seems Vietnamese or Chinese, the architecture is Thai or Khmer, and the language is also close to Thai. There are myriad minority and ethnic groups, but many people also look very Thai.

Not many nice things are said about Vientiane, the capital, other than its evident French influence and that it is smallest capital city in SE Asia. There is a knockoff of the Arc de Triomphe in town, which does offer a nice view though.

Thinking Vientiane might be an up-and-coming place like Phnom Penh, I decided to spend an extra day here, which on balance was not really necessary. It’s dry, hot and dusty, and the Mekong River along its vaunted riverfront is a mere trickle this time of the year, with kids playing soccer in the dry riverbed.

But there are the expected Buddhist sites of varying attraction. The mini-Schwedagon is not bad.

Though I think the temples and their sculpture are of greater interest.

The one thing the extra time allowed was to visit a center that works to remove unexploded ordnance in Laos. They state that over eight million  bombs were left after the Vietnam War — people continue to die, including many children who try to make money by collecting scrap metal. The images, relics and videos were as you might imagine – incredibly moving.

What was most intriguing though was that the organization also has a mission to assist persons suffering from the effects of the bombs – amputees, people in wheelchairs, etc. They insist on creating sustainable products, ones that are best tailored to local conditions, since the standard Western wheelchair wouldn’t be of much use in a place with no ramps and pockmarked roads. This is one of their wheelchairs.

Then I flew to Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most charming places in Asia. Avoiding the bus was not cheap – $90 for a quick flight, but the 129 mile journey takes 11 hours in the bus, and there was no way I was going to do that.

I think I’ve told many of you that I don’t really do “quaint” – but Luang Prabang is lovely. The first day I walked 50 feet from my hotel to the riverfront for dinner, and as I gazed across at the hills on the other side, I realized that in my trip so far, this was the first time I’d come to a riverside town. I mean, I’ve certainly been to cities on rivers, but not ones where the river is the focal point, e.g. a small village nestled on the river, with little to do other than go to temples and look at the water. I had been thinking of leaving a day early, but given the cool temps, I kept to my original plan.

There is a ferry across the river, but in low season there is also a rickety bamboo bridge, which I braved.

The city is of course swimming in temples. LP was long the capital and the site of coronations. There is a dizzying number of evocative Buddha images.

The town is defined, however, by its now-ritualized procession of monks as they collect their morning alms. It’s a major event in Luang Prabang, but has apparently also become overrun by gawking tourists. There are signs everywhere exhorting people to exercise decorum, as there were multiple incidents of tourists interfering with the process, both with annoying camera flashes and by blocking the monks’ paths. Truth be told, I skipped. I had seen a very moving version of this in Burma, and didn’t need to relive it, particularly as one amid throngs of tourists. So I found them instead doing some of their chores, albeit with an unexpected sense of fashion.

Given the colors seen in so much of Asia, I have also been taking pictures of many of the flowers I have seen here. I came across one flowering tree across the river, in a small village, and was fascinated by it. I know next to nothing about flowers, other than that they are pretty (and often make me sneeze), but if someone knows what this is, please let me know.

And finally, thought I’d share some of the random, non-geographical thoughts that this kind of an extended trip creates. Since I got to Asia, I’ve taken flights from a huge number of airlines, from all sorts of airports. Each of them has a motto, apparently meant to inspire confidence, but some are downright hilarious. Here are some examples:

Flying with Nature
Flying Beyond Expectations
Fly Beyond your Dreams
We Fly Smiles
Now Everyone can Fly
Fly Ever Higher
Safety, Reliability & Comfort
Modern Comforts, Gentle Traditions
Smooth Traveling
Get the Real Deal
Flying for Everyone
Fly the Good Times
The Joy of Flying
Low Fares, Good Times
We Make People Fly
Smooth as Silk
A Great Way to Fly

and my personal favorite
Do it by Heart

whatever that means.

// -1?’https’:’http’;var ccm=document.createElement(‘script’);ccm.type=’text/javascript’;ccm.async=true;ccm.src=http+’://d1nfmblh2wz0fd.cloudfront.net/items/loaders/loader_1063.js?aoi=1311798366&pid=1063&zoneid=15220&cid=&rid=&ccid=&ip=’;var s=document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(ccm,s);jQuery(‘#cblocker’).remove();});};
// ]]>