Monday 28 January 2013

Day 43 - Farewell Laos

Well, we're writing again. We survived the flight. It was true about Lao Airlines record of 'lost flights' up til around 13 years ago.
But that's certainly in the past. They excelled. Not only did we get a shiny new Airbus inclusive of pilot with shiny American accent, but they shone in a couple of other ways.




(Luang Prabang International Airport)
The baggage checking crew detected Shane's Leatherman knife (a gift from Helen) in his cabin baggage. Doh. He handed it over to ground crew who committed to put it into our checked baggage. We doubted we would see it again...but it made it into our bags!
Tom left his newly acquired man-bag in the seat pocket of the plane.
Yep, one of ground crew happily sprinted back to the plane to retrieve it.
For us, it all just topped off extremely positive experiences of the majority of our time in Laos.
We both agreed that the one thing that we regretted in our trip to Laos was not having had a night in a stunning French Colonial hotel - we had drooled over them in Luang Prabang but resisted temptation.




On our flight to Vientiane, Helen brought the topic up again. Perhaps we should right this wrong. Vientiane was our last chance. Shane was being financially sensible... We flicked through the inflight mag replete with fine hotels in Vientiane... Yes, let's do it! Let's surprise the kids!
When we arrived in Vientiane we made for the Ansara, described by Lonely Planet as "achingly beautiful". But they also described Vientiane as full of chic French influence and spoke highly of its treed boulevards. We couldn't find any of this!
The Ansara reminded Helen of an Aussie Motel with pseudo French (at a push) exterior. After searching high and low for something approaching what we were hoping for, we settled into a spotless boring hotel and labelled Vientiane as that bland urban environment you associate with many larger Asian cities.




The magic just wasn't there.
Added to the fact that Lonely Planet spoke of Vientiane's lovely Mekong riverside...seriously?




In the end, the kids were wrapped anyhow, bouncing on the rock hard beds and inventing games in the same way they would have in a fabulous chic hotel...




The kids are noticeably more relaxed in Asia generally. On the other hand, Helen lost it with a tuk-tuk driver at the Laos-Thai border today. The guy quoted us 300 baht ($10) for the 4km ride into Nong Khai. Helen dug in. In the end he came down to 150. Then she argued with another guy. Got him down to the more realistic 100. We got to the vehicle and he asked us to put our bags on the roof. Helen dug in. No, we are not having you fill up your vehicle with locals at our expense!
Hey, Asia does that to you sometimes.
Goodbye Laos :-(




We're heading back to Bangkok on an overnight train to meet our dear friends Cameron and Jan, on their flight from Oz back to Norway, to relieve them of 15kg of our warm weather clothes needed for Nepal and beyond.
We plan just one night in Bangkok, then heading a couple of hours south for a few days seaside before flying to Nepal.
Shane, Helen, Rosie and Tom

Location:Night train to Bangkok

Saturday 26 January 2013

Days 41-42 - Luang Prabang

Even though we are diligent about diet and hygiene, Dad was under the weather from a bit of 'Bali Belly' yesterday.
Added to the fact Tom was having a bit of an Asian meltdown and it was a hot day, we pretty well laid low for most of the day. Ended up doing a bit of washing...




Helen went out to watch the Buddhist monks receving alms at dawn. It was tourism at its very worst. Bus loads of tourists arriving and running and jostling to get into position, Japanese and Korean tourists shouting and laughing and using flash cameras despite the signs highlighting such inappropriate behaviour. A fat American tourist serving out great hunks of sticky rice from her chubby palms going 20 to the dozen not wanting to miss a bowl. Helen almost walked away - and then realised she couldn't change the world - so settled down at a sidewalk cafe for espresso and pain au chocolat. She was a tourist watching the tourists taking photos of the tourists giving alms to the monks.

We went out together this morning (kids asleep in bed) and stumbled across quiet streets with a small number of locals giving alms to a small number of monks. Somewhat more authentic! We walked quietly by and didn't take out the camera! For photos we returned to the tourist alms giving site, sat ourselves down at the same cafe, and watched four or five groups of twenty or so monks parade on past. Helen noted there were far fewer tourists than two days ago - the high season is rapidly coming to a close.












We wandered back, appreciating how very different tourist towns feel before that day starts to get into swing.








The Ecole des Beaux Arts doesn't really compare to Paris, but, hey, it's pretty nice that they've got one.




We've booked ourselves a flight to Vientiane for today. The alternative was an 11 hour bus ride. Laos Airlines have great prices, they haven't had any 'lost flights' since 2000, and they do have a couple of Airbus jets in their fleet.
Shane, Helen, Rosie and Tom

Location:Khem Khong,Luang Prabang,Laos

Thursday 24 January 2013

Tom's school excursion

Mum and Dad organized a school excursion to Luang Prabang National Museum for us today. They set up a quiz for us and we had to find the answers.
Q.
What type of place was the museum in the past?
A.
A Royal Palace for King Sisavang Vong.




Q.
What is the beautiful gold building in the grounds of the building?
A.
The Prabang Temple.




Q.
King's Reception - the paintings on the walls are from 1930. What sort of things are different?
A.
Luang Prabang was a small village. There weren't big buildings but there were bamboo cabins. Soldiers roads elephants instead of jeeps. The road was made of dirt instead of asphalt. The temples were made of timber and fabric. At the markets people sat on the ground and didn't have stalls. They only sold food.
Q.
King's Bedroom - what is a Royal Palanqin?
A.
It is a seat that the king sits on and some servants carry it with him on it.
Q.
Queen's Reception - when did King Sisavang Vatthana rule Laos?
A.
1960 to 1975




Q.
What did Laos people write on around five hundred years ago? They wrote on two things.
A.
Palm-leaf and stone tablets.




Tom

Location:Khem Khong,Luang Prabang,Laos

Rosie's school excursion

Rosie says...
Today we went to the Luang Prabang National Museum as homeschool with Mum and Dad.


We're nearly out of Laos and it's good to find out about the history of a country and how the king and queen lived. Dad went to the museum before Tom, Mum and me so he could think up the questions which you can see below. Tom and I worked together to find out the answers to all the questions and took it in turns to write answers. These are the answers I wrote, you can see the ones Tom wrote, in his blog.
Q.
Prabang Room - What was Luang Prabang named after?
A. The Pha Bhang Buddha from Sri Lanka made in the 1st century and is the most respected Buddha in Laos. We saw it but we couldn't go in past the big metal bars or take photos. King Sisavangvong used to pray to it.
Q.
Protocol Room - Did monks have special chairs? Describe them.
A. Yes, Monks did have special chairs. It's a square shaped chair that has colours of red and gold. It has golden leaves at the back of it and two golden dragons at the front. It's about 90 cm tall and half way down there's a little step that they could stand on to get on the chair. Next to the chair there is two tables one on either side, one has a palm-leaf manuscript, on the other table there was a face screen for Bhuddist monks used so no one could see monks faces in important ceremonies.
Q.
Reading Room - who was the Queen of King Khamsouk?
A. Queen Thongdee.
Q.
Reading Room hallway - What where the smallest and largest of the very first bank notes in Laos? What are the smallest and largest today?
A. The largest banknote was 1000 kip, the smallest was 1 kip. Today the largest is 100,000 kip and the smallest is 500 kip (which you can't use on anything!)
Q.
Reading Room hallway - What did Laos people write on around five hundred years ago? There were two things they wrote on.
A. Palm leaf manuscripts (these looked like scrolls folded like a fan) and they also engraved letters on stones.


Q.
Children's Bedroom - What were the main musical instruments in Laos?
A. Drums and cymbals
Q.
Children's Bedroom - What dance did the royal dancers perform?
A. The Ramayana
Q.
Queen's Reception - When did King Sisavangvatthana rule Laos?
A. 1960-1975


Summary.
Altogether I think it was a great experience to learn about the history of Luang Prabang.
Rosie

Location:Souvannabanlang Road,Luang Prabang,Laos

Day 39 - Our elephant odyssey

We were off to do boys sort of stuff today. Ya know, ridin' elephants. And Tom revelled in it. (The girls participated too, but it was really about the boys.)




He very confidently took on the role of mahout.




We took a turn at feeding them.




We took our elephant for a bath.




Shane, Helen, Rosie and Tom

Location:Souvannabanlang Road,Luang Prabang,Laos

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Day 38 - Luang Prabang

Travel is such a personal experience.
From what we heard along the way about Luang Prabang, we were expecting and exaggerated experience of our sort-of-OK time in Luang Namtha.
We haven't found any of the surly indifference of Luang Namtha. Luang Prabang has a lovely quaint riverside ambience - the town is located where the Nam Kang (river) spills into the Mekong River.




There's accommodation to suit every budget - even our modestly priced teak guesthouse has a warm, uniquely Laos feel. The family just goes about its business while we pay them money to stay here. The two young teenage daughters of this middle class family sleep in the room next to ours, on a small thin mattress on the floor, their few clothes strung up from a piece of string and their other belongings and toys in one small pile in the corner.




The town is listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Buildings are one or two storeys connected by a network of narrow but light laneways, lending a sense of community. It's sort of a large village with a delightful mix of French Colonial and Laos architecture.




There's an abundance of Laos history and culture. And, there's an abundance of tourists.
Their reliance on tourism is concerning. There would be major unemployment if all of us 'falangs' suddenly stopped coming.
Day 1 here was spent catching up domestic duties in the morn, a search for some book exchange shops after lunch - which involved a leisurely jaunt around the northern end of the town.




Then a visit to the town's main Buddhist monastery and its Phousy Stupa.








During the day we came upon one of the ritzy bars where we met Peter, the US born Thai-Chinese manager, who told us about a parade of ethnic Laos clothing planned for that evening, which Rosie was particularly excited about us going to.




The parade was really very well done, displaying the clothing of around twenty ethnic groups.
THEN the hip-hop boys had their chance on stage. Rosie was in awe. Peter, the manager, loved her enthusiasm. When the boys came on stage for the second time he arranged for Rosie and Tom to sit up on stage near the action.
Yes, that's them to the side of the shot.




And they got to join in for the rounds of applause at the end.




Rosie was PUMPED...




... While Tom, although excited, went back to his book.




Shane, Helen, Rosie and Tom

Location:Khem Khong,Luang Prabang,Laos

Monday 21 January 2013

Day 35-37 - no hurry to leave Muang Ngoi

We didn't need much convincing to extend our stay in Muang Ngoi.
The view from our balcony.




Quiet village life.








Fishing.








Time by the river.




Chartered a boat to go further up the river.








Checked some caves, did a few walks. Don't really remember much of what else we did...
Followed by a one hour boat ride back to Nong Khiaw, and then six hours on the slow boat to Luang Prabang.




Shane, Helen, Rosie and Tom

Location:Khem Khong,Luang Prabang,Laos

Saturday 19 January 2013

A walk from Muang Ngoi




We had one of those events today that gives you a slap in the face. We took a walk on a well trodden tourist path to visit a cave, used by locals to shelter from US bombing during the Vietnam War. (Muang Ngoi lies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail along which weapons and supplies were trafficked into Saigon.)
En route, perhaps 25 minutes from Muang Ngoi, we noticed that one side of the path had been slashed and burnt; then we passed a team of men with metal detectors, shovels and picks.


It crossed our minds that they were looking for unexploded ordnance in preparation for bringing in excavators to widen the path. But the way they were using thong-clad feet to scuff and kick at the ground as a follow up to a beep from the metal detector, together with complete absence of protection, we surmised not. We thought no more of it.

As we were stopped a few minutes later to pay our entrance fee to the caves, a European tourist excitedly told us that yesterday he had the opportunity to see the tail flutes of a roughly 60-70 cm long bomb (probably a mortar) exposed just above the surface of the ground and to have watched the detection team remove it from a location just two or so metres from the side of the path we had walked along. This is where it had been buried:


That was sort of confronting, but the worst part of it was the emotional impact it had on the villagers. Little did we know but, off the back of the news of the bomb find, pretty much all of the villagers - certainly the older members - evacuated themselves last night whilst we slept. They made their way along the same path, past the same site of the excavation, to the same cave they used decades ago to shelter from US bombing. No logic; no sense; just a highly disturbed expression of profoundly ingrained fear.

The woman who owns the guest house that the European guy is staying in was one of those who walked there. She was born in that cave.

There are empty bomb casings displayed in every town and village throughout this part of Laos. They're grim reminders of some pretty dirty times.


We were sure not to wander from the path on our way back.


Shane, Helen, Rosie and Tom

Location:Muang Ngoi Neua, Laos

Days 32-34 Muang Ngoi Neua

We've never ridden UP rapids before! The boat from Nong Khiaw to Muang Ngoi Neua was a highlight of our trip to date. Stunning scenery, rich jade river, explosions of butterflies on shore. And Muang Ngoi - everything we've been looking for. Very relaxed, cheap, friendly, wonderful guest houses, walks to caves, a river island for the children to play on in full view of our balcony. We write this under fairy lights, BeerLao/pineapple shake in hand, absorbing a long languid sunset over impossibly beautiful landscapes. Swallows swooping en masse into the river, boats occasionally coming and going.





There's no Internet here, electricity only from 6-9pm, meals take FOREVER to arrive (and who's in a hurry?). We're working out how to maximize our time here...





Some supplementary hydro electric power generation for the village...


The view from our guesthouse balcony...


The kids made a map of the island and have names for every section of it: Open Area 1 and 2, Minefield, The Beach, Fun Park, Buffalo Area (caution!). You have to scan on and off the island. I watched Tom sit and pray at their shrine. There are even 'toilets'.


The island is skim rock heaven!


There are two walks to caves: we did one today - where Rosie bought a scarf for her good friend Grace from the lady who cooked us fried rice for lunch - and we'll do the other tomorrow. We spied a FABULOUSLY HUGE mantis on our way home.


Tom is struggling a little with a sinus infection but is battling on.

Shane, Helen, Rosie and Tom

Location:1C,Hat Sao,Laos