Vientiane, Laos

The last real stay of our trip is the capital of Laos. I knew before booking this stop that there was not much to recommend it as a city destination. Luang Prabang is the place to go in Laos because of its beauty. Vientiane serves as the capital and is functional but not beautiful. Circumstances of the trip began to dictate this choice. Originally I wanted to spend time exploring the beauty of Laos’ natural landscape. It’s so gorgeously green and unspoiled. August is, however, the rainy season and it rains some everyday. While we were in Luang Prabang, it stormed resulting in mudslides downriver that washed out small farms and trees. Laos suffers from deforestation. To help boost its economy, the government cuts lots of trees and sends the lumber to Vietnam where they make furniture. As a result after the strong rains, all kinds of debris floated down the Mekong River in Luang Prabang.

Everyone spent the day watching it with some workers trying to retrieve bamboo and tree limbs for use. The Lao people use wood to cook. Every shop and home has a small pot over a wood fire in front . For us, the end result of the August rains was a change in travel plans. Rivers and roads could not be counted on. The roads in Laos are bad anyway. Our hotel owners told us some of their guests had gotten delayed coming back from a car trip further north because the road was impassable. We were interested in natural protected areas in northern Laos, but decided going south was a better option. We had to make our final departure plane in Bangkok in less than a week. First we planned to hire a car to drive us from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng and then onto Vientiane along a beautiful stretch of highway. Then we find out Route 13 was closed because of fallen trees and that it would take days to unblock it. With the help of our Belle Rive staff, we ended up flying from Luang Prabang to Vientiane: the result being three nights in Vientiane before flying to Bangkok. Airports always divulge the economic status of a country. Laos is poor and we knew we were in a third world country. We never felt this way in Thailand or Vietnam. In Cambodia and Laos, we did. That’s not to say we were afraid, far from it. A nice young man from the hotel Ansara met us. He spoke virtually no English. Few Lao do. Wait people know the basics related to food service. If I asked them how they were, they didn’t know what I was talking about. The Lao people we came in contact with were very timid and therefore didn’t seem friendly. The Vietnamese always wanted to ask us questions and engage. The Lao lacked confidence or interest. We found that over time they became very warm. We have pictures of the staff in Luang Prabang because we were there for six nights.

Vientiane was by in large not an attractive city. It was hot, dusty, and torn up. Much construction was taking place. It was as if the city was having an identity crisis. It will host the huge Europe-Asia conference in November and needs more hotels. Infrastructure all over Laos is a problem. Vientiane wants to look like a world capital worthy of international dignitaries. We could tell that international investments underlined much of the building. They are building a new mall, a plaza with fountains, and office space. All of the architecture is modern and could be anywhere. The city lacks character. There are lots of good reasons for this, mainly historical. During the Vietnam War, Laos was ravaged. In what was called “the silent war” in Laos, the US dropped two million dollars’ worth of bombs a day for nine years. This knowledge alone made it difficult to go to Laos. Yet this is the country that took my heart. The land is extravagantly green and overgrown. The people are small, most of them are shorter that I am and a third my size. This is true of both men and women. They are extremely small. Most of them are young, born way after the war. Education is a problem and they are trying to keep up with their Southeast Asian neighbors. This is the only country where the novice monks stopped us to initiate a conversation in English. They take an hour of English a week, an HOUR, and also take an hour of Chinese. They viewed American tourists as an opportunity to practice their English. One told Tom he looked like Bill Gates and that he wanted to be a computer programmer. These ambitions did not fit my images of a monk. Being a monk is the only opportunity for them to go to school. I found it interesting that young monks would initiate English conversations with us, but the Lao people in tourism were intimidated. Although on the whole, the temples, wats, and sites in Vientiane were not as beautiful as in other places, we found two exceptions: the Patuxai, or Victory Monument, and Wat Si Saket. Built in 1969 with cement donated by the US for a new airport, the Victory Monument, commemorating the Lao who died in prerevolutionary wars, appears to be Vientiane’s Arc de Triomphe.

It comes off as Lao’s attempt at a grand monument with surrounding plaza and boulevard. However, what surrounds it is disappointing. Tom and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Wat Si Saket. We have seen a lot of wats and experienced a lot of heat at this point, but were both fascinated by this oldest of temples in Laos. What gives it distinction is the number of Buddhas. The cloister around the wat houses around two hundred sitting or standing Buddhas, all rescued by monks from other places. Small niches carved into both the cloistered wall and the temple walls hold tiny ceramic images of Buddha that end up conveying an intricate background pattern.

When we were leaving Vientiane, I told Tom that I bet if we ever returned to Vientiane, it would be a different city.

Luang Prabang, Laos

Since first committing to the Study Abroad Program in Thailand, I knew I also wanted to go to Luang Prabang, Laos. Reading about the old capital in travel magazines made it so appealing to me. Now that we are here, I have all the romantic images in my head confirmed. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the old city is maintained. The architecture of French colonial villas mingled with Buddhist temples and wats makes for a stunning fusion of East and West. The old town sits on a peninsula formed by the convergence of the Nam Khan river with the more well-known Mekong River.

Our hotel named the Belle Rive faces the Mekong River so our room looks out through palm trees and out onto the passing river. Each morning we sit at a wooden table on the hotel's narrow front porch, eat warm baquettes, butter, jam, eggs, and mangoes, drink small pots of wonderful Lao coffee, and watch Lao people pedal by on bikes and tuk-tuks park on the small street.

We also sit across the street at the hotel's cafe and watch the sunset over the Mekong while drinking Beerlao and Chilean red wine. We love this spot. It's the perfect place to spend time when you have been traveling a long time and want to surrender to another way of life. We have lost all tourist motivation to go see things.

The one thing we did do was wake up before 6am to see the procession of monks. For those of you who know me well, waking up early is a big deal, so you know I was highly motivated. Luang Prabang hosts many novice monks who come to school and live at the temples. Most Lao boys serve as a monk for a period of time. It is a way for poor families to send their sons to school. These boys and young men wearing saffron-colored robes with yellow sashes and handwoven shoulder bags are a common sight throughout the town. They often have umbrellas and walk in groups. Every morning they ritualistically emerge from their wats in single file and walk the street carrying rice bowls in their handwoven bags. Lao people, primarily woman, kneel on the sidewalk with woven baskets or bowls of sticky rice, from which they give a scoop to each pausing monk. This is the monk's food for the day. The whole stream of monks pass silently. The only sound is that of tourists' cameras.

The Lao people are very kind and somewhat timid, but we have made friends with the wait staff at Belle Rive. They work seven days a week. Most of them come from villages outside of Luang Prabang and live with friends or other family here. One day the whole staff (kitchen, reception, waitpeople) had a meeting all day under the awning by the river. The next morning Tom asked the lovely young woman who brings us breakfast what she learned at her meeting. She paused and grinned widely, saying, "to work."

We celebrated our 19th anniversary in this magical spot and have loved our time here.

Intrepid

Tom and I have had three adventures that I would call "intrepid." The first was the wonderful, yet muddy hike we took in Thailand on the hill tribe visit along a river and through rice paddies. The second was in the national park on Koh Lanta, the gorgeous island. We hiked through the jungle led by a sign that said it was a two hour hike. After 30 minutes of nothing but uphill 24 inch steps in the tropical heat, I was completely wet and unenthusiastic. I kept being lured by images of beautiful sea beaches. At several places the trail was blocked by fallen trees and other organic debris or a bridge was cobbled together with limbs.

After an hour the trail ended on the small road that we came from. No views, no payoff. Still I felt at the height of intrepidness yet very pleased it was over. Our third and last planned adventure came on Saturday in Nong Khiaw, Laos. After loving Luang Prabang and soaking up its ambiance for four days, we thought it was time to try a boat on the Mekong River. We had nothing planned and found getting information very difficult, unlike Thailand. It was hard to make a plan because it was the rainy season and the river got filled with floating debris from mudslides downstream. Most of the townspeople were on the riverbanks staring out at men in the water who were trying to safeguard their boats. Everyone was mesmerized. After formulating a travel plan and going online to make reservations with hotels or airlines, we would find out new information, such as the only road to Vang Vieng and onto Vientiane was blocked because of the storm. We had to make airline reservations to fly from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, the capitol, so then we could fly to Bangkok to make our departure flight. All of this led to a decision to hire a car to drive us north to Nong Khiaw and then take a boat up river to Muang Ngoi Neau. Our driver spoke no English, but understood "toilet" and also stopped at a Hmong village along the way. The car ride to Nong Khiaw was in place of an eight hour boat ride and we still got to see most of the scenery. We stayed at Nong Khiaw River Side Rooms, which was rated the best by Lonely Planet. Our bungalow was perched on stilts above the river with gorgeous karsts straight ahead. An absolutely gorgeous spot.

Our room had a mosquito net over the bed and a ceiling fan, with windows with no screens. The bathroom had a no-flush, eco-toilet (which promotes constipation).

The room was unbelievably hot during the day. We asked the Dutch guy who is the manager if there were any portable rotating fans. Some air movement was going to be essential for me. He asked if the ceiling fan was not working; we said yes. He said they had no other fans. I asked if there was a place to buy one. I am not proud of myself, but I was desperate at the thought of there being no way to escape the heat. Fortunately,it did cool down at night because the ceiling fan did not penetrate the mosquito net very well. I know I am writing about intrepidness, but .... We hired a long boat to take us to Muang Ngoi Neua about an hour a way along a beautiful river route. The water is muddy but the rising karsts are so incredibly green. Bright, bright green. Mountain rice is also growing. The vegetation is jungly. I think the water is shallow; there were no life jackets.

Some people kayak with adventure companies in this area, but again it is not high season. Our driver has his mother on board. He introduced her as "mama"; she looked to be about 90 and was belching and smiling and eating seeds. She sat behind us and as soon as we took off, she lay down on the bottom of the boat for a nap.

At one point she called out and the boat pulled ashore. Suddenly two young girls came down to the muddy bank and helped her unload her packages. She must have been supplying a small store. Lots of Beerlao. We passed several fisherman along the way and made another stop to drop off cardboard packages and about 48 eggs, and ... Beerlao. Our destination was actually a very poor small muddy village, Muang Ngoi Neua, in a beautiful area.

There is no access by car, only boat. The rural Lao know nothing about promoting tourism, yet they have gorgeous natural beauty all around them. The women have looms and do embroidery but no one is selling anything. We came across a coffee shop and three guys were sitting around with one Lao hippie playing the guitar. He spoke good English and asked us where we were from. When we told him California, he started playing "Hotel California." They were drinking Lao Lao, local whiskey, and offered us some. I told him it was too early and he said that their customs were different. We tried to walk to a local cave about an hour away but turned around after thirty minutes of mud crawling through pastures and dung laden paths. We saw rice paddies and pretty views. We returned to the village for lunch of curried pumpkin and chicken. The whole trip was about the boat ride there and back. We passed some kayakers who turned over in the rapids. They were fine, but our trip was intrepid enough for me.

Things That I am Tired of.... (Carol) Whenever you are away from home as long as we have been (June 11th), you can get tired of traveling. This is true no matter how much you may love a country, such as Thailand and its people. So now I am going to list what I am tired of.... I am tired of rice. I love rice but not three times a day. It also has a bad effect on the system that I did not anticipate. One of the students had such a problem, we had to take her to the hospital clinic. We heard later that there was a great celebration in the student hallway when she got relief. I have always loved Thai food, but I am tired of it. Tom and I have been craving salads and ever since we arrived at this island resort that caters to tourists, we have eaten salads and wraps with salad inside. The wait people seem disappointed and ask us if we are going to eat Thai food. I tell them we love Thai food, but I'm not sure how to tell them that we have eaten it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for almost two months and are tired of it. Also the Thai people want you to eat everything spicy because they love spicy food. The further south you go the spicier the food gets. I am tired of always saying, "Not too spicy." They look crestfallen, but it is so easy to turn permanently red and sweat. Which brings me to...I am tired of sweating. I sweat every day, copious amounts. Some days are worse than others. Showers are wonderful and also hopeless. I am tired of washing my underwear by hand. I got so far behind that I made a bathtub full of dirty laundry.

I would not let Tom spend $2 on each pair of underwear. At the student hotels the laundry was very cheap and nicely done. I still can't pay someone else to wash my delicates and knit shirts. So I miss my washing machine. Who would have thought! I am tired of crappy internet service. Actually Tom got more exasperated than I did. The university student hotels where we stayed for six weeks had lousy internet service. In Bangkok, I had to go sit in an un-air-conditioned hall to get online(another opportunity to sweat); then we would try to back into the room to keep connected, which seldom worked, but we kept the computer dance going. I am tired of Thai paper napkins. Each table has a tiny box with tissues smaller and thinner than kleenex. They do nothing so you end up using 25 of them for a single mouth wipe. It is so wasteful.

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

The students were mostly a great bunch. We had a really nice farewell dinner at a restaurant nearby. We ate and then took lots of pictures.

Some were going out for a drink on the last night together and we might have gone along except they like to start the party around 11 - waay too late for me. And then ---Carol was embroiled in a drama last night when one of the students had not returned to the hotel by the time she was to leave for the airport at 4:30 AM. I voted to go back to bed and let her call her parents and explain why she needed to reschedule her flight home, but Carol and the other adults were more sympathetic. When the student stumbled back in not knowing what time it was, the Thai University liaison went way above the call of duty, called a taxi, rode with her to the airport, walked her through the ticketing process and escorted her to the immigration line. We are all concerned that the girl learned nothing from the event. After six weeks of "youth hostel" accommodations, we are ready to up scale a bit. Out of the University Hotel and into the Shangri-La. Soooooo nice. We have a very nice room on the 15th floor overlooking the river. We were able to check in early - around noon and have enjoyed an afternoon of luxury. Comfy bed, beautiful view, lots of hot water and it is clean to boot. Hard to beat.

It is nice to be in a completely different place and responsible for no one but ourselves. We plan to relax and have a comfy place for Carol to grade papers and then on to the famous beaches of Thailand.

Bangkok

Ya know - there are a lot of people in Bangkok. I must say - I am a little tired of the crowds. Yesterday, I walked down to the river and took a river taxi almost to the end of the line. When the taxis get to a dock - it stops only long enough to get on or off if you move rather quickly. I witnessed a couple of people jump back to the dock because all of the members of their group did not make it on. I got off the boat close to a Skytrain station and took that around that part of the town. I exited at Victory Monument and the good old #28 bus delivered me back to the entrance of the University. That whole trip around town using public transportation cost me a total of about 40 Baht or $1.35. If you are willing to put up with the crowds, it is a great way to travel and you can generally by-pass most of the traffic jams and incredibly long stop lights. If you want to go the more expensive route, you can get an air-conditioned taxi. However, in a taxi, especially during rush hours, you can end up sitting at a complete stand-still for 10 minutes or more. The University is situated in an area of Bangkok that is not conducive to walking around or exploring - so in order to go anywhere or see anything - you are thrust into the sea of humanity. The program ends on Friday and on Saturday Carol and I are checking into the Shangri-La Hotel right on the water. We will be steps from the Skytrain and water taxi and I am confident that we will have a much different experience for a few days. On Monday, we are going to Koh Lanta, one of the Thai beach islands. Then, the vacation part of our trip can start for Carol. A few days resting in a hammock looking out onto the blue water and sipping fru fru drinks or beer should set us up for more exciting adventures. We will keep you posted.

Three Days in Cambodia

Siem Reap and the ancient temples are magical. Cambodia has realized that they have a major tourist attraction and they are doing everything they can to make it a prime location for tour groups. In order to travel near the temples, you must have a ticket - good for three or seven days. You stand in line, pay the fee, they take your picture and present you with a personalized ticket. There are many check points on the road and entering each temple area where a guard checks the tickets carefully to be sure that your picture matches your face. They are serious about it being non-transferable. The hotel was a real dump but we weren't there very long so what the hell. We had a great guide for the three days and saw nine different temple ruins in our three days. One might think that it must have been boringly repetitive but it was amazing how different they all were. Angkor Wat was huge, partially restored and very impressive.

We also saw the wat that is being reclaimed by the trees.

And - the "faces" wat.

We have all seen these images in pictures and in movies but actually being there was absolutely incredible. I loves every minute - even being hot, tired, sweaty and over-scheduled. Back to Bangkok. - The students are exhausted but hanging in there - Carol and I doing rather well especially considering that we are about 40 years older that the students.