Nikki Lau PDR
When I last emailed you, I was about to go leave Bangkok for Laos (the Lao People's Democratic Republic, i.e. Communist!). That evening, I got on the evening train to Nong Kai in the north east of Thailand. It was quite a pleasant journey, the second class sleeper being reasonably comfortable even though you're always aware that you're on a train...
The next morning, on arrival I got a shared tuk tuk to the Thai border, on the south side of the Mekong river, then got a bus across 'Friendship Bridge' to Lao immigration. Having obtained my visa ($30 + a $1 surcharge for Sundays!) and filled in all the tedious forms, I was in. To get into Vientiane itself (the capital of Lao) I took a taxi - not only was the Toyota very old (no front seat belts!) it also had the steering wheel on the wrong side!
Vientiane is quite a pleasant place. For a capital city, it's remarkably quiet, the traffic is moderate and slow, and it's an easy place to walk around. Being a former French colony, there's a lot of French bread around too! A baguette sandwich for lunch made a pleasant change. They also have their own ugly version of the Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe too, though this is untypical of their architecture, some of which is French colonial. That Louang is their national symbol (in the background of the 2nd photo)
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=a27ascd&.dnm=82acscd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=a27ascd&.dnm=354dscd.jpg&.src=ph
Being on the Mekong, Vientiane has some very attractive sunsets. It is common for crowds to gather by the riverfront, eating snacks and drinking the decent national brew Beer Lao. It was while leaning over that my chair toppled over and I ended up on the ground, where I rolled over the edge into a bush! Nice photos though! (I suffer for my art)
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=a27ascd&.dnm=e204scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=a27ascd&.dnm=3badscd.jpg&.src=ph
The National Museum is interesting, mainly for it's photos and exhibits on the various Indochina wars, and the Communist administration that took over post 1975. Lao was heavily bombed by the US during the Vietnam war, largely out of the eye of the outside world, 580,944 sorties dropping 2,093,100 tons of bombs!!! The museum reflects this suffering, but also goes for the standard Marxist 'victory for the proletariat' type of lingo, with lots of red flags and hammer and sickles. They stil have a polit bureau and 5 year plans, and yet...private businesses are everywhere, and all major bills (the visa, hotel, many restaurants etc) are charged in US dollars...My final evening I drew out some 'Kip' from an ATM (they've just arrived) and enjoyed a beautiful French meal (delicious beef casserole with lots of fresh french bread followed by a scrummy chocolate pudding) washed down by a couple of glasses of vin rouge. It's a hard life...
The next day I flew to World Heritage site Louang Phabang the cultural and (former) royal capital, on their national airline Lao Airlines. London, New York, Tokyo and Sydney are 4 of the destinations that Lao don't fly to, they have a tiny fleet, and have had a ropey safety record in the past. I made sure I was in one of their western planes (their also have some Chinese aircraft) as these seem to be ok... Vientiane airport was agreeably old fashioned, my bag was weighed on a set of scales, then carried out the back, while there seemed to be more people doing the hand luggage screens than in the whole of Gatwick airport!
The flight was uneventful, and I was soon exploring a new Lao city, further up the Mekong river. Louang is very attractive, having lots of narrow streets with Buddhist monasteries, and stylish colonial architecture. The former Royal palace (they were exiled in 1977 to a remote province and subsequently died) is now an attractive museum. Wat Xiang Thong dates from 1560.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=4e4bscd&.dnm=4ae9scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=7fdcscd.jpg&.src=ph
In the centre of the town is Phou Si (sacred hill), climbing this is an essential part of a visit here, but it was hot!!! Sweat was pouring off my face by the time I reached the top - I've been in temperatures averaging 35 degrees for several weeks now, but it still is painful! June is the hot season around here fading into the wet season. As a result of this, not many tourists tend to come here during this time. Louang clearly is gearing itself to tourists, but in the off season, is very quiet. My guest house was empty, most restaurants and cafes had hardly any customers, and the large tourist night market selling handicrafts had a lot more stalls than customers...
I went to a cultural show and dinner one evening. Until 2 other people turned up just before it started, I was the only one there! The show was enjoyable, slightly amateurish, but in an endearing way, and the food was interesting and in vast proportions! (I guess they had hoped more people would turn up). The 2 women on the other table had a lucky escape, when the overloaded boat they were riding in up river hit a rock and sank, the 11 (foreign) passengers on board swimming to an island in the middle of the Mekong, a reminder of the lax safety standards in these parts...
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=de8bscd.jpg&.src=ph
For a change of scenery, I took a private trip out to see a couple of hill tribes. On the way we visited a pineapple farm. I did my "Man from Del Monte" taste test and was happy to say yeh! Unlike farms geared up to foreign supermarkets or canners, the pineapples here are simply picked as required when ripe, and taken into town for sale. They are delicious, though I left the fruit I was given to the guest house staff, a bit big to eat on my own!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=8df3scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=9f9bscd.jpg&.src=ph
Other things are brought into town also, below are pigs being driven up the steps from the riverbank!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=a01ascd.jpg&.src=ph
Moving on up the dirt road we reached some hill tribe villages, several of the Khmu people (they settled here before the Lau people, and are from Cambodia) and one of the Hmong (who left Mongolia for warmer climes). The Hmong have animist beliefs, and still use a Shaman to ward off evil spirits. They live on the ground, whereas the Khmu people who came from river areas live in stilt houses. It was interesting how different houses could be in a village, those with more money had much nicer places than the poorer people. I was surprised how many stares and puzzled looks I got from the children, and even some of the adults, clearly they see very few foreign visitors, by comparison with say Thailand's Hill Tribes.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=f19bscd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=c7cascd.jpg&.src=ph
While in Louang I went out of my way to try some of the Lao cuisine, which was quite interesting. Examples include :-
Bamboo stuffed with pork
Laap, a spicy mixture of meat or fish (can be raw or cooked, the latter in my case!) with greens, herbs and spices
Spicy papaya salad
A strange dried crispy weed!
This is eaten with sticky rice (rolled up in balls and eaten with the hand)
Despite all this (I know you shouldn't eat salad in such countries!) I survived, without too much subsequent discomfort, though I always carried a toilet roll with me, just in case!
I was quite sorry to leave Lao, I liked the people and the country, despite the real poverty that exists (outside of Vientiane and Louang). Hopefully, the communist regime will let democracy in, and many of the exiles will return, as many of Lao's best people have left, or were forced out. A few images to sum up the country
Protection for motorcyclists. Sun protection that is...
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=5b39scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=1c60scd.jpg&.src=ph
View of Louang Phabang from Phou Si
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=4e4bscd&.dnm=731bscd.jpg&.src=ph
And finally, a balanced diet, pineapple and beer! That's a 640ml bottle for info, not a tiny pineapple...
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=2e2fscd.jpg&.src=ph
Mike
The next morning, on arrival I got a shared tuk tuk to the Thai border, on the south side of the Mekong river, then got a bus across 'Friendship Bridge' to Lao immigration. Having obtained my visa ($30 + a $1 surcharge for Sundays!) and filled in all the tedious forms, I was in. To get into Vientiane itself (the capital of Lao) I took a taxi - not only was the Toyota very old (no front seat belts!) it also had the steering wheel on the wrong side!
Vientiane is quite a pleasant place. For a capital city, it's remarkably quiet, the traffic is moderate and slow, and it's an easy place to walk around. Being a former French colony, there's a lot of French bread around too! A baguette sandwich for lunch made a pleasant change. They also have their own ugly version of the Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe too, though this is untypical of their architecture, some of which is French colonial. That Louang is their national symbol (in the background of the 2nd photo)
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=a27ascd&.dnm=82acscd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=a27ascd&.dnm=354dscd.jpg&.src=ph
Being on the Mekong, Vientiane has some very attractive sunsets. It is common for crowds to gather by the riverfront, eating snacks and drinking the decent national brew Beer Lao. It was while leaning over that my chair toppled over and I ended up on the ground, where I rolled over the edge into a bush! Nice photos though! (I suffer for my art)
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=a27ascd&.dnm=e204scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=a27ascd&.dnm=3badscd.jpg&.src=ph
The National Museum is interesting, mainly for it's photos and exhibits on the various Indochina wars, and the Communist administration that took over post 1975. Lao was heavily bombed by the US during the Vietnam war, largely out of the eye of the outside world, 580,944 sorties dropping 2,093,100 tons of bombs!!! The museum reflects this suffering, but also goes for the standard Marxist 'victory for the proletariat' type of lingo, with lots of red flags and hammer and sickles. They stil have a polit bureau and 5 year plans, and yet...private businesses are everywhere, and all major bills (the visa, hotel, many restaurants etc) are charged in US dollars...My final evening I drew out some 'Kip' from an ATM (they've just arrived) and enjoyed a beautiful French meal (delicious beef casserole with lots of fresh french bread followed by a scrummy chocolate pudding) washed down by a couple of glasses of vin rouge. It's a hard life...
The next day I flew to World Heritage site Louang Phabang the cultural and (former) royal capital, on their national airline Lao Airlines. London, New York, Tokyo and Sydney are 4 of the destinations that Lao don't fly to, they have a tiny fleet, and have had a ropey safety record in the past. I made sure I was in one of their western planes (their also have some Chinese aircraft) as these seem to be ok... Vientiane airport was agreeably old fashioned, my bag was weighed on a set of scales, then carried out the back, while there seemed to be more people doing the hand luggage screens than in the whole of Gatwick airport!
The flight was uneventful, and I was soon exploring a new Lao city, further up the Mekong river. Louang is very attractive, having lots of narrow streets with Buddhist monasteries, and stylish colonial architecture. The former Royal palace (they were exiled in 1977 to a remote province and subsequently died) is now an attractive museum. Wat Xiang Thong dates from 1560.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=4e4bscd&.dnm=4ae9scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=7fdcscd.jpg&.src=ph
In the centre of the town is Phou Si (sacred hill), climbing this is an essential part of a visit here, but it was hot!!! Sweat was pouring off my face by the time I reached the top - I've been in temperatures averaging 35 degrees for several weeks now, but it still is painful! June is the hot season around here fading into the wet season. As a result of this, not many tourists tend to come here during this time. Louang clearly is gearing itself to tourists, but in the off season, is very quiet. My guest house was empty, most restaurants and cafes had hardly any customers, and the large tourist night market selling handicrafts had a lot more stalls than customers...
I went to a cultural show and dinner one evening. Until 2 other people turned up just before it started, I was the only one there! The show was enjoyable, slightly amateurish, but in an endearing way, and the food was interesting and in vast proportions! (I guess they had hoped more people would turn up). The 2 women on the other table had a lucky escape, when the overloaded boat they were riding in up river hit a rock and sank, the 11 (foreign) passengers on board swimming to an island in the middle of the Mekong, a reminder of the lax safety standards in these parts...
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=de8bscd.jpg&.src=ph
For a change of scenery, I took a private trip out to see a couple of hill tribes. On the way we visited a pineapple farm. I did my "Man from Del Monte" taste test and was happy to say yeh! Unlike farms geared up to foreign supermarkets or canners, the pineapples here are simply picked as required when ripe, and taken into town for sale. They are delicious, though I left the fruit I was given to the guest house staff, a bit big to eat on my own!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=8df3scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=9f9bscd.jpg&.src=ph
Other things are brought into town also, below are pigs being driven up the steps from the riverbank!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=a01ascd.jpg&.src=ph
Moving on up the dirt road we reached some hill tribe villages, several of the Khmu people (they settled here before the Lau people, and are from Cambodia) and one of the Hmong (who left Mongolia for warmer climes). The Hmong have animist beliefs, and still use a Shaman to ward off evil spirits. They live on the ground, whereas the Khmu people who came from river areas live in stilt houses. It was interesting how different houses could be in a village, those with more money had much nicer places than the poorer people. I was surprised how many stares and puzzled looks I got from the children, and even some of the adults, clearly they see very few foreign visitors, by comparison with say Thailand's Hill Tribes.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=f19bscd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=c7cascd.jpg&.src=ph
While in Louang I went out of my way to try some of the Lao cuisine, which was quite interesting. Examples include :-
Bamboo stuffed with pork
Laap, a spicy mixture of meat or fish (can be raw or cooked, the latter in my case!) with greens, herbs and spices
Spicy papaya salad
A strange dried crispy weed!
This is eaten with sticky rice (rolled up in balls and eaten with the hand)
Despite all this (I know you shouldn't eat salad in such countries!) I survived, without too much subsequent discomfort, though I always carried a toilet roll with me, just in case!
I was quite sorry to leave Lao, I liked the people and the country, despite the real poverty that exists (outside of Vientiane and Louang). Hopefully, the communist regime will let democracy in, and many of the exiles will return, as many of Lao's best people have left, or were forced out. A few images to sum up the country
Protection for motorcyclists. Sun protection that is...
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=5b39scd.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=1c60scd.jpg&.src=ph
View of Louang Phabang from Phou Si
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=4e4bscd&.dnm=731bscd.jpg&.src=ph
And finally, a balanced diet, pineapple and beer! That's a 640ml bottle for info, not a tiny pineapple...
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=/4e4bscd&.dnm=2e2fscd.jpg&.src=ph
Mike
posted by Michael Conway at
12:00 pm
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