Laos

"The new Raven flew to war over terrain unlike anything he had ever seen before. Mountains erupted out of a sea of green jungle, some shaped like cones with sharp jagged edges, others thin as knife blades...No one could fail to recognize that this was a place of very great beauty."

This quote, taken from Christopher Robbin's book "The Ravens," about the 'secret' CIA air war in Laos in the 1960s, is the best description of Laos I have found. Verdant green and hauntingly beautiful, it is marked with modern poverty yet riches from the past. The contrast between the rich and poor is stunning. But most striking about the country are its citizens: the people there are warm, kind, and peaceful, continuing in their Buddhist traditions despite the ravages of war only a few decades before. After crossing the border from Vietnam at 7 am, my first impression of Laos was: this.

The views only got better as my overnight bus journey progressed from the border to Luang Prabang, about another 12 hours. I was content with just laying on my seat (didn't really have a choice, due to the fact that it was a sleeper bus and my seat was horizontal) and watching out the window. I tried to snap pictures out of the window but it was just too difficult to capture the beauty from a bus seat. When I say the contrast between the rich and the poor is striking, that was based on my observations of little roadside villages like these, with kids playing in the dirt, walking down the side of the road with buses zipping by, and hanging clothes out to dry in front of the houses. I thought some of the conditions were similar to what I had observed in Nepal, though not as bad. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I would reach my destination.

I arrived in Luang Prabang, the former royal capital of Laos and situated right on the Mekong, in the evening and acquainted myself with the night market as I walked down the main street to find a guesthouse. The night market was lovely, laid out along the main street, lined with shops and cafes and restaurants. Quite the contrast from the roadside villages. At the market I did a little wandering, concluded that I wanted to buy everything, then settled for a mango-pineapple smoothie. So began my three days in Luang Prabang. 

Luang Prabang was a wonderful place to chill out for a couple of days - I had been busy every day with the girls, so I felt like I deserved a bit I a break. I went for morning runs along the Mekong, tried out lots of cute little cafes and coffee shops, wandered the market, and took lots of pictures - everything was so pretty! Luang Prabang has dozens of temples, home to the many orange clad, shaved head Buddhist monks that can probably compete with tourists for dominating the town. A bit about the monks: They are of all ages, and they live at the monasteries, rising around 4 am for prayer before their first meal of the day. At sunrise they leave the temples and walk around collecting alms, or food donations from the townspeople. I loved this part of Buddhist culture- the monks aren't supposed to own anything, not even food, so their survival depends on the community. The monks stand in front of the people, who are on their knees and bowing their heads in prayer after giving them food. Unfortunately, I've heard that tourists have become extremely disrespectful while observing this daily offering at sunrise when they take pictures and even buy food to try to give the monks. Monks and Lao (along with Thailand and Myanmar) culture go hand in hand, and they simply blend into the community (figuratively, because they actually really stand out in their bright orange robes) so much so that one of my favorite games, monk spotting, got a little boring after a while because they were all over the place.

Aside from monk spotting, one of my favorite parts was a trip to the National Museum, which was actually just the former royal palace converted into a museum. What interested me most was that the throne room (we couldn't take pictures but it looked similar to this temple wall) was covered floor to ceiling with glass and mirror mosaic pieces, all depicting scenes from everyday life. The Laotian life seemed to be centered around nature and Buddhism, and I thought it was a testament to the culture that in the throne room the king could always be reminded of his people and hopefully work to preserve such a peaceful existence.

So that was neat. Another of my favorite things I did in Laos was spend two hours of one of my evenings at a place called Big Brother Mouse. No relation to Orwell, but everything to do with literature, Big Brother Mouse is a non-profit that helps spread literacy to children and remote villages in Laos. By translating, illustrating, and publishing popular stories into easily readable books, both in Lao and English, the organization is able to introduce literacy to Lao children, some of who have never learned to read nor seen a book in the written Lao language. So what was I doing there? Aside from making a few purchases and a donation, I actually showed up to be a volunteer English tutor. By setting aside two two hour sessions a day, anyone who wants to come can either volunteer their services in English, or come to practice their English. It was very informal but really fun, I ended up chatting with a high schooler who was boarding in the town to go to school, and biked about an hour home every weekend to see his family.

To me, one of the best parts of it was that through the pretext of practicing English, I was able to grill him. His name was Sai, and I asked him all about on Lao life. I asked him tons of questions about his school life (more similar to America than Korea, but still way more studying than the States) and everyday routines, as well as answered some questions about America. Towards the end of the eveing another high school student joined us, and as he tried to ask me for tips on English pick-up lines, I was reminded once again that kids are the same all over the world. It was a great cultural/language exchange, and I would have done it again if I were staying a bit longer. 

But, as always, I had to move on, and this time I had a very important and pressing deadline: to meet my friend Krista in Vientiane, the 'capital' of Lao PDR, though it seems as much a capital city as Henning, Minnesota does. It seemed to have about the same amount of traffic, too. 

Though you wouldn’t have guessed it, Vientiane was hopping about forty years earlier, partially due to the American CIA presence as they conducted a full blown air war in Laos. Starting with training the French, then passing off to the Americans once the French ducked out, there was a full sized army of Hmong (one of the hill tribes of Laos) that were being trained by Western military to fight against the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh (Northern Vietnamese forces) were using the Ho Chi Minh Trail to bring goods and equipment from the North to their Southern compatriots, the Viet Cong. Though the Vietnamese were flat out banned from using Laos for transport, they lied and denied it through their teeth, leaving the Hmong no choice but to try to fight and push them back. In addition, the Hmong were fighting against the Pathet Lao, the Laotion Communists, who were receiving help from the Viet Minh. So what were the Americans doing there? Since we were banned from stationing ground troops and fighting on the land, we did precisely the opposite: we fought in the air, assisting the Hmong troops and pilots with additional bombing and combat. But absolutely no one was supposed to know. 

If you’d like to learn more, the book I referenced before, The Ravens, was a fascinating read about the small, elite group of fighters who flew 12 hour combat days side by side with Hmong fighter pilots, helping them defend their own land. The pilots, known as Ravens, who usually started off flying in Vietnam, then volunteered to fly in a place they knew absolutely nothing about, felt that even though they were flying clandestinely, “there was something simple and straightforward in Laos to fight for: the Ravens were there to help the Meo [Hmong] resist a traditional enemy who had invaded their country and threatened their survival.” The more I learned about Laos and its history, the more real it became as I actually spent time there.

My reunion with Krista was wonderful, and I was so thrilled that she flew all the way to Vientiane for the long holiday weekend she had off in Korea. She briefly met Jen and Ceci, who had been there for two days already and were once again hopping ahead of me, and would meet me in Thailand. We had a great time exploring the town together, with plenty of emphasis on testing out all the yummy bakeries and cafes. Because Laos is a former French colony, it still retains much of the influence, including...baked goods and coffee. Doesn't that just put a smile on your face? Fresh baguettes, cheese, pastries… We even discovered a place that sold freshly baked pumpkin pie, something I've been lacking in my life for nearly three years now.

So, as far as sightseeing goes, we started our first full day with a lovely riverside walk, followed by a visit to what we called the Arc de Triomph, where we climbed up inside to get great views of the city. We admired all the pretty temples and pretty French architecture while walking around, and quickly became acquainted with the streets and shops, as there is only a small network of streets most people stay on.

We also visited the National Museum (subpar, but we still learned some stuff and made it fun) and tried out the local beer and Laotian barbecue before visiting the night market- it was a busy day, but it didn't feel busy because the atmosphere is so chill in Vientiane. No crowds, no motorbike traffic jams, and no incessant beeping - all you have to worry about while walking around are the stray animals hanging around.

The next day we rented bikes and did some excursions out to this cute little restaurant for breakfast, with fresh fruit and pancakes for breakfast, then biked out to one of the larger temple complexes a few km outside of the main area. The girl we met at our hostel also told us about this traditional Lao sauna and massage place, which sounded so enticing (she liked it so much she came back with us) that we ventured out there as well, a good 30 minute ride from our hostel, but so totally worth it. With fresh scents like eucalyptus floating around, we first hung out in a fire fueled steam room (seriously – the fire was underneath the wooden structure) and got nice and sweaty, before being hosed (not showered – hosed) off, all before massage time. The massage lasted about an hour and I swear it was the best one I’ve had in my life. Lao wins. After another delicious dinner and an industrial visit to the night market, our time together was nearly over! We purposely rose at sunrise to both maximize our time together before Krista flew out, and to see the monks. It was a sad goodbye, but we’ll likely see each other within the next year.

Since Krista was gone, I decided it was my time to go as well – where would I find a new place to eat, anyway? I packed up my bags, considerably lighter since Krista so valiantly offered to mail stuff home for me from Korea, and boarded yet another overnight border crossing bus, this time headed back to Thailand. And with that, my Lao adventure was over. I would definitely say that Lao was the gentlest, most relaxed, and most untouched place I had encountered so far. 

If you’d like to learn more about the volunteer organization Big Brother Mouse, here is their website. I encourage you to check it out at www.bigbrothermouse.com

Next up, Thailand!