Laos in Real Life

In search of the real Laos (Vientiane and Luang Prabang cannot qualify for this), I had taken a bus up into the northern mountains, disembarking at Vieng Phouka. The guesthouses in town were all of local construction, very basic. Mine had bamboo walls, a concrete floor, and a bathroom consisting large bucket of water next to a squat toilet. Hey, it was only $3 a night, so you can’t really complain. And when you consider that a lot of people in the village don’t have running water, and wash everything in the river, it seems like pure luxury.

In Vieng Phouka I hired a guide to take me trekking in the jungle – some of the least spoilt in Southeast Asia. We spent the night in an “eco-lodge” in a Lahu village. In this context, eco-lodge means living as the villagers do: just an elevated bamboo hut, with a dirt-filled area for making a cooking fire. No electricity, no water, no toilet. This is the real Laos for much of the population.
I have met some travelers who revel in living like the locals, but I was thankful to get back to Houay Xai (at the border) and my modern guesthouse for one final night before crossing into Thailand.

The Mighty Mekong

An early departure from Luang Prabang afforded me no last glimpse of the golden city, and immediately we were enveloped in the pervasive haze of the Northern Laos mountains caused by swidden (slash and burn) fires. It is the dry season and the mighty Mekong River is approaching its lowest yearly level, leaving behind enormous sand dunes on the banks and in the middle of the river, as well as large formations of ship-wrecking rocks which get submerged and become dangerous when the water levels rise. Standing on the banks of the river outside Pak Beng, one gets the impression of being at the bottom of a narrow desert, until you look up and see the dry leaves of the teak jungle closing in.

The trip up the Mekong from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai, at the Thai border, is a 2 day affair on any so-called slow boat (think river barge) versus 1 day on a “fast boat” – a white knuckle adventure that often leads to tragedy and is not recommended by anyone as a safe option for tourists (or locals, for that matter). It was surprising that the morning air on the river was quite brisk, and the boat crew gave us blankets and jackets and I was thankful to still have my Patagonia fleece (I had considered donating it to the Red Cross in a fit of bag-lightening). I was on the boat Luang Say, a “luxury” boat, as that goes on that part of the Mekong. The most obvious advantage being the full size Western bathroom (with sink and soap!), instead of the hole in the floorboards covered by a dirty tarp.

One of the other advantages of the posh cruise was the inclusion of all meals, and a night at the Luang Say resort in Pak Beng. However, of all the thatched roof huts, towers and homestays in which I have stayed so far, at this posh resort (where the windows were wooden slats and the eaves were open), I felt the most like the jungle was coming to get me, and was supremely grateful for the provided mosquito net to keep it at bay.

Moving On

Just a quick note to say that I am hopping on a boat tomorrow for the 2 day trip up the Mekong River towards Thailand and the infamous Golden Triangle. We stop for one in Pak Beng, and I not sure what the internet access will be. The next update will either be from Thailand or from farther north in Laos. I have not yet decided on which way to go. The precious days are ticking down...

Sticky Rice Heaven

I think I posted way back about how much I love sticky rice. I think it goes back to one of my earliest childhood memories of my Aunt Elizabeth (yes, I was named after her) feeding me dollops of sticky rice rolled in sesame seeds for breakfast. I must have been 3 or 4, and my aunt had just arrived from Burma with her family and they were all living with us.

In Laos, sticky rice is an integral part of the diet and there is even sticky rice etiquette. I learned this, and some other secrets of Lao cuisine at a cooking class last Thursday. It was the best cooking class I have had so far, being set in the garden of the restaurant, a few kilometers outside of town. The owners have open air cooking pavilions set up over a large fish pond where the breeze takes away the heat and smoke of the wood-fired braziers (true Lao cooking – over a wood fire!) Laos cuisine has elements similar to Vietnamese and Cambodian, not too spicy, but with some nice curries. We made fish in banana leaves, a local stew with herbs I surely cannot find at home, and lemongrass stuffed with chicken and herbs. I am looking forward to trying the new dishes at home!

The day after the cooking class, I went for a 3 day mahout training camp. Mahout is the term for elephant driver, keeper or trainer, and the idea is to let tourists learn how to give commands and control the elephants. My sole purpose was to get up close and personal with the magnificent creatures for more than a photo op. I mean, how useful would the training skills be after the camp? (I can imagine adding to my resume under Other: “Elephant Control Skills”!)

I achieved my purpose, and spent hours atop various elephants, until my knees were rubbed raw by the brush bristle hairs on their massive heads. Some of the heads still bear the scars from knocking down trees in their logging days, as most of the elephants are retired or rescued from logging operations up north.

As for controlling the elephants, I didn’t have a chance. The mahouts explained that they make the elephant scared of them, in order to maintain control. They have a hammer-size stick with a curved nail-like piece on the end to dig into the elephant if it won’t obey – and of course using that thing is something I just won’t do! I think the elephants could sense that I would do them no harm, so when it was just me on top, they did whatever they pleased, which was mostly to eat. An average Asian elephant eats 300kg of plant material a day, so they are constantly stuffing things in their mouths. Since I spent hours watching them, I could spend pages writing about the amazing things they do with their trunks, and how nimbly they maneuver their massive bodies, but I’ll spare you. I’ll just say that if you ever get a chance to spend some quality time with an elephant, it’s worth it!

The photo below is of the top of an elephant's head so you can see what I mean about the the wiry hairs!

To let you all know of a change in plans, I will be staying in Laos until March 16 only, then I am off to Thailand. As much as I like Laos, my malaria meds are running out, and I am craving civilization. Still a few more adventures to be had!

Enchanted

Luang Prabang has captivated me. I am not sure what I expected. The only photos I ever saw were of gilded temples, similar to the ones in Vientiane. While it’s true that there is a stunning temple on nearly every corner of the Historic Temple District (where I am staying), there are also well preserved French colonial mansions and shop houses, huge shade giving mango trees, and orchids in bloom in every yard. Even though there are heaps of tourists here (again, outnumbering the locals in the historic areas), the dusty streets are quiet, and one can just walk in peace. For anyone considering going to Southeast Asia, my top 2 picks would be Siem Reap (for the Angkor Temples) and Luang Prabang.

I have noticed that there are a lot of guesthouses. More than anywhere else I have been, and I read that these fill up in January, which is the peak tourist month. So keep that in mind; it could change the feel of the place to have 5x as many tourists around. March technically is still high season, but the very end of it, and there are no crowds anywhere.

I am so intrigued by this country, that I have changed my plans and will be spending the rest of my time seeing a bit of the north instead of going to Northern Thailand. Next up: a cooking class, mahout training, and a slow boat up the Mekong River.

Buddha Found

Back in January, on arriving in Vietnam, I had a blog post entitled “Where’s Buddha?” Well, I found him! On my last day in Vientiane, I visited more of the wats (pagodas) which seem to be in every square kilometer of the city. At Wat Sisaket - the oldest original one (most were destroyed by the invading Siamese army in the 17th century), I saw, literally, piles of Buddha images, recovered from underground ruins all over Vientiane. In niches of the walls of the courtyard around the wat were another 2000 images, in addition to many bigger brass images. The place is quite remarkable, and I tried to capture it a bit with my camera in the setting sun.

So far, Laos reminds me a lot of Burma, in the prominence of Buddhism in the culture, the gentleness of the people, and the poverty. But there are a lot more foreign aid dollars here, which you don’t see in Burma. You see it everywhere, and certainly the large number of ex-pats helps local economies too.

Wild Elephants

On Sunday morning, I took off with an eco-tourism company to potentially see the wild elephants in Ban Na, a village 82k out of Vientiane. The village is trying to capitalize on tourism, since the elephants have wreaked havoc on their farming, and it is their best option if the elephants and their habitat are to be preserved interesting that the whole thing was planned and completed by a German). Asian elephants are endangered, and number less than 40,000-60,000 worldwide. While I paid extra to be the only one on the “tour”, I realized later that it is completely possible to go it alone, and hire a local guide from the town, which is required for entry into the area.

First we (the tour guide, the driver, and the local guide) walked a steamy 4 kilometers through the jungle to a tower, which serves as an observation tower, storage and bunk house. After lunch we walked another 3 steamy hours (roundtrip) to a scary swimming hole – a dark brown deep puddle of water that looks like it could contain crocs (not the kind you wear!) The tour guide and the driver stripped to their underwear and jumped in. Why is that Asian men can gallivant around in their underwear, but women have to cover up and swim in clothes or a sarong, lest we offend the traditional sensibilities? As Helena knows, even being fully clothed does assure that you are not stared at when wet (remember the hot springs in Bhutan?)
Later in the afternoon, as I read well into dusk, the 3 Laotians cooked and drank rice whiskey. All of the information posted in the tower said that in order not to scare the elephants (who are not assured to come), turn off lights and cell phones, be quiet and don’t smoke. The 3 guys together violated all of these precepts, and I figured they didn’t care whether the beasts showed up or not. Miraculously, about 8:30, through the din of their drunken laughter (indeed, they were all drunk by this point), I heard crashing and breaking branches. After much urgent pleading, they quieted down and we killed the lights. We were rewarded by dim outlines and lots of trumpeting, hurrumphing and calling, as the magnificent creatures lapped up salt and bathed in the watering hole nearby. One of the men tried to flash a light on them, but this scared them of course (man is the only real predator of Asian elephants) but I caught a vivid glimpse of 4 adults and a baby.

Despite the thrill of being so close to the wild creatures, I was quite distressed to learn that the guides were throwing things to them in order to induce them to come for the tourists. I was indignant at this blatant violation of one of the precepts of the tower and told them to cease immediately. As they were all drunk, it became a big mess and marred an otherwise special experience. Then, since we were all to sleep on bamboo mats on the wood floor of the tower, the 3 immediately passed out, snoring loudly, with the tour company guide uncomfortably close to where I was to sleep. I couldn’t get him to move away and had to smell his sickening alcohol breath all night. Ick.

One more night in Vientiane (see next post), then on to Luang Prabang.