Che-ing All Over

Che Guevara - Bumper Sticker and Icon of the People (who drive tuk tuks)

 

Kaysone - Man of Many Monuments

A Monument to a Revolutionary Rebel, Party Leader, First President of Laos, Communist Idealist.

 

I visited the museum and monument to Kaysone Phomvihane. It’s big, it’s five minutes from my office, I knew it would be interesting and there was sure to be lot of gold and glory and a lot of blurry old black and white pictures. Maybe some old guns. I was right.

Running Like A Girl

Fifty, Fat and Fighting to Get Fit

Flitting into my head a few times after I arrived in Laos was the thought "now is a good time to run again".
 

The Southern Lights - Bangkok

Camilla and Julie in the Big Smoke

We thought we'd take a trip to Bangkok. The Big City. The City of Angels. Krungthep. Bangers. Feel some city vibe, taste some fancy food, see some sights, shop a little, wander some soulless, over-cooled hallways of mega shopping centres. Maybe even catch a movie.

We did all that, and more.

Northern Exposure - Sam Neua

Way Up North

A weekend up north, when you live in Vientiane, is never a decision taken lightly. There are mountains, clouds, storms, small planes, minibuses and overnight sleeper buses - all of which can mean lateness, uncomfortableness, slowness, danger and possibly even death.

Still, it sounded like a good idea.

The mountains of the north

The Caves of Revolution

Communists in Caves - a simplified view of a revolution.

In the 1960s and 70s, the Lao revolution was coordinated by passionate, idealistic men and women living in caves in Northern Laos. They lived and worked and planned and dreamed in them for around 9 years. They were bombed, shot at, hated, demonised, vilified. They survived. They won. Their children now run the Laos Government.

Megaliths and Mystery

Standing for possibly thousands of years, the upright slabs of stone at Hin Tang, in Hua Phan Province, Northern Laos, are eerily silent about where they came from.