Holiday Snaps - Day 13 - Luang Nam Tha

Holiday Snaps - Day 12. Luang Namtha

 

Holiday Snaps - Day 11. Muang Sing and back to Luang Nam Tha

Up near the Chinese Border there are some fascinating people and things and some gorgeous faces

Holiday snaps: Day 10. Luang Nam Tha to Muang Sing

A day of glorious scenery, wind in my face, feelings of freedom and exhilaration and then it rained and ruined everything (almost)

Holiday Snaps - Day 9. From a Karen Village to a Monk's hermitage and back to Laos

Holiday Snaps - Day 8 - revisiting Mae Sai

Old memories and new experiences - returning after 16 years.

Having first arrived in Mae Sai for a 2 year assignment 18 years ago I was expecting that in 2014 so much would have changed. I was right. Lots had. But it is still beautiful, still exciting and still confusing.

 

Holiday snaps - Day 7. To Chaing Rai

I bussed to Chiang Rai. It took half as long as I remembered. I was met at the bus station and so ensued three days of familiar beloved people coming back into my world.

 

 

 

Holiday Snaps - Day 6. Chiang Mai

Holiday Snaps - Day 5. Chiang Mai

Holiday Snaps - Day 4. Getting there and away

Champasack to Chiang Mai in 26 hours

So I was told it was easy. Easier than trying to work out flights and connections and other ways to travel.  I was told to have my bags packed by 6.30 as the staff were going across the water to the market and I could catch a ride.

Holiday snaps - Day 3. 4000 Islands and Irrawaddy Dolphins!

Holiday snaps - Day 2. Don Det

Don Det - Hammock Day

Holiday snaps - Day 1. Wat Phu & 4000 Islands

Wat Phu Champasak

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.

My Dad 1934 - 2014

Eulogy

Donald Stratford was born in 1934, as the youngest of 6. He didn’t have a middle name because, according to Dad, his Mum had run out of ideas by the time she got to him.

When baby Donny came along his dad, Albert, had been suffering many years from his war injuries and his mum, Lydia, had been keeping things together on the home front. Dad’s brother Albert was already 14, Tom was 12, Alf was 8, Pat was 6 and Lyd was 4.

Laos with Guns

There are a lot of guns in Laos.  Each time I see one I can't help but hum...


"we will run free... with the buffalo... or diiiiie......Laos with guns...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5s5qGg01nE

A Week Off For a Water Fight

Lao New Year (Pi Mai)

It is a time of spiritual and physical cleansing, visiting temples and blessing statues. It's also all about drinking copious amounts of beer and shooting the crap out of everyone with a water pistol.

Knitting Adventures

This post is likely to be of interest only to me - and maybe my Mum who taught me how to knit... So feel free to move right along... 

Bette Davis and her stunt double

Mulberries and Mudbricks

Vang Vieng Organic Farm

We'd planned to do a cooking class but, like so many plans made in Laos, this didn't quite go as we'd expected. It worked out pretty well though!

Communist Pride - picture collection

Inspiring Laos to be Proud

Scooting the Loop - Thakek

An Adventure on Two Wheels

In November  '13 I had a conversation with a friend about doing the "Thakek Loop". A few friends had done it and it looked like fun. Four days on motorbikes scooting around the Laos countryside. What's not to love? We started planning.

TKK market fire - the next day (pictures only)

Chao Anou - Hero

Looking across the Mekong towards Eastern Thailand, a giant statue of King Anouvong stands with one hand on his sword and other pointing across the river. Perhaps it’s a welcoming handshake but it looks like he is about to karate chop a block of concrete. Most Lao people I have asked think he is saying “that's mine, give it back”.

Sugar and Spice and IWD

International Women's Day in Laos is a big deal. It's a public holiday, restaurants offer special dinners and groups of female workers band together to celebrate. Sounds pretty good to a card-carrying feminist, right? It wasn't quite what I expected.

My Monday Morning Mumblings: Justice takes a dive - Greed serves a poisoned apple

In January, the Australian Council for International Development responded to the cuts to the Australian aid budget. They wrote about their disappointment with this decision but said despite this they welcomed "the government’s commitment to ensuring our aid is working for poverty reduction and sustainable development." 

LOVE and other delusions

Last week was Macha Bucha Day. It was also Valentine's Day. Guess which one won Lao hearts?

Macha Bucha Day:

According to Buddhist tradition, about 2500 years ago Siddhartha Gautama had become the first Buddha after working out the meaning of life. He was wandering around northern India preaching and converting people to his new way of seeing the world when one full moon evening 1,250 men turned up spontaneously to listen in. These guys became his ordained monks. The Buddha taught them three basic principles: Cease from all evil; Do what is good; Cleanse one's mind.

The master and his apprentices

 So on the third full moon of the year Buddhists celebrate, go to the temple, walk around it carrying candles, pay respects to monks, the Buddha and the spirits of the area.

I saw none of this.

But I did see a lot of red hearts.

Asbestos in Laos PDR

The Fight Against Asbestos in Lao PDR

LAOS is a quiet, mostly rural South-East Asian country that is just starting on a path to industrialisation – but it is growing quickly. 

The construction industry is booming and the economy is growing over 8% every year. The workers in Laos’ busy roof tile factories, however, have no idea they are working with a killer.

Asbestos from Kazakstan is rife in Laos

In Laos, asbestos is being used mainly in the production of roof tiles and concrete pipes. Laos is a relatively recent user of asbestos, but consumption is rising rapidly and could reach 9000 tonnes a year. It is handled, stored and transported with little concern for exposure to its deadly fibres.

Tai, not Thai

I've long been fascinated by the Tai people. No, not Thai, Tai. The Thais are Tai but so are most Laos and the Shan in Burma and lots of people in Assam (India) and some in Nagaland and the Dai and Black Tai and White Tai in Vietnam and of course there are still lots in China and some still around the foothills of the Himalayas.



Some Lao boys with Tai blood in their veins

One Night in Udon

Take me down to UD town

Udonthani is a large regional city in the northern part of the eastern bit of Thailand. I've been there a couple of times, usually just passing through or for an afternoon of shopping. It's about 80 kms away but it takes 2 hours by bus (lots of border-crossing paperwork).

This time it was an overnighter... an adventure of discovery. I needed some burning qustions answered:

The Red Apron of Culinary Excellence

Almost every day in Laos I have seen these aprons. People cooking food, serving drinks, stirring noodles, doling out rice, pouring beer and even bosses counting their profits wear them.

They cover up a lot; they are worn by men and women, boys and girls; they are cheap; they advertise a Lao noodle soup company (or so it appears to me). They are bright, cheerful and everywhere. I kind of love them.