Vientiane Talad Sao

The Busy Vientiane Morning Market

Two weeks ago, we took a special trip to Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos).  Vientiane is a short 60 miles north of our home in Udonthani.  A forty minute drive transports us from our door step to the Thai border crossing.  After passing through the Thai Border Checkpoint, we take a 15 Baht (0.45 USD) bus drive across the Friendship Bridge to the Lao Border Checkpoint.  Duang has very little to do in crossing into the LPDR.  However, I must fill out an additional form, supply a passport photo, and pay $35 USD to obtain a visa to enter Laos. However once you get off the Thai bus you are approached by men offering to help you in crossing the border and drive you into Vientiane - for a fee.  The fee varies based upon a variety of factors - but is only a little more than the cost of a taxi into town.  The men fill out the forms for you, and shepherd you through the process.  After entering into Laos, they break from you to bring their car to you.  They drive their car up to you and load your luggage as you get into their vehicle.  They then drive the roughly 20 miles into town and deliver you to the door of your destination.

This trip was special in that I was having a reunion with a friend, a direct link from my distant pass, from my home town. We had attended junior high school, today's middle school, back in Connecticut.  We attended high school together and went on to the same university.  We had not seen my friend since 1971 and was excited to catch up life long experiences.  Duang was anxious to meet someone from my long ago past and from my far away boyhood home.

We stayed at a hotel that was a hop, skip, and jump from the current location of the American Embassy (That Dam monument).  The hotel was walking distance from the central city restaurant district, main tourist attractions and entertainment venues. Although not a hop, skip, and jump away from the central markets, the hotel was no more than 4 or 5 blocks form the them.

The reunion was great.  It is always reassuring to learn once again that we are not alone in our accomplishments, disappointments, challenges, and even our failures.  Despite taking very different paths, we share many common experiences and more importantly survived them.  We often feel that we alone and have suffered but if we reach out to others we quickly learn that our experience has not been unique.  Of course to Buddhists the realization and acknowledgement of our sufferings is no surprise.

Our time in Vientiane was limited to two days because Duang had to return to her home village to care for our grandson for the next two days while her mother went on a religious retreat commencing the evening of our second day in Vientiane. Given our limited time day, we spent our morning, the second day, at the morning market, Talad Sao.

We walked the short distance from our hotel to the morning market along deserted streets.  We arrived at the morning market at 7:00 A.M..  Although the area around our hotel was very tranquil, just 4 or 5 blocks away, it was extremely busy, bordering on chaotic.

A Very Small Portion of the Outside Morning Market

I estimate that the Morning Market is about two square blocks in area.  The market is a combination of small shops opening on to a large central open area filled with stalls, booths, and blankets where vendors sell all kinds of  prepared foods, live foods, vegetables, and dry goods.  There is a very large covered structure which was partially walled with a combination of tarps and block.  Adding to the confusion of the market were many passageways and stalls created by attaching tarps and sheets of plastic to anything that would support them.  Where existing structure elements were not available, the vendors had erected wood poles or bamboo to attach the sheets.

Organized Porters Are Used to Transport Goods From Market To Vehicles

To access parking areas for both vehicles and motorbikes, motorbikes, trucks, and cars jockeyed for position with pedestrians along the informal access lanes into the morning market area.  Adding to the confusion were many long two wheeled push carts propelled by organized porters.  Many of the patrons of the morning market are people buying goods for the much smaller markets that they run in their neighborhood or village markets.  I know that porters were organized because just about all of them wore colored vests that had a unique number on the back - just like organized motorbike taxis in Thailand.

Vegetables For Sale In Vientiane

During our foray through the Talad Sao, Duang and I were amazed at the amount and variety of vegetables available for for purchase at the market.  Although we live 60 miles south and and in a larger metropolitan area, our local markets have neither the quantity, variety or quality of vegetables as Vientiane.  During our journey to Luang Prabang Province in December, we saw many vegetables gardens. I have yet to a single large garden here in Isaan.  Many of our vegetables as well as fruits are from China.  I suspect both the closer proximity to China and the flourished commercial ties between Lao and China may also contribute to the quantity and variety in Laos.

Fresh Corn On the Cob

In Isaan, even along country roads, corn for sale has been cooked, typically boiled but sometimes grilled.  However at the morning market in Vientiane, the vendors shucked the corn at the market and sold it by the kilogram.

Egg Vendor

In the large covered structure there were countless vendors selling just about everything including eggs, beef, pork, chicken, canned goods, dry goods, clothing, cloth, toys, household goods along with booths where you could purchase and consume a meal.  It was quite busy and congested.

A Vendor Preparing More Pork To Sell

A Beef and Pork Vendor Tends to Her Stall

Meat vendors were mostly located in the large covered structure.  As is typical in Lao and Isaan the vendors sit upon a raised platform with a small spring scale at their side and behind the cuts that they are offering for sale.  Customers approach the vendor most likely engaging in some small conversation before inspecting the various pieces of meat before selecting their cut and informing the vendor of how much they desired.  Shopping is not an impersonal or quick process.  There is a great deal of interaction between the vendors and their customers.  I suspect that a great part of the effort is to build relationships.  At the market there are always several vendors offering the same goods for the same price.  Quality between the vendors appears to be the same across the market.  Given the lack of distinction between the vendors establishing personal relationships and providing better customer service is paramount for a business's success.  It also makes for a much more pleasurable and rewarding shopping experience for all.

Fish Vendor Along "Fish Alley

In our random wanderings through the inside market place, we eventually found ourselves outside in a very narrow alley that I like to refer to as "Fish Alley". "Fish Alley was set up on the side of the exterior wall of the inside market with tarps covering the overhead of the alley bounded on the other side by more open faced stalls created by poles and tarps.  Fish Alley was lined with vendors selling all kinds of fish.  The ground where it was not covered by pieces of wood, randomly placed concrete pavers or tiles was muddy from the run off of water from the stalls selling fish.  The fish was fresh and there was no odor that one would expect in such a location.

Preparing A Customer's Fish

Duang and I took advantage of the relative quiet and much less confusion of "Fish Alley" to talk to and joke with the various vendors. It was and is always enjoyable to learn about the work and life of the local people.  I also enjoying sharing with them about life in America which they are always very curious and interested in.

A Fish Vendor's Daughter Cooks Breakfast - Fish

As is often the case, the older women asked me about finding a foreign husband.  I am often requested to do so.  I do not know that many single men back in the United States.  I stopped at 98 with the number of requests that I have been given.  I now handle the situation by telling the women how many requests are ahead of them but that I will put them on the list.  I then tell them about some of the expectations the foreign men would have on them.  That always gets them laughing and we are able to move on to other matters.

Fish Still Life or Rather Dead Life

After one and one-half hours at the market, at 08:30, we left the market along with the vast majority of customers. Morning Markets typically become much less crowded by 09:00 or 10:00.  After an intense shopping adventure, the customers and their goods stacked on the two wheeled carts headed to their vehicles or motorbikes for the journey back to their home to complete the rest of the day.

Porter Transporting Goods Out of the Morning Market

Duang and I returned to our hotel carrying a large shopping bag filled with Khong Kao, woven containers to stored cooked sticky rice or to serve the sticky rice.

Additional photos of this visit can be viewed at the following gallery of my photography website:

http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Laos/Vientiane-Morning-Market/36736541_rxMrB9

A Tale of Two Cities - Visa Quest

This blog is about a tale of two cities - not the London and Paris of Dicken's novel but rather a tale involving Bangkok, Thailand and Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic. Although I have been mad as the dickens, this tale does not involve a revolution or even violence. The subtitle, "Visa Quest" , has nothing to do with the similarly named 1985 film "Vision Quest" starring Matthew Modine as a coming of age high school wrestler although my tale of two cities does involve wrestling - wrestling with the United States bureaucracy.

Almost a year ago to today's date this tale begins. My wife, Duang, and I took a 8.5 hour bus trip to Bangkok and spent the night in a hotel the day before Duang's scheduled morning appointment at the American Consulate. The purpose of her appointment was to be interview in regards to her application for a B-2 Tourist visa to visit the United States.

I had reviewed the US Consulate's website, the US State Department's website, and the application form along with associated instructions. Based upon the information from all three sources, I prepared her application and associated documentation. We paid the required $131 fee here at the Thai Post Office and brought the receipt with us to Bangkok. We also had to pay a $10 fee in order to make an appointment over the Internet - the only method allowed for making an appointment at the Consulate in Bangkok. Prior to leaving our hotel for the short walk to the Consulate, I double checked the document package to ensure that it was complete.

To obtain a Tourist visa to the United States an applicant must provide documentation and convince an interviewer that they have close ties to their home country and that they would return to the homeland at the conclusion of their visit to the USA. Typical documents that are anticipated to be submitted during the interview include bank records, employment records, home ownership, and motor vehicle registrations. Duang does not work but she does own two homes here in Thailand. Her document package included our marriage certificate, a Thai passport with her last name as "Hale", a Thai National ID card with the last name as "Hale", photographs of our home, photographs of our wedding, some photographs of her grandchildren as well as extended family here in Thailand, a copy of our 2008 joint US Federal Income Tax Return.

We arrived at the appropriate time for her interview. I knew that I could not accompany her to the interview - that is made very clear on the Internet websites. I was familiar with the layout inside of the Consulate and had concerns about Duang finding the correct location to submit the documents and purchase an envelope for her passport to be returned to her by mail if she was granted a visa. From previous personal visits to the Consulate, I knew that I could enter into the Consulate without appointment for "American Citizen Services" which was a short walk from where Thai citizens go to be processed for visas. I had what I thought was a bright idea to accompany Duang inside on my way to "American Citizen Services", point out where she needed to go, and finish my business before waiting for her outside of the Consulate. I was stopped at the Security Counter by the hired Thai staff. They asked me why was I there. "I replied that I was going to "American Citizen Services" to have additional pages inserted in my passport. The Thai woman thumbed through my passport and told me that I had enough pages in my passport and instructed me to leave the Consulate. I was not angry and figured that I had given it a good shot. However, I must admit that I was a little miffed at a foreigner telling me, an American citizen as well as taxpayer, that I had enough empty pages in my American passport and denying me access to American Citizen Service. However with the Thai Security Officers around the area and with my wife needing to get to her interview, I dutifully obeyed and left the Consulate. I waited outside on the public sidewalk until I and the other people waiting with me were ordered by Thai Security people to wait across the 6 lane divided road that runs in front of the Consulate.

After two hours, Duang and I were reunited. I asked her if she had been approved. She said that she had not been approved because her documents were incomplete. The interviewer had asked her about my passport, my banking records, and documents related to my previous employment in Thailand - all documents not listed on the websites or application form. I knew that the decision could and would not be reversed but I was confused as to the specific details for her application being rejected. I took her hand and reentered the Consulate entry foyer. I introduced myself to the Thai Receptionist. I explained that my wife was asked for my passport and since it was not listed and I was not allowed to accompany her, she did not have it. I showed my passport to her and stated that I was available to answer any and all questions related to me. I requested to speak to an American official regarding the matter. She proceeded to tell me that their procedures would not allow for that to happen. I reasserted to her that I was an American citizen and I wanted to speak with an American official about the specific documents that were lacking or would be required. After some discussion back and forth, she brought another representative over to speak with me. This representative, another Thai national, with the official name tag of "American Consulate Greeter" instantly reminded me of the Walmart Greeters that you find back in the USA. This person, although very pleasant, was also just as useless as the Walmart Greeters. This did nothing to satisfy my request now evolving into a quasi demand to speak with an AMERICAN OFFICIAL. She continued to quote the procedure to me and indicated that we could reapply ($131 + $10 + transportation and lodging at any time). I pointed out that we, or more specifically I, did not want to go through all the expense and time to only find out that at some future time to have the application rejected because we were lacking "a note from my Mother, a note from the Parrish Priest, a letter from a Rabbi or the Pope or perhaps a note from President Obama" (my words exactly). She reaffirmed that she was sorry to which I replied that I knew that she was not sorry about the rejection but was sorry that I was standing before her giving her a hard time. In the corner of my eye I could see that the Thai security personnel were looking uncomfortable. Looking further down the corridor in a separate room with glass windows, I saw some obvious American security people in civilian clothing looking interested in what was transpiring between me and the "Greeter". Not wishing to push my luck or try my patience any further, we left the Consulate. The "Greeters" parting gift was a piece of paper with an email address that I could write to about the situation.

After our 8.5 hour bus trip back to our home, I wrote an email to the email address explaining the situation as well as requesting specific reasons for the rejection and a list of other documents required to prevent a recurrence. In my mind I knew what slippery slope that I was embarking upon but I forged ahead. My email was quickly responded to from the Consulate stating that they get so many emails that they can not respond to them without additional information. I was instructed to resend the email with certain specific words in the subject line. There were three different options for words to add to the subject line depending upon the actual situation (Think in terms of automated answering machines when you call a large company with a choice of numbers to select - all of which do not define your situation or need). I selected the word choice that most closely matched our situation. Again I received another prompt reply which did not address my specific requests but in a form letter type response reiterated the policy roughly "The burden is on the applicant to show evidence and convince the interviewer that they will leave the United States" I was very irate. After talking or rather raging to an old friend back in America, taking his advice, and realizing that my wife really wanted to meet my family back in the USA, I decided to reapply once again and provide all the documents that had been asked for but not listed. I paid another $10 to be able to make another appointment. I went on line to schedule another appointment only to discover that earliest available appointment was three months later in September! That was the last straw. Our visa quest for 2009 was over. The tale of one city, Bangkok, was to continue in 2010.

Last week it became evident that I needed to return to the United States to tend to family business on an emergency basis. I wanted my wife to accompany me since the trip would be a month or longer in duration. I researched the Bangkok Consulate website as well as the State Dept website about obtaining a visa for Duang on an emergency or compassionate basis. The best that I could determine was that we would have to apply per the procedure, arrange for an interview, and once we had an interview scheduled request an expedited early appointment to supersede the scheduled appointment. If we did not hear from the Consulate in 5 days regarding our request for an expedited appointment it would mean that our request was denied. This did not exactly meet our needs, so I found the direct line phone number for the Visa section of the Bangkok Consulate. I called the number but could not get a connection. Undeterred, and I should have realized by then - foolishly, I found the phone number of the Consulate and called them. My call was answered by a Thai employee. I explained our situation. She replied that I needed to contact the Visa section. I explained that I had called the listed number and she said that they do not answer the phone and that I had to contact the Visa Section by email. Continuing my unjustified confidence in the Bangkok Consulate, once again I foolishly followed the Consulate's instructions and sent an email. My email response was quickly replied to by the same notification to resend with the multiple choice of words to add to the subject line that I had received before. Once again none of the choices actually defined my situation or needs. Only the gentle touch of my 15 month old grandson on my leg as he came over to stand by me, prevented me from doing damage to my computer or to myself. However because he doesn't speak Thai or Lao yet let alone English, his presence did nothing to stop me from loudly and colorfully expressing my opinion of the US government.
It then occurred to me to look into how the US Consulate in Laos might be able to help us.

Now begins the tale of the second city - Vientiane, Laos. I called the US Consulate in Vientiane. The phone was answered by a Lao national. I asked if we could apply for a B-2 Visa for a Thai citizen in Laos. They enthusiastically replied that we could. I asked a couple of specific questions and the person indicated that I needed to speak with her supervisor who she put on the line. She answered my questions but when I asked a question that was perhaps too technical indicated that she was not in the Visa section but if I liked she would transfer me to the Visa Section. I was transferred to the Visa section and had my question answered. I then filled out the new electronic form for requesting a visa. After submitting the form electronically, I needed to make an appointment for Duang to have an interview. I clicked on a link to make an appointment. There was no need to pay $10 to make an appointment however the website indicated that interviews were only conducted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Since it was Monday, my best hope would be to have an appointment on Thursday. I continued the process and to my shock and amazement, there were appointments available for Tuesday - the next day. Any need or process to get an "Expedited Appointment" evaporated.

Today Duang and I went into Laos early in the morning to be at the US Consulate for her 10:00 A.M. appointment. Around 11:00 A. M. Duang came out of the Consulate and informed me that she had been denied a visa once again. In response to my questions, she indicated that the man did not look at any of the documents in her briefcase. He told her that she did not need a visa to go to America and that the man told her that we needed to send papers about our marriage to America to be reviewed as well as approved. This was very confusing and did not make sense to me. Duang and I spoke and agreed to go into the Consulate to find out what was going on. It seemed to me that the Interviewer had mistakenly interpreted Duang's request for a B-2 Tourist Non-Immigrant visa to be a request for an Immigrant Visa. We entered the Security Foyer and explained to the Lao security officer our issue. She indicated that we could come back at 1:00 P.M. after lunch to pursue the matter. We went to our own lunch, returned, and waited to reenter the Consulate. At 1:00 P.M. we were allowed in, explained our situation, cleared through security, and allowed into the American Citizens Services area. Duang and I explained our issue with the Lao national behind the window. Duang did not know the Interviewer's name but remembered which line number he handled. We were told to wait, and that upon his return from lunch, he would speak to us. After awhile we were instructed to go to the applicable line number. We were greeted by an AMERICAN official. I explained the situation and indicated that I thought that there had been a misunderstanding. He very politely and professionally explained what had happened.

First of all, US policy is that they assume all tourist visa applicants will not leave the USA. It is then up to the applicant to prove and convince the Interviewer that they will leave the United States. This is sort of like saying you are guilty until you can prove that you are innocent. OK, it is their game and we have to play by their rules. Not exactly supporting the pretty words of welcoming foreign visitors and how their visits culturally enrich America and develop bonds between nations and peoples. At least now, the rules are being clearly defined.

Secondly, being married to an American citizen does not really help get an applicant approved. Each applicant must be evaluated on their own merits - i.e. income, savings, home ownership, employment. The fact that the American spouse will be paying the bills, has the economic resources and has strong ties to a country outside of the USA is not a consideration. From the official I got the very distinct impression that a spouse with no job and no savings stands very little chance of being approved. In fact Duang had told me that of the 55 people (55 x $131) interviewed that morning -2, two, deux, dois, song ... people had been granted visas,

Lastly the Officer recommended that since we were married we should apply for Immigrant Visa even if we did not plan on living in the USA. We could maintain the Immigrant Visa by visiting the USA once a year. Duang had reported back correctly but just not completely. The paperwork for Immigrant Visa is submitted to the USA for review and approval. Once the Immigrant Status visa is granted, tourist visas are not required for travel to the USA.

At last, we had and explanation. At last we had spoken to an AMERICAN official.

I recounted to him our experiences in Bangkok and expressed gratitude to him for explaining the reality of the process as well as his recommendation. I pointed out that although I did not like the decision, I understood, and I could accept the situation. As I used to tell people who worked for me in the past "I may not like the truth, but I can handle the truth." So it was today. I suggested to the Official not as a criticism but as an improvement, that the websites be rewritten to more clearly indicate that if the applicant does not have a job, does not have money in the bank - they are going to waste their money applying for a Tourist Visa even if their spouse is an US citizen.

We know of some people who applied 5 times (5 x $131) to get a B-2 Tourist Visa. At her last interview in Bangkok, Duang witnessed a Thai woman yelling at the US Consulate employees where they could go and what they could do to themselves after being rejected for a third time. This is undoubtedly good for the image of the United States. This creates a great deal of anger. Duang and I are not alone in this situation and predicament. It had cost us $413 plus travel expenses to determine that applying for a Tourist Visa is a waste of time and money for our particular set of circumstances and conditions.

According to US State Dept statistics in each of the past 3 years 72% of Lao applications for Tourist Visas have been rejected. In terms of sheer numbers for 2009 1,173,505 applications for tourist visa were rejected, in 2008 1,248,865 were rejected and in 2007 1,204,294 were rejected worldwide. Approximately 26 to 28% of all Tourist visa applications are rejected each year. Some rich countries have rejection rates around 4 to 6% whereas poor countries like Laos are around 72%.

It appears that the US government is more concerned about perceptions than they are in communicating reality ergo the truth. In my opinion the image of the United States as well as its esteem would be better served in dissuading certain peoples from applying for Tourist Visas than encouraging people to spend their money initially and more importantly additional times fostering the illusion that they have a good probability of obtaining a Tourist Visa.

As I have written many times before regarding life here in Southeast Asia - "Things are not always what they appear to be" This statement is not limited to just Southeast Asia.

The same is true of the statement "Things are not always what you expect them to be"

So ends the Tale of Two Cities. So ends Visa Quest.

17 December 2008 - Leaving Laos

Leaving Laos
17 December 2008

Saturday 06 December had arrived so quickly. It was the day that we had scheduled for our return home to Thailand. I had seriously considered staying longer but my credit card had expired and Duang's family was expecting us back on Saturday so we kept our plan.

We had arranged for Jone-nee's dad to drive us to the bus station. We had purchased our tickets to Vientiane the night before to prevent any problems in the morning. Right on time our transportation along with Jone-nee arrived at the hotel.

When we arrived at the bus station, I discovered that our "tickets" from the night before were more of a reservation and I had to go to the counter and confirm the reservation and pick up the actual ticket.

We boarded the 45 passenger VIP bus for the 9 hour trip to Vientiane. The passengers were mostly Lao with about 6 foreigners in the mix. Some Lao people came on board as we exited the bus station. They sat on the floor in the well entering the bus. I suspect that the driver was earning a little extra cash from these people since they had no tickets.

As we settled in to our seats at the front of the bus for the long voyage down the mountains to Vientiane I noticed a young man, perhaps 20 years old, standing in the aisle next to Duang. He was dressed in typical Asian youth clothing - blue jeans, sandals, baseball cap and sweatshirt EXCEPT for the AK47 gun concealed beneath his sweatshirt! The gun was strapped over his shoulder underneath the loose fitting garment with the barrel peaking out at the bottom.

I was aware that there had been some problems with bandits along Highway 13 in the past but I was not aware of any recent problems. The young man was calm, well groomed, and well fed so I suspected that he was not a bandit but most likely a private guard or undercover policeman or military man. As I observed him (closely) for the remainder of the trip, I became more assured that he was a guard - he stayed at the front of the bus even when some seats became available in the back, he kept his focus on the road ahead and along the sides of the bus, and there was an ammunition clip in his weapon.

Upon returning home I did some checking on the Internet. On May 24, 2007, the US Department of State issued a Public Announcement regarding security concerns in Northern Laos. There had been reports of sporadic fighting and movements of Lao military forces and unidentified opponents in the Vang Vieng area. After one year I guess there are still some concerns.

The "unidentified opponents" are actually Hmong fighters. These fighters are remnants from the CIA's secret army of the 1960's and 1970's. After 40 years these soldiers and now their sons are still holding out. Part of their struggle has spilled over into America - California to be exact. One of the Hmong leaders, a powerful legendary general from the CIA era, was arrested in California last year on charges of conspiring to overthrow the Lao government.

We arrived in Vientiane safely but not without our moments. The long and winding road that we slowly ascended the mountains to Luang Prabang, was the same road that we rapidly drove down on Saturday. Whereas on Monday there had been very little traffic on Highway 13, there were many more trucks on the road. These trucks were heavily loaded, and attempting to save their bakes so they were slow on the descent. These trucks were heavily loaded and underpowered so they were slow on the rising portions of the road.

It did not matter to the bus driver. He had a large and load horn. His frequent use of the device kept us safe from the oncoming trucks, cattle, motorbikes, children, adults, and bicycles that we either overtook or encountered even on the many, many blind curves. The trip back to Vientiane took one hour less than the trip up. Most of this time savings can be attributed to the talents of our "skillful" driver.

We have all been told that in certain human activities "Size does not matter". That may be true for some human activities but it does not apply to driving in Laos especially on mountain roads. If you are big enough and have a large enough horn, the rules of the road do not apply. You can pass anywhere you choose to. You can drive as fast as you dare which turned out to be much faster than I would have dared. You however must liberally use your horn to inform the world that you were coming through!

In addition to the harrowing scenery whizzing by our window, the monotony of the trip was broken up by the sights and sound but fortunately not the smells of two women who became motion sick. One young woman was sick for at least 4 hours. The little pink plastic bags that were passed out at the bus terminal came in very handy as well as the Handi-Wipes that I always carry in my camera backpack.

About three hours outside of Luang Prabang, Duang had to go to the toilet. Toilet? What toilet? To paraphrase a line from a famous movie that is often quoted "Toilets? Toilets? We don't need no stinking toilets!" There was no toilet onboard the bus. Duang asked someone in Lao and the person told the bus driver. He pulled over almost immediately - despite the fact that we were on a blind curve. Duang was quickly joined by about 6 men and 5 other women disembarking the bus. The people scattered along both sides of the road seeking their own little spot. The men due to their plumbing, basically went to the edge of the road, turned their back to the bus, and took care of business. The women, in general sort more private locations. In general - there was one older woman who was either afraid of what might be in the heavy vegetation or more experienced in these matters, selected a spot about 20 feet from a man, turned her back to the bus, hiked up her skirt, and did her business. Duang was shyer and headed deep into the bushes. When she returned, I noticed that she was heavily covered with grass seeds. These were seeds that get transported to new areas by attaching themselves to animals and people with barbed coverings. We spent at least the next 5 minutes laughing and pulling all the seeds off of her clothing.

After 4.5 hours, the bus stopped for lunch which was included in our ticket. We had another good meal. I noticed some of the Lao men drinking something out of a fish shaped glass bottle. The bottle was rather fancy with textured scales on the surface. I asked if it was Lao Lao (Lao white lightening). That was all it took. They immediately offered me a drink. I accepted and downed the shot in one gulp. It was just as bad as anything that I have drunk in Thailand. I did appreciate their kindness and the experience.

On this trip we experienced some different food and drink. For as long as I have been in SE Asia, it was on this trip that I ate my first banana pancake. They are delicious. We drank Lao Hai at the Khmu New Year Festival.

Lao Hai means "jar alcohol" in Lao. It is a rice wine served in an earthen jar. The drink looks and tastes very much like sake. We drank it out of a gallon sized ceramic wide mouth jug through either thin vinyl tubing or long reed straws with other people. After we became acquainted with the village headman, one of the jars was placed before us on our table. I enjoyed drinking the stuff although I did have to force myself to ignore the flies that kept landing on top of the fermenting mash in the jar. At the celebration there did not seem to be any age restriction on drinking Lao Hai. I saw children as young 12 years old sucking on a tube out of the jar. I got a picture of a 14 year old girl reacting strongly unfavorably to her swig of Lao Hai!

Our lunch at the Khmu celebration included laarb, a mixture of shredded meat and chilies. The meat was cooked but in Isaan I have eaten it several times where the meat was raw. At a wedding, I helped prepared the raw meat by using a heavy knife to chop the beef up to the point that it became a paste. Sticky rice is dipped into the laarb and then eaten.

There was also another dish at the celebration to dip our sticky rice into - Jaew Bawng. Jaew Bawng is made out of chilies and dried water buffalo skin. Jaew Bawng is very tasty - musty, hot, and a slight hint of sweetness. I got so enthusiastic about it that I ate one of the chunks in the sauce - a hunk of skin. That was not so good. The texture was slimey and it tasted like what you would imagine water buffalo skin would taste like. I washed it down with a healthy swig of Lao hai and did not repeat that mistake again.

Our trip to Laos was over much too quickly. It is a beautiful land with a very good hearted people. There is so much to see and experience there. There is so much that we will return. Hopefully we will return soon.

8 December 2008 - Laos Day 3

Laos Day 3, Wednesday 03 December

Yesterday, Monday December 08, was another busy day. In addition to writing in this blog, I continued to process the digital photographs from the Laos trip, performed a few household chores, and went grocery shopping.

The highlight and conclusion of the day, as well as the start of today, was attending a festival in downtown Udonthani. There is a festival running from 01 December to 15 December. The festival is being held at a park and surrounding streets.

The festival is a massive conglomeration of booths and stalls. In addition to all the plant and flower selling booths with their associated food stalls, there were carnival rides for small children, carnival games, stalls selling all kinds of goods, stalls selling native handicrafts and specialties, and at least 3 sound stages for shows.

Almost every stall or booth had its own sounds - blaring Isaan music, electronic crescendos from games, amplified pitches from barkers, and people involved in loud conversations.

We ended up attending one of the concerts. It cost 50 baht ($1.50 USD). Once inside we had to buy a piece of plastic to use as a ground cloth because we had not brought anything to sit on. The ground cloth cost 20 baht, approximately $0.70 USD. People set their ground cloths where they chose to. Soon the viewing area was covered with wall to wall mats. People had brought in snacks and drinks. The audience was composed mostly of families - three generations. The end result was a massive picnic type atmosphere.

The show started at 9:00 PM and was scheduled to end at 5:00 AM. It is run every night for the duration of the festival.

The show started on time with an opening routine which was a tribute to Isaan culture.

Costumed dancers performed to Lao music played by the 14 piece band. Eventually 50 dancers and 2 singers were on stage.

Part of the opening act, was a procession of stereotyped Isaan characters - Lady-Boys, illiterate farmers, old village women, two young men strutting with a large phallus suspended between them from a long piece of bamboo, and two other young men with some kind of puppet device which was an animated man screwing an animated woman in the missionary position - very strange but no one in the audience seemed offended.

The show was very elaborate, intense and ornate - a sort of Las Vegas review meets Vaudeville to the hard driving beat of mahlam Lao music. It was very entertaining and enjoyable. We ended leaving at 12:30 AM but felt we had gotten our $1.50 worth of entertainment.

Back to our Laos adventure ...

Wednesday December 03 was a travel day to the World Heritage Site of Luang Prabang.
We took a VIP bus from the North Bus Station in Vientiane to Luang Prabang. The ticket was $14.70 USD each including snacks and lunch for the 10 hour trip (ordeal?).

The bus, although old, was in fairly good condition. We had our two overnight sized bags placed in the storage area beneath the passenger compartment. There is overhead storage inside the bus sufficient to only place handbags of laptop sized baggage - not practical at all.

The directions to Luang Prabang are very simple - get on Highway 13 and stop when you get to Luang Prabang. The adventure is getting there. Highway 13 is one of the main highways in Laos. It runs North/South from China to Thailand. It, at its best, the road is two lanes of asphalt paving running through many villages. There are many places especially in the mountains it is 1-1/2 lanes. There were two places where the road was only one lane because the rest of the road had collapsed into the ravine below. Long stretches of the highway are not paved or has so many ruts that the road is essentially not paved. This also makes for the trip to be rather dusty in the dry season which we are now in.

In Thailand they make a big deal about the road from Maehongson to Chiang Mai having 1,864 curves in 244 KM. Highway 13 is 425 KM long from Vientiane to Luang Prabang with at least as many curves. On our return trip, the bus company offered very small plastic bags to people shortly after boarding. Duang questioned me what they were for. I honestly thought that they were to collect trash such as gum wrappers and snack packaging but I decided to be a funny guy. I took a bag and opened it and pantomimed vomiting into it. Little did I know how right I was. During the trip back to Vientiane two people got car (bus?) sick.

Five hours into the trip to Luang Prabang, we stopped for lunch. We stopped for about one hour at a road side restaurant. Two other buses had stopped at the same place. It was interesting to see the foreigners sitting off to the side looking glum and forlorn as they ate peeled fruit, potato chips, and ice cream - afraid of getting sick. Duang and I along with Lao and Thai people sat down to a very good hot and nutritious meal. We opted for a bowl of kwetieao, a noodle soup, that we eat a lot of in Thailand. Other options were rice with vegetables, rice with chicken, or rice with fish.

The scenery along the road from Viang Vieng to Luang Prabang is very beautiful. Around Viang Vieng there are many limestone karsts, similar to the area around Guilin China. From Vieng Viang to Luang Prabang the road rises through heavily vegetated mountainous territory with many streams. The mountains are abrupt and craggy which adds to their visual impact. Highway 13 is built into the sides of the mountains that show a great deal of evidence of past landslides and portents of slides to come. I was grateful that we were travelling in the dry season. It would definitely be much more dangerous to travel this road in the rainy season.

We passed through some small villages but we passed through even more small settlements. These settlements are nothing more than 5 to 10 homes along the side of the road. The homes are virtual grass huts. Grass huts if you consider that bamboo is a grass rather than wood. The houses have thatched roofs and have woven bamboo slat siding. The doors are 5 feet from the edge of the road with the back of the house supported above the steep slope of the mountain side. For some of the settlements the houses were on one side of the road with the people’s cooking facilities set up on little platforms spanning the drainage ditch on the other side of the road. These 6 foot wide flat areas between the road and vertical or near vertical faces of the mountain were also used to store firewood, hang laundry, store food in elevated bins, or house livestock.

Since it was getting later in the afternoon, it was shower time in many of the settlements. For most of the settlements, there was a central location for washing. The washing facilities were concrete paved areas with a 6 foot high concrete column with a faucet and spigot coming out of it. Near this area would be a large square concrete tank that captured mountain water and pumped it to the washing facility. The water sytem was donated by "World Vision" mostly from Australia but I did see one attributed from Singapore. I did not see any attributed to the United States.

Groups of 2 to 4 women or men, but not both sexes together, would be washing in the cold water. The men would be stripped to their boxer shorts. The women were wearing their long skirts pulled up to their armpits. The women would squat to cleanse the intimate regions of their bodies. Children up to about age 10 years were completely naked. From our quick glimpses to this, it was obvious that bathing was also a social as well as hygienic activity.
Be it a village or settlement, the areas were filled with children. It was very common to see a five year old girl with a small baby strapped to her back. Toddlers played along the main national highway - a mere 5 feet from speeding traffic and 15 feet from falling off the mountain. I was grateful that they were not my grandchildren but concerned for their safety. I guess they learn at a very early age what is necessary for survival.

Along the route we came upon many people walking with baskets of firewood, and food strapped to their backs. They had foraged the mountains for food and fuel. Many of the groups consisted of only children - the oldest being no more than 11 years old often with 3 and 4 year olds. I saw one little girl carrying a machete type implement that was almost as long as she was tall. For these hill tribe people everyone must participate in the effort to survive - childhood is not a luxury that they can afford.

As we passed some of the more developed settlements, more than 20 houses and further from the highway, we saw some Hmong girls all dressed up in fantastic clothes in a line tossing oranges back and forth with a line of young men. You could see that they were having a very good time.

The girls were wearing very colorful heavily beaded hats along with dark heavily embroidered long skirts. They also had heavily decorated shirts or jackets with embroidery, beads and coins.
Duang asked me what was going on. Somewhere in the corner of my mind, I seemed to recollect that this had something to do with the Hmong people's dating customs. I told her that this was how young Hmong people met each other rather than going to movies, restaurants, or football games.

This foreshadowed events and opportunities to come during our trip - details to be revealed in the next two blog entries.

07 December 2008 - Vientiane - Day 2

Vientiane - Day 2, Tuesday 02 December 08

We got up at 07:30 to another great and glorious day - cool, bright sun, blue sky and no clouds.

Right after breakfast we headed out on our walking tour of the city. From yesterday's efforts we had become rather well orientated. We hiked down to the Th Lang Xang and turned towards the Mekong River. At the end of the road is the Presidential Palace and across from it is Vat Si Saket.

Wat Si Saket was originally built in 1818. As we entered the Vat/Museum compound, we encountered a young Monk about 22 years old and his friend of a similar age studying. Running around between the Monk, her mother, and a street vendor was a 3 year old girl. I took pictures of the little girl who was not the least bit shy. The Monk spoke to me in English. He was studying English and wanted to ask me about some vocabulary. I ended up spending about an hour with him and his friend.

The young men were both from Luang Prabang, our next destination starting the next morning. The young man had been a Monk for 5 years. Like Vietnam and Thailand, people have to pay to go to elementary and high school. He was poor so he became a Monk - not to see the world as in the US Navy but to get a free education. Wats in Thailand and Vats in Laos are also educational as well as religious centers. He plans to remain a Monk for two more years and then study law. If I have a criticism for the places that I have visited in SE Asia, it would be that the countries do not provide free education to all students. Twelve years of free public education is a privilege and right that we in the United States are so fortunate to have. It is an opportunity that is not fully appreciated until you travel and realize that it is not universally available to all peoples of the world.

The Monk's friend spoke English well and was studying Japanese. The Monk had taught himself English from a book and did very well. As I have many times before while living and traveling in SE Asia I contemplated the loss and costs to people of not having a free education available to them. But it is a tribute to the human spirit that some people are capable and able to overcome the obstacle and to develop some of their potential.

The Monk stated, as I have heard others to say, that learning English was easy to learn. I remarked how difficult it was to learn Thai or Lao - there are 5 very different meanings for some words depending on how you say them. On a very good day, for which there are not many, I can 3 of the different ways of how you say some of the words. The remaining 2 ways - I doubt that I will ever be able to differentiate the sounds.

The Monk's friend replied that Japanese was easy. I quipped that of course it was easy - all words are short and not lengthy as in Thai. I then gave him my best impersonation of John Belushi's samurai hotel clerk or deli counter man from old episodes of Saturday Night Live. Perhaps my impersonation was more of General Tojo or some other evil Japanese military officer from all the WWII propaganda films that I watched as a young boy! No matter - they understood my joke and we had a good laugh. Duang was busy talking with the little girl and the street vendors so time went by quickly for both of us.

After our time with the Monk and the little girl, we toured the Vat. A unique feature of this Vat is the more than 2,000 siver and ceramic Buddha statues placed in little alcoves in the walls behind the larger 300 seated and standing Buddhas in front of them. It was not possible to determine which ones were silver - I doubt that they had been polished since they were made. I guess that just like other aspects of religions, you have to have faith that it is true - they are made of silver.

We crossed the street from Vat Si Saket to Haw Pha Kaew. Haw Pha Kaew is a royal temple built to house the famous Emerald Buddha. Emerald Buddha? Isn't there an Emerald Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand? Are there two? - Yes there is an Emerald Buddha in Bangkok. No, there is only one Emerald Buddha. As Paul Harvey, the famous radio commentator would say "And now, the rest of the story ..."

Haw Pha Kaew was built in 1565 by the Lan Xang King, King Setthathirat, when he moved the capital of his kingdom from Luan Prabang in the central highlands to Vientiane. He brought with him the Emerald Buddha. He installed the Emerald Buddha in Haw Pha Kaew as his personal place of worship.

In 1779 there was a fight between the Lao and the Thais. The Thais stole the Emerald Buddha and brought it to Bangkok where it remains today. It is a very revered statue in Thailand with the King of Thailand changing the statue's vestments at the change of each season in an elaborate ceremony.

On the terrace of the Haw Pha Kaew are several beautiful bronze Buddha statues. On all but one of the statues, the jewels that had been placed in the eyes are missing - taken by the Thais.

We entered into the temple which was crowded with people. I headed to the back and looked at the various religious relics on display. Duang went to the front and paid her respects, literally and figuratively, and prayed.

Signs in the Haw Pha Kaew state that the Emerald Buddha and the jewels had been stolen by "falang" (foreigners). In contemporary Thai and Lao society, falang is a term that was originally referred to the French but is now used to describe all Caucasians. It has some negative intonations but in my opinion no worse than calling Afro-Americans "Blacks". It doesn't bother me to be called a "falang" - I have been called much worse in my life.

However on this day, I gleefully informed Duang that when Laos was referring to "Falang" stealing their treasures, they did not mean Europeans. The Lao were talking about the "Thais" this time. We enjoyed the joke. As we exited, I told the staff that Duang was Thai, opened her pocketbook and showed them that she had not taken anything today. They laughed and we laughed.

It is very comfortable here in Laos. Duang is like amongst her family. The people love to joke and laugh. The Laos are very outgoing and curious. I am surprised at how many of them can speak some English.

From the Vat we turned the corner to the Mekong River. The Mekong River is one of the great and longest rivers in the world. It runs from China through Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. We walked along the levee bordering the river flood plain. Remnants of the sand bags remained from this year's spring flooding. Despite the threats from seasonal floods, some people have set up encampments on the flood plain. Directly in front of the Presidential Palace we saw a camp. A group of men playing pentanque - a game balled with metal balls - a sort of French style bocce ball. Several children were playing near the men. We walked down the sandy embankment to photograph and observe the goings on.

The people were obviously very poor but were enjoying themselves. The children, like children all over the world, did not allow socio or economic status to interfere with their fun. Two older girls, about 10 and 12, were playing checkers, or at least appeared to be checkers, with bottle caps as game pieces upon a hand painted piece of scrap wood. They were also looking after a very lively 10 month old baby. There were three other young children chasing each other and enjoying the day. We spent about an hour enjoying and relaxing there. The people were friendly and offered us seats to watch the game. I picked favorite player and cheered him on - they found it to be amusing. Near where the men were playing, their wives were at home preparing meals over small wood fires in front of their small elevated wooden huts. The next time that I read of Mekong flooding in Vientiane with the loss of life I will wonder if it was any of these poor souls.

We continued our walk north along the Mekong to the PVO Restaurant for lunch. PVO specializes in Vietnamese food in addition to renting motorbikes, and bicycles. I think that it woulld be humorous to apply for a loan in the USA to open up a restaurant that has a business plan to serve food, rent motorbikes, and rent bicycles. Despite the broad spectrum of services at PVO, the food was excellent - especially the spring rolls and Bo Bun.

After lunch we wlked to Vat Mixay. The Vat is under reconstruction. The entrance was obstructed by bamboo scaffolding and a large pile of sand. Two workmen were installing concrete filigrees to the roof line. I motioned to them that I would like to go in. They didn't seem to mind or perhaps they just didn't care. What a great sight! A new white marble floor had been installed. All the painted murals were bright, sharp, and extremely colorful. There were not any statues installed yet. Needless to say I had the place all to myself until Duang responded to my call and joined me.

Outside of the Vat, there were many precast concrete filigrees lying out in the sun to dry. Small diameter rebar was exposed out of the top of the ornate concrete moldings to allow them to be welded to horizontal rods in the roof of the Vat. The concrete moldings would later be painted and embellished with gold paint. It was very interesting to see how these ornate Vats are actually constructed. There is a great deal of work and monotonous labor involved in creating such beautiful structures.

Inside the Vat compound I saw a Monk working on a table. He was sculpting clay into a design to create a mold to precast sections of molding for the Vat. I went over to observe and photograph him. After about 5 minutes of work, he stopped and talked to Duang and I for about 1/2 an hour. He hopes to have the Vat finished in 2 more years. he and others have been working on it for 5 years already.

From Vat Mixay we made our way back to the hotel for a 2 hour break. On the way back to the hotel we stopped by the Black Stupa to see our little friend from the day before. Her parents immediately recognized us and showed us that she was sleeping. The little girl was sleeping on the bed in the corner of the barber shop. We made sure that they would let her know that we dropped by to see her.

We headed back out from the hotel at 4 PM to catch the water fountain show at the Victory Monument which starts at 5:00 PM. Duang stopped at a fruit stand to buy some mandarin oranges for our bus trip to Luang Prabang the next morning. The fruit vendor had her two children with her and I ended up taking their pictures. The little boy about 7 years old took a liking to us. As we were crossing the boulevard to enter the monument grounds, I noticed that the little boy had rushed up to join us, at the same time I saw out of the corner of my eye that a motorbike was coming towards us at a fairly fast rate. I yelled and grabbed Duang to stop her from crossing the street into the motorbike's path. She heard, understood, and stopped immediately. The little boy continued on into the path of the motorbike. Our hearts stopped at what we were going to next witness. Fortunately and luckily as Duang so often says "No pompain (complain). Buddha take care". Somehow and someway perhaps through divine intervention, the motorbike only clipped the back of the little boy's leg - not even breaking the skin. After checking him to determine if he was injured, I gave him a lecture about being careful and looking were he runs. Duang gave him a scolding in Lao. The boy didn't seem to mind our scolding and remained at our side for the next 90 minutes.

We came upon the photographers that we met the day before. They recognized us and came to talk to us. We told them about the boy's accident. They were very concerned and checked his leg to. I got the impression that the fruit sellers and photographers are all regulars and know each other. The boy's mother heard and saw the commotion and came over. She scolded the boy and tried to get the boy to come back to the fruit stand. He was having no part of that. He wanted to stay with us. His mother returned across the street to the stand, or rather cart, alone.

There were a couple new photographers so we had to go over how much I paid for the camera etc all over again. The people were interested in where I was from and it turned out that they had friends and relatives living in Fresno, Sacramento and Redding. After independence (Communist victory) in 1975, many Lao immigrated (fled) to the USA. They had supported the USA in its secret war in Laos.

The photographers take pictures of people in front of the monument and print them to sell. I decided to joke with them so I pulled out and wore my large floppy wide brimmed hat which is similar to the type that they wear, I hung my camera over my neck and struck up a stance like they do. I was trying to drum up customers to photograph. They immediately caught on to my joke and pointed out that I was not like them - I did not have the small battery operated printer hanging off my neck to be exactly like them. We laughed and laughed.

Soon two very beautiful young women came to the water fountain. They were dressed in full Hmong dress. A precursor of things to happen. A photographer and an apparently wealthy man was with them. They posed and modeled for the photographer. It appeared that the group were professionals and were on some type of publicity shoot. It was very interesting to see the models react to the people. The people came over to where they were and took their own photographs. The models even posed with ordinary people for photos. They even modeled for some of the private citizens. I am fairly certain that this would not happen in the USA - models interacting with ordinary people for no fee, and professional photographer allowing others to shoot his models - no way!