Oldies But Goodies

White Model 706 Passenger Bus - 1930s Vintage

We are back home in Isaan now for about a week from our trip back to America.  We are caught up now to the point that I can consider writing blog entries after over a month's absence.

It was a great trip highlighted by a one week long visit to Yellowstone National Park, a visit with my cousin in Downeast Maine, and visiting with one of my best friends from high school and his wife after 40 years.

I wanted to share a different part of America with Duang on this trip to the United States.  I can not think of a better place to share with someone from outside of the US than Yellowstone National Park.  The landscapes as well as wildlife are unique and are national treasures.

Duang absolutely loved the area and animals.  I was surprised at how adept she was at spotting wildlife at great distances.  The only problem that we encountered was in the early days of our visit.  She did not know the names of animals so when she spotted something she said that she saw  "big black dog" - this term applied to buffalo, black bears, and in the case of mammals that were not black such as deer, pronghorn, big horn sheep, grizzly bears and elk "big dog, same color my hat".  Needless to say it all made my trip that more entertaining!

Some of our unanticipated pleasures were several encounters with links to a long gone by age in Yellowstone National Park - the canvas topped 1930s era White touring buses,  Eight of the original 98 bright yellow 14 passenger buses were restored in 2007 and returned to service.

The White Motor Company was a predominate maker of trucks in 20th century America.  Unfortunately, like so much of America's heavy industry, the company did not make it out of the century.

The White Model 706 buses in Yellowstone are bright yellow and the 33 of the buses used in Glacier National Park are a deep rich red.

"Red Jammers", White Model 706 Buses, In Glacier National Park

The White buses hearken back to a time when industrial design embraced many artistic elements.  Even today the artistic beauty of the front chrome grills are testaments to the taste and skill of their Russian immigrant designer so many years ago.  Seeing the old buses was a welcomed relief from the countless utilitarian vehicles that ply the Yellowstone roadways today.

Duang was fascinated by the grand touring vehicles - there is nothing comparable to them in Isaan or the whole of Thailand.  These buses were another unique experience for her, another unique memory of America for her.

Yellowstone Panorama and Me Reflected in Model 706 Bus

26 December 2008, Cultural Divides

Cultural Divides
Saturday 27 December 2008

Christmas for everyone is now over.

I hope that the holiday was satisfying for everyone. Our Christmas ended up being very different from what we had originally planned.

I decided to go to Bangkok to take care or some legal matters at the US Embassy. My appointment was set for 24 December at 08:45 AM. Rather than taking the overnight bus from Udonthani to Bangkok and arriving in Bangkok at 07:30 AM and then taking a cab to the Embassy, I decided to leave Udon on the morning before. That would give us Christmas Eve in Bangkok.

The hotel that we stay at is located one door down from the US Ambassador's residence and about two blocks fom the Embassy. It is very nice and through the Internet, we got a $160 a night serviced apartment for $62 a night including breakfast. The hotel is also located very close to a BTS Skyway station and is within walking distance to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar.
This blog is about cultural divides in addition it is about how Christmas is celebrated in a Buddhist country. Some of the differences started to show up on our December 23rd bus ride to Bangkok.

We left Udonthani at 08:00 aboard the Chantour's VIP bus. The cost aborad the VIP bus is about $13 USD each one way for the 8 hour trip including snacks. The VIP buses are a little more roomier than standard buses, are comfortable enough to sleep on, and most importantly - complete the trip 2 hours quicker than the standard bus. We now that to be true from painful and bitter experience! One time we took the first available bus - a standard bus. It was a mistake that will never be repeated. It seemed like the bus slowed down or stopped for any and all groups of people that happened to be standing along the road - a very long road.

As happened on a previous VIP bus trip to Bangkok, we had uniformed hostesses onboard. Their uniforms are a sort of 1960's retro airline stewardess ensemble complete with cap. What separates Thailand today from the airlines of 1960 or America is the fact that one of the "stewardesses" was a Katoehy (Lady Boy). Some Katoehys in Thailand are very attractive and in Pattaya there is a Beauty Pageant modeled after Miss Universe for Ladyboys. Our stewardess was more typical of American transvestites - she was not fooling anyone!

Many years ago on a BART train in the San Francisco Bay Area on an early Sunday morning, my family and me ended up sitting behind a couple of late Saturday night transvestite party goers. One of them was talking in a very affective and dramatic way. My son, who was five years old at the time, asked in a loud voice that everyone onboard could hear or at least we believed they could "Mommy. Mommy, I don't understand. HE looks like a man but talks like a woman". My wife was all embarrassed and said that he would understand later. I just laughed. I felt that if they couldn't fool a five year old they were the ones who could be embarrassed. Our stewardess despite her chic hot pink outfit was not fooling anyone.

Lady boys seem to be everywhere in Thailand. They have their own subculture. I have even seen them in the isolated farming villages such as Tahsang Village as well as in the metropolitan areas where you would expect to see them. I have not done a count but it appears to me that about 6% of Thai males are Lady Boys.

The lady Boy culture is very apparent. Many cosmetic counters are staffed with lady boys. Some Go-Go bars have Lady Boy dancers alongside the female dancers. Sometimes the only tip off as to who is who is the size of their breasts. Lady Boys have the bigger breasts! At Mahlam Lao shows there is always a contingent of Lady Boys up front strutting and dancing to the music. The Mahlam Lao shows always have comedy skits involving Lady Boys. The skits involving the Lady Boy characters are reminiscent of the old and now ill reputed minstrel or Amos and Andy shows in the USA. I would not go so far as to say that Lady Boys are universally accepted but they are definitely tolerated. It appears that the price for being tolerated is to be laughed at. The Lady Boys seem to relish the attention even if it is laughing and the attention seems to only encourage more outrageous behavior on their part. Our "stewardess" was not outrageous and was actually very professional although not attractive in the least bit.

After checking into our room we walked down to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. The night bazaar is one of Bangkok's big tourist attractions. I have been there several times in the past three years. Typically I do not last long there because of the crowed narrow aisles. This time it was different - very different. There was hardly anyone there. I could not believe how few tourists there were. I had read that hotel vacancy rate for the Christmas Holiday is typically around 60 to 70%. This year the occupancy rate is around 30%. This is due to the Thai political unrest and world economic situation no doubt. There are some reports of tourism being down 50% this year.

After dinner and purchasing some DVDs, we went to the Lumphini Boxing Stadium to watch Muay Thai boxing matches. We walked up to the ticket counter and I showed my Thai driver's license. In Thailand there are usually two prices for things - a price for Thais, and a higher price for "falang" foreigners. There is a pervading attitude that foreigners are rich and will be only here for a short time there the Thais need to get as much of their money as possible. Some foreigners find this to be insulting and get upset about it. The truth of the matter is that in general we are not talking about a great deal of money from a foreigner's standpoint. Foreigners pay more (about $3.00 USD) than Thais to visit museums. However Thais make much less money than the visiting foreigners. Many Thais earn less than $200 a month. Even professional Thais such as engineers earn less than one-half of an American in Thailand. Sometimes showing my Thai driver's license gets me in for the Thai price. Many times Duang will buy things with me out of sight so that we get the Thai price.

The quoted price for the boxing matches was 2,000 Baht for me and 880 baht for Duang. After some discussion we walked away - not angry but not willing to take the deal they offered. Soon I heard them calling after us and walking up to us with a new deal - 1,600 baht for me and Duang for free. We took that deal.

Lumphini Boxing Stadium is one of the Meccas of Muay Thai boxing. The foreigners who pay 2,000 baht or 1,600 baht have ringside seats. We ended up in the third row from the ring. The Thais sit in the cheaper seats. At times the action is hot and heavy in the cheap seats.

Gambling is illegal in Thailand just like prostitution. However ... as a match goes on, the people in the cheap seats get extremely animated yelling. waving hands, looking foe each other in the crowd, sticking various numbers of fingers in the air, and making various nods of the head. After the match you can see money being exchanged. If I did not know that gambling was illegal, I would say that they were gambling. They could not have been gambling because it is illegal and the police who were watching it going on did nothing about it.

After the featured match, most of the foreigners left and returned to their tour buses. Duang and I at the invitation of the usher went up to the first row. The last match ended up being the best match not necessarily due to the skills or ferocity of the combatants but the theater surrounding the match.

Muay Thai is a young man's sport. You will not find a 40 year old Muay Thai boxer competing. The boxers start their careers around age 8, reach their prime around 19, and retire around 25 years old. The last match involved two fighters about 14 or 15 years old.

To our right was a section reserved for the Press. With this being Thailand and late in the event, the section was just about empty save for an elderly man who seemed to be a sponsor, a middle aged man who appeared to be the father of one of the fighters, and a little boy 2 to 2.5 years old that was definitely the younger brother of one of the fighters. This little guy in a plaid short sleeve shirt and long pants was woth the price of admission.

As the fight progressed the little boy was yelling to the fighter who was his brother and slapping the ring with his hands just like the trainer andother handlers to his right. The little boy was completely focused and involved in the match.

During the break between rounds when there is a flurry of activity in the fighter's corner, the little boy would go up to the ring corner and try to give his advise and instructions to the fighter. When he was ignored, he went to his father or another adult and told them what he wanted them to tell his brother. he was very determined and it was obvious that he was convinced that he knew what he was doing - very much Burgess Meredith's character in the "Rocky" movies only much younger as well as much better looking.

The bout consists of five rounds. The combination od fatigue, lower skill level, and wetness from previous matches created several "knockdowns". When his brother fell down three times, the little boy would get all excited. He would make a face of disbelief, yell "Meiow! Meiow! (No, No)", and wave his hands from side to side to communicate to the referee and judges that it was not a real "knockdown".

When his brother was doing well, the little guy would yell up to him advise on how to finish off his opponent. The little guy demonstrated, as only a two year old can, a flurry of left, right combinations finishing off with a right elbow. He did this innumeral times. Duang and I just watched and laughed. It was great and very entertaining. I decided to help the little boy out. I pantomimed a series of left right combinations punctuated with a right and left elbow combination to the little guy. He saw me and showed me his two year old's combinations with a single elbow. I repeated my combination with two elbows and indicated that his brother should do that. With a twinkle in his eye, and a broad smile, he repeated my combinations and finished it with a big thumbs up gesture. He then tried several times to communicate it to his brother.

His brother won the match. As they headed for the locker room and we were leaving the stadium, I shook the little boy's hand and told him that he did a very good job. It was a very entertaining night.

The next day, Christmas Eve, I went to the US Embassy to handle my business. It took all of seven minutes and cost $50 USD. I had two one paged forms that I needed to be notarized. Seven minutes and it cost fifty dollars - a pretty good business for the US government. As an American citizen living overseas, I would have expected that me taking an oath, having a minor clerk sign and stamp the documents for a total of seven minutes would be for free. I then had to have the documents translated into Thai and recorded with the Thai authorities. As I exited the US Embassy, I was approached by a young woman who asked if I needed something translated. I confirmed and she brought me to a local second floor office. The company translated documents and provided legal assistance. I knew that I had to take the translated documents to The Department of Consular Affairs. The Legalization Division required three days to review and stamp the documents. As we say "TIT (This Is Thailand). This company could get the documents returned in one day for additional "fee". The amount of additional "fee" was less than spending another minimum day or possible 4 days in Bangkok. I agreed and paid the additional fees. The completed documents were available as promised at 16:00 - money well spent. To me the interesting points are the business climate and opportunities available in Thailand. I have written about the freedom of Thais to set up sidewalk restaurants, set up booths or blankets to sell items, and the general encouragement of people's entrepreneurial talents. The use of touts on "Embassy Row" is a public service as well as creates jobs for people. I even appreciate the opportunity to obtain expedited services for additional "Fees". I did not have to accept it but I considered the opportunity to have value and chose it.

After completing my business, we went to a big shopping center in Siam Square. As we experienced throughout Bangkok on this trip, Christmas carols sung by little children filled the air. I never realized how irritating children singing could be! Luckily Christmas is only once a year.

The main purpose of going to this shopping center was to visit a spice shop. I had visited it before and knew that it had many things that I can not find in Udonthani. I have been very confused over the amount of spices and seasonings in our kitchen. I had bought several jars of spices in Vietnam and bought several more in the USA that I imported into Thailand. I have been unable to locate all of them. While in the spice shop I told Duang what I was looking for and why I was buying new ones - I could not find the old ones. Duang got a funny look over her face and apologized. When she had been setting up and cleaning the kitchen, she didn't understand the expiration date and had thrown them out. At least now I don't have to feel so guilty about having thrown away her pala (fermented fish) in September. I thought that it was some old rotting stuff and heaved it in the garbage. I didn't realize that it is the basis and foundation of Lao cuisine!

Christmas Eve evening we had a reunion with one of our friends. She had worked with me in Sriracha, got to know Duang and has always been supportive. She lives and works in Bangkok. Although she now claims to be a "City Girl" she has not forgotten her Isaan roots. She loves the pala that Duang's mother makes so Duang had a couple of containers to give her. We had her come up to our room to talk as well as to catch up on old and new news. Duang and she opened up the pala to appreciate it. Immediately the room was filled with the overpowering stench fermented fish. Smells have always affected me throughout my life. That night was no different. I started to feel queasy and headed to the bathroom. I fell to me knees before the toilet and heaved my guts into the bowl while my eyes filled with tears.

Duang and Prawnee after first overcoming their shock laughed like crazy. When I rejoined them, we opened up the door to the patio and continued our conversation on the patio. We then took a short walk and had dinner at a Chinese Restaurant.

Duang woke up Christmas morning to a surprise - Santa Claus had remembered her. He had come into the room during the night and filled her sock (small) and hung it over the TV since there was no fireplace. Part of the morning was spent explaining Santa Claus, Christmas, and Christmas gift giving. Interestingly the TV had some of the Christmas Eve Mass from the Vatican. Many parts of the ritual, such as chanting, incense, statues, and blessings are similar to Buddhist rituals so it made explanations easier to understand. An interesting Christmas morning memory.

We took public transit to the Shangri-La Hotel for sightseeing, and Christmas Brunch. Christmas is a mostly normal workday in Thailand. Western companies are closed but all the Thai companies remain open. Prior to Brunch we walked around the Bangrak Market. I found people that I had photographed two years ago - they remembered and wished us a Merry Christmas.

Brunch was along the banks of the river and was excellent. It was a special location and meal on a special day.

We returned to Udonthani the next day by bus - again with a Lady Boy hostess along with two or maybe three other Lady Boy passengers.

The holiday did not go as we originally planned but ended up being wonderful and memorable.

Cultural differences were identified, appreciated and bridged.

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.