Laos really has been a gift of our travel agent…probably would not have come here otherwise. We will always be grateful to her for recommending these extra three (3) days. Even though I’m ready to start winging it back to my beloved homeland, leaving this idyllic part of the world is not easy. It has been a wonderful way to conclude the journey and if you are ever coming to Southeast Asia, make sure you come to Luang Prabang (and use VidoTours, and ask for Mong — just as if you travel to Hue & Hoi An in Vietnam you ask for Von). By the way, I have an apology to those who wrote in sanscrit — it has no similarity to my handwriting, it actually is very neat and quite beautiful…

Laos seems more at peace with itself. For example, in Luang Prabang hotels are not allowed to be more than about two (2) stories high (not permitted to build above the treeline!!) which gives the city a very beautiful look downtown. As well, the road all the way in from the airport is lined with trees (take note Penticton…because Luang Prabang, population about thirty-five thousand [35,000] is surrounded by mountains too and has two (2) significant rivers, but they don’t leave it at that!!). And the markets seem less pushy — even the silk clothing and rice wine mini-factories simply offer their wares and if you say no, they bow and thank you and let you move on. And while there is significant amounts of electrical energy in Lao, there aren’t many telephone lines — everyone has at least one [1] cell phone — so there are copious numbers of cell towers!!

After visiting a village across the Mekong wherein there are several kilns and the main economic drivers are brick and tile production along with an expert pottery-making family (as it was an off-day for school — being Sunday — all the children were home and were helping in the process, they had just received a big order from another village for jugs as they needed to make more rice wine in time for the Lunar New Year!!), we journeyed two (2) hours up the Mekong into the hinterland. In addition to having a big lunch at an open-air “stilted” restaurant, and exploring a cave an ancient King turned into a shrine, we stopped in at a village that specializes in “rice wine/whisky” — delightful concept! But the best part of the day was the journey up the river itself…the river is almost mystical and the vegetation is so lush that it must be sucking an enormous quantity of CO2 out of the air!! (The ever presence of China is so noticeable whenever you takeoff or land as you go through a brown hazy smog, but let us not dwell on that for now!!) Moreover the river itself has a very significant range in depth, depending on the season — it is moving into the dry season and the river is dropping about ten [10] cms a day (on the other river that flows through Luang Prabang to join the Mekong the locals have already built a bamboo bridge in a couple of spots to enable them to get into downtown quickly and without the need of a water taxi — by the way, these bridges will get washed out in the rainy season and then rebuilt the following winter…). The boat we rode/sailed in was a delightfully appointed one, almost luxurious with excellent hardwood finishes throughout — nice bucket seats for twelve [12] plus two [2] lounging/bench seats, yet there were only three [3] of us (including the Guide) along with the Captain. This was much more than the earlier African Queen in the Mekong Delta, and the captain was more professionally comported than Bogie!!

Before I forget, let me share with you about our “Advent” moment. While at Sunday lunch, in the distance three (3) elephants were brought down to the river to drink and feed. Not sure that the three (3) young people tending/riding them were magi or even wise, but judging by the size of the pachaderms, I’m glad they were handling them and not moi…Amazingly enough neither the restaurant nor the boat assaulted our ears with Christmas music, so it was a pleasant moment in time and allowed us to think on our own about the Christmas season that awakes our return.

Again, like Vietnam, there is a communist government which, since the fall of the USSR, has become decidedly capitalistic in its economy philosophy. It makes me think, after being with the Southeast Asian people for just three [3] weeks that Canada would be better served by focusing on French Indo-China for the bulk of its business dealings — used autos, pick-ups and semis are all needed, and there could be some real partnership/consultative opportunities between municipal governments helping in the design and development of infra-structure. With better transport systems we might even find some excellent deals in importing food stuffs (and not just rice). There’s probably a hundred million [100,000,000] people throughout Indo-Chine and they are far less conniving in their desire to do business (but I’ll leave this to younger people to follow-up, but I will suggest to the Okanagan Water Board that even they could provide some valuable services while also learning some interesting things). Lao people do not waste anything — they recycle/reuse almost everything — they just don’t have as good a system for making sure this is done in the most efficient fashion. When I talked about how PEI managed their waste disposal program, there was more than simple polite interest — again, a way that governments + private sector interests could find a way to do business in this country. There has been considerable logging in the past (cut blocks are noticeable in the distance on both sides of the Mekong, although they are growing back quickly) but it appears that government has cut back on this in order to preserve certain woods only for the local use of Laotians, especially in the building of furniture. The roads are more than passable, and most in the city (as well as the main highways leading out of it) are paved — there are a great many autos and pick-up trucks along with motor scooters, but the driving is quite civil!!

Culturally speaking I found the Lao people to be very proud of their history even though there are some moments of darkness or at least less happiness. We attended a ballet performance one evening which was a portrayal of one part of the mystical/mythical past. It was very colourful and the characters were very athletic and expressive. An interesting sidebar: all the actors were men (behind masks), the soloist (who intermittently told the unfolding story) was a woman, the musicians were men and the prologue & postlude special dance ceremonies were all performed only by women. There are a great many temples throughout the country, most accompanied by a number of monks (many very young as it is a positive gateway for rural & poor urban people to access a strong education). While they are Buddhist, there is a sense that this form of Buddhism has absorbed other religious influences to make it somewhat unique to Laos. One thing about many of this temples, they serve as fitness centres: by the time one climbs up to them they have ascended at least one hundred [100] steps — some triple that — and then you have to descend which requires a different set of muscles because the steps are narrow and steep. And these temples range is quality and condition from the sublime to the rundown/almost abandoned (just like churches across Canada). My only question at this point: around the world, are there more statues of the Virgin Mary or the Buddha??

As for eating, while we might think Lao food is exotic, one quickly learns that it is basically what all people eat. Whatever is available, that gets turned in the staple diets of the villagers. So the farther off the beaten track one goes, the greater the opportunity to eat toads, pythons, cobras, hug beetles, etc. I enjoyed the food, but didn’t venture so far off the road as to lose site of sanely edible options. Lao beer is excellent.

As I prepare to fly to Bangkok and then on eastward (so as to leave the Orient and arrive in the West!!) I have one [1] strange feeling that arose as we walked through a village that was preparing for a feast to celebrate a newborn in the village. While they were very welcoming (no doubt in part because we were not stopping to eat their feast food/drink) I wondered what they felt like, having huge mega-tourists come stomping through their life (like giants stalking through the land). Do we disrupt their peacefulness? Or, because of the importance of tourism (it is the number one [#1] economic driver in Luang Prabang itself) do they accept our presence willingly? I know I’m happy to have tourists fill the motels/hotels/campgrounds of Penticton, go to the beaches and pubs and wineries but they don’t walk through our condo tower, tour buses don’t drive past my friends’ homes when we are having a bbq… It’s a sobering thought as I say goodbye to a wonderful part of the planet. The Guide (Mong) became a good friend in just the less than sixty-six [66] hours we were in and around her city — she was visibly sad to see us go, and we knew she had more she would have liked to show us — but we also realized that we are not really part of their world and that we need to be respectful of that fact. I hope they felt that we were — I know that I was well treated, well fed and am returning to Canada is a very upbeat, positive and youthful frame-of-mind due in no small part to the final three [3] days of our three [3] week journey.

Thank you Laos, thank you Mong, thank you Katy…and thanks also to the people of Cambodia and Vietnam…your sharing of your countries has made 2014 and turning seventy [70] a most memorable moment in my life…

(They are announcing the flight, without a PA system or even a megaphone — the hostess simply came over to where we all are sitting and said, “Lao Airlines invites you to board your airplane” — so Lao-like, always polite, not loud, a sense of gratitude for being part of their world even as we leave — unforgettable!!)