Three Generations

Alex expressing his Laotian side

Reminders of a Secret War

Plain of Jars

Plain of Jars

Since returning from our trip to Pakse life in Vientiane has been pretty uneventful.  This hasn't been a bad thing as this has allowed Thipp and Alex to visit with family on relaxed basis and provided us with a nice lull before we leave for Cambodia on March 1st.

When we rented our apartment I thought that the location was perfect, just a 15-minute walk to Thipp's Mom's house.  What hadn't occurred to me was that this also meant that we were just a 3-minute motor-scooter ride from their house.  Consequently, we've had many visitors.  Sometimes they are planned, such as when Thipp's sister and her husband brought over dinner one evening.  Sometimes they are a total surprise like when Thipp's sister-in-law dropped-off her two youngest children to spend the day with us, while she attended a wedding event.  There had been no discussion of this in advance, even though we had seen them the night before.  Thipp wasn't fussed as this is presumably the Laotian way.  I was slightly less impressed.

I recognized that I needed some sort of side-event to keep myself sane.  Thipp graciously granted me a two-day "hall pass" and after reviewing my options decided to fly northwest to the town of Phonsavan in the province of Xieng Khuang.

The main attraction in this region is the Plain of Jars.  There are hundreds of stone jars of various sizes, dating back to between 500 BC and 200 AD.  Their purpose isn't known with certainty, but my guide was very confident that they were used to store the ashes of the deceased.  The place had the feel of Stonehenge to it.  However, after about 1 1/2 hours of wandering amongst the jars I was pretty much jarred-out.

The rest of the day-trip involved quite a range of activities, including visiting a Hmong village, going to hot springs, climbing into a giant cave where about 400 people were killed by a US missile during the war, and driving on a road that was once part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to see a field with multiple large craters left by US bombs and soil that has yet to recover from Agent Orange.  Apparently, at the time of the attack there had been a major communist (Pathet Lao) camp located there.

I knew that Laos was indirectly affected by the Vietnam War, but I didn't realize the extent.  Apparently the US dropped more bombs on Laos than they did on Germany in the second world war.  There still remain unexploded bombs and every year people are killed or maimed when they accidentally stumble across one.  When we visited the large craters we were told that we could take photos but to ensure that our flashes were off as they could possibly set-off a bomb.  No one in our group took any photos and we all stuck to the main trail.

I enjoyed my two-days away.  I even got to watch the Oscars on TV, although it was a bit annoying having two Thai announcers adding to the commentary.  I knew I was truly travelling when I got to the airport for my return flight and there were chickens running by the entrance to the terminal.  I went to the  food shed next door for a snack and watched some Laos military drinking beer before departing on their helicopter.  Hopefully no one will be attacking today.

The mother took Alex in her arms, directed him to her daughter, and told her "This is your future husband."

Haven't seen any real elephants yet

Visiting several water falls on the Bolaven Plateau

Coffee growing on the Bolaven Plateau

Receiving blessings and hopes that we will add a daughter. Like Thipp needs any encouragement.

Visiting the Ancient Khmer ruins of Wat Phu at Champasak

Alex and our waitress had been flirting all evening; smiling and eyeing each other

First Night In Pakse, Laos

Escape from Vientiane

We had been in Vientiane for close to three weeks until Monday when we flew to the town of Pakse in Champasak province, located in southern Laos, for a five-day visit. A few days before our departure Thipp commented that she was really looking forward to going to Pakse. I responded that I was looking forward to going anywhere. If I had stayed in Vientiane much longer I might have re-enacted Thipp's childhood departure from Laos by getting myself an inner-tube and swimming across the Mekong to Thailand.

Vientiane is actually a pretty nice spot. It certainly beats-out many of my previous MSF home bases...Islamabad has nothing on this place. However, with not much for me to do here and not knowing anyone here besides Thipp who can speak English you could say that my life right now is uncomplicated. So while Vientiane may be a nice place to visit or work, I wouldn't want to retire here.

Thipp and Alex are both enjoying their time with Thipp's family. Pretty much everyday they are over at the house shared by Thipp's mother and various other family members. I visit semi-regularly, but due to the language barrier I'm mostly left to my own thoughts, such as contemplating whether Laos strives to be known as the land of uncomfortable furniture? Everyone is very nice to me and I know that the kids are talking about me when the say something that sounds like "Nyuk nyoy," which I am told translates to "Big Giant." The fact that three years ago they just called me "Giant" is a sad reflection of my current level of fitness.

Hanging-out at the farm

Thipp's sister Tune with children

Alex with a random distant cousin

With the Goats at Thipp's family's farm

A Visit to Thipp's Farm

On Sunday we visited the farm that Thipp spent much of her first six-years living on. One sister continues to live there, plus an assortment of other cousins. There wasn't a lot going on during our visit, but there were plenty of people for Thipp to visit with and a chance for her to reconnect with the land that she feels such a bond with.

Last year Thipp went into the goat business with her sister Tune. Thipp provided funds for the purchase of five goats and they agreed to split the profits 50/50. This is a classic example of micro-financing and it seems to be going well. There are now nine goats, including two that are pregnant. I'm pretty sure that Thipp doesn't expect or cares whether she ever sees any return on her part of the project. She's just happy to enable them to help themselves.

Thipp's sister also earns money by working in a restaurant in-town and collecting and recycling used water bottles. The rice that they grow on the farm is the foundation of their diet. It's a tough life and I'm sure that Thipp thinks about how this could have been her life as well.

Thipp buying bikes for Ta-Lo and Annie

Birthday Bicycle Sleep-Over

Vientiane is starting to feel a bit like home. We've rented a one-bedroom apartment about a 15-minute walk from Thipp's family's home, we have cell phones, and I've figured which 4 out of 68 cable TV channels are worth watching. Once settled Thipp decided that it would be nice if a couple of the kids could have a sleep-over.

Ta-Lo just had his sixth birthday and Thipp promised to buy him a bicycle. So the original plan was that he and his 9-year-old sister Annie would stay at our place on Friday night. However, when I got back from town on Friday afternoon Thipp had not yet returned from the countryside with her Mom and when I spoke with her on the phone she said that we would defer the sleep-over until another night. I laid-back on the chair and contemplated whether or not to have a shower before my nap. Before I could decide Ta-Lo and Annie's smiling faces appeared at my window. The sleep-over was most definitely on.

For the next two hours I had to entertain two rambunctious children, none of us able to speak more than about three words of the other's language. At least we had a promising start as they had brought food. We then went for a walk to the market area and bought icecream. I then utilized my IPad by videoing them and then playing it back toi them. They loved doing this and Ta-Lo even did his rendition of Gangum Style. Fortunately, Thipp eventually did come to my rescue and it was lights-out soon-afterwards.

The next day's bike purchase went fairly well. The first shop we visited sold both bicycles and cell phones and didn't leave one with a whole lot of confidence that they knew much about either. The second shop was more encouraging as they had a larger selection of bikes and even tools and a bike pump. There wasn't a lot to choose from the Ta-Lo was soon happily ensconced on his new ride. Then Annie had a convincing cry and then she too got a bicycle. The two bikes cost under $150. It was a happy day for all and hopefully the bikes will last longer than the time of our visit.