Naked children playing in open gutters.

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Luang Prabang, 24-03-2008. I walk the two km. to Ban Talat Phosy, mostly to see the chinese market that my Lonely Travel guide tells me is there. The difference between Luang Prabang and Ban Talat Phosy is startling. The village is just down the road from Unesco's world heritage town Luang Prabang but the conditions of this tiny village are horrific. The smells of fresh and old human faeces are overwhelming, the sides of the main road are litteraly alive with rubbish - I can see big and well fed rats nearly the size of an Asian cat scurrying among this rubbish -, blue colored empty plastic bags - so popular in Southeast Asia for carrying cold drinks in - are evrywhere, naked children play in the open stinking gutters, aggressive dogs snap at my heels and the air is thick with the exhaust fumes from the heavy traffic on its way to Luang Prabang. I decide to leave the chinese market in Ban Talat Phosy to whatever it is worth and return to Luang Prabang deeply disturbed. My Lonely Planet doesn't mention this part of Ban Talat Phosy.

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