Advertisement
Published: April 4th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Beautiful Weaving
Went to a Womens Waving Cooperative where rural women are trained and supported to become highly skilled and self-sufficent for income. Huge looms, intricate patterns. Awesome. 7th entry....We arrived in Vientiane from Seam Reap on a propeller driven Laos Airlines plane after a short 40 min flight which saved a bus ride that would have taken a couple of years. Laos has only been open to visitors since 1975. I was in S.E. Asia in 75 but didn't go at the time. Instead I thought that I would visit when I came back in 76. I did return to S.E. Asia again in 76 but unfortunately it was briefly closed again at the time I was there. Anyhow we are here now. Vientiane is an interesting place. I read a travel blog recently in which a guy wrote that his lasting impression was that Vientiane was "unfinished". Actually that is a really apt description, the roads are a mess, the footpaths all dug-up which means that you have to walk on the roads. This is not unique though, all through S.E. Asia the footpaths are completely blocked with motor-bikes, bicycles, food vendors, kids playing, people drinking tea etc, etc, etc. After settling into our guest house we went for a stroll around the area near the river which has the various things that tourists need such
The brightest Buddha temple in the world? In Vientiane anyway.
Rather gaudy but very appealing images of Buddha's live lined this temple. We loved this temple, it was a living place rather than a monument. Lots of monks, schoolkids and cats hanging out here. as restaurants, places to stay, nice-things-to-buy shops, tuk-tuks and other tourists with whom one can compare stories and exchange information such as where you can go to buy local food delicacies, interesting places to visit, where to get "that" T-shirt, and things to avoid etc. etc.
Vientiane is another of those places that has suffered badly over the centuries with other nations coming in and marauding, looting, killing the locals, bombing the place, burning it to the ground (the Siamese) and then taking over what was left. When the Communists took over in 1975 many of the local people left Vientiane on mass and moved to either to the villages, other neighbouring countries (principally Thailand) and overseas foreign countries such as Switzerland, USA, Australia and France. Over the years some of these people have slowly trickled back into the countries biggest city and there is a feeling of re-building, regeneration and Aly and I picked up on a subtle sense of optimism. This recovery is however very much dependent of the support from foreign countries. The economy of Laos is no where near strong enough to even maintain the people let alone fuel a resurgence. It appears that the
foreign countries are helping, but like in Cambodia, they need to help much, much more. This of course would, and does, include funding of infrastructure projects, education, health, tourism (particularly eco-tourism) etc. I guess that due to the fundamental differences between the beliefs of the Communist regime and that of most 21st century Western countries the "working together" will need to be handled very sensitively, patiently and respectively...on all sides.
In the history of the occupation of Laos the French were very predominant politically, architecturally, culturally etc and the evidence of that period is still visible in different ways. A lot of French people still visit and some still live hear. The locals speak much better French than English and one can buy baguettes and pastries and drink French wine. Many of the old buildings have a distinctive French design.
So, Aly and I really enjoyed Vientiane. We visited a womens cooperative that trained women from the rural areas in the arts of dying, weaving and all things to do with traditional cloth making as well as some other handicrafts. This was a lovely and inspiring visit although Aly and I left the little village wondering how these local home-grown and traditional industries could survive the efficient technology and the price competition of the worlds superpowers, in particular in this region China, who mass produce enormous amounts of cheap and good quality alternatives. The world's more affluent people will surely need to think much more seriously about the political, environmental, social, ethical, historical and humane aspects of purchasing consumables in the future so that these very important cottages industries can develop and survive.
We also visited the obligatory temples, wats, and markets in Vientiane but we had to take it easy as I was quite unwell when we arrived so this was about allowing recovery for me whilst witnessing the ongoing Vientiane recovery. An interesting parallel although Laos needs more than 12 days of doxicycline and a bit of bed rest.
So, it is off to Luang Prabang next, a journey that takes us from the new capital of Laos to the old capital of Laos. This trip will also be a flight as 3 countries in 4 weeks would not be comfortably achieved otherwise with the rail lines and the roads the way they are.
Until next blogg...laters. luv Aly and Trev XXX
Advertisement
Tot: 0.055s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0298s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb