Vientiane, Laos Thanksgiving Vacation

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Uncle Wayne and Aunt Minnie were living in Vientiane, Laos. They invited my parents and us for Thanksgiving. We took the night express train to Nong Khai and the ferry across the Mekong River to their home.

Uncle Wayne, Dad, and I then drove to a Hmong village many hours north of Vientiane. We stayed that night in a thatched house on stilts. We ate very basic tribal food, and put the bones and leftovers through the gaps between the floor boards to the waiting pigs and other animals below.

The next morning, Mom and Linda flew to our village in a small Cessna. On the way, the pilot made a mail drop to a village in a narrow valley. The mountains surrounding the valley were occupied by communist Pratet Lao soldiers who might shoot at them. The pilot flew tight circles, descending lower and lower, until he threw the mail attached to a streamer out the window. Linda was terrified. My Mom told her over and over that “he’s done it before, He can do it again!”

They landed uphill on a very narrow runway near our village. The pilot had to honk his horn on the first pass to get the animals off the runway. They joined us for a service, and then we flew back to Vientiane together.

One day Aunt Minnie, my Mom, Linda, and I were looking across the balcony at the Vientiane street scene. A procession of elephants sauntered by, and one hoped up on the back of another. Linda exclaimed “Look! Circus elephants!” My aunt, Mom and I hooted with laughter. I don’t think I have ever seen Linda so embarrassed.

Thanksgiving dinner was great, but then it was time to return by train to Bangkok.

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Photos

The village where we stayed
Notice the landing strip on the side of the mountain.

Uncle Wayne and Dad eating supper the first night.
We dropped chicken bones through the floor to the pigs below. We slept in this tribal home.

Having lunch in a tribal home
Our pilot, Bob, Linda, Mom and Uncle Wayne