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Published: February 17th 2017
We found Laos an impressive open-hearted land, with gorgeous mountains and lush jungles, which made our trip through the country both a spectacular sight for our eyes and healthy place for our spirits. Despite the title, the weather was nice and hot for our entire stay. The 'chills' part is how our guide entertainingly referred to relaxing. He strongly promoted taking it easy, and we were happy to oblige. One day, we would like to return to trek through the magnificent countryside. Sadly access to a lot of this land is not possible, for reasons we'll detail below.
But first a brief history lesson for those not familiar with Laos. We learned all the following from our Lao guide and from the excellent Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise (COPE) organization in the capital,Vientiane, which is also a type of war museum. Laos, similar to its neighbour Cambodia, suffered through many years of nasty wars, much of it in the startlingly recent past. During the Vietnam war, as part of the US Secret War operations, American fighter planes bombed the crap out of Laos. A plane-load of bombs was dropped on average every eight minutes for nine straight years. Because of
this and the tremendous bombing it took in WWII, Laos is the heaviest bombed country, per capita, in the world. A lot of the countryside has been left covered with hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs, many of which didn't actually detonate (called unexploded ordnance, or UXOs) and are still deadly. Limbless victims continue to feel the impact from the the secret war (when Laos was bombed during the Vietnam war for which no one has really taken any responsibility). The country was left with billions of dollars worth of clean up, but as they are one of the poorest countries in the world, they really have no way to reclaim their land.
Recently we've heard many stories that emphasized how privileged our lives have been, and hence our appreciation for being from Canada deepens all the time. We heard about how many people had to go into hiding during the war - school and work were out of the question. Cooking fires were dangerously revealing, and so often people had just raw rice to eat. Disturbingly, we heard about a mother who, to save the 100 people she was hiding with, had to kill her own screaming child
who would not keep quiet. In a sense many Lao people are still in hiding in the present day, because it is too dangerous to use their land to feed their hungry families. We were told newer generations don't want to be farmers as it is hard work with very little pay, but more importantly, the threat of UXOs preclude setting up new farms. So, many younger folks leave for Thailand for work because there are few jobs in Laos-- but then their visa runs out and their passport expires. Without paperwork, they can't return to Laos, they have to stay working essentially as slaves, and they end up trapped away from home. What's going on in our world? It's not surprising that when tourism opened up in Laos, residents were so scared of Falangs (foreigners) after years of being bombed that some would run away when they encountered them.
But moving on from the heavy stuff, our hearts usually felt open and happy in Laos. The Buddhist spirit, with its inspiring peace and loving and happiness, was evident everywhere we went. Our journey took us through Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Vientiane, Kong Lor/Tha Kek, Xe Champhone, Paske and
Working the water buffalo
Maybe electrofishing isn't so bad... Don Det/ 4000 islands. Yeah, we can't pronounce half of them either. One of our favourite experiences on our journey through Laos was a two-day slow boat trip down a section of the Mekong River. This huge river drains five different countries! In Laos it meandered all through the mountainous region that was scattered with caves and temples and endless jungle. After spending the day on the river, we arrived in a tiny village, where we spent the night with a host family. Following a spectacular meal, the entire population of the village came together to hold a ceremony of good luck for us. Each elder in the village wrapped a bracelet around our wrists, while wishing us Lao prayers of safety, love, peace, and happiness. Our arms ended up covered with more than 50 wish bracelets. We were told we needed to keep wearing them for at least three days so our body and spirit could absorb the prayers, and seeing as Nancy was still hobbling around on her crutches, she intended to be a sponge and soak up everything she could! In return for their blessings, a few of us had decided to bring pencils and books for
the tiny school. All the children showed up after the ceremony and, with big smiles and giggles, happily received our small offering. It sure made the heart feel good.
Our bus/boat journey from northern Laos to the southern regions was highlighted by spectacular temples (including Wat Phou, a Hindu temple, which the ancient builders surrounded by a beautiful lake to release any bad karma), the alleged resting place of the original Buddha's footprint and breastbone, beautiful waterfalls, night markets, rice farms, soft-shelled turtles, belly laughter from our Lao guide Keio, and constantly filling our faces with delicious fresh local Lao food and iced sweet coffee. Keio was particularly entertaining and helpful. In the middle of our travels we had two days of non-city bliss when we stayed at a remote riverside haven, where we paddled a skinny, super-tippy traditional canoe through a twisty, jungly river, and then took a spectacular ride on a long-tail boat through an unbelievable 7.5 km system of cathedral-height caves. It was awe-inspiring. But being in the cave was a little chilling at the same time as we knew that these were the same caves Lao folks hid in during times of bombing. Maybe we're
dwelling on the bombing thing... but we do not want to forget how moving it all was.
We finished our time in Laos with a trip to the Mekong's 4000 Islands, where we biked around one of the bigger islands called Don Det (been there, Don Det!), enjoyed the joy of children swimming in the fresh water of the Mekong River, watched an amazing sunset while a guitarist relaxingly strummed away beside us, and contemplated the benefits of a more simple way of life. Such a contrast to life back home. In many ways it will be hard to return.
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