Many a time have I merely closed my eyes at the end of yet another troublesome day and soaked my bruised
psyche in wild water, rivers remembered and rivers imagined. Rivers course through my dreams, rivers cold and
fast, rivers well-known and rivers nameless, rivers that seem like ribbons of blue water twisting through wide valleys, narrow rivers folded in layers of darkening shadows, rivers that have eroded down deep into the mountain's belly,sculpted the land, peeled back the planet's history exposing the texture of time itself.
-Harry Middleton, "Rivers of Memory"
Let's try and get some of this done. I am going to take advantage of one of the few holidays here in the Middle East and the day I have off work to get a bit more done here. I am going to rush through an entire country.
My last night in Chiang Mai I went to the smile festival, an all night music festival on the banks of a lake outside the city. There were thousands of people there to party through the night to live bands and DJ's, and fire dancers, and dance their drug induced dance. It seems that is half the reason many travelers visit Southeast Asia, the ease of obtaining herbal and non-herbal remedies. And for many, the other half of the reason is the ease of obtaining sex, most of Asia a hedonistic playground for devilry and debauchery spliced with the savoring moments of a life completely free. But some of us, and it does seem few, skip entirely such indulgences, deciding rather to focus entirely to focus entirely on those moments of freedom.
After leaving Chiang Mai, I headed to Chiang Kong, a small town on the banks of the Mekong River separating Laos and Thailand. I stayed in a nice guest house and went to bed early still tired from the lack of sleep from the night before. In the morning I rose and walked the town and after breakfast began my journey in to Laos. I took a two day boat ride down the mighty Mekong. That evening we arrived at the riverside village of Pakbeng, a small village supported mostly by guesthouses and restaurants for boat passengers in transit to other cities. I grabbed a guesthouse perched on a hill overlooking the river and mountains and village. I walked the whole village several times, sat to talk to a local at a restaurant where I ate water buffalo and went back to the guesthouse and sat out in the hazy night staring across to the mountain aglow with the amber flames of fires dashing through the hillside.
The next morning it was back on the boat for the remainder of the trip to Luang Prabang. The boat was slow and calm and i met enough people on the boat that conversations kept me from boredom. All along the river there were small villages and wooden longboats tied to the banks or long bamboo sticks fastened to the cliffs with fishing nets tied to them and spread through the water. Tribal people fished the rivers, bathed and swam, washed clothes and panned for gold. Locals working with elephants, cliffs and mountains and even a dead body floating in the river were all part of the trip. Ash floated down through the smoke drenched sky, and the mountains and river sank and evaporated into the thick haze of slash and burn farming caused by hillside tribes preparing to plan the years crops.
When the boat docked in Luang Prabang I grabbed a bed in a dorm room and explored the town, and the night market. It is a charming town reminiscent of Laos' French colonial period. French style buildings turned guesthouses and restaurants lined both sides of the street, decorated with small balconies and shutter windows. I walked the town many times over a couple days and explored the river and fields and country beyond. While one of the largest cities in laos, it is small enough to walk in a short time. Temples abound, and the town is surrounded by rivers. The smaller of the rivers had narrow pathways cut out, leading down the hill to the waters where small bamboo docks and boats lay silent in the moving water. I rested on a small dock, stripped to my underwear, hiked up the river, then jumped in and let the current take me down. several times, then laid out on the thin bamboo strips in my underwear waiting to dry as the river continually floated by me. This is a calm town, and relaxing, and I could feel its charm and understand its popularity among travelers. It is a place to relax, visit temples and watch the morning ritual of the procession of monks clad in orange robes reverently marching the city streets collecting alms of rice, fruit, and bread for their daily meal. While not near the number of monks as was in Luang Praband, I saw the same thing in Pakbeng and there it felt more genuine and calm.
I visited other towns in Laos, the most notable being Vang Vieng and Vientenne, the country's capital. Vang Vieng is really just a party town. I met many travelers who visited only there when going to Laos, and some who made only the briefest of stops anywhere else in the region. It is a pretty location, set around a winding river with karst mountains dotting the valley. The town is known for its boos tubing where backpackers can rent a tube and take a tuk tuk ride a few kilometers up the river where there are a number of outdoor bars set on the river with long rope swings from tall wooden platforms to sway and drop from to the river below. In theory, everyone takes the tubes and floats down the river all the way back to town. In reality, I was one of the few who did the trip. Nearly every one else stays up at the beginning going from bar to bar on the river and drinking the day away, then grab a ride back to town and drink the night away at the bars there. It was no different from any party town anywhere else in the world, and a shame many people never enjoyed the simplicity and calmness of the river and town. Floating down the river , the sun at play with the water and the mountains and greenery surrounding was a relaxing trip with close up views of water buffaloes and locals with small spear guns diving beneath the water in hunt for fish. The town did have its charm, a charm too overshadowed by the drunken party scene it catered to. I stayed only two days and was reminded how I do not do well with the party scene.
After Vang Vieng, it was off to Vientiane. On the bus there I met a nice English gal and we shared a room in a guesthouse for a few nights before we both boarded a bus for a long ride to Vietnam. I was not greatly impressed with Vientiane, and don't really have anything noteworthy to write of it, but it is a dot on my map, and I am always grateful for those. Up to this point, I have already had such experiences in my life, and for this journey, many of the best moments were yet to come, and I still need to find the time and motivation to share some small detail of those memorable moments, some small truffle of an entry. We'll see when that happens.
Warrior
Yes, Lao warrior
Where are you?
Tell me
If it isn't you
Who will make Muang Lao stand on her own feet?
Tall and proud
"Lao Warrior: Where are you?"
-Kongkeo Saycocie.
The next morning it was back on the boat for the remainder of the trip to Luang Prabang. The boat was slow and calm and i met enough people on the boat that conversations kept me from boredom. All along the river there were small villages and wooden longboats tied to the banks or long bamboo sticks fastened to the cliffs with fishing nets tied to them and spread through the water. Tribal people fished the rivers, bathed and swam, washed clothes and panned for gold. Locals working with elephants, cliffs and mountains and even a dead body floating in the river were all part of the trip. Ash floated down through the smoke drenched sky, and the mountains and river sank and evaporated into the thick haze of slash and burn farming caused by hillside tribes preparing to plan the years crops.
When the boat docked in Luang Prabang I grabbed a bed in a dorm room and explored the town, and the night market. It is a charming town reminiscent of Laos' French colonial period. French style buildings turned guesthouses and restaurants lined both sides of the street, decorated with small balconies and shutter windows. I walked the town many times over a couple days and explored the river and fields and country beyond. While one of the largest cities in laos, it is small enough to walk in a short time. Temples abound, and the town is surrounded by rivers. The smaller of the rivers had narrow pathways cut out, leading down the hill to the waters where small bamboo docks and boats lay silent in the moving water. I rested on a small dock, stripped to my underwear, hiked up the river, then jumped in and let the current take me down. several times, then laid out on the thin bamboo strips in my underwear waiting to dry as the river continually floated by me. This is a calm town, and relaxing, and I could feel its charm and understand its popularity among travelers. It is a place to relax, visit temples and watch the morning ritual of the procession of monks clad in orange robes reverently marching the city streets collecting alms of rice, fruit, and bread for their daily meal. While not near the number of monks as was in Luang Praband, I saw the same thing in Pakbeng and there it felt more genuine and calm.
I visited other towns in Laos, the most notable being Vang Vieng and Vientenne, the country's capital. Vang Vieng is really just a party town. I met many travelers who visited only there when going to Laos, and some who made only the briefest of stops anywhere else in the region. It is a pretty location, set around a winding river with karst mountains dotting the valley. The town is known for its boos tubing where backpackers can rent a tube and take a tuk tuk ride a few kilometers up the river where there are a number of outdoor bars set on the river with long rope swings from tall wooden platforms to sway and drop from to the river below. In theory, everyone takes the tubes and floats down the river all the way back to town. In reality, I was one of the few who did the trip. Nearly every one else stays up at the beginning going from bar to bar on the river and drinking the day away, then grab a ride back to town and drink the night away at the bars there. It was no different from any party town anywhere else in the world, and a shame many people never enjoyed the simplicity and calmness of the river and town. Floating down the river , the sun at play with the water and the mountains and greenery surrounding was a relaxing trip with close up views of water buffaloes and locals with small spear guns diving beneath the water in hunt for fish. The town did have its charm, a charm too overshadowed by the drunken party scene it catered to. I stayed only two days and was reminded how I do not do well with the party scene.
After Vang Vieng, it was off to Vientiane. On the bus there I met a nice English gal and we shared a room in a guesthouse for a few nights before we both boarded a bus for a long ride to Vietnam. I was not greatly impressed with Vientiane, and don't really have anything noteworthy to write of it, but it is a dot on my map, and I am always grateful for those. Up to this point, I have already had such experiences in my life, and for this journey, many of the best moments were yet to come, and I still need to find the time and motivation to share some small detail of those memorable moments, some small truffle of an entry. We'll see when that happens.
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