Travelblography by Jason Ricks

Brief Reflections and a little history - Laos

I'm not entirely sure I can do luang Prabang justice with just words and images; it really is one the most visually captivating places I have ever visited. Its a place deeply entrenched in fervent colour, culture, contrast and character. It's a place full of smiles and heart felt welcomes and to be honest somewhere I could spend a very long time indeed. The peninsula of Luang Prabang, hemmed in by the Mekong River to the west and Nham Kang to the East is an area of picturesque charm and somewhere that inherently induces a natural state of calm and reflective contemplation. You could spend a whole day sat perched up on the hillside overlooking the Mekong river, happily watching the boats and indeed the world quietly drift by. Dotted around your vista, high up on the mellow hilltops are golden temples standing strong and resolute in the sunshine; an impressive feat when you consider the tumultuous and violent history of Laos' most recent past.

For the past several centuries, Laos has been the subject of various foreign interventions, most of them bloody and most of them leaving the segregated principalities in a worse state than before. The French, having taken the territory of modern day vietnam back in the 18th century from the Siamese, moved westwards gaining more territory. This area, west of the Mekong river was to be called Laos.

Laos gained full sovereignty back in 1953, however by this time the USA had other plans for the country; in particular, non discriminate carpet bombing, which the US government at the time would support their 'crucial' fight against perceived communism in the region. The aim was to counter the presence of North Vietnamese troops in the country; however, US involvement, aside from taking the lives of many innocent victims and leaving thousands brutally mutilated, the atrocities of the war were to force many more thousands fleeing their own country. The sharp divide in Laos' political governing framework was to result in a communist party takeover, lead by the People's Democratic Republic. (PDR).

Current day and Laos has softened it's socialist experiment in many areas to allow for an injection of much needed foreign investment and business enterprise. Encouragingly, the country was admitted into the regions political brotherhood, Asean in 1997 and was more recently promoted to 'normal trade relations' with the US. Laos currently resides within the Least Developed Country bracket, something the current government has set its goal to change by 2020.

A change of mind (and pace) - Thailand to Laos

A quick re-cap: I've been in Chang Rai, Northen Thailand one night, having taken the night bus from Chang Mai, 3 hrs south. I was moving North with the intention of making a crossing at the border with Laos by bus, and then to continue my journey by rover boat all the way down the Mekong river and into Luang Prabang, Laos. This was a great idea, in theory; in practice, I'd been a little somewhat over optimistic about time needed to traverse the northen part of Thailand (known as the golden triangle, as you have three borders - Thailand, Laos and MyanMar, the later formerly known as Burma and where my dear grandfather fought during the Second World War) and so had to make a decision; whether to push on through by bus into Laos and carry the extra few days, or to take the bus back to Chang Mai and fly to Luang Prabang from there. I decided on the later which leads us to the story of my attempt to leave the country.

The initial drama that was my early attempts at calling Lao airlines and the following journey to board the flight from Chaing Mai, couldn't have been scripted any better for Carry On Comedy. Having consulted the LP guide for airline contact details, I was offered the hostels mobile phone to call and establish times of flights leaving for Luang Prabang, Laos. Scanning down the list of available airlines that serviced this city was like reading a who's who on goingdown.com. Thai International was my first and most comfortable port of call and so I rang their number; a very soft and polite voice answered, in such a tone as to infer it was actually a voice recording. Lot's of "hellos?" and confused pauses ensued, followed by me finally rattling off my flight requirements, only to be most politely informed I was in fact speaking with the receptionist at a local gymnasium in Chang Rai. So much for the Lonely Planets up to date information. No problem however, as she gave me the correct number for Thai Airways (I can then only assume this happened a lot otherwise I can't explain how she knew the number of by heart) So fantastic, back on track....until of course Thai Airlines informed me they didn't service Luang Prabang...but again, were more than helpful and provided me with the number for Lao Airlines; an airline with which I have no familiarity and to be honest one which didn't immediately conjure up images of a brand new aircraft. The phone rings, but this time with an American voice on the other end of the phone...wow, I'm thinking to myself this is impressive, Lao airways employ ex-pats! What a service. Only to have it confimed that yet again I'd been given the wrong number and I'd in fact called an American girl at the home in Chang Mai. How very odd. I eventually got through and was then informed by a Lao airlines representative that she didn't know how I could buy a ticket for a same day departure. Completley baffled at my lack of progress from albeit incredulous answers, I had no choice but to push on, and on I did push, to the bus station, still muttering misgivings about Lao airlines and now 3 pounds down as the hostel forgot to mention they'd charge me for the calls.

So, here I am, at the bus station, gunning for a 4pm flight departure out of Chang Mai; time is of the essence, which part explains my jumping up and down in the ticket queue and general demeanor of someone needing to visit the toilet. Histrionics were to no avail; as I arrived to the ticket booth I was informed that the bus that I needed was now full. The next departure would mean me missing my flight, bearing in mind I still hadn't managed to get a ticket for that either this wasn't the best news I'd had that day. My options were dwindling fast and so I did what any good natured Londoner would do in such situations, I began calling out very loudly for a taxi. However, it would seem that I had picked the only bus station in Thailand with no taxi drivers; aside from looks of bewilderment at the sweaty chap looking fairly distraught, I had no response and so headed for the information desk. Relief, she was able to book me a taxi but it was going to cost me £40; so with one hand I was now paying and part negotiating for my taxi fare whilst with my other I was calling Lao Airlines (again, but this time with my mobile - which is a no win situation - I'm keen to speak as quickly as humanly possible to minimise my phone bill whilst the lady on the other end required that I spoke slower than I actually believed was humanly possible). Taxi paid, ticket reserved, and my free monthly inclusive calls well and truly hammered in less than 2 minutes, I was half way there; now it was time for some damage limitation on the fare front. I moved back into the main bus station and began canvassing the ticket queue for would be taxi companions; offering the same rate as the bus. To my delight I had little problem picking up 3 fellow companions; 2 very well mannered and polite guys from the Thai air force who were both dressed in full regalia. Our fourth companion was a local tourist guide on his way back to Chang Mai, who as it turned out was a real help as he was the only one of the newly formed gang (aside myself) that could speak any English. All I can say I that we must have looked an interesting little group as we departed for the taxi. Compared to the lead up, the ride to the airport was fairly non-incidental; the driver was of course driving at twice any speed limit you care too mention from the Western Hemisphere, but it was all in the name of getting me to the airport on time.

Buzzing but exhausted I arrived to Chang Mai airport on time; in fact, I had enough time to spare for one last Thai massage before boarding the plane and saying goodbye to Thailand.

Generations - Luang Prabang

 

 

Luang Prabang - Laos

Taking a walk through the various monasteries and ancient temples in luang Prabang offers an up close and personal opportunity for talking with the numerous young buddhist monks dotted around and for snapping some intimate portraits. It's a wonderful feeling to turn a corner or exit an otherwise deserted part of the a temples grounds and to find several monks, dressed in their orange robes simply going about their daily activities; it feels for just that moment you've walked into a completely different world and one that I personally love to photograph.

 

 

These large wooden huts provide housing for the young monks and are located within the grounds of their respective temples' grounds.

This particular temple was located five minutes from the old town in Luang Prabang; I had arrived at lunchtime and was lucky to just catch the monks moving back inside.

 

        In recent years, with the backing of UNESCO, some of the Monk's quarters in a few temples have been restored as classrooms with the aim of providing training for monks in the skills need to ensure the ongoing preservation of the temples; woodcarving, painting and buddha casting are all skills in high demand in order to bring the temples back to their full glory.

Each younk monk that I met at the temples that I visited had a basic but sufficent command of English ; "Where are you from"..."how long have you been in Luang Prabang";all asked with genuine interest and heart felt sincerity. Entry into the monastery schools begins at 13 and finishes at 19yrs. These particular young monks seemed very content and smiled with openess and ease between the group and with myself. I retired the camera for a few minutes and tried to lend a helping hand with some DIY; the monks were busy crafting new handles from wood for the various machetes lying around. Their attention was drawn to the subject of football and henceforth two of the group began building a makeshift football from the long streaks of bamboo leaf lying around.

 

Luang Prabang is encased on two sides by the Mekong River to the West, which meets up with the Nam Khan river running up and down the eastern banks of the city. I decided to take a short but neverthless exhilarating boat trip across the Mekong to the banks on the other side; from there I could spend a few hours in the local village whilst making my way up the hill towards the Buddhist temple I had seen shining so brightly the previous evening.

 

The river banks were busy with women working, toiling with vegetable allotments and scrubbing clothes bundles of various sizes in the silty water. Children too were everywhere, playing in the sand and generally running amok. As I approached the village I was greeted by children running and laughing as they competed for my donations for their flower bundles.

The children of Luang Prabang.

 

The children of Luang Prabang.

It's a race to reach the new arrival first with your carefully prepared bundle of flowers, taken as an offering to the Buddha at the tope of the hill.

        I stumbled across an old temple just up from where I landed on the river bank;this old monk seemed to be passing the day at the window sill and seemed wholly content. This image speaks of history, wisdom and humility.