Laos April 2013

             Into Vientiane the capital of Laos, a communist government and a big step down in conditions from Thailand. Grandiose buildings but the rest of the country is very poor after being a closed economy for many years. 

            This is the Victory Arch although also known as the ‘vertical runway’ after the money supplied by the Americans during the Vietnam War to build an airport ended up in this structure instead.

2

          The Presidential Palace facing towards the Victory Arch

  

                Vientiane is location for many Watts, one of which is the Watt Sisaket built in 1818 and famous for its cloister wall housing thousands of tiny Buddha images. It’s the only Watt that survived the sacking by the armies of Siam (Thailand).   

          

 

                School girls on the street. Their scarves particularly reminded Marina of her old school uniform

          While in Vientiane we stayed at the house of a friend who both Marina and I worked with in Afghanistan. Unfortunately he had just left for a contract in Somalia but his wife along with another colleague from Kabul, Sen, looked after us wonderfully showing us many sights that we would not have otherwise seen 

        

              

  

              

                One such experience was an invitation to a blessing ceremony by the monks for a new child of a friend of Sen’s. Marina made the most of it to gain a few brownie points on the side

Then it was off to lunch on a river boat

 

                       Went out to dinner at the I-Beam owned by Yann, Sen and business partner. Beautiful meal, highly recommended but first time I’ve seen a million unit tab

         

                 Interesting. A ‘smoke free temple’

            The Secret War’ took place in Laos during the Vietnam War. While war was never declared and against UN conventions America dropped over two million tonnes of ordinance on Laos more than was dropped during the whole of WWII and certainly the most that has ever been dropped on any one country.  The map shows the coverage of bombing; in the south was against the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the supply line for the North Vietnamese and in the north against the Pathet Lao who were fighting against the Lao government and supporting the North Vietnamese. At the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 the Pathet Lao won the day and are still the communist government in power today  

 

              One of the worst legacies of the bombing of Laos was the use of “bombies”, anti-personal cluster bombs packed with ball bearings. Many remain active to be picked up by children or accidentally struck by farmers. The effect is a horrible legacy of mine infested country which can’t be successfully farmed and remains a continuing danger, killing and maiming thousands since the end of the war. As in this display they are dropped in canisters which open above the ground spreading hundreds of miniature bombs which explode on impact   

      An estimated 30% of all ordinance failed to explode leaving a horrible legacy for years to come. This is a monument made from UXO (Unexploded Ordinance)

We really noticed the much poorer standard of living in Laos, particularly in the countryside 

           

                  One of those memorable camp sites

  

 I give a geography lesson to two young ladies 

   

                      North eastern Laos contains some impressive limestone karst country with intriguing formations created by the weathering of different layers  

                    We took a boat ride through a cave formed by a river cutting through the limestone. The Tham Kong Lo Cave at seven and half klms long was a real treat to visit

                 The cave entrance

           Some four kms in we got out of our boat and walked through some impressive stalactites and stalagmites

               More of the same

      Time I got back to work