In a Tranquil Place

Computers in Vietnam are a little rough, so sorry for the delay in my postings. It's been nice to hear from everyone and I'm glad people are actually reading this. I left off on my way out of Chiang Mai, Thailand, rested and acclimated.

Luang Prabang, Laos was the next destination, so I eagerly headed off to one of SE Asia's most beautiful cities. The stunning nature of the scenery hits you before you land. In fact, the descent into Luang Prabang's airport had me glued to the window of the tiny prop plane that took us on the two hour flight.

The Mekong and Khan Rivers shape LP into a narrow peninsula. I'd imagine the mosquitos can get pretty intense there, but I was visiting at the right time of year. I have no idea how to convert Celsius to Farenheit, but the day times were pleasantly warm (probably 75-80 degrees) and the evenings seemed to dip into the low 60s, with no wind chill at all. This is my idea of perfect weather. On the other hand, the locals were so stunned by the cool evenings that you could find groups of them huddled in the markets, shivering inspite of their layers of thick winter clothes.

On my arrival, I was in the midst of doing some reading on the history of Laos, but hadn't gotten to the part where they explain that the current government is communist. Well, that didn't take long to figure out because the flag of the Soviet hammer and sicle flies up and down all of the major streets, as commonly seen as the Lao national flag.

You also realize you are in a communist country when you go to a newsstand. The media is tightly controlled and there was no presence of the Western press anywhere. Bookstores had a range of used Western books, but that was it. The Lao paper is printed in English and is quite amusing. As an American I'm used to government criticism that borders on slander, but the Lao paper's purpose is cheerleading.

Story after story recounts "the great progress" and "revolutionary vision" of the current government. The improvement of roads, building of schools and medical facilities and patriotic displays of the people are the only topics covered. There is an area near Vientienne (the capitol) that is held by the rebels and too dangerous to travel. In many ways, the country is still recovering from 10 years of US bombings and insurgent support in the 1970's.

Stability is on the horizon, but Laos is still one of the ten poorest countries in the world. The average person gets by (if you can call it that) on less than $1 per day. Maybe they need to pick up their paper and feel good about something, but the media control is not total. The internet is available everywhere and the TV in the room in my guesthouse had CNN, ESPN Asia and HBO, all in English.

Laos made for a fascinating contrast to Thailand and later, to Vietnam. While Thailand and Vietnam feel as though they are struggling to emerge into the industrialized world, Laos doesn't exist on the same planet as the rest of us. There is no sense of urgency anywhere. Things don't run on time, food in a restaurant takes forever and before long, you notice you are walking a lot slower than usual.

One bar on the main strip in LP shows Western movies on a big screen TV. Another had a campfire every evening, marketed to Western backpackers. Day trips for kayaking, mountain biking and visiting waterfalls and hilltribe villages abound. Other than that, there is almost nothing to do, but when you're somewhere this beautiful, that's ok.

There is a night market that takes over several blocks on the main street. It goes on for 5-6 hours and was another great example of the different pace of life in Laos. While the markets in Thailand are brightly lit, with people shouting at you and shoving products in your face, the people in Laos sit on the ground in soft light. They nod appreciatively as you inspect their wares and wave good-bye as you move on.

At the night market, food is available everywhere. For 5,000 kip (50 cents) you can fill up your plate at one of the many buffets. You have to sort of forget the importance of refridgeration in food service and eat things that you don't recognize, but it's worth it.

I missed out on some of these activities as, well, without getting into details, an illness hit me. I know it wasn't the street food, since I hadn't had any since my arrival. Unfortunately I was bed ridden for 3 days. The great thing is that the budget accomodations across SE Asia are terrific.

Now, you can spend as much as you'd like on a room. There are plenty of plush resorts and boutique hotels charging $200+ per night. The great thing is that my budget of $10-$15 per night gets you a lot in return. All the rooms I've stayed in have been absolutely spotless. The walls may need a fresh coat of paint, the sheets and comforters are not exactly new, but the places are clean and safe. When you make the jump from the $5-$8 rooms into the $10-$15 range you typically get; your own bathroom with hot shower, a/c, a minibar (water, beer and soda,) and you have your choice of location.

As mentioned above, you also get satellite TV in these rooms. While the range of available programming varies, I had the good fortune of watching the Duke-IU basketball game live on one of the days I was sick. Even people on the other side of the planet love Hoosier Basketball.