Jan 12 - Bittersweet

My experience here pales in comparison to that of the people I'm with.  One woman, K, came here during the war as a young bride of 9 weeks, recently married to an Air America kicker.  Now, she spent part of the day meeting with a JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) team official at the American Embassy to find out how things were going with the recovery of his remains.  He is officially MIA, had been shot down, and they know where.  The villagers nearby say the plane burned for three days.  It is known that his aircraft was carrying white phosphorus, so this equates.   There are two main problems with recovery - first of all, DNA will not have survived the burn, and second, UXO (unexploded ordinance) is still a very big issue in parts of Laos, and this is in one of those areas.  So, K was satisfied that they are still trying, and it's a matter of priorities - remains that are easier to access will be approached first.  
K is not the only person in our group who has lost people here.  I feel very fortunate that my Dad stayed safe.  He flew into some dangerous areas, and the barracks at Long Tien were shelled during a week he was NOT there, thank God.

Long Tien, not  too far from Luang Prabang, upcountry.  Base for the CIA's partnership with Hmong fighters against Pathet Lao.  

There is an interesting read in the Lao Airline magazine, Champa Holiday, about this history.  The Hmong are portrayed as misguided pawns of the US and Hmong General Vang Pao, refusing the helping hand of the new Lao regime at the end of the war due to misinformation given to them.  The magazine article attempts to ride a fine line between chastising the Hmong for fighting, while also proudly stating how the Hmong are now allowed full citizenship and an equal place in society.  

Lao T-28 aircraft destroyed on the site, Long Tien, ca 1969.  Dad took this shot. 
I wish he was still around - he would have gotten great joy out of this trip.



As we come to our final dinner in Vientiane, I will at last give you foodies something to think about.  The food in Laos is fantastic, using many mild flavors like lemongrass and coconut, and chicken, fish, and beef.  Honestly, I wish I knew what was in this stuff. But absolutely delicious, and this special meal at the Don Chan, with the American Ambassador to Laos meeting with us, was unforgettable.  (did I mention the baguettes and croissants on the street?)

 Best Spring Rolls ever.  Couldn't be any fresher.



Here is where to go.  Don't tell everybody.





Miscellaneous shot of the gang on our mission to get sarongs made for our dinner - We had no idea what we were getting into.  Pick the cloth, the top, go to the tailor - voila!



Below is just one of many places within Talat Sao Mall to pick a top for our sarongs.  And then this woman created our sarongs from our chosen cloth, and it was delivered to us. 




And we are saving them for our next reunion!!









Again, apologies for my food ignorance.  You will simply have to go find out.

Fruit art alone is worth the journey.

The Ambassador to Laos, Karen Stewart, was kind enough to address our group, and let us in on what is happening now in our relations.  Some sobering thoughts, but much good news as well.  Infant mortality, women's rights, and education are all big agenda items, and progress is being made.  Education is a big key to the other issues of course, and US NGOs and government agencies as well are working to improve access to basic education.  Girls are given particular focus, to lower risk of human trafficking and improve health for mothers and babies.  There is still a long way to go.  The modern improvements are not, by a long shot, the whole story of Laos.  As we move on to Luang Prabang, I will get a chance to become more involved as Big Brother Mouse takes us off the beaten path.

Jan 11 - K6 - Full Circle

Someone help me out.  I need a new word, because "surreal" is just not enough.  Maybe there isn't a word for this.  For so many decades, this whole place, and the people, were locked up in my mind, sitting on a dusty shelf.  And I had accepted that, but did not feel complete, really, with this weird disconnect in my personal timeline.  Kwan were missing.  Especially now with my parents both gone, I needed to see that it all really happened.


With the advent of the Web, and Becca's efforts to reunite us, and Lloyd's can-and-will-do attitude, here we stand, back in the old 'hood. 
If there was one thing I wish I could add to a blog, it would be the sense of smell.  The annual burning off of crop fields adds a tinge of grass smoke.  The warm cereal smell of "haam", the rice mix we fed our horses.  Oil heating, for food on the streets.  Klong water.       Photos and inadequate words are all I can do, but at least it's down off the shelf, for family and friends, and my own peace.

 The entrance gate.  In K6, there is now the Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial Museum, and K6 is the base of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. (Thanks, L, for the write-up help!) We did not see the Museum, which is usually required.  Lloyd says that chronologically, the events are basically correct, but the presentation depicts foreigners in Laos from the 50's through the 70's as Imperialists.  Lloyd gives the excellent advice in advance to remember that "this is their way of telling their history . . . and we are guests in their country.  We are not asked to accept any of this, but we are expected to participate quietly in the tour . ."  

           
Here is the neighborhood.  Small bungalow homes, tree-lined lanes.  The trees are much bigger than I remember, and the houses smaller.


















We approach The President's home.  This is a museum now, and was Marilyn's home back in the day.  Kaysone Phomvihane was the first President of the new Laos under the Communist regime.  Imagine Marilyn's surprise, when she found out a few years back, that her old home was now a cultural touchstone of Laos!

Marilyn says the swing was put in place by the President. She marveled at the size of the trees her mother had planted, Bougainvillea and Frangipani.  There is still the rattan chair there, probably old USAID issue.  The President's bedroom was actually M's old room!


Our guide and Marilyn look over photos.


      President Kaysone used the house next door to Marilyn's as his "office". Here is the living room of this house, now with artifacts.











Below, Kaysone Phomvihane with his his mentor, Ho Chi Minh.  The house bookcases were also full of Lenin and Marx's works, and treatises on economics and political theory.

                                                                    
Below, our ASV alumni group, with our gracious hosts.  
We signed the guest book, after watching a short film - reminding us of the Party Line here.  But it's not over yet. 
Since the Soviet collapse, the Lao attitude has become much more relaxed.  During the first reunion in 2000, K6 was not permitted at all, I believe.  Then, in 2010, a neighborhood and museum visit was OK'd, but they never got to see our old Alma Mater.  Now, that is about to change. 
One of the Museum Officials came up at the end, to especially thank Marilyn - it turns out, unbeknownst to any of us, that she has been sending supporting funds to the museum in order to preserve our joint heritage.  We are amazed and grateful indeed!  And the unforeseen benefit is that we are now allowed a bus ride around our school - we finally get to see what is still there, and what has changed.  Turns out, the pool is still there!!  We all were pointing, and shouting out our memories - (quite a few involved that darn high-dive board, Rick F!)  What a joyous thing to be a part of.  This building is now called Ban Sivilay, and is refurbished nicely - but it IS the Central Committee Headquarters, and most Lao never get to see it.  Equivalent to the Pentagon, or possibly even the White House, it is protected by their secret service, and non-essential visitors rarely get withing 100 yards. (thanks again, L)
No photos were allowed.    That Sadie Hawkins field? Still there.  

 

Jan 11 - Return of the ASV Cobras!

We're baaa-aack . . . Unbelievably, we stumbled upon our old Cobra mascot, in town - I believe it was at the door of the Lao National Museum.  Our Cobra used to be at the entry to our school, six kilometres outside of Vientiane.  K6 was where our school was, our stables, and where most of us lived during our time in Laos.  I lived there for a few months, before we got a house in town.
Here are Frank Manley (who never left - Our Man in Vientiane!) and Lloyd, with our mascot.


First, a few pics of school days - Sadie Hawkins (OK, who remembers Lil Abner?), exploring the countryside, and SEAP (SouthEast Asian Peninsula) games - all in K6 area.  I am not sure where all these competitors came from, but it was definitely a big deal.








Below, the start of the Sadie Hawkins race.  For you young people who have never heard of this, the girls go after the guys, and grab 'em for the dance that night.  
There was also a real live greased-pig catching contest, pie and watermelon eating contests, and so on.

  I wish I could control the formatting better.  But here you see old Americana at its finest.  Yes, we had cheerleaders, and baseball, and the Blue Team and Gold Team.  Some of the American families did everything they could to recreate Stateside life.  My folks chose to live in town - they wanted to experience the place as it was.  My dad and I truly loved our time there - my brother and mom not so much.  For sure, it changed us kids forever.

Captured!  A popular guy!

And we have a winner of the watermelon eating contest!

Our cheerleaders.  Nope, not me.  Not in a million years could I have done that in middle school.  

Instead, I was learning how to burn off leeches from our horses' legs when we swam through ponds out in the country.  In dry season, we would gallop through the rice paddies, jumping the low walls every 10 strides or so.  We were not supposed to ride out, and heard scary stories of Pathet Lao kidnappings - but we didn't take it seriously.  I don't really know if it was dangerous or not.  We liked to think so then, in our relative ignorance - danger meant adventure.  Knowing a little more now, I feel a bit ashamed that I treated possible danger in such a casual manner.  Not all of our parents and friends made it out of the country alive, and some are still there.  

I remember one boy who tried his hand at riding a water buffalo.  He did not do that again.  Boy 0, Buffalo 1.

Below was the prototypical scene, most anywhere in lowland Laos.  It's still there, but you have to get outside of Vientiane now.  There are highways and multi-story buildings where this photo was taken, on the way to K6, I think.

                                                             

Jan 10 - Vientiane, Where Buddhas Smile Most

It's true.  They say Lao Buddhas have the happiest look about them.  They smile more than any other nation's Buddhas.  It seems to be a part of the value system; people are taught that calmness and a relaxed state is the best way to deal with whatever life throws at you.  
"Bo pen nyang" (assorted spellings) is a very handy phrase - it means "never mind", "no worries!"  or Hakuna Matata.

                            
        

             Mike, Marita, myself and Jules,          
 Tuk-tuk ready!

Haw Pha Kaew to the left. Khmer and Buddhist images

Gold leaf is everywhere.  This is a grave
marker - most wats have a place for

special patrons' burials

Karl Marx's memo negating religion somehow never filtered down to the people in Laos.  I think they just nodded, and then went about continuing everyday life.  The pre-Buddhist animist beliefs are evident everywhere.  "Kwan" are the spirits that inhabit our body.  There are at least 32 of them, maybe more, for all parts.  They give life and energy to us, and if they leave during times of change or stress, you are no longer really complete.  So the Baci ceremony helps.  This is called Soo Kwan, a calling back of the spirits, to help us on our journey.  We had two of these ceremonies, presided over by local shaman, and the strings connect the shaman, the offerings, and all of us together during prayers.  We then tied the strings around each other's wrists, with special blessings.  


 Here is a Buddhist monk, and it looks like he is incorporating the string connection into the Buddhist prayers - these two belief systems blend easily.


How practical!



Even the demons are smiling.  They are probably guardian figures, good guys, actually, but I'm not sure.
   




And now, we continue on to the Vertical Runway.   Once upon a time, legend has it, the Americans gave the Lao Government money to build a better runway at Wattay Airport - and the concrete ended up diverted.  Patuxai is the result.


















 Here is Patuxai, "Victory Gate".  And yes, it does look a bit like the Arc de Triomphe, which makes sense, since the French had an awful lot of influence here during the colonial days.  Great baguettes in these parts, too.
The fountain park and plantings are very much nicer than before, and I'd never been up inside.  Absolutely gorgeous, and cool - and the higher levels up the narrow spiral staircase had nice things for sale in a peaceful setting.                                                             

View from the top

 Every grotto on the way up the stairs
had something beautiful - syncretism enhances the art - Hindu gods, nagas,
Buddhas, apsaras, all living together in happiness.
















Next, we head to That Luang.  This place brings back a lot of memories.  There used to be a horse race track there, and we would go and watch.  These were really ponies, small and lightweight.  One day, we watched a race finish - and the chestnut in the lead had something really wrong; its front hooves were flapping as it ran, both fetlocks broken.  As I remember it, the monks from the temple there got the horse moved to the temple grounds, where there were big shade trees and grass.  They put a sling around the horse's middle, and using the tree, gave the horse support so it could be upright without weight on its front feet.  Then over the next few days, they fed and watered the horse, until it died, its spirit deciding when to leave.   
As uncomfortable as this sounds (so much easier for us to put an animal down, right?), I was forever impressed with the way the monks walked the walk of their belief.  They are not going to kill, period.


So, when we got to That Luang, and I could not figure out where things were, it was really disconcerting.  Lloyd helped me out - explaining that the track is now a big parking lot, and that the old temple was around the corner - I actually ran to see it, before our tour had to leave.  











To the right is King Setthathirat, who had this compound built when he moved the Lao capital to Vientiane from Luang Prabang mid-16th century.  Before that, this was a Khmer site, ca 1100's.  
The Siamese destroyed it all in 1827, but the French rebuilt That Luang in the 1930's from old explorers' drawings.  


When I lived here, the gold and gardens were nothing like this. 




Left is the stupa, with Buddhist relics.  Now covered in gold leaf!  


And below, one of the many tour buses - Korean and Chinese tourists, mainly.












And spirit houses everywhere.  Even at That Luang, they don't need to be 
                                               fancy.










     
        
Tomorrow, our old American School of Vientiane, and the K6 neighborhood outside of town.  Now essentially the Pentagon and White House of the Lao government.   
The serious question of the day - did they really fill in the swimming pool at the school??

                                                           

Vientiane, Laos - Jan 9, 2012 Once More Down the Rabbit Hole

1971 - View from my bus ride to school in K-6

Down the Rabbit Hole - to another world.
In Roger Warner's excellent book Shooting at the Moon, I believe he uses this phrase as well.  I've always thought of Laos as a kind of Wonderland - things make sense here, but only if you suspend everything else you always thought.  Then it all falls into place.    At least, that's how it was during the war.  
The phrase comes from the custom of shooting guns into the sky during an eclipse, to scare away the Frog who is eating the moon.  It works every time.  The Frog hears the noise, retreats, and the moon is fine. Logic intact, right?


So I am wondering, as we approach arrival in this place again, after all this time, will it still feel that way? Or has Laos lost the magic in its rush to modernity?   Will I be one of those people who mourn the loss of the old ways, forgetting the leper colony we rode our ponies past, the lack of education, the horrendous infant mortality, the cholera, of forty years ago - while I decry all the "awful Westernization"?    Gosh, hope not.  The goal would be an open mind here, or I've learned nothing.

Courtesy of Col. Qaddaffi, Lao Airline has some spanking new jets.  It seems the Colonel has a bit of trouble paying for these new planes, so Lao Air snatched them up from the manufacturer at a great "revolution sale" price.

There's a blurry photo of the Arabic tray instructions.


The flight attendants were beautiful, and taking great care to do everything right - but we were taking off before they got finished with seat belt instructions.  Learning curve!  
Were the pilots ready? "Excuse me Captain, which switch puts the wheels up again . . .?"  But no, they had it together - a perfect flight.  Nothing like the first time in 1969, on a canvas sling seat facing the center aisle of a CAT plane, getting our fillings shaken out of our teeth.  That flight was a blast, though!  And Civil Air Transport pilots?  Brave, and best.    But times have changed . . .

Our hotel, the Don Chan Palace, is built on a small island off the shore of the Mekong.  Totally western and modern, many stories, it is the cornerstone of a huge new complex of hotels and shopping now under construction. 








    
Here are a couple of photos to show the difference in Vientiane - two are of the Morning Market as I knew it, ca. 
1970 - where our cook would go every morning for the food for meals for the day.  The others are Talat Sao now, a growing shopping complex with everything imaginable for sale.   The old original building is still in there somewhere.


In the old market, just like Alice's Restaurant, you really could get anything you wanted - which is one reason why American students were generally sent home at 10th grade.

And below is the interior of part of the new mall.
Luxury shops.

 While exploring Talat Sao, I got lost in the maze.  By the time I was on the second floor, and found myself looking at rows of washers and dryers, I couldn't take it anymore.  I'm not a big shopper anyway - and this was just too overwhelming a change.  I got out of there before meltdown point.


Laos is developing at a very rapid rate.  Chinese money, Japanese money (and sustainability guidance, thank you Japan!) is changing life at an exponential rate in the city.  Laos is rich in resources - it seems to me they are again at the center of a tug-of-war, only this time, the Lao themselves get to make the decisions.  American, European and Asian nations all have their hands in, but so far the Lao government is keeping traditional heritage sites intact and safe.  Our old French Colonial homes in Vientiane are mostly still there.   


The view from our high room, looking over the Mekong to Thailand.  The river is low in January, but lower than it should be, thanks to China's most recent dams up North.  
The new King Anouvong Park River Walk is being constructed to east and west, and the section so far has a beautiful wide area for a good Night Market, very good prices and a peaceful environment.




Kids can paint, do crafts, and a lot of young adults were playing too.
Western tourists were there, but mostly this was a Vientiane people's lovely evening out, for cheap.

Check out the link describing King Anouvong's importance to the people.   http://www.laos-travel-guide.com/king-anouvong-statue-erection-ceremony.html   



This will give you a flavor of the language the government uses to describe their past - and reminds us that there is an immense amount of history before the Communist government installed itself.  
The statue of King Anouvong points toward Thailand - Laos' old nemesis.  There are various interpretations of his stance - pride, defiance, friendship as equals?   


Tomorrow, Tuk-tuk tour of Vientiane's sights!