Welcome to Laos

While I have spent some time telling you about what I have done and seen in Vientiane so far (not much unfortunately, as the entire first weekend was spent at home instead of sightseeing), I have not given you much history on Laos and Vientiane. I have been terribly remiss and will now correct this oversight.

Laos is a fairly new country in the grand scheme of things. Like many of the countries in SE Asia, it has had a turbulent past. Before Laos received some sort of unification in the 14th century, it was simply a conglomeration of principalities that were constantly at war with each other. This ended when a Lao warlord, Fa Ngum conquered Wieng Chan (aka Vientiane) and created a kingdom, which he called “Land of a Million Elephants.” (There is a wild elephant park North of Vientiane I am hoping to visit one weekend.) After his kingdom was formed, Fa Ngum adopted Buddhism as the national religion, which remains the predominant religion to this day (although the Communist government has excised certain practices of Buddhist faith in Laos). At some point in its distant past Laos was also home to the capital of Indochina, at Luang Prabang, in North-central Laos. Today, this is a great destination site, filled with temples and amazing sights. (We are planning a weekend there in two weeks!)

In the 18th century, Laos was overrun by the Siamese, who attempted to use the country as a buffer from the invading French. This ploy was unsuccessful, however, and soon the Siamese and French negotiated the relinquishment of Laos to French control. As many guidebooks will tell you, and as I have found true firsthand, Laos, particularly Vientiane, is filled with lingering influences of its colonial period. The architecture in the capital city has been highly influenced by the French colonists, bakeries abound within the cities, “falang” restaurants are everywhere, and that wonderful copy of the Arc de Triomphe, Patu Xay, stands proudly in the center of the city, a constant reminder of the roots France laid down in this country. Even the word “falang” has its basis in the French. It was a term coined particularly for the colonists and it technically means “French foreigner,” although now it is used as a term for any non-Asian foreigner in Laos and Thailand.

In 1953 France granted Laos sovereignty and in ’54 Laos was declared a politically neutral country by the Geneva Convention. Evidently, the US decided to ignore this declaration, however. From 1965-1973 the US took up a policy of dropping left over bombs meant for Vietnam in Northern Laos as a preventative measure for the spread of communism in SE Asia. This policy was amazingly unsuccessful and is thought to have pushed Laos more firmly into the hands of communism, which was adopted by the country in 1975 when the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos PDR) was born. This body of government still controls the country today.

This country is amazing in that it is still largely untouched by outside forces. Approximately 10% of its forests are original growth forests, which is staggering in the world today where most forests have been plundered. Unfortunately, forest products remain one of the easiest and fastest ways for Laos to bring itself out of the categorization of “20 Poorest Nations in the World” and there is a fear that deforestation will continue to worsen in this country. When reading the law of Laos, there seems to be a great determination to stop deforestation by the current government. The laws are very stringent, going so far as to classify the different types of forests and say what can and cannot be done in each type. The problem lies with the individuals in charge of enforcing these laws. One of the biggest problems here in Laos is that lower officials can be easily bribed to look the other way while massive deforestation occurs in outlying provinces. The people who live in these areas often have no idea of what to do as they have no education and often do not even speak the Laos language, instead speaking a very local dialect. In fact, in Laos there are around 132 different languages and dialects of Lao spoken, which makes communication with those in the Southern and very Northern provinces quite difficult. As much of the outreach VFI does focuses upon this area, materials to explain legal rights are often in the form of pictures and comic books since written and verbal communication is so hard.

Vientiane is now the official capital of Laos (after a turbulent history for the city as well, during which it was razed by the Siamese, rebuilt, became the capital of Indochina, was bombed, etc.). It is built along the Thailand-Laos border, standing on the bank of the Mekong River, which separates the two countries in the South. It is a flat city (perfect for travel by bike), with huge Western influences. But enough about the cities, that’s boring. I know what you really want to hear about…Iriwaddy Dolphins! What are those you ask? They are freshwater dolphins that live in the Southern areas of the Mekong River. They have snub noses, are very small, and completely adorable! I’m only sorry that I probably won’t get an opportunity to see them on this visit to Laos (so much to see, so few weekends). This is one of the few places freshwater dolphins actually reside, the others being the Amazon, where the dolphins are pink(!) and other areas of Asia (ex. China).

Laos has only recently become a vacation destination (mainly for the globe-trotting backpacker). After the formation of the Lao PDR, the country closed its borders to outside visitors, only reopening them in the 1990s. This closure from the world had positive and negative consequences for tourism in Laos. The negative consequences include its lack of history as a destination location for travel, a lack of “tourist sites” that would attract visitors, and less of a tourists-are-welcome feel. On the positive side, the country is largely untouched, you get a true feeling Laos when you stay for any length of time (which is very rare in large tourist locations), and the country has remained unspoiled from millions of traveling, trampling feet coming through.

Today was another relaxing day. As I mentioned previously (see previous blog post), I spent much of the day at Joma, playing on the internet, resting, and forcing myself to eat (food is still not sounding good, but a girl’s got to eat). After Zenia and I returned home at 6 pm, we spent some time washing our clothes. I am happy to report that our house sports its very own washing machine (there are no driers in all of SE Asia, which doesn’t really make sense to me as it is so humid here that air drying them creates a nasty, musty smell, but that is the way of things). We were so excited by the prospect upon our first examination of our abode that we did not think too much about what the machine looked like, simply assuming we could handle anything. Tonight, for our first use of, what I am now calling, The Gargoyle, we stared at it in puzzlement for about ten minutes straight. The thing is bright blue, has two chambers, one slightly larger than the other, and five dials on the front. We knew the clothing needed to go in the left side first as that side was labeled “Wash/Rinse,” however, how to accomplish the wash/rinse process was another matter. We inserted the clothes and began flipping dials: timer to 30 minutes, process to wash, cycle to regular. Nothing. It finally dawned on us that the cord for the darned thing was hanging up to the side, plugged in to nothing more substantial than air. :) Oops. We plugged The Gargoyle in and took a cautious step back. Still nothing. Zenia wiggled the timer dial and BOOM! the machine began to bang away. Another problem was immediately apparent: no water. A clear tube was attached to the top of the machine (we had attached it near the beginning of this process), but no water was coming through. It turns out you must turn the water on manually, fill the machine to the proper level, and then turn off the water when you deem there is sufficient liquid. We managed to get all this done and then left The Gargoyle in peace while it did its job.

We returned in thirty minutes and found our clothes sudsy, and wet, still sitting in their washing water. We flipped the dial to drain and watched the water flow out of a giant hose from the bottom of the machine (do you understand the gargoyle reference now?). We added more water, put the clothes through a quick rinse cycle, which was largely ineffective, and then transferred the bundle to the spin section. This side was easier to understand and worked like a charm. While I feared the intensity of the spin might cause The Gargoyle to spontaneously take flight around the entire house (it was banging and moving that much), it remained in the bathroom and when our clothes were done they came out water free and almost half dry. They are currently hanging from every available surface of our room (even two dining room chairs we usurped for the purpose) and hopefully the decreased humidity caused by our air conditioner will allow them to dry without mustiness. Fingers crossed.

Our laundry adventures complete, we snuggled down in our room to watch a movie (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, as we were both feeling quite homesick and were in need of a good laugh). Bed time is early as tomorrow is another day of work.

All-in-all, Laos should be an interesting place to live for the next six weeks. Zenia and I have travel plans for almost every weekend while we are here, so we can see a little more of SE Asia before we return to North America. I’m excited to explore more of Vientiane and Laos in general during my time here and I hope you are excited too after learning a bit more about our new locale. Welcome to Laos, everyone!