Alright.... so I didn't quite get to post all of the pictures or tell all of the stories I wanted on my last posting due to almost missing a bus and losing sunglasses. That's the past and it doesn't really matter because those stories and pictures were from Vietnam, which were good times, but they do absolutely nothing to compare to Laos. What a beautiful country!!!! And it's not quite as stinkin' hot!
The trip through Laos started out in Suvannakhet, a town in the southern section of Laos across the "Mighty Mekong" from Thailand. Not much to report about there; after a day we headed north to Vientiane, the capital of Laos which also happens to be situated across the banks of the Mekong from Thailand, only a more northern section. During the dinner stop of the 12 hour bus ride up through Laos I was greeted by a man who to my surprise asked me where I was headed in remarkably good English. I was immediately struck, even before I could answer, by the face I was looking into. Standing in front of me was a man, who's a small guy of only around 5'5", who had one of the most genuinely honest and friendly looking faces I've ever seen. Mr. Kong Ma and I chatted for around 10 minutes at the bus stop about nothing in particular and not in any particularly successful fashion before my bus departed from the station. I told him that maybe we'd run into each other in Vientiane, which was a shared destination of the two of us, and departed. As luck would have it, Nate and I sat around arguing with tuk-tuk drivers about the price of a ride into the town centre for a good 20 minutes. All of a sudden Mr. Kong Ma reappeared and told us of a local bus that was running a little later and drastically cheaper than the skeezy tuk-tuk drivers wanted us to pay. We gladly accepted his offer and took the time to chat with him a bit more personally about his family, where he's from, his village, etc. During our conversation he mentioned that he would like us to visit him in his village which I was excited about, but didn't think much of. When we reached the town centre bus station Kong Ma reiterated that he wished for us to give him a visit on our way up north. The map he sketched out for us was pretty awesome; simple enough for a child to understand but vague enough for an idiot to get completely lost half way around the world.
Nate and I stayed in Vientiane about 2 days before heading north to Vang Vieng, a small town with a lazy river running through it that most "falang" or tourists float down in a tube, hopping off at bars located on the banks on the way down. This and a few caves are the main attractions there. We did venture to see the caves via a motorbike we rented for the day. Motorbikes here are around the stage inbetween a scooter and a dirtbike. They go plenty fast enough but there's not much power to them. Saw the caves and enjoyed the awesome scenery of which I haven't described yet. Vang Vieng is where the mountains begin to jut out of the landscape.... almost literally straight up out of the ground. It's a beautiful sight to behold and awesome because it cools the temps. down a bit from the balmy heat of Vientiane. Renting a motorbike and casually driving throughout the mountains proved to be the absolute best and least used way of checking out the place, not to mention that you actually get out of town and see the country instead of the tourist traps. So we saw a couple caves and beautiful farms, streams and mountains, and decided that the next day we'd give Kong Ma a visit seeing as the weather was overcast and cool (not ideal for tubing). There is something to be said about the rice farming. It is the most beautiful and vibrant green I have ever witnessed!
So
GREEN!!!!!
Crazy cave formation... shined like diamonds, looked like a big peach
More of the same....
We kept the motorbike for another day and set off the next morning following Kong Ma's sketched out map. It should be noted that not a soul in Vang Vieng knew where in the hell this place we were looking for was. Therefore, Nate and I, being the adventurers that we are and understanding after 6 months of travel that randomness and throwing fate to the wind more often than not leads to good things regardless of if the outcome is what was intended. We headed north knowing only that Phokam, Kong Ma's village was a left hand turn at a village named Bang Beng (which wasn't quite the right name, spelling, or sounds) in between Vang Vieng and Kasy. Being the good scouts we are, we found the turn about 40 kilometers outside of Vang Vieng and about 5 kilometers before Kasy. Not too bad..... we then went about 4 kms down a really bumpy dirt road through 2 villages until Nate spotted Phokam-Bana school in teeny letters. We retreated about 50 meters to the food stand and asked someone, better yet just said the name Kong Ma and the guy looked at us like we were crazy until we somehow got him to understand Kong Ma was somewhat expecting us. He then took us about 100 meters up the road and pointed to a house and HOLY S#!& we actually found this guys house and stopped only 100 meters away! He was away for a couple hours tending to his farm and we were told to come back in a couple hours. We hung out down the road a couple km by a river, which I now know as the Tam Lik or River Lik, until the time we were to go back to Kong Ma's. When we got back we were happy to see our friend we had met only a few days previously.... still sporting the same awesomely genuine and innocent smile. As our adventures for the day had taken us until nearly dark.... we were very quickly invited to stay for dinner and of course we had to stay for the evening. We were introduced to Kong Ma's family and hit it off very quickly and easily. Only an hour or so after we arrived, Kong Ma's friend that he had mentioned once or twice returned from a festival being held in a nearby village. To my surprise a white guy, actually Uruguayan, but not from Laos nonetheless walked in. We were introduced to "Alec" whose name is Alejandro.... little too difficult for the family to spit out. This was a pleasant surprise as we soon found that he had been close friends and very frequent visitor to Kong Ma and his family for the past 5 or 6 years and spoke the language nearly fluently. His presence definitely made things a bit more communicable between Nate, me, Kong Ma, and the rest of the family. After a great night of food and conversation we woke up the next morning and headed back to Vang Vieng to turn the motorbike in and get our stuff as we had accepted an invitation to return from Kong Ma.
Motorbike that made it all happen... we're dead sexy together on that thing!
Beautiful....
That afternoon Nate and I very easily decided we had to tube down the river as it is what some call a "right of passage" as a backpacker in Laos. There wasn't anything warm or sunny about the day other than the family we had left behind that morning but we were out to conquer the tubing experience. As previously mentioned most people stop off at bars every so often and drink a few Beer Laos. Well, it won't surprise you to know that Nate and I bought a case of Beer Laos, put it in a laundry bag, tied the sucker to my tube and floated down the river in a much cheaper, more genuine, and laid back fashion than everyone else tubing that day. I was pretty shocked that not a single soul had thought of the idea other than us. It was well known to us by the end of the tubing trip that everyone else thought we had a damn good idea. Good times indeed! The next morning we packed up and headed back to Phokam, this time riding in the back of a truck with 1.5 kilos of buffalo meat, 2 kilos of catfish, a HUGE bag of chillies, and a soccer ball for the family.
Beautiful mountains....
While I've only been here in the country for a little over 2 weeks, I've made memories and friendships in those two weeks with Kong Ma, his family, Alec, and the entire community of Phokam that will forever be a part of my life. If you've been keeping up with my travels you'll know that during my first stop in Fiji I stayed with a family in a small village on an island for roughly a week and had an amazing time! The past week and a half have been so similar to that experience it's crazy.
Kong Ma's family consisted of the Capitan (Kong Ma), Mia Capitan (his wife/resident grandmother), Tao (Kong Ma's youngest daughter), Tahlin and Mr. Sinh (her two sons), No Lan (Kong Ma's youngest son), Alex, Nate, and me. These were the people living under his roof during the extent of my stay. Next door and very rarely not in the house of Mia Capitan lived Mr. Le (Kong Ma's son), Pet (wife), Nola (daughter - precious as can be), and Todo and his twin brother, who's name escapes me right now . It was absolutely amazing to witness the strength of the family, their dependence and coexistence with one another, as well as the close ties that bond them. From the first day we arrived we were considered, told to be, and treated as "same family" as they so cheerfully put it.
First pictures ever taken by Nola (4 years old)
Our week and a half was broken by a one day stint back to Vientiane to apply for our Indian visa, but other than that, Nate and I enjoyed life in Phokam the same as the other people within the community. It must be said that the night Nate and I were in Vientiane we actually slept on the Mekong River. As it is now the dry season the river is quite low and shows the river bottom for some 200-300 meters wide. We didn't really want to pay for a room so we just walked out to the middle of the river bed, plopped out our pads and sleeping bags and passed out for the night. When we woke up the next morning there were tourists on the banks taking pictures of us.
Back in Phokam we were easily the only 3 white guys around and as I was told by Alex who had been there for the previous 5 months that only 4 other tourists had been through the village in the previous year and that sometimes Alex is the only visitor for a couple years at a time. With this being said, it was hard to keep a low profile. We were always smiled, giggled, and waved at by the children of the village; stared at, smiled at, and greeted by the adults. It took a few days but everyone became accustomed with our presence and accepted us as part of the surroundings.
Before my accounts of the few distinct occasions we had during our stay in Phokam I should first let you know a small amount of the customs and everyday/night going-ons of the place. First and foremost..... Lao Lao is a drink that is consumed in what one could confuse with a religious tendency. It is essentially Whiskey Lao.... a whiskey made from rice that strongly resembles the taste and smell of tequila. It's odd, it doesn't seem quite as strong as tequila as you sit around and drink shot after shot after shot without getting too drunk (on most occasions) but yet if you throw it in a fire it acts like a bomb and a huge fireball explodes. Lots of alcohol but not quite as devastating effects or hangovers which don't occur. Lao Lao is drunk by most men on an almost daily and nightly basis. Seeing as there are no jobs to do other than tend to the farms there exists lots of idle time to be dealt with, a good portion of which sees the consumption of Lao Lao, accompanied by lots of laughter and comradery. I must say that I don't remember a single day that I didn't drink at least a little of the stuff. I don't want you to be confused and think that the guys sit around, get hammered, and do nothing. Life exists as usual. There are responsibilities that are dealt with sometimes before, sometimes during, and sometimes after the Lao Lao. Nonetheless, they are very productive people who happen to drink A LOT. I'd be curious to know the liver problems that occur within the communities.
Secondly, there are lots of festivals that occur. There was a festival in a neighboring community almost every day we were there for the first week. We attended a couple with Alex, who is a part of the community and known by everyone. If you can't guess what happens at the festivals then I'll spell it out for you.... L A O L A O! You basically sit around, drink, eat, be happy, and enjoy the presence of your family and friends. They start super early in the day (pre-noon) and end later at night (midnightish) with Disco Lao. Good times indeed!
Thirdly, they are early risers. Everyone is up by 7:30am, most around 6:30. Tao's rooster happens to be the annoying S.O.B. that begins crowing at 4am. Not sure why, but whenever he sounds off it causes a chain reaction of crowing to occur throughout the village. The bird is hated by the community.
Lastly, families as you can already tell are VERY close. They co-exist within close quarters of one another and seem to be very happy, all the time. They laugh about everything! A kid is crying or pitching a fit, the mother and other relatives are laughing while dealing with it all the same. They are a very happy people who are so very innocent that it is makes me both admire them and feel sorry for them at the same time.
They don't seem to understand how the western world works (outside of Kong Ma.... super smart man, taught himself English, understands that knowledge is the gatekeeper) and from time to time propose ideas that while noble, would never really work outside of their community. For this I love them and want so badly to help them in whatever ways I can. Their world will soon change as they have just received power 4 or 5 years ago, still boil their water, no paved road, no outside B.S. other than the corruption, which is significant, that exists within the communist society.
For a few stories:
We hiked through the jungle roughly 14-15 km round-trip one day, most of the hiking done walking in the stream, to a waterfall. Quite a beautiful experience. We drank Lao Lao, ate a lunch that mainly consisted of a few fish caught along the way and leaves that were collected throughout the forest as we went. The leaves were awesome I must say. It was quite interesting to tastes the different tastes that nature provided (sour, sweet, lemony, greens, etc.) It was quite a surreal day.... we (Alex, Nate, me) were accompanied by Kong Ma, Mr. Suk, Mr. Le, Mr. Lu-it, and Mr. Mui. It was the first experience where Nate and I were able to talk with and meet people outside of the family. These three men (Suk, Lu-it, and Mui) would prove to be the three men who I could always find a smile from and a comforting feeling being around.
Me, Kong Ma, Nate....
Waterfall....
Deforestation that is occurring oh so quickly.... BO DII!!!!!
The guys.... amazing people!
Group Shot... Fun times!
Another day, Mr. Suk lead us to find caves that were used by the villagers as protection for themselves and their food throughout the bombing campaigns of the US during the Indo-Chin War.
-You all know the Indo-Chin War as the Vietnam war, however, I must say that the war existed within Cambodia and Laos almost as badly as in Vietnam. The US didn't lose very many soldiers in Cambodia nor in Laos but did bomb the hell out of the two countries and plant many millions of mines. I'm not an America hater.... these are just the facts and seeing as though I've heard the opinions and viewpoints of the people who were there and experienced the war, I thought I'd share the realities.-
These caves we ventured to find hadn't been visited by anyone in nearly 20 years, therefore it was a bit ambiguous as to where exactly they were. After a bit of searching, a break for Lao Lao and lunch, we found a couple of the smaller caves but were unable to find the large cave that easily fit 50 people, food, water, and had room to spare. From what I was told these people lived in the caves for quite a while at a time, some gave birth and some passed away in this cave. From a historical standpoint it would've been cool to find. Nevertheless we had an amazing day just being around the group and enjoying each other's company. You may think it was fruitless since we didn't actually find the "big cave" but we all had such an awesome time just enjoying "Ta Masat" or nature. Nate and I saw the biggest cave spider ever.... about 3.5 inches in diameter and ugly as can be. Nate saw after I had climbed away from an area. I had to have been touching the damn thing! Cave spiders are known to be quite poisonous so I'm happy I avoided him. There were other spiders as well but none as interesting or huge as that one. Their eyes glow like that of a deer or dog when you shine a flashlight at them.
Caving Expedition....
Amazing place no?
As mentioned we spent a couple days going to a couple festivals and enjoyed the Lao Lao, food and friends.
Four days ago an elder of the village and uncle of Mia Capitan passed away. The tradition of the people is to play cards for 10 days after the death or birth of an individual. Quite weird considering they never play cards any other times. Also funny because the rules of the games aren't all quite "nailed down," meaning there's lots of laughing due to people playing the wrong way. You don't scold someone for playing wrongly, you don't accuse them of cheating, you laugh at them and they laugh at themselves and they continue on with the game.
Caught this guy in the act!!!
Head monks of the area....
Similar to home, when someone passes away there is a gathering of people within the community of the deceased. People play cards, eat lots of food, and you guessed it... drink lots of Lao Lao. During the first day of gathering, of which there were three including the day of the funeral, Nate, Alex and I somehow ended up drinking with what seemed to be the entire village. It's easy to see how a lot of the community members wanted to drink with us as we were honorary members of the society. Saving the details, we must've gone through what we guess to be around 5 or 6 bottles of Lao Lao. Due to our size we can drink more of the stuff than they can without disastrous effects but this day got the best of all 3 of us.
Regardless of whether you want to drink or not, when someone offers you a drink, you take it, thank them, cheers everyone and drink. It is the polite thing to do.... and besides I look at it as "participating in a cultural tradition" which it most certainly qualifies as. The drinks kept flowing and by the time we got home Alex almost immediately went to sleep in the middle of the floor. Nate and I both made it outside after a bit of food and got around the fire where Nate apparently was soon ushered to our beds by the river. As you see I used the word apparently.... this is due to the fact that a couple hours are still missing from my memories of the night. What happened within those two hours will forever be my legacy within the people of the village.
I have a few flash memories of what happened and am very lucky to escape without any injury whatsoever, much less serious injury. From the stories I was told the next day (which were difficult to understand through all the laughing), I apparently fell in the river. This doesn't sound so bad until you understand that my fall started at one point on top of the bank and ended abruptly when I landed in/on a bush in water that was approximately 10 feet below. I can vaguely remember rolling down the hill and I can vaguely remember the impact with the bush and rocks of the river. I can even very vaguely remember looking up from my resting place and seeing people above. What I don't remember was tripping, flying off the edge of the bank down about 5-6 feet to the river, knocking myself out when landing and laying in the river, luckily with my head on a branch (out of the water), until I was fished out after I had laid there for a length of time that no one knows. I very easily could have broken a bone, hurt my back again, or drowned..... however, I've been saying my prayers as usual and my main man was looking out for me. NO harm done!
As I am a VERY big person compared to the average individual within the village, it didn't really surprise me to hear that it took 5 grown adults, several of which came to my aid from other places after hearing of my troubles in the river, to actually get me up and out of the river. The vertical slope which they somehow got me up was around 5-6 feet as previously said.... 73 kilos of semi-dead weight is a lot! It took a grand total of about 3 hours before half the village knew what happened the night before and all day Nate and I were asked.... which one of you was it that fell in the river? Being as awesome as they are, I was laughed at and laughed with them about the whole thing. No harm, no foul, everybody has a good laugh and looks at the bright side of things. I will always be Falang tom Nam Lik.... the Falang that fell in the River Lik. Fine by me.
Long way down.... landed in the bushes
The river escapade occurred three nights ago on Friday. Yesterday was the actual funeral of the man who had passed away. They do things quite a bit differently here than at home. First and foremost they do not bury their dead. The people believe that one should not be buried and left for the worms, therefore, they burn their deceased come back, collect the ashes and place them in a memorial that will stand. There is a procession of taking the body from its house to the place of the ceremony where they will be burned. The men that were close to the victim shave their heads, eyebrows, and faces and don the attire of a monk. The women wear all white. They line up in a single-file line in front of the military truck that carries the deceased with the monks in front then the women, all holding on to a white rope that is connected to the front of the truck. They "pull" the truck along by the string until the area of the ceremony is reached. The villagers honoring the dead follow along behind the truck to this place. When the ceremonial site is reached the head monk of the village/area addresses those who have become monks for the day in honor of their friend and leads them in recitation of religious words said to honor the body and soul of the deceased.
After this ends all the villagers take a candle which is tied to a stick of incense and they place it within the pyre of wood supporting the coffin. This signifies the beginning of the burning process and a few men shortly thereafter take torches and light the pyre. There was a very quiet moment as the wood and coffin were engulfed in flames.
The coffin above the pyre....
Beautiful Silence.....
Soon enough everyone turned around and headed back towards the village to resume the festivities. The monks and women honoring the dead must go with the head monk and recite a few more words and then they too are set free to do as they please. Everyone soon gathers again at the house of the deceased and continues with the celebration and remembrance. Of course.... for a change there was plenty of Lao Lao, laughter, and positive people to completely become lost within. There are no tears within these happenings and are lots of laughs. Funerals are happy times and happy times are what happens when you are around people with happy and innocent hearts.
Early this morning we woke up at 6 in the dense fog that always seems to pervade the landscape early in the morning, gathered our things and left Phokam, our new family, our new friends, and could do nothing but wish that we could be back as soon as tomorrow. One day I will go back to Phokam, I will see my extended family again, and while I'm gone I will pray for them and wish them well in whatever endeavours life sends their way.
I honestly feel as though a deepest connection has been made from both sides of the fence and a shared sense of appreciation is felt in the fact that between the major differences of our cultures and lives we are only people who should and do live life to the best of our abilities one day at a time with the best attitudes possible. To do otherwise wouldn't be fair. I may be wrong about this but I would like to hope, and I am confident in my own mind, that they know I see them the same as the members of my own family.... I surely know that in their minds I am nothing more and nothing less than a part of the "same family."
The Family and Friends..... surely for life!
The Boys..... Good as gold!
Nate and Todo.....
Where I woke up and watched the fog rise every morning!
The beer really was green... and good too!
We left Pokhara, headed to Kathmandu, spent the night outside of a bus station on the edge of town, immediately got on the wrong bus the next morning and drove through the city, out the other side and ended up 30 km away in a town called Nagarkot.
Before I tell you about Nagarkot, let me say that our ride that we took from Pokhara to Kathmandu was done on top of the bus. That's right.... we rode on top of the bus. Check that one off the list.... it's been done. We wanted to ride on top of either a train or a bus before we left India. The ride on top of the bus wasn't the last one we took, in fact we rode on top of the bus on our way to Nagarkot, but it was probably the best one considering that we were the only two guys up there. It was a beautiful day, the temps. were awesome, and along the way we saw at least two recent accidents involving buses running off the edge of the cliffs we were riding beside the whole time, one of which killed several people. Yes Mom and Dad, I did it and although it doesn't surprise you you'll still tell me that I'm stupid. Maybe I am stupid but it ain't the way I go through life if you follow me.
The ride to Nagarkot was an awesome one. We took the wrong bus (riding inside) and ended up at a place where they charge $10 (an outrageous sum of money) to see this square which is actually supposed to be pretty sweet. So Nate and I ate lunch and immediately caught another bus headed towards Nagarkot. On a clear day Nagarkot has excellent Himalayan views.... Everest can even be seen in the very far off distance. When we jumped on the next bus we were back on top again along with about a dozen other guys ranging from 10-25. This day was the day before Holi, one of the biggest Hindu festivals and religious days of the year. Well oddly enough, Holi is one huge water fight. People young and old through everything from water balloons (the weapon of choice) to buckets of water and everything in between. The ride up to Nagarkot was one that passed through several small towns where all the kids were waiting for us to ride by so that they could absolutely bombard us with balloons and water. It was awesome!!!! Great time indeed and one that I didn't walk away from dry. The next day actually was Holi and brought on more water fights and red dust that turned into paint when wet. Nate and I were the two white guys getting dowsed with water and with red faces and shirts. We spent a couple of relaxing days in Nagarkot before heading out. It was hazy the whole time as it had been the other 6 days in Nepal. It sucked but as we had traveled so much any moment we found to be still was one that we valued and took in everything. After Nagarkot we headed to Kathmandu for a day and then off to India again, passing through the eastern border of Nepal. We had traveled the entire length of the country in 10 days. 10 days at the base of the greatest mountain range the world has to offer. I would also like to say that while in Nepal I saw more eagles than I've ever thought of seeing in my life. At any given moment you could look and see 2, 3, sometimes even 4 eagles soaring in the skies. Very beautiful and graceful thing to see.
So we took another 10 hour bus to the border, spent the night, and a 3 hour jeep ride to Darjeeling the next day. Darjeeling is the town where Norgay and Hilary set off to tackle Mt. Everest way back in 1953. It is the town that Tenzing Norgay is from and where his son still resides. In this town there is the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) where Norgay was Director of Field Training and then Adviser. HMI has an awesome museum on climbing, mountaineering, and the efforts to climb the pinnacles of the world. One of the simplest but best museums I've been to, ever. HMI also shares its campus with the Darjeeling Zoo. The zoo is the highest altitude zoo in the world! Pretty cool.... they had a Siberian Tiger, an Indian Tiger (walked 10 ft. from Nate and me shouting the whole time), the clouded leopard, snow leopard, regular leopard, Tibetan wolves, Himalayan Black Bears, Red Pandas, lots of beautiful pheasants, deer, and a few monkeys (monkeys are too normal around here to be in the zoo). The zoo was fun. Also f0und the best Mo Mo's in the world in Darjeeling as described above. Darjeeling is also the place where on a clear day you can see the sun rise over 8 of the world's 9 tallest peaks at one time. Only thing is that it was hazy the whole time we were there. Oh well.... guess I'll have to go back at some point. No, I will go back another time.
We left Darjeeling 3 days ago.... took a 3 hour jeep, a 12 hour train, a 36 hour train, and a 5 minute cab ride to reach the point where I am now, 3 days later. 50 hours on a train will put it to you. Combined that we have been pretty much moving non-stop for the last 3-4 weeks and I will say that for the first time I am 
