More from Anne Nagelvoort on Loas
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007I have fallen deeply, madly in love with Laos. Stepping across the border, or more correctly, boating across, was like stepping back in time. Though the border town of Huay Xai is by no means paradise, the general slowness, lack of banks and phones and internet were a welcome respite from the “Madame, Madame!” of Thailand. My Canadian friend let me in on a word of mouth journey called the Gibbons Experience in the Bokeo Reserve in Northern Laos. I was fortunate to get a spot within my timetable after hearing story after story of people getting I actually knew nothing about the program save for a few bits and pieces but went ahead and shelled out my 5ooo baht for what was to be spectacular three days.
4 people missed there connecting bus which left us a small group of four, Stuart, the young, hilarious car salesman from Cambridge; Rich, the too cool video game designer from London; and Patrick, who looked like an english brute, bald, pierced and dressed in black who turned out to be a gentle animal loving vegan that worked in a porn shop. After a two hour journey by Land Cruiser crossing rivers and climbing steep inclines we arrived in a small village where time has simply been standing still. Bamboo huts set along a rolling river filled with children playing under the watchful eyes of the elders. Cattle grazing next to vast fields of corn and rice paddies. We each purchased a bamboo hat, the ones you see in all the movies, from one of the women to keep us cool for our 3 hour trek in. 3 river crossings and an hour later we reached the long row house that is the sleeping quarters for the guides and the kitchen. We were greeted by a 4 month old asian bear that had been rescued from poachers that had killed his mother. Our vegan friend went ballistic. I think he would of been happy staying with the bear all week.
The little I heard of this trip was that we slept in treehouses that were only accessible by zipline allowing us to be higher in the canopy to spot the once thought extinct gibbon. I’ve been on ziplines before but nothing could of prepared me for 400 meter, 45 second long, extensive network over the forest that was to be our playground the next few days. I have never been so high or seen so far in my life! We barely noticed the oppressive heat and humidity. 2 hours later we reached our house high in the trees. The only way in and out was by zipping. We woke daily to the songs of gibbons and birds and the guides zipping in with breakfast. Though we never actually saw a gibbon, it was quite nice to sleep in their house for a spell and share the magic of the rainforest with them. After 3 days of me supplying these ‘guys’ with my supply of repellent, bandaids, duct tape, etc, Rich was quick to retract his original assessment that I was least likely to survive in the jungle on my own. Thank you very much. I must say I could of done without the leeches.
The next step was a slooowww boat down the Mekong River, a journey of 200 kilometers taking 2 days on a horribly uncomfortable boat due to the giants rocks and swirling eddies. I hooked up with a couple of British sisters and one of their Peruvian boyfriend and had a hysterical 4 days in the old French colonial city of Luang Prabang. We dove right in to the local scene going bowling and the Lao disco, cooking classes and weaving. I met a young man, Tip, in a silk store who asked if I could help him with a presentation for his university. Over the next few days I would stop in and revise his speech and help with his pronunciation. The eve of the event he was blasting out close to perfect English without any notes! Yesterday was my going away party in the river town of Vang Vieng. The main attraction is the meandering river that is perfect for tubing. I’m not sure if it’s genius or pure stupiidity to give a bunch of foreingers rubber tubes and send them down a river lined with bars. The owners literally fish you out of the current and draw you in with free shot os LaoLao, a homeade rice whisky that makes even this Jameson drinker whince. Then it’s time to play! Each place has built it’s own rope swing, a rickety bamboo structure hovering over the water. Some of them were massive and all of them were incredibly fun. So that’s what you do for the afternoon, drink beers and swing into the river. We all end at the Sunset bar, well after dark for my crew which made for an interesting float back in the dark…especially since this crazy British guy swam back upriver to look for his flipflops. Extremely dumb. So we formed a tube colony and had him sprawled on top. Now is the bittersweet last day before the journey back to bangkok and the 30 hour trip home. I opted out of the 5 hour bus for a kayak down most of the way to the capitol. I got a chance to fish with the local fisherman and eat some crazy fruit in the back of a pick up from these little old ladies who couldn’t grasp the idea of my heavy backpack. They kept mimicing that they would be keeled over with it on. “I am too!”
I could stay in Laos forever. The fact that it is still a communist country is hard to recognize save for the hammer and sickle t-shirts. Speaking with a local man last night he said that the government won’t allow for so many things. Yes, you can open a business for tourism, but the amount of money you can make is carefully watched. The country has only been a hot tour spot for a few years and that has already changed so much. An expat was telling me that 6 years ago they could hardly buy anything like soaps and imported good, now cell phones and satellite dishes are popping up. Laos is in a unique situation where they can truly strive for sustainable tourism from it’s infant stages and retain it’s peaceful green beauty.
I hope they can achieve that, but still say get here as soon as you can! And go slow. There is too much be seen and felt. Let Laos seep into your skin. It certainly has mine.
I love you all and hope to see you very soon. Be well, be happy.
annie