As someone who first heard the word Tet followed by the word Offensive, it has been a good re-framing to work on associating the word Tet with more celebratory events. My school closed for 12 days to celebrate the Lunar New Year, as is customary in this country. For S2 and I, this meant an opportunity for a trip to someplace we hadn't been yet ... and couldn't go when we were in this area 30 years ago. We chose Laos.
Day 1: This was actually the last day of work as well. Given that there are no direct flights from HCMC to anywhere in Laos, we headed to Hanoi on a midnight flight, arriving at 2 AM . We took advantage of the Airport Pod Hotel and stayed 10 hours in a small, very simple, air-conditioned room at the airport. Basic, but comfortable, and very needed given that about 4 hours after arrival either food poisoning or the flu hit S2.
Day 2 and 3: The flight to Luang Prabang (northern Laos) was uneventful, but the arrival at our hotel was quite pleasant.
It was enlightening from the very beginning.
The Buddhist Temples in this UNESCO World Heritage Site were worthy of the designation.
Day 4: From there it was up the Mekong River for two days.
The boat stopped wherever anyone wanted to get on or off. I think this was the stop where the local shop was being re-stocked.
That evening, the boat stopped and unloaded everything and everyone. We had a lovely evening at a family run hotel that offered free beer with dinner.
Day 5: Continued up the river, in a different boat - one with flexible seating, just move the "car seats" in whatever formation suits your group. This took us to Huay Xai.
Day 6-7-and part of 8: From Huay Xai we started our first venture into eco-tourism. We headed into the jungle with The Gibbon Expedition for a three-day, two night trip. We used zip lines to go between tree houses, all under the auspices of protecting the habitat of gibbons. We did not see any gibbons, but we certainly heard them. It was a rewarding experience to think of all the hard currencies being poured into this project that is protecting the jungle from being cleared to grow rice.
More of Day 8: Upon leaving the jungle, we hopped a public bus to Luang Namtha. A "truck stop" helped us understand how remote we were.
Day 9: By this time, the flu caught up with me. I was struggling just to get to the nice clean sheets of the next hotel. S2 worked to get us from this remote place to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
Day 10: I stayed holed up in the air conditioned, clean sheet hotel in Vientiane. By the end of the day I was ready to venture out for an easy stroll. We headed down to the Mekong River. The Promenade was full of people enjoying the sunrise across the river, Thailand in the background. I marveled how 30 years ago we would have been able to be on THAT side of the river, but not this side.
As exercise classes appeared along the Promenande, I pondered how this country, considered one of the bottom 20 countries in the world had aspects of it that were clearly working to be part of the developed world.
During the Silent War (also known as the Vietnam War), the U.S. dropped an estimated 260 million "bombies" between 1964 and 1973 on Laos. It is estimated that 78,000,000 of them failed to explode. People continue to unexpectedly find them. There are numerous rehabilitation organizations within the country helping victims of the leftover bombies. People make jewelry, can openers, and various other decorations from the usable remnants. Upon seeing this trash can, I wondered if it was an attempt to re-use such remnants - it was made of rubber.
Day 11: Ahh, it felt great to feel better. I felt well enough to join in the adventure of renting a tandem bicycle and heading out for a ride. A ride in the country side always provides such a different look at a place.
We stopped for lunch at a place along the Nam Ngum River. It appeared this was a place for folks in the city to come to, rent a boat equipped with a kitchen, or if they brought their lunch, they just set out for a picnic on a boat.
Day 12: I was hurting from the bike ride the day before, but I was determined to make it to the
Houey Hong Centre. It is a place dedicated to keeping the traditional weaving techniques from dying out. Laos has some 54 ethnic groups that struggle to keep their language and culture alive. For a fee, they taught me how to weave. It was soothing and rewarding. Check out the link I made if you want to learn more about it.
Later that day, we took a plane back to Hanoi, and then home to HCMC. We arrived back home shortly after midnight and had a day to rest up and get ready to go back to work. It was a good thing for me. I was able to squeeze in an appointment to the doctor and discover I had developed Achilles Tendinitis. Basically, someone set such a vigorous pace on that tandem, that the tendons on my left foot went on strike. I'm happy to report after some days of rest, and some anti-inflammatories, I'm doing very well.
