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| To travel to
Muang Fuang District you need to go by bus. It's always an adventure
and on both of my trips to Ban Nong Hai the buses have either
broken down or have had flat tires. Besides the driver there
are usually a couple of other 'crew members,' usually family
members. Here, Chang See, sitting on bags of rice that filled
the middle isle being brought down from Nong Hai to Km 52, was
laughing at my poorly spoken Lao. |
On the way
up to Ban Nong Hai we came to a spot in the road where there
were excavating a ditch across the road to bury a drainage pipe
and there was no way our bus could go down the narrow muddy detour.
We had to wait two hours until a CAT came to push in the dirt
from the other side over the pipe and pack it down so we could
continue on our way. It's just the way it is in Laos. |
I like this scene of the young
girls walking back home for lunch from school. |
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| This was taken
at Ban Nong Hai. This tree stood out against the setting son. |
What do you
think of the bridge across the creek in the top photo? We had
to cross that bridge to get to Chou's uncle's house. In the bottom
photo on one of our walks through the village we came across
this boy leading a water buffalo with another boy riding a top
the water buffalo. |
Most villages
in Laos have a sign like this that shows the land use plan. Each
color differentiates the way that land is to be used in the village.
If you know what the specific colors mean let me know. |
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| The top photo
shows Chou's uncle's house. In the bottom photo we are sharing
an evening meal. |
Chou's uncle
shows us how to shoot the crossbow. We were aiming at a little
target on an ant hill about thirty yards away and I felt good
that I got within two inches. Chou got just a tad bit closer,
while his uncle hit the little piece of paper dead on. |
Chou's uncle
is lucky in that his relatives in the United States gave him
enough money to buy this land, about two hectares, which he uses
for growing rice. He also has a farm in the hills about a two
hour walk away. I was hoping to see the farm, but we didn't have
time. In the bottom photo you can see where another relative
is using a rented motor drive machine to help separate the rice
kernals. |
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| Relatives of Chou's brother
in their garden area. |
This is Chou's neice studying
in the late evening after dinner. Since we were special guests
they were running their generator which powered a single flourescent
light in the house. Normally she studys by the light of an oil
lamp. |
This is a shot of Chou's
neice as she is leaving for school in the morning. One of her
older brothers whom I met last summer got to study in Russia
about seven years ago. They are a family that values education,
and although very poor, they are encouraging Zer in her secondary
studies. I gave her dad some money to help purchase books, school
clothes, etc. and hope the next time I return she'll still be
going to school. |
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| Crossing the bridge featured
in one of the photos at the top of this gallery we met Ms. Bouachan,
the teacher in the top photo here. I asked if we could visit
her classroom the next morning and she said it would be fine.
Since I brought Peter Rabbit and a Peter Rabbit book, we read
the story in English and Lao and the kids seemed to like it.! |
There is a little market
area in Ban Nong Hai by the main road, and when we got off the
bus we stopped at a little restaurant to get something to drink.
While we were sitting there this woman had us come see her two
monkeys. I had my polaroid and took a photo of her. Si Thong,
the girl on the right who served us in her mom's restaurant,
wanted to have her photo taken with the monkeys too. |
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