Summer 2002 Laos AdVenture Study Tour

“ Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.”

~ Mark Twain

I’m glad to report that the Laos AdVenture Study Tour was completed successfully July 16, 2002. While we were on the tour I worked hard at documenting our group’s experiences, where we went and what we saw, felt, experienced. This web site is the culmination of the Summer 2002 tour and the first of many tours we are planning on leading to Laos. Most will have an educational/study component, but we are planning some that will focus on photography, although all tours will provide ample photographic opportunities.

A little about myself. I have been an educator in northern California for twenty years and am currently a librarian at Grant High School in Sacramento. When I accepted a position in the Thermalito School District back in 1992, the first year I taught a second grade class about a third of my students were Hmong and Mien. Over the next several years I kept in touch with one student, Mai Moua Thao and since then have become close to her family; mom, dad, three sisters and three brothers.I also became close with two Mien families, Sengfou Saephan, who was our Mien liaison and Youd Sinh Chao. I helped Youd Sinh fund raise money for his daughter Meuy and Mai Moua to go to Washington D. C. on one of the the many spring trips planned for intermediate students. Youd Sinh and I went with Meuy and Mai Moua and had a great time. Currently Mai Moua is a senior at Oroville High School, has been in the top ten of her class each year and is already guaranteed placement in one of the UC schools. Through the Thaos I first learned about Laos and in the summer of 1998 attended SEASSI (Southeast Asia Summer Studies Institute) and studied Hmong/Lao full time at the University of Oregon for nine weeks and then in November 1998 went on a small tour to Laos and fell in love with the country and people of Laos. I returned the following summer with our Hmong aide and his wife and then the following fall put together a small virtual tour of Laos sponsored by the Butte County Office of Education and put together a web site of that tour.

The one thing that bothered me was that my journeys to Laos were only about four to five weeks in length and I kept feeling like I was only skimming the surface. I decided while visiting Laos again in the summer of 2000 that I wanted to live in Laos and seriously study Lao. When I came back I submitted a request for a year's leave of absence which was denied by the school board and so I then submitted my resignation, sold my house and moved to Laos. I had no idea if I could get an extended visa, where I would stay, how I would study Lao, but kept thinking back to Joseph Campbell who said it was ok to "follow your bliss."

To make a long story short it all worked out fine. A tuk tuk driver, Thavivan became my good friend and Lao teacher and I also began spending time at the home of my first Lao teacher, Da, who introduced me to her cousin Bai, who now two years later is....my wife. We're currently waiting for her K-3 visa to get processed by the INS. It's not easy being seperated, but it shouldn't be more than a month or two more.

I did return to the states several times over the last two years, the first time to present at the Hmong National Conference in Sacramento and then in the summer of 2001 I was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Southeast Studies at UC Berkeley where I put together a web site for teachers and students about Southeast Asia resources and ways of incorporating the teaching of SEA in California's History-Social Science curriculum. I then taught an Institute on Southeast Asia for the International Studies Project at CSU, Sacramento which was held at McClatchy High School January through March 2002 and co-organized the Southeast Asia Faire for the Refugee Educators' Network which was held at Cosumnes River College March 9, 2002

I put together the tour because I believe that more Americans, especially educators, need to get to know the real Laos and the real Lao people. I am in support of organizations like FFRD, the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, "which is a national not-for-profit organization that is working for reconciliation with and development of Laos and fully normal US diplomatic, cultural, educational and economic relations."

Access to accurate information about Laos here in America is minimal, and unfortunately misinformation about Laos is all too common. I agree with Mark Twain when he wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” That is the core belief behind Laos AdVenture Study Tours.. We have so many Laotian (Lao, Hmong, Mien, Khmu) refugees in the United States and so little is known about their country of origin. I hope a web site like this helps open people’s eyes and minds toward Laos, but I guarantee visiting Laos will be a forever life-changing experience. For current news about Laos and Laotians (Lao, Hmong, Mien...) in the U.S., the "unofficial" Vientiane Times web site is your best best although they include references to some articles/"news" that are anti-Laos and rumor-based.

Right now I’m working with schools/school districts in Sacramento, California to sponsor teachers, similar to McClatchy High School’s (Sacramento City Unified School District) sponsorship of the three teachers who went on the Summer 2002 tour. Through staff development funds the school paid half the cost of the tour with the expectation that the teachers would put together curriculum units and presentations that would be shared with staff and students at their school. These teachers were extremely diligent, keeping journals and shooting photos and digital video, and we’re working on incorporating their multimedia journals on the LAST web site.You can read their testimonials/narratives here.

As an educator one of my priorities is to build relationships between Lao and American educators and we arrange for our groups to visit schools and meet with teachers and other educators. Unfortunately, our summer break coincides with Laos’ summer break so most schools aren’t in session, but for example on this last tour we spent a day touring the Luang Prabang Teacher Training College meeting with the director and English Department Coordinator. Laos AdVenture Study Tours has also established a working relationship with the National Library of Laos and is supporting their Reading Promotion Program and on this last tour we donated over $1000 for book box libraries that would be donated to rural schools.

About the Summer 2002 Tour

We had seven people on our tour. Three teachers from McClatchy High School in Sacramento, the SEA librarian from UC Irvine and three University of Wisconsin students. We left from San Francisco on June 20 and arrived in Vientiane in the morning of the 22nd. If you want to see a map that shows our route click here.

In Vientiane the group stayed at the Lane Xang Hotel. I was impressed at how friendly the staff was and the group thought it was great fun to be saluted coming and going from the hotel. Vientiane, like all of Laos is understated, but there really is a lot to see and do and I planned for our group to spend four days in the capitol before heading north. One of the highlights I thought was our meeting with the naibon (village leader) of Ban Mixay, located downtown. To understand Lao governance, one must first understand the importance of the naibon in the life of each village and as the liaison between villagers and the governing bureaucracy.

On Monday morning we went to the National Library and met with the Deputy Director. This last spring when I was staying in Laos I visited with the Deputy Director and learned about their Reading Promotion Program where they put together wooden boxes filled with a variety of books that become a school’s first library. The National Library has a very limited budget and relies on donations to fund the Book Box program and I told him I would try to get my tour group interested in sponsoring some book boxes. We ended up sponsoring six boxes. I sponsored one in the name of the Laos AdVenture Study Tour, along with boxes sponsored by McClatchy High, the Hmong Student Association at the University of Wisconsin, Poplar Avenue School, Refugee Educators’ Network, and Weston Elementary School in Wisconsin. We gave them the money this first day because then the plan was we would come back after returning from the north of Laos at the end of the tour to be photographed with our completed book boxes. That afternoon we went to the U.S. Embassy where we were given a briefing by the Public Affairs Officer and then met with the Political Officer who gave us an overview of the political situation in Laos.

On this web site you can also see photos of when we visited Wat Si Muang and released birds from their small wooden cages for good luck. Speaking of, because we have to schedule these tours during the summer months when teachers have vacation, we are in Laos during the beginning of the rainy season. It’s not ideal, but we had amazingly good weather and most of the time we were out and about it wasn’t raining.

One of the many keys to our tour’s success was the inclusion of my friend Tia, our informal guide. Tia, means “short” in Lao, and Tia is short, but big in heart, and his English is amazingly good considering his education is from the “University of life.” I’ve known Tia for over two years and arranged for him to accompany us on the tour and while we were in Vientiane we had a delicious meal at his house that his wife cooked. While we were there we walked across the road to the private college and visited some English classes. Tia’s real gift was when we visited different ethnic villages and his ability to relate well with villagers making them feel comfortable with our group’s presence. Especially from a photographic standpoint, Tia always knew intuitively to engage someone in a conversation while we were photographing them allowing our group to get some great shots.

Back in March Tia and I had traveled the route I had planned out for the tour and I decided to rent a van for nine days that would take us all the way up to Muang Sing and back to Luang Prabang. Because two of our University students were Hmong sisters, I had made arrangements for us to spend our first night out of Vientiane at their uncle’s house in Ban Phu Khun, at the crossroads between Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Xieng Khuang. One reason to keep our group size around nine to ten people is because we then only need to rent one of the large 15 person vans (Maybe 15 Lao, but not 15 falang!).

It’s a beautiful drive between Vientiane and Ban Phu Khun and one of the highlights of the trip for me was when we stopped to photograph some women planting rice and they invited us to join them. I have harvested rice (with my wife’s family), but never planted rice and Bill, Matt and I took off our sandals and ventured out into the mud of the rice paddy and gave it a try. The women were very patient with us, but it’s much harder than it looks, requiring sort of a backwards twist of the wrist when inserting the rice seedling in the mud, and most of my seedlings quickly flopped to one side. But it was fun, they were very forgiving of our clumsy efforts and I think the group began to get an appreciation of Lao warmth and friendliness.

Most tourists stay at Vang Vieng, especially the younger crowd, but we stopped only for lunch and to check out the market, where we purchased some amazingly high quality textiles.

Leaving Vang Vieng we begin to climb up into the mountains and were treated to beautiful vistas. For quite a ways you travel along a mountain ridge winding through many small villages, mostly Hmong. We arrived at Khou and Xong’s uncle’s house in the late afternoon and witnessed the tearful reunion between Xong, Khou and all their relatives. The rest of us went back to Ban Phu Khu, bought some bottles of lao lao and then explored around the village before sitting down to a delicious meal. I was a little scared about what participants would think about sleeping all together in this Hmong home, but Anne, the senior member of our group reported this night as one of her highlights.

The next morning Bill, Tim, Tracey, Anne and myself left for Luang Prabang as Khou, Xong and Matt wanted to spend an extra day at their uncle’s. In Luang Prabang we stayed at the Phousi Hotel, located opposite the Hmong market and close to the Mekong river and my favorite coffee shop. Luang Prabang is perhaps the favorite tourist destination in Laos. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and definitely has a laid-back charm. The Hmong Market across from the Phusi Hotel is very interesting. As I've visited Luang Prabang numerous times and have come with Hmong friends I have gotten to know some of the women who sell their embroidery there. For a while this last year officals had moved the market out of town about a half a mile and the Hmong were not happy, many coming back to the downtown area where most of the foreigners hang out renting spaces here and there to sell their embroidery. Eventually the officials changed their minds and the Hmong were allowed to move back. I think the market's fascinating and it's fun to bargain and look at the wide variety of Hmong crafts for sale. The next day we visited Kwang Xi Waterfalls , and along the way we came across a Vietnamese bicycle merchant selling his wares in a roadside village and got some great photographs. I’ve been to Kwang Xi many times and considering it was the rainy season, the waterfalls weren’t that full and we were able to climb up the trails and explore the waterfalls higher up. I came here about a month later with my wife after a period of heavy rain and the change was dramatic as the rushing water had knocked over a tree and covered a bridge we had walked across.

That afternoon we visited a Lue village on the Nam Ou river. I have gotten to know two brothers who grew up in this village and have visited this village numerous times, once spending the night before hiking 10 miles up the mountains to a Hmong village and then hiking back the same day. The village is in a beautiful setting along the Nam Ou and is over 100 years old. The Lue are Lao Loum and besides growing rice, grow cotton and are known for the indigo cotton cloth they weave.

The next day Khou, Xong and Matt returned from Ban Phu Khun and I rented a slow boat for us to visit the Pak Ou Caves . As is stated in The Lonely Planet Guide to Laos, "About 25 km by boat from Luang Prabang along the Mekong river, at the mouth of the Nam Ou, are the famous Pak Ou caves. Two caves in the lower part of a limestone cliff facing the river are crammed with Buddha images of all styles and sizes." The caves aren't spectacular, but are interesting, though I believe it's the boat ride that makes the trip. The pace in Laos is on the "slower" side and it's great to leisurely view life along the Mekong as the boat cruises up the river. During the rainy season it can be especially interesting, and extremely interesting after a heavy rain to view all the floating debris swirling down the river and around your boat, including clumps of huge trees. The boatmen I've always hired have been very professional, and it was interesting when we were there that the officials in Luang Prabang tried to organize the boatmen so that tourists would have to sign up for a boat a small office across from my favorite coffee shop. The way it usually works you walk down by the river and you'll be approached by one or more men asking if you want to hire a boat to visit the caves, or the lao lao and weaving villages, or head down river to the Kwang Xi waterfalls. I think it's better to negotiate on your own and luckily the newly implemented system only lasted a week or so.

After exploring the caves we headed across the river to one of the restaurants along the river for lunch and then headed back down the river stopping at the obligatory lao lao village. Lao lao is rice whisky and is an essential ingredient to Lao life, plain and simple. It's made in many many villages, but this one has gained a reputation since it's on the tourist byway between the caves and Luang Prabang. Four years ago they were making lao lao, but there weren't any real shops and the bottling of lao lao was in recycled Johnnie Walker bottles or similar ilk. But this time, I was amazed at how they had dramatically improved the marketing of their lao lao and added handicrafts. There were a lot more shops with the lao lao bottled and labeled attractively. Back in 98 I bought a liter in a plastic bag (the Lao way), but this time bought a several bottles as I knew they would hold up better in my carry-on luggage! I'm suprised someone hasn't written more extensively about Lao "lao lao." The Lao will add anything to lao lao almost, and then magically, it becomes medicine with "special" qualities. I think at first my group was a little leary about trying lao lao, but if you explore this site and read the entire report you will see that we discovered some magical mushroom lao lao in old Xieng Khuang. In the states I drink very little alcahol, and in Laos I don't drink a lot, but judiciously drinking Beer Lao and lao lao I think "enhance" the experience and I guess you could compare it to the French love for drinking wine. If you have time I would suggest looking at the video clip when we first learned about mushroom lao lao...very insightful!

We also stopped at a village where they make stoneware jars and then at Ban Nong Xai , a weaving village that is actually very close to Luang Prabang. In this weaving village are shops where they not only market textiles woven by locally employed women, but sa paper studios. I wish I were much more knowledgeable about Lao textiles. I have friends who are experts and my wife knows how to weave textiles, but somehow for me it's magical and mysterious, much like the whole of Laos. There are several weaving galleries here and one in particular that I think has the best selection in Luang Prabang at very reasonable prices. I took quite a few photos that I put on this one web page and am looking forward to returning with future groups. The group really liked the sa paper galleries where we could see the paper being made and bought a lot of the sa paper handicraft such as note books, lanterns and sheets of the paper with hibiscus flower petals and/or fern leaves pressed in..

I think I was lucky to have such an adventurous and spirited group, and one morning in Luang Prabang we all awoke at 5:00 a.m so we could give alms to the monks when they made their morning rounds. Most tourist groups watch, we participated. Luang Prabang has more wats and monks per capita than any other city in Laos and it’s well worth it to rise early to witness the endless lines of monks walking barefoot through winding streets collecting alms.

After three days in Luang Prabang we headed up north to Muang Sing. It’s a long drive, twelve to thirteen hours, and unfortunately during the rainy season it’s more difficult to arrange a flight from Luang Prabang to Luang Namtha (two hours south of Muang Sing) as it’s often clouded in, and if we did fly it would have saved us about nine hours. Ideally I would like to drive one way and then return by air, and will try to work this in on future tours.

The great thing when you rent a van you can stop anytime you want and we stopped to take a lot of photos and explore villages along the way. Driving through the mountains the road winds its way through many mountain rice fields that have been slashed and burn. Where it’s forested we came across villages where men (mostly or all Hmong) display wild animals/birds they’ve killed hanging from poles and roofs so that passing drivers can see and hopefully stop and purchase. Many older Lao consider wild animal meat to be “medicine” and we witnessed one local official purchase some squirrel for his boss as a gift. What totally amazed me was the flying squirrel we saw. It was huge and I would love to see one in the wild gliding from tree to tree. Tia and I also saw one once up in Sam Neua for sale.

In Muang Sing we stayed at the Muang Sing Guesthouse . Without a doubt, it is the best guesthouse in Muang Sing and one of the best guesthouses in Laos. Why? Because the owner, a woman, is so attentive to her customers that you truly feel like it is your second home. It’s very simple, there are shared toilets (the squat kind) and separate bathing rooms. I first stayed here on Christmas day, 1999, and it was three degrees centigrade! I knew there wouldn’t be a hot water heater, but at the MSGH, they boil water and then put the hot water in thermoses set by the bathing rooms and then you add the hot water to cold water in a pan and slosh the water over you. I appreciated not having to bathe in cold water! Also in Muang Sing, like Phonsavan, they only have electricity from about 6:30 – 10: 00 p.m., but they have a generator that provides enough electricity for lights in the room.

I reserved the whole second floor above the café for our group and everyone appreciated having their own room (tours, including mine, base costs on participants sharing double rooms) while in Muang Sing. Muang Sing is a long way from Vientiane, but I first came here because I knew there were several Mien villages about five miles outside of Muang Sing and about two miles from the China border, and I really wanted to visit some traditional Mien villages. Since 1999 I have been back to Muang Sing over five times and have gotten to know a Mien woman, Fahm Choy, who runs a Mien Cooperative in Phu Don Than. I’ve placed orders for a variety of Mien handicrafts with Fahm Choy and have been impressed with the quality and design of the purses I’ve purchased and am working on finding some markets for Mien handicrafts here in the United States. Fahm Choy has an incredible presence and I wanted our group to visit the cooperative and see what it’s like in a Mien village.

Another important reason to come to Muang Sing is to visit the Tai Dam Villages right on the outskirts of Muang Sing. When you stay in a guest house in Muang Sing and walk down the main street, such as it is, the Tai Dam women will quickly gather around you showing the beautiful cotton scarves they’ve woven and have for sale. If you show any interest and look at one, then before you know what’s happening you’re draped in scarves. It can be a little intense, but it’s all done in good fun, and it’s best to look at them slowly at a table in one of the guesthouses or restaurants. What happened to me though about a year ago is that one evening when I was buying some of the scarves sitting at a bench in front of a restaurant I ended up “losing” my wallet with over $700! (about three years of their average income).I didn’t discover this until they had continued down the street. Needless to say I was upset and went looking for the group of Tai Dam women and when I came up to the group and explained the best I could in my limited Lao about losing my wallet they told me that they didn’t have it, but four of the group had already left for their village. I told them I wanted to go to their village because I knew one of the must have it. They agreed and we walked the mile to their village in the dark and when we got there a crowd gathered around and the group explained what had happened and about five minutes later a woman appeared with my wallet with all the money intact! Amazing, huh? I gave her a reward and then walked back alone, with the stars overhead, thanking my lucky stars… And since then I’ve become well known among the Tai Dam women and have ordered quite a few of the naturally dyed scarves which I think are exquisite.

And besides the Tai Dam and Mien, from Muang Sing it’s easy to visit Akha villages. Akha, like the Hmong and Mien are classified as Lao Soung, Lao of the mountaintops, but are quite different from the Hmong and Mien. The Akha are more “closed” and you need to be careful when visiting their villages, making sure to ask permission to photograph.

I have also become friends with some of the Hmong in Muang Sing. The Hmong in Muang Sing embroider and appliqué these wonderful textiles I call "Spirit People Cloths". The Hmong are famous for the pa ndau, their embroidered story cloths, but these are completely different. In Vientiane and Luang Prabang you will see simple examples of spirit cloths, but here in remote Muang Sing the Hmong have created their own unique style with their spirit people motifs and have incorporated them into these detailed circle designs that I think portray a healing “unity message."

Our group only had two days in Muang Sing and the first day we went to the Mien villages and then in the afternoon walked to the Tai Dam villages. The following day we took our van out towards the Hmong villages where it had to stop on one side of the river, and then we waded across the river and walked through rice paddies another mile to get to the Hmong villages. .

The next day we drove all the way back to Luang Prabang. Setting up a tour and designing an itinerary is not easy and one of the things we skipped was staying in Luang Namtha at The Boat Landing Guest House. Normally I prefer to stay in guesthouses/hotels located close in to town centers, but The Boat Landing is in a beautiful setting along the Nam Tha river and is a great taking off point for an eco-tourist trek or boat trip. It doesn’t look like it will happen in the near future, but I would like to fit it in sometime. My friend Bill Tuffin, who runs the Internet Cafe in Luang Namtha has been instrumental in making The Boat Landing Guest House one of the premier eco-tourist guest houses. You won't regret staying at The Boat Landing if you're ever in the vacinity.

After we got back to Luang Prabang the following day we visited the Luang Prabang Teacher Training College and met with the director and then had a tour led by the English Department Coordinator. Many of the TTC’s have new campuses, but they are basically a façade, with the spacious library, primarily spacious because of the lack of books and the English Learning Center devoid of relevant materials. It’s amazing the learning that does happen considering how the Lao don’t have access to modern technology and current and update print and non-print materials.

We were the first Americans to tour the college and I was impressed with the sincerity of the director and English Department Coordinator in wanting to develop some kind of partnership relationship with American educators/schools which I would like to work on in the future.

The second day in Luang Prabang it had been my plan to visit a very remote Hmong village because I have gotten to know the security chief of that village and five others and wanted our group to meet and talk with him and experience a Hmong village far off the beaten track. But, that day it was raining hard and even though I ended up renting a four wheel drive Land Cruiser we had to turn back after the road became too muddy and dangerous and I was worried we would get stuck or end up down the mountainside.. One thing I forgot to mention is that when we returned to Luang Prabang, an old friend, Jim Harris, a principal at Weston Elementary School in Wisconsin and his wife and daughter were staying at the same hotel and they wanted to go with us to this Hmong village because his wife, an art teacher at an elementary school had had her Hmong students illustrate American folk stories on large cloth sheets and they wanted to tell the stories to some Hmong children.

Jim is an amazing man, a one-of-a-kind administrator who really cares about his Southeast Asian students. I met Jim on his first trip to Laos at a 4th of July party at the U.S. Embassy and then later we met up in Luang Prabang and traveled together to a Lue village. On his first trip and again on this trip he was collecting all sorts of artifacts that he then brings back and has put on a traveling "road show" about Hmong culture that he presents to schools in his area. I knew he was unique when he gave me his business card at the U.S. Embassy and on one side it was in English and on the other side it was in Hmong. I only wish we lived closer together and could collaborate more...

With Jim, his wife and daughter, we ended up cramming ten people into the Land Cruiser! Although we didn’t make it up to Ban Heuy Ot, we stopped at another Hmong village on the way back where Jim and his wife told the story, with Xong’s help as she translated what they said in Hmong. We had a great time and I ended up meeting the aunt of one of my former students and brought back two letters to their relatives in California.

On a tour like ours group dynamics is an important factor in whether a tour is successful and it was fun to see how everyone took on different roles. Tim was the connoisseur of the group and made a plan for our group to eat at one of the classiest restaurants in Luang Prabang, the Brasserie L’Elephant. And to show you how generous he is he treated his tour leader! I have to admit, I’m more Lao-like and tend to eat simply, but it was fun to be treated to such delicious cuisine. We drank fine wine and had a gourmet meal. I had venison, which is another way of saying, I ate endangered Barking Deer. The owner wouldn’t “own up” to his venison being Barking Deer, but there aren’t any other deer in Laos! I have a great shot of a dead Barking Deer we saw along the road between Luang Prabang and Muang Sing and have juxtaposed it with the menu description of venison on the web page linked above along with my plate served with venison. Tim was truly in his element here and after dinner we enjoyed some cognac and Tim treated himself to a Cuban cigar. I have some great photos of Tim enjoying our repast on the site and I would like to publicly thank him for treating me to such a wonderful meal.

As I said each of our group had a unique personality that added to the ambience of the group. When I think of Tracey I will always think of her telling us she was “born mature.” And I believe her! She was our “Eagle Scout” and was always prepared and it was amazing what she would pull out of her backpack. She provided us with many munchies on our long journeys.

Bill was the “silent adventurer” type. A quiet guy, but always ready to go exploring. He was the only videographer on the tour, along with always taking digital photos. He was inquisitive and always had questions when we met with different officials along the way.

Anne was the senior member of the tour. Anne’s a very young 65 and I think was the inspiration of the group. A lot of times I would make a morning or afternoon excursion optional, but Anne always wanted to go. I remember our visiting a small Khmu village coming back from the Pak Ou Caves by slow boat and having to walk up a steep very muddy and slippery trail. She could have stayed in the boat but she came with us and was a true gamer.

And again, Tim. Besides being the connoisseur of the group Tim was the “hard ball” questioner. I tend to be more diplomatic in my meetings with officials, but Tim wasn’t afraid to ask “difficult” questions that would sometimes make me squirm. It turned out all right, we didn’t get arrested or kicked out of any place and I think we all learned a lot in the meantime.

I really can’t say much about the three University of Wisconsin students because they ended up traveling mostly by themselves and spending time with their relatives so our interactions were minimal.

The next day we flew to Phonsavan. Some people have reservations about flying Lao Aviation, but I’ve never had any problems and actually feel they are quite professional considering they're flying “older” planes. Because we had nine people in our group, this flight was actually set up just for us. We flew in an 18 seater Y12, which I love because although it’s extremely cramped inside, the two rear windows are huge and you can get some great views/shots. And on this flight we took off in a southerly direction and then gradually circled round to the west and north, flying parallel to Luang Prabang and then turning back east and I got some fantastic shots of Luang Prabang and the Mekong River. Although it is mostly cloudy during the rainy season, at least the atmosphere can be clear and sharp when there aren’t clouds, unlike during January through April when it’s hot, smoky and hazy and difficult to get good shots.

In Phonsavan I always stay at the Maly Guesthouse. Then again, I’ve visited Phonsavan numerous times and have gotten to know the owner, Sousath and his wife. They are very professional and understand the importance of assisting their guests and providing the best service possible. Sousath is well known in Phonsavan and can easily arrange transportation to Sam Neua and other destinations. He’s worked with a wide variety of researchers and government officials and I had arranged for him to take our group to the Plain of Jars the following day. Again we lucked out as the weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed exploring the main Plain of Jars site. After the Plain of Jars we headed towards old Xieng Khuang, which was basically bombed out of existence during the Indochina war. As we were hungry we stopped at the local “restaurant” but all they had was noodle soup made with packaged noodles. But, as we were eating the owner came over to our table and poured us some shots of lao lao. Now, lao lao is rice whiskey and is normally clear in color, but sometimes the Lao and Hmong will add bark and herbs transforming the lao lao into “medicine.” Well, this lao lao had some mushrooms in the bottom of the bottle. I enjoy lao lao on occasion, but the group had always seemed a little reluctant to sip this homemade "adult beverage.". This time, as it looked like we had to wait out a rainstorm, I downed a healthy shot and was warmed right up. The rest of the group had small shots at first, but then wanted some more. And then this older very small Lao man came over to our table and introduced himself as the “Colonel.” He had fought for the Royal Lao Army and was very friendly and sat down with our group. It wasn’t long before we had all fallen under the spell of Mushroom Lao Lao and we reluctantly left when the sun came back out to go explore some old wats and stupas. We ended up circling back through the “town” and Tim bought a bottle we took with us to Sam Neua.

That night Sousath’s wife cooked us a special Lao dinner which was delicious. As I write this sitting in my apartment in Sacramento I really really miss Laos and the tasty Lao food. Laos is given a bad rap on Lao food and there’s really quite a variety and with the fresh fruit, one can eat like a “king” for “pennies.” Lao like their food hot, and it’s better spicy, but they will make it bland for falang. Their Lao coffee is also addicting, made with condensed milk, as in most of Laos there are no dairy products.

The next day we left for Sam Neua. Sousath had arranged for a larger older van to take us as he thought all nine of us were going to go to Sam Neua and his van might have been a little small, plus there was a bad slide area where he had gotten stuck with a previous group. Our van was more like a small bus, and considering Khou, Xong and Matt were staying in Phonsavan to hang out with relatives, we each had plenty of room to stretch out. The road to Sam Neua is recently paved, but very windy. If a person gets car sick, traveling by car in Laos is not advised. I recently visited Sam Neua for the first time last Spring and knew that I definitely wanted to bring groups back. Sam Neua, the capitol of Huaphan Province is known primarily for being the gateway to Vieng Xai and the Phathet Lao caves, but the textiles in the area are amazing.

Laos is renown for its textiles and when you’re in Vientiane you can go to the Morning Market (Talat Sao) and see stall after stall with an incredible variety of textiles from all over Laos. If you’re the typical tourist and only going to Vientiane or Luang Prabang, buying textiles in the market is a great way to go. But what’s even better is traveling through the villages where the textiles are being woven and seeing the women at the looms and buying the textiles from the “producers” themselves. To me, weaving is magical and these women do not begin to get the recognition they deserve. Our group had so much fun stopping at villages, wandering around, taking photos and “talking” to the women (with the help of Tia) about their weaving.

One of the things we found out is that there are traders who regularly visit these villages buying the textiles the women have woven and sometimes we would come to a village that had been “sold out.” But that was the exception and we all purchased as many textiles as we could afford and/or carry. Also, the market in Sam Neua has textiles you don’t easily see outside Sam Neua. If you’re lucky you can locate a wife or husband or relative who have come to the market to sell textiles woven by a relative and purchase them at a cheaper price. When you’re buying textiles it’s fun and really almost required to bargain, but always remember, regardless of the price you pay, they’re a bargain and most "true works of art."

When we arrived in Sam Neua we had to locate a different guesthouse than the one I had made reservations at. I was careful to scout out all the guesthouses with Tia two months earlier and located one right next to the market I liked, but an NGO ended up extending their own reservations and we found another one a little further from the market, but which had a nice upstairs veranda with a view.

The following day we drove to Vieng Xai, which is about a 45 minute drive. Huaphan Province and Vieng Xai were the headquarters for the Phathet Lao during the Indochina War. As I’m interested in participants having more than the casual tourist experience, I think it’s important to see the caves where the Phathet Lao leaders lived and operated during the war. You have to go to an office first where you’re assigned a guide and then visit as many caves as you have time for. I recommend seeing Kaysone’s and Souphanouvong’s, then Nouhak’s if you have time. I’ve had the same guide the last two times and then again, you get the official Lao explanation of what happened here during the Indochine war which we as Americans would never hear anywhere else.

It’s a beautiful area with the limestone cliffs surrounding Vieng Xai and we lucked out with the weather again as you can see by the photos in my gallery on Sam Neua.

The next day we drove back to Phonsavan and experienced the one bit of “bad luck” on the trip. I’ve traveled throughout Laos and have been on buses and song taeows that have had flats and/or broken down for one reason or the other. Lao roads are tough on vehicles and although the roads we traveled on were mostly paved, they were at times rough and you sometimes wonder how our vans could keep going. This time about three fourths of the way back, crossing the one bad slide area our van blew it’s engine. This happened probably about 4:00 in the afternoon and we were probably about two hours away from Phonsavan. Now, on these roads there isn’t a lot of traffic and I wasn’t quite sure what we would do if the engine wasn’t fixable. The driver, as are most of the Lao who drive for a living, a mechanic and he and his nephew soon had the head off. Bill and I decided to walk down the road and explore a Hmong village we could see and Tracey, Tim and Anne decided to wait. Bill and I walked down to the village about a mile away, looking here and there and then as we were talking to some Hmong a Toyota Land Cruiser comes down the road and there in the back seat are Tracey, Tim and Anne! It ended up a German Engineer in charge of the road construction in this area was heading back to Phonsavan and Tia asked if he would take them back. We talked a bit then Bill and I looked enviously at the three of them nestled in the leather upholstery of the back seat as the Land Cruiser took off down the road, but I figured something would work out for us. Bill and I walked back up to the van only to discover that the engine blew a piston and they had to remove the piston to prevent further damage to the engine and who knew how long that would take? I know that when Tim, Tracey and Anne got back to Phonsavan Sousath would come pick us up but that would be about a four hour wait at least. It was then that an old transport/truck came down the road and stopped. Tia talked to them and although the back was packed with goods from China they were bringing back to Phonsavan to sell at the market, there were a couple of other people sitting in the back and they said we could hitch a ride. While they had a brief dinner of rice and vegetables, we loaded up the truck with all our luggage and then climbed in and headed down the road. It was actually a little fun, especially to know we weren’t stuck on the road. Bill and I took turns standing on the bumper/guard and about a hour and a half later after it got dark Sousath drove by and saw Bill standing on the guard, turned around, stopped the truck and we got in his pickup. He felt responsible for our van breaking down and his wife had a nice Lao meal waiting for us when we got back. As for Tim, Tracey and Anne, they actually had a good time driving back with the engineer and learned a lot about road construction in Laos.

The next morning we got up early, had breakfast and Lao coffee and Sousath drove us to the airport to fly back to Vientiane. This time we flew the ATR which is Lao Aviation’s biggest and “safest” plane and it was an uneventful flight back. Again I want to emphasize that I feel very confident flying Lao Aviation.

That afternoon Tracey, Tim, Bill, Anne and I went to the Morning Market because I wanted to introduce them to my favorite silver jewelry dealer.

There are numerous silver and gold jewelry shops and the gold jewelry is interesting because most of it is 24 k. Most of the Lao don’t have bank accounts and like to invest in gold jewelry which they love to wear, but then again is easily pawned when money’s tight.

The next morning we went to the National Library where the book boxes we donated money for were all completed. We had our pictures taken with each of the book boxes, along with the Deputy Director, head librarian and the children’s librarian. After the group left I went back and gave them additional money so they could transport the book boxes to Sam Neua, take them to the selected schools and provide training for the teachers. I also bought a camera and film and should be receiving the photographs of the book boxes being delivered to the schools and with the students. As soon as I do you can be sure I'll add them to this web site.

I have created several pages on this web site of photographs and more information about the book boxes and the Reading Promotion Bookmobile. I believe supporting the Reading Promotion Program by providing more book boxes and books for the Bookmobile is the most direct way we can make a positive change in Laos.

That afternoon we met Greg Chapman, the Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy for lunch and debriefed him about our trip. Greg is very friendly, extremely knowledgeable and I appreciate his taking time to meet with our group a second time.

That evening we had a final dinner at Bill’s favorite restaurant a short walk down from the hotel. This is a place I come to once in a while when I'm living in Laos for a meal of fried beef and garlic with sticky rice and a fruit shake and I guess when the group was in Vientiane Bill would come down later in the evening to drink a Beer Lao and write in his journal. Tim and Bill were rooming together and had invited us all for a last party in their room after the dinner. Tim, was our party host and had purchased some more good wine and brandy, plus we still had some mushroom lao lao left. My wife, Bai joined us for dinner and we all went up to the hotel room afterwards. We were also joined a little later by a friend of Bill’s. I have to admit I felt pretty good because of how well the tour turned out. Tia came by himself and everyone on the tour made sure he knew how appreciated he had been. Tia’s working now as a driver but I would like to work something out with Tia next summer to have him join future groups as our “informal guide.”

The next day I met the group at the hotel and although I was staying in Vientiane I traveled with them in the van to the airport. Every time I had gone to the airport it was because I was taking off, and it was a little strange to be seeing a group off. We all gathered for one last group photo and then they were off.

If you’ve made it this far, you must really be interested in learning more about Laos and I encourage you to look through the photo galleries which provide additional insights into our AdVenture Study Tour and the real Laos.

My best,

Peter