It’s 7am and the village of Vang Vieng is stirring. Not the hungover backpackers but the locals. School children have finished their breakfast and on their bikes to classes. The rubbish truck is doing its rounds and the dogs are checking out the streets. All this is happening around me as a do a bit of sight seeing.
I wander into a Buddhist temple and the local monks are talking alms (locals bring them food). Young Buddhist monks do some time at the monastery as part of their religious education. Their families earn spiritual brownie points for having their sons do time here. It is stunning here and the first light of the day just amplifies the experience.
I leave for Luang Prabang today by bus. It’s a comfortable minibus and departs around 9am. Luang Prabang is not that far as the crow flues but the journey will take 5 hours, slowed by the mountainous route heavy with trucks and other buses. It’s bitumen all the way and reasonably comfortable, although one of the passengers suffers from road sickness.
We climb further into spectacular mountainous scenery. All the way we pass through small rural villages every few minutes. I guess these communities hug the road to have easy access to everything that it can offer them. The houses vary from sophisticated brick and block homes to timber and simple thatched constructions. What ever the make, most have satellite dishes and breathtaking mountainous views that we would pay a fortune for. These are Hmong peoples. As I understand it, they are a cultural group who don’t sit neatly within political boundaries. They span Laos, Vietnam and China. Unfortunately for them, they sided with the Americans during the Vietnam War and have suffered the consequences of being on the losing side. Many escaped after the War for America and Australia, and those who stayed were persecuted by the communist government. I had a very good friend in Australia who was one of these refugees. Phassay put himself through university in Sydney and made a successful, productive career as a mining engineer. I tried to convince him to introduce me to his home country but he was not interested, such is the scarring of his early life. Even today I believe the Hmong are prejudiced against. My friends in Vientaine explained there are still animosities between the Hmong and other Lao peoples.
I arrive in Luang Prabang around 2.30pm without any accommodation pre organised. After getting that sorted, there is time for a wander around the streets. I’m here to drop off some clothes I have gathered back in Australia, to donate to an orphanage here. An Australian couple manage or own a hotel here and they also run several orphanages. I’ve been carrying clothes and toys from friends and neighbours with me since leaving home to give to them. I find the hotel and will revisit tomorrow with my donation.
angusmccoll 