angusmccoll

I visit an orphanage school today.

There was a power blackout this morning and that means no water either.

After a late breakfast (and feeling hungover) I catch a tuk tuk to the orphanage school run by an enthusiastic Australian, Andrew Brown. There are nearly 700 kids here aged from about 5 years to 20 years of age. They come from desperate lives in poor local villages where one or both parents have died. The children board here in mass dormitories and are educated in onsite schools. The facilities are located on a nice block of land on the edge of Luang Prabang. And important part of their rehabilitation is getting them on to a healthy diet. Malnourishment is a huge part of their lives and the children are very small for their age. Andrew has a great repore with the children and some of the newer young ones follow him around. The government helps with the funding of the orphanage but Andrew also relies on donations of money and clothing. Another important aspect of the orphanage is taking the kids right through secondary schooling so university study can be an option for them. There is plenty of work in the cities for them when they graduate. To help fund them through to graduation, Andrew asks for sponsors to sponsor a child.

The dentist is visiting today. Andrew has the youngest children lined up for a checkup. To keep them relaxed he has face painting happening. The dentist has come from Singapore.

They have a website:
http://www.deakkumpaorphanage.com

I’m drunk on Beerlao right now!

First thing I take a bag full of children’s clothes I have been carrying since Australia to the Lotus Villa Hotel for donation to an orphanage close to Luang Prabang. I spoke to Andrew Brown, manager of the orphanage, and hope to visit there tomorrow.

A tributary of the Mekong rivers comes down the mountains and tumbles into the mighty river not far from Luang Prabang. It’s a beautiful spot and popular with the tourists and locals. It requires a bit of a road trip then a short down river journey on a motorised long boat. The water is crystal clear and cold. There is plenty here to keep visitors happy, including elephant rides into the water. Were lunching ant at the table next to us is a very loud group of Russians. They have a local guide showing them around. He can speak a little English as well as Russian, Chinese and of course Lao. He is Yao culture. Like the Hmong, Yao are hills people too and they’re cultural region spans several countries including Mongolia, northern Vietnam and the mountains of Lao. He acquired his Russian speaking skills from an education in Russia, courtesy of the Laos government. Laos and Russia are closely tied and until recently, the Laos flag carried the hammer and sickle. It doesn’t any more but the Lao flag is often displayed with the Russian flag side-by-side.

It’s an enjoyable day and my guide is Sithtidate. He works at at at a popular tourist swimming pool bar. It’s his day off and he shows me around. He is from Veng Vieng. He is moving from his crowded company provided accommodation to something more private and I help him. He is moving to a very simple place, which consists of a 3-meter by 3-meter ply board room with shared toilet and bathroom. This is very basic but such is life in Laos. He has nice friends though, in the same complex. They can speak some English and I feel welcome. We drink and eat to celebrate the move. I appreciate my own life even more. These people are content with the absolute basics. Alcohol helps. I enjoy the genuine experience and insight into Laos life.

Last night I sprung a young student monk smoking behind a stupa! I saw another littering! Hmmm…

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.

My blogs have been uploading to another web address.

http://angusmccollworld.wordpress.com

Please visit there for my account of the last week.

Saw a naked man walking down the street today! This city has everything.

Nobody seemed to care about the naked man. Traffic moved around him like they do for any other pedestrian. As curious a sight this might be, I suspect there must be a sadder side to his story. He seemed physically healthy. Perhaps he was doing it for a dare but I doubt it.

Binhtay Markets has to be seen to be believed. As I understand it, the Chinese built this place during their occupation of Vietnam. It’s a maze of everything from foods to clothing to household necessities. Without Chi I would have easily been forever lost to the endless narrow alleyways. Very little to no English is spoken in this part of town.

It’s hot and muggy in Ho Chi Minh City, much like a cairns summer. The wet season is coming to a close but there were thunder storms in the distance last night and tonight there is a downpour in my part of town. The bikes don’t stop though. Stupidly i get caught out and end up soaked. Risking a flu now is not smart. And I must remember to take my anti-malaria tablets.

I stop by a local cafe for a beer and a spot of blogging. The manager and owner of the cafe invite me to join them for a drink. The manager can speak good English so as well as enjoying the conversation I take the opportunity to measure their view of things in Ho Chi Minh City. They are positive and think the government is doing a good job but are careful to clarify ‘this is my view’. They come from Hue so are products of the winning side of the war. They are doing well out of Vietnam’s move towards capitalism and happy with that. “We have to embrace capitalism”.

Dinner tonight is Hungry Jacks! Hey don’t judge me too harshly! I think it’s important to include all aspects of life here in my observations…and they offer free wifi. Western music is blaring and amazingly, the burgers and fries look and taste just like they do back home! I’m impressed…sadly!

I’m back in Ho Chi Minh City and I love it!

I arrived from Hong Kong just now, 7pm local time, after breezing through the airport system. The first thing to hit is the muggy heat. The next thing to hit is the excitement and vibrancy of this great city that just lifts my spirits like Hong Kong couldn’t. I’m much more turned on by the functioning chaos of this city than the modern order and predictability of the mighty Hong Kong. I find a little garden bar and a tiger beer is already half drunk. Blogging on the iPhone is a bit rusty! A mother walks past with child in arms and she tries to get her young daughter to wave to me but she is more interested in some fish swimming around in a pond at my feet. So she should be. I’m next to some tennis courts in full swing. It has rained here and it feels like it could rain some more.

The day was fairly straight forward and lazy. I did little with my last moments in Hong Kong. I had hoped to explore more if Lantau because there is more to it than the maze of high-rise residential towers crammed within inches of each other. This is high density living at its most sophisticated. But there are plenty of hills separating these residential clusters and being a lover of hills I could have had some fun but I was stripped of any energy from my walk around Hong Kong city yesterday. I must learn to pace myself!

I’m staying in a non-touristy part of Ho Chi Minh city so I stand out a bit from the regular crowd. Even the taxi driver had trouble finding my hotel. I stayed at Hotel Linh Dan at the end of my last visit to this city about one year ago. Some of the surrounds are familiar. I should have packed my tennis racquet!

I’m in Hong Kong. I’m not here for any real purpose other than this is how I get to Vietnam when flying with Cathay Pacific. I could have taken a direct transfer on to Ho Chi Minh City but decide to spend two nights here to have a quick look at this curious place.

After 7 hours of flying and one crazy bus ride I arrive at my hotel around. 6.30pm. Hong Kong seems to consist of many islands of all sizes and levels of habitation. I’m on Lantau Island where the airport is.

Golfing buggies are a serious form of transport on Lantau Island.

I decide to hotel on Lantau Island because it’s easy to access from the airport. Lantau seems to consist entirely of residential accommodations and schools. The hills are solid with high-rise residential apartments. Perhaps this is where the workers live, commuting to Hong Kong island via ferry. The ferry takes 25 minutes to make the passage and it takes me about the same time to walk from my hotel to the ferry terminal. I don’t see any shops or quaint eateries serving bacon and eggs and coffee on the way. Everyone is running here! The kids are doing there before-school exercise and others are doing the same. Dogs are very popular and they come in all shapes and sizes. Curiously I see very few Asians. They’re mainly Caucasian. Traffic is very ordered and golf buggies are a serious form of transport where they share the roads with busses and cars.

I spend the day walking the streets of Hong Kong city in a state of semi directionless. I didn’t come prepared for here at all, with little research (well…no research). Up front it is a modern bustling ordered city where business suits are the norm. But a bumbling walk around the back streets reveal a charming side to the place where narrow hilly streets are solid with quaint authentic Asian eateries and shops. But this authenticity is compromised sadly by the attention given to Halloween. Ghoulish decorations fill the streets and businesses.

The day is long. I’m catching the ferry back to Lantau after dark and the sky scraping city towers light up in mesmerising displays. One such structure has all of its sides lit up in an animated display that has me scratching my head. How do they do that? There is money in this town. Porsches and Mercedes vie for space on the narrow back streets with double-decked busses and trams and service vehicles.