laos trip report, part i: halloween, 2007

I had the opportunity to have a rather reflective Halloween this weekend, as I planned to be stuck on a train to Ubon Ratchatani, from where I would head to Laos. My plans were quickly changed right off the bat as I went to the train station and was told that no trains were running. I was naturally suspicious and so checked in about nine different places and all sources confirmed the unfortunate news. Some said accident, some said strike, but the point was, I couldn’t go via train. So, I hoofed it to the bus station where I got an overnight bus. The bus ride was pretty excruciating, but the lady next to me was nice, and spoke a small bit of English. I asked her if she knew about Halloween; she said yes. Short conversation, but I guess I was happy that he at least knew about it.

The one highlight of the trip was a very strange occurrence in the middle of the night. I woke up at about 3 a.m. and noticed that the half-moon and stars were very bright. This was particularly striking to me because I was so used to the sickly stars of Bangkok, who struggle to penetrate the thick blanket of smog that smothers the city. The strange occurrence, however, was not just this ability to see the stars, but rather, the fact that no sooner had I looked up as far as I could from my bus window, I saw a bright shooting star! Amazed, I stared for a few more seconds then turned back to the bus, mouth slightly agape. If there were a bystander who was to write a screenplay based on my life at this moment, it would have been entirely cliché. It seemed to me that I had looked out the window far too short a period of time to be lucky enough to see a shooting star, and to a movie audience it would have seemed entirely cliché. Perhaps it would go something like this:

Scene 97:

[The scene fades from black to open in the back of a bus facing forward. Many black-haired heads gently sway slightly above their seats as the bus rocks. A solitary dirty-blonde head rises over the rest, and turns to look out the window.]

[The reflective individual slowly brings his eyes to the sky.]

[A bright shooting star streaks across the sky.]

[The shooting star is shown again, this time with the camera on the boy’s face—the reflection of the star is captured and reflected in the boy’s blue-green eyes.]

[Mouth slightly agape, and seeming a little more satisfied, he turns in wonderment back to face the seat ahead of him.]

Nobody would even believe that movie! Its crazy to think that it actually happened! Not entirely sure why I wasted so much time with this story, but I just thought it was funny. Moving on!

After crossing the border the next morning I began to see how different Laos was from Thailand. I rented a scooter and started off to the south. I was going to try to spend just a little time at Si Phan Don (4,000 Islands) before heading off to the Bolaven Plateau. I headed south from Paxse by scooter and encountered rain, which hindered my progress slightly. However, I was also welcomed by extremely warm and friendly smiles and waves from EVERYONE I encountered on the road. Many school children were walking home, and they were all ecstatic to see me. Everyone waved, some blew kisses, and all gestures were accompanied by cries of “Sabaidee!” or “Hello!” I couldn’t believe how nice everyone was. When the rain started, I pulled over to put on my poncho, and a Laos man bid me to come into his house and take shelter from the rain until it blew over. I thanked him very much for his generosity but decided to brave the rain anyway. I made it to the large island a little before sunset and decided to stay there. A nice Lao man ferried my scooter over for 20,000 kip ($2), and I quickly found a great guesthouse for 40,000 kip ($4). The river was very beautiful and reminded me of the Mississippi a little. On the island I made some friends from America; one of the girls’ job was to translate comic books from Korean to English. There was a terrible storm that night, with intermittent power shortages, but it was a really nice relaxing night for me. The storm reminded me of home, along with my musings on Halloween the night before.

I had a fantastic nights sleep in my nice but… quirky guestroom. The video will explain:

In the morning I rode around the island before heading back across the river to go up to the Plateau. Again, many kids walking to school, all nice. Lots of rice, and cows, and cow-like animals, and chickens, and ducks, and goats. I would get very used to these things before the end of my trip.

I wish I would have had more time at Si Phan Don, I saw nothing of what it has to offer. I think if I go back I would like to spend 3 days there before moving onto Bolaven. Nevertheless, I knew adventure awaited me on the Plateau… and I was entirely correct…