laos trip report, part ii: into the plateau…

The second day of my trip to Laos I began making my way to what is actually the least populated area of the country. I would later find out that in this area of Laos, less than 4% of locals were ethnic Laos, with over 97% belonging to various hill-tribes, who I would encounter often on my journey. I really recommend the fantastic Wikipedia article regarding this province (and focus of much of my Laos travels for this trip). It has very good information about the area, and gives great information on how the hill-tribes are perceived by other “more civilized” people.

Speaking of the area I visited, I forgot to include my customary map of where I went so you can gauge where I was in the world:

I went to the southern part of Laos. Other than Si Phan Don, this area is not very heavily trafficked, and I got a nice picture of remote life, away from tourism, in Southeast Asia. It is worth noting, however, that even though I was almost as far away from the beaten path as you can get, there was still one guesthouse in the larger towns I stopped at for the night. The area is most famous for the Bolaven plateau and its stunning waterfalls (which you will, of course, get to see through my photographs). In retrospect, I would absolutely love to spend a full thirty-days or so in Laos, going from the top of the country to the bottom. On my itinerary would be a big loop from top to bottom in Laos, hitting the Bokeo National Preserve Gibbon Experience, then Luang Prabang and the lovely waterfalls near it, then Vang Vien for tubing and caving and fun, then the Plain of Jars by Phonsovan, then farther south to spend a few days on the Bolaven Plateau, before chilling out on Si Phan Don. Sometime along the way I would hit at least 1 three-day trek with Green Discovery. I write this as much for myself as anyone else, but if you’re going to Laos, I suggest you take the time and make this full journey.

Anyway, I started my trip about the plateau by checking out one of the many waterfalls:

The natural beauty of the terrain here is really breathtaking. Mountain streams are everywhere, with clear, fresh water and large clean stones and boulders. Everything felt so brisk and clean in comparison to Bangkok, it was just very refreshing.

This is a picture of one of the many schools I saw and gives you an impression of the overall plateau view. I saw so many kids walking to school (I believe I already related my stories of their delight in seeing me!), I sometimes wondered how there could be so many happy kids running around.

I then stopped at another waterfall on a whim. It wasn’t even on my map, and turned out to be very nice. Here’s a view of the river feeding the falls. You’ll notice there is actually a lone monk wandering around in the photo. Strangely enough, I actually ran into him about an hour after I took this photo and found out he was Thai. I conversed with him with the little Thai I had and he was very pleased to speak Thai with me.

Here is the beautiful view looking down from the top of the falls. These grassy canyons and basins were just beautiful. Yes those are people!

Here’s the falls from down in the basin.

And the falls in their entirety:

Later on in the day as I wandered, I decided to take a chance and stopped at a school that was being let out. The kids were all lined up (in order of height—see photo), and going through military-like positions of attention and at-ease. I motioned to the teacher to see if I could take pictures and he smiled big and encouraged me. Here they are, in front of their flag of Laos on a bamboo pole. I should mention that oftentimes I would see the Laos flag flown hand in hand with the hammer and scythe—what a strange sight! You can see the schoolhouse in the background.

The kids sang the anthem as they lowered the flag. Adorable!

Here’s the bunch leaving school. You can see by their distance that the kids were afraid (though amused) of me at first. I motioned for them to come over so I could get a photo with them. None would get near me, until a lone boy (the bravest of the group), stood next to me for a picture. More and more kids gathered until I had a good group.

They warmed up to me:

The kids would often have me stand up straight and then mark their height next to me, amazed at my height. This was true of adults as well. In a small market I visited, I was made to stand for about 5 minutes while different townspeople compared their height with mine (I’m only 6’2”). They motioned to my skin often and pointed to my freckles and eyes. They were also incredibly kind and warm—an older lady motioned for me to come over and eat some rolls with her. I did, and they were delicious!

However, all this would pale in comparison the adventure that would soon befall me.