Mon, Nov 17 – Sat, Nov 22
Pleased to find Vientiane a more warm and welcoming place
than when we were here last, 10 years ago, with a long pedestrian walkway and
park along the riverfront and many appealing cafes and restaurants. (This blog is mostly Jenny’s
exploration while Mark was busy reading and preparing for interviews.)
Visited the Morning Market, which is mostly an indoor mall
with a small outdoor market where I was appalled to see rhinoceros horns (adult
& baby) for sale alongside traditional medicine herbs and various bark and
dried plants. Where are they
sourcing them and who is buying them?!? Makes me angry enough to start throwing
things so I joined ‘Sabai Disc’ for an Ultimate Frisbee pick-up game – always a
good time.
Next, I went to the ‘COPE Visitors Centre’, alongside a
Rehabilitation Centre for ambulatory needs and prosthetic limbs, that has a
very well put together exhibit of how Laos people have suffered due to UXO from
the US Secret War. “From 1964-73,
the US dropped more than 2 million tons of ordnance on Laos during 580,000
bombing missions – equal to a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24 hrs/day,
for 9 years – making Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in
history. The bombings against the Pathet Lao and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
destroyed many villages and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lao civilians.
Up to a third of the bombs dropped didn’t explode, leaving Laos contaminated
with vast quantities of unexploded ordnance (UXO). Over 20,000 people have been
killed or injured by UXO in Laos since the bombing ceased in 1975. Each year
there continue to be over 100 new casualties in Laos. Close to 60% of the
accidents result in death, and 40% of the victims are children. The U.S. spent
as much in three days bombing Laos ($51M, in 2010 dollars) than it spent for
clean up over 16 years ($51M).”
Wow, appalling statistics of suffering that need to be
talked about.
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| Metal sculpture of family running from bombs |
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| Prosthetic legs |
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| Legs falling like bombs |
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| Danger UXO! |
Went to Phou Khao Khouay National Park for 2 days of
trekking and a homestay in Ban Na village where they specialize in bamboo
basket weaving. Amazing the work
that goes into every step of these intricate baskets that they sell for
$1.25. Trekked with a guide for 2
days in the park seeing many iridescent scarab beetles and butterflies.
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| Bamboo sticky rice baskets |
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| Lao woman weaving baskets |
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| weaving a bamboo basket |
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| Iridescent scarab beetle |
Went out to Houey Hong
Vocational Centre for Women for 2 days of learning traditional weaving and
dying. They use only natural materials for dying such as indigo, jackfruit
& mahogany bark, Thai ebony, onion skin and stick lac resin (left from
insects). I tie-dyed a silk scarf
using indigo and wove 2 silk scarves.
Many women were there – some with small children – in a warm, friendly
environment. At lunch one day one
of the guys was roasting a rat over the fire – presumably to eat.
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| Indigo dyed silk thread hanging to dry |
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| Marigolds, seeds and bark used for dying |
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| Silk scarf that I tie-dyed and indigo thread |
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| Silk scarf that I wove on the loom |
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| Rat roasted over open fire |
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| Spellcheck |
