Laos 2009

March 21, 2009 Vongsamay stood in the vast expanse of his western-style log and plank lodge, proudly explaining to us how it had all been built. “The materials are all local. I made the wall and the tables and benches from slabs (the outside cuts of wood from trees, one side of which are rounded). People here just leave them in the woods; they don't used them. But I thought 'I can use them.'” And he has, with visually stunning effects.  Everything is made of wood; the tables and benches highly polished. The shake roof soars above the restaurant area, and the sides are open to the view: the Namhai River in the foreground, and the two landmark mountains in the background: Phoumon and Phousakheuk. Phoumon is particularly remarkable, shaped like a breast with a nipple, from which it gets its name. Vongsamay showed us the big, bright, well-organized kitchen and the meeting room, complete with projection screen for presentations. We walked over to a part of the restaurant where w...

March 21, 2009 Our trusty Lonely Planet guidebook was rather vague about how to get to Konglor Cave in southern Laos. The four of us had gotten as far as Tha Khaek, the nearest large city, where we hoped to get more information.  The receptionist at our guest house in Tha Khaek was very helpful: she told us we could hire a minibus to take us to the cave, and bring us back, all in one day, for a mere US$400. “Just $100 each she beamed. Or only $50 each if there are eight of you.” We looked around, but there were no prospects in sight. And even $50 a piece was too pricey for us, so we demurred, stating that anyway we wanted to spend a few days near the cave. “Oh well, then you can take a bus to Na Hin. Na Hin is just 40 km from the cave. You can hire a sawngthaew from there. The bus to Na Hin leaves from the station down the road – at 7:30 in the morning. You should be there by 7.” So early the next morning, down the road we went. When we got to the station, it was a sea of sawngthae...

March 21, 2009 We were waiting there at the bus stop, looking up the road and hoping we'd see not a small overcrowded and uncomfortable local bus but a larger relatively more luxurious long-distance one – one with guaranteed seats and air-conditioning that worked... . We were going from the little town of Tadlo in southern Laos right through Pakse, just a couple of hours away, and on up to Savannakhet – about a third of the way to Vientiane, and an additional two or three hours from Pakse. So when the big bus rolled around the corner, we were chuffed. We had a good chance of getting to Savannakhet – today. As it came closer we could see that the roof of the bus was already fairly heavily loaded. There was a motorcycle, standing upright, up front, and a big blue tarp covering a mini-mountain of goods right behind it. All that was pretty commonplace. The odd thing was at the back: two goats, also standing upright, with nothing more than ropes around their necks. Other large animals w...