So, we're home for a short break before we head to the Arctic on March 9. Although, in a way, our travel still continues. We're only going to be in our house for a couple of nights during the "break". We are still visiting exotic locales - suburban Toronto and Ohio! We spent a few days with Ashifa's family in Markham and today we're headed south of the border to the "old country" for a week's visit with my family (and belated Christmas). Then we're back in Toronto just long enough to pack our parkas before heading off to Kugluktuk, Nunavut! By request (or at least one person's request!), we'll be blogging through the month in Nunavut, so keep checking in.
We're also working on winnowing down the 2,200 pictures we took on the trip and I hope to post a big pile of them to the net in the next couple days, for those who are interested in seeing more.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Happy New Year in Vietnam
Hello from Toronto! As Jen mentioned, we safely made it home a couple days ago, and have been slowly reacquainting ourselves with our lives, our home, and our dog! So far it still feels a bit surreal, but it's definitely nice to be back home. As Jen put it this morning: "It's nice to have a house to clean". The things you never thought you'd miss, eh?
One offering seen at a temple. I think those are sweets in the boxes. Given, um... recent history.... obvious irony that US money represents prosperity.
... and lots of pictures of the American pilots making Christmas ornaments, playing basketball, and receiving high quality health care (that's John McCain on the left):
A huge cave we stopped at on the boat trip:
Ashifa made a comment in India: "India doesn't need HOV lanes. Every vehicle is a high occupancy vehicle." Same goes for most places we visited in Asia (Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the most "modern" being the exceptions - full of cars). They also don't need SUVs; in the absence of Costco, a motorcycle can be your family vehicle! Ashifa's best sighting - dad, mom riding sidesaddle, and two kids - the youngest being breastfed by mom as they zoomed through the city. (My best sighting was a bike with a dead hog strapped to the back, feet up.)
And, if traffic is bad, you can always ride your motorbike on the sidewalk:
Anyways, just a final post on the last leg of our trip which was Vietnam...a country which many travellers we met elsewhere told us they disliked; a country which our travel books said was dirty, noisy, and full of people trying to scam you; a country we almost didn't go to because we (read: I) was so scared by everything we'd heard about it. Well, I'm happy to report that it did not live up to its bad reputation! On the contrary, it was one of the highlights of our trip!
We arrived in Hanoi on the eve of the lunar New Year (called Tet in Vietnamese). The mood was festive, the city was up in lights, and people were out to celebrate! In Hanoi we had the good fortune to be able to visit a Confuscious Temple on the day of Tet (new years day). This is a day when families dress in their best and go to temples to pray for good luck and fortune for the coming year. It is believed that the first day of the new year sets the tone for the rest of the year - so if on Tet you do good things and go to the temple and pray, etc. it certainly bodes well for you for the next 365 days!
Some pics of the festivities:
One offering seen at a temple. I think those are sweets in the boxes. Given, um... recent history.... obvious irony that US money represents prosperity. People also have altars to their ancestors in their homes and shops. I walked around a bit on "Tet Eve" and, as it approached midnight, I saw a lot of people putting new things (offerings?) on the altars, making sure everything looked just right. Some were simple with just fruit, others were more elaborate - I saw candy, cookies, cheese, beer, whiskey, cigarettes, wrapped Tet gifts, and a whole cooked chicken on various altars.
The next day. The party's over....
Over the next few days as we explored Hanoi, we were surprised to find our preconceived stereotypes melting away - our experience was really nothing like what people had told us. We found people to be very friendly, and quite helpful. The streets were a bit dirty, but compared to India it was actually quite clean. And overall we felt quite safe and relatively comfortable throughout our stay in Vietnam.
Tet was a good time to be in Vietnam, as we got to experience some of this festive spirit, but it was also a bad time, because many things close for around 10 days following Tet. So, many trains weren't running, alot of museums were closed, and buses were fully booked b/c many Vietnamese families use this time to visit family or to take a family vacation to the beach or to the mountains.
We did however get to visit the Prison Museum in Hanoi, which was quite interesting. This is the prison where Vietnamese freedom-fighters were imprisoned by the French during the independence struggle. It was also the prison where many US pilots were held as POWs during the American/Vietnamese war (the sarcastically named "Hanoi Hilton"). And just like most governments, the Vietnamese government chose to magnify the injustices brought upon them by the French, and minimize the injustices they themselves brought upon the American POWs. I guess politics is politics, and propaganda is propaganda - the world over!
For example, there were lots of pictures of Vietnamese prisoners tortured by the French.....
After Hanoi, we visited Halong Bay - a bay in northern Vietnam with rather unusual and unique rock formations jutting out of the water and into the sky. Many of these cliffs have caves - some quite extensive and spectacular. We took an overnight boat trip through the bay and did a bit of kayaking the following morning. Unfortunately the weather was fairly terrible - you may have heard of the crazy snow storms China was having around this time - and Halong Bay is very close to the Chinese border and so we got some chilly and rainy weather as a result of this weather system.
A huge cave we stopped at on the boat trip:Given the cold weather, we decided to make a beeline for south Vietnam to the sandy shores of Nha Trang (pronounced Na Cha). It wasn't quite beach-going weather here either, but at least we didn't have to wear our coats! And we managed to get a few scuba-dives in, which was nice!
From here we went to Saigon (now officially known as Ho Chi Minh City post-reunification). Saigon is a name well-known to most North Americans, as it formed the headquarters for the US war. It is a very lively city, somewhat resembling Indian cities in the ways of the bustling informal economy, the number of street food vendors, the sounds and smells one encounters walking down the road, and the wide array of modes of transportation one sees on the roads.
I visited the Cu Chi tunnels on a daytrip from Saigon (Jenny didn't make it because her tummy was needing to stay close to a toilet that day! Thanks, sweetie.). During the French and US wars, the Viet Cong constructed a series of secret tunnels about 2 hours from Saigon in a place called Cu Chi. These tunnels were an incredible feat of engineering - they were three stories deep with parallel tunnel lines running at various depths. The total network spanned over 200 kms! The tunnels were so small that the Viet Cong soldiers needed to frog-walk through them - sometimes for 5 km at a time! They built various ventilation pipes out of bamboo to ventilate the deeper tunnels. And at various points there were underground bunkers - some used for living, some for military planning, and some even used as underground hospitals!
We got the chance to crawl through one of these tunnels to see what it felt like. These particular tunnels have been widened slightly to be able to fit the "western-sized bodies" of tourists , and yet it was so claustrophobic that i took the first exit available out (only 15 metres past the entrance)! A few others continued on for the full 120 metres, but came out looking quite harrowed and sweaty. I cannot imagine the will and conviction one must have to have for their political cause in order to live with those conditions for years on end, and to travel those tunnels carrying weaponry and other supplies on a daily basis! The human spirit is truly an incredible thing - and one realizes how much we are actually capable of if we were to just put our minds and convictions to it. It is just unfortunate that the sorts of things that historically have motivated humans find this sort of conviction have tended to be fueled by hatred, war, power, and greed. 
A few more scenes from Vietnam.....
A woman selling food at the Tan An bus station:
A market in Saigon- friendly for pedestrians, and a drive-through for those on motorbikes!
In the category of other things you wouldn't see in North America... a stray kitten who visited me in a restaurant in Nha Trang. There were also a few cute puppies running around.
Almost everywhere we went on our trip - Italy, India, Laos, and Vietnam - was a motorbike culture. From Vespas to serious motorcycles, they were everywhere. But Vietnam wins for most motorbikes. Here we are in a taxi, caught in a rush hour motorbike scrum at a roundabout:
Ashifa made a comment in India: "India doesn't need HOV lanes. Every vehicle is a high occupancy vehicle." Same goes for most places we visited in Asia (Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the most "modern" being the exceptions - full of cars). They also don't need SUVs; in the absence of Costco, a motorcycle can be your family vehicle! Ashifa's best sighting - dad, mom riding sidesaddle, and two kids - the youngest being breastfed by mom as they zoomed through the city. (My best sighting was a bike with a dead hog strapped to the back, feet up.) And, if traffic is bad, you can always ride your motorbike on the sidewalk: One of the nicer legacies of the French colonialists in both Laos and Vietnam is the baked goods! Indians do not really do baked goods, and when they do them they don't really do them well, so it was nice to find delicious baguettes, croissants, and cake in Southeast Asia. 
And, finally from Vietnam, a toast to my dad (who had a small involuntary "vacation" in Vietnam about 40 years ago) - with the beer he remembers from his visit:
After a few days in Saigon, we made our slow wind back towards India with the intention of flying back to Toronto (via Milan) on our scheduled flight for Feb. 20th. As Jen has mentioned however, our airline (Alitalia) decided to change our flight schedule which meant we wouldn't make our connection from Milan to Toronto. MANY others were in the same boat as us no doubt, as the Delhi to Toronto (via Milan) route is a popular one, given it's the cheapest option out there. We tried to contact Alitalia to figure out what to do (we wrongly assumed they'd have a plan, since probably at least 100 others were in the same situation).
Unfortunately Alitalia went out of their way to make themselves as inaccessible as they possibly could. In the end, we had a list of about 6 different contact numbers for them - none of which actually put us touch with a real human who could help us. Each person basically told us to call another number - which usually ended up either being busy, or we ended up on hold for 20 minutes while we footed the long-distance bill. When we did get a hold of a person we got offered "solutions" such as: 1) the next possible flight we can get you on is March 3rd (2 weeks later!), 2) go to the airport in Delhi at 11pm and wait there at the office all night in hopes of getting on a different flight sometime the next day, or 3) we'll sort it out and call you right back..."i promise" (needless to say our phone never rang!).
Finally, being frustrated with the Delhi office, and being unable to easily reach the New York or Milan offices from India, we called my mom to enlist her help. Like most moms, my mom is generally very sweet, unless someone is messing with her daughter...then...watch out! Not surprisingly, she managed to sort it all out, and got us switched over to Air France and we ended up coming home on time, in a MUCH more comfortable fashion than Alitalia could ever have offered!
Our suggestion: DON'T FLY ALITALIA. We now understand why there is a website called http://www.alitaliasucks.com/ - if you ever feel compelled to take this airline because of their cheap fares, I would suggest that you check out this and other similar websites first!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
HOME!
We're home! No thanks to a certain airline that will remain named Alitalia, we made it home comfortably today (on Air France). I'm sure Ashifa will fill you in on that subject later. We'll post tomorrow or the next day with some pics and details about our nice week in Vietnam, including a cruise of Halong Bay and some scuba diving. Tonight we're enjoying the familiarity of North America and catching up on sleep!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Same Country, New Perspectives...
Hello! We're back in India...poor Jen is sick again...i think she ate some poorly cooked meat in Saigon...she just can't seem to get any breaks on this trip!
Nonetheless, it is nice to be back in India. This trip has given me alot of perspectives about life and the world...it has been quite a useful trip in terms of thinking about things...on previous trips to India, I used to think that despite it's lack of public infrastructure and it's masses of poverty, India was doing quite well for a nation only 50 years post-independence from colonialist rule. I used to think that India's problems stemmed from centuries of oppression and colonialism and that they were rapidly pulling themselves up from this history and surging forward at quite an impessive rate. In fact, on the surface with it's 6% inflation rate, booming businesses, and skyrocketting investment attraction it does appear to be a development success story. But in fact, now that we have gone to other countries in the same boat like Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, (all also only independant for 50 years), it has started to change my mind...those countries appear internally to be doing MUCH better...much more internally developed...and much more EQUALLY developed (very very few beggars compared with India), better roads, better traffic flow, much much cleaner (even Vietnam, which i found surprising), and many more women visibly engaged in the workforce. While their investment potential, and economic influence internationally is nothing compared with India, their population seems (on the surface anyhow) to enjoy a much higher general quality of life. I am coming to the conclusion that India's poor internal state has little to do with it's recent break from colonialism, and more to do with a high population combined with very little political will to change anything. Any development that has occured in India has happened via the private sector...there has been very little government regulation or involvement in infrastructural change. Therefore, those initiatives that have capital interest have grown, and those which are essential for life but can't make a profit (i.e. water, sanitation, education, road condition, etc) have been very very slow to develop. For example, India has a Space Program (with satellites, rockets, and all!), but you still can't drink the water from the taps! Taking this, and combining it with a longstanding belief in the caste system leads to the upper castes surging forward into the modern world, and the lower castes struggling to cope and living in conditions similar to how they lived 100 years ago (or perhaps even worse now b/c of the urbanization). Unfortunately from what I see, this leaves a large, poor, under-educated, under-nourished population to do manual labour - much of which is quite inhumane (i.e. hauling piles of bricks on one's head, or lugging heavy loads on a cart with a strap on your waist), and a small upper class to enjoy the economic boom India is currently experiencing. And the caste system conveniently provides a guilt-free justification for the rich, and a sense of complacency for the poor (it is their "karma" to suffer this life, and future lives will be better). It also discourages mechanisation of development, because one could posit that mechanisation would render millions jobless (as there would be less manual labour to be done). However, if the government really took control and made public education free, readily available, and of high quality; if the government made good roads to rural areas; if the government provided some kind of disaster (flood, draught, etc.) protection for farmers so they wouldn't need to sell their farms and move to the city to become squatters and labourers - then India could use this now educated and mobile population to do higher kinds of work...work that the country needs...and mechanisation could take over much of the menial work which is currently needlessly occupying the time and energy of millions of people. The problem i think is that this country needs to build an infrastructure that can support 1 billion people, but more than half of the population cannot be engaged in this process because of lack of education, and lack of necessities of life (food, housing, clean water, sewage)...therefore the large population becomes a burden, rather than an asset.
Nonetheless, it is nice to be back in India. This trip has given me alot of perspectives about life and the world...it has been quite a useful trip in terms of thinking about things...on previous trips to India, I used to think that despite it's lack of public infrastructure and it's masses of poverty, India was doing quite well for a nation only 50 years post-independence from colonialist rule. I used to think that India's problems stemmed from centuries of oppression and colonialism and that they were rapidly pulling themselves up from this history and surging forward at quite an impessive rate. In fact, on the surface with it's 6% inflation rate, booming businesses, and skyrocketting investment attraction it does appear to be a development success story. But in fact, now that we have gone to other countries in the same boat like Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, (all also only independant for 50 years), it has started to change my mind...those countries appear internally to be doing MUCH better...much more internally developed...and much more EQUALLY developed (very very few beggars compared with India), better roads, better traffic flow, much much cleaner (even Vietnam, which i found surprising), and many more women visibly engaged in the workforce. While their investment potential, and economic influence internationally is nothing compared with India, their population seems (on the surface anyhow) to enjoy a much higher general quality of life. I am coming to the conclusion that India's poor internal state has little to do with it's recent break from colonialism, and more to do with a high population combined with very little political will to change anything. Any development that has occured in India has happened via the private sector...there has been very little government regulation or involvement in infrastructural change. Therefore, those initiatives that have capital interest have grown, and those which are essential for life but can't make a profit (i.e. water, sanitation, education, road condition, etc) have been very very slow to develop. For example, India has a Space Program (with satellites, rockets, and all!), but you still can't drink the water from the taps! Taking this, and combining it with a longstanding belief in the caste system leads to the upper castes surging forward into the modern world, and the lower castes struggling to cope and living in conditions similar to how they lived 100 years ago (or perhaps even worse now b/c of the urbanization). Unfortunately from what I see, this leaves a large, poor, under-educated, under-nourished population to do manual labour - much of which is quite inhumane (i.e. hauling piles of bricks on one's head, or lugging heavy loads on a cart with a strap on your waist), and a small upper class to enjoy the economic boom India is currently experiencing. And the caste system conveniently provides a guilt-free justification for the rich, and a sense of complacency for the poor (it is their "karma" to suffer this life, and future lives will be better). It also discourages mechanisation of development, because one could posit that mechanisation would render millions jobless (as there would be less manual labour to be done). However, if the government really took control and made public education free, readily available, and of high quality; if the government made good roads to rural areas; if the government provided some kind of disaster (flood, draught, etc.) protection for farmers so they wouldn't need to sell their farms and move to the city to become squatters and labourers - then India could use this now educated and mobile population to do higher kinds of work...work that the country needs...and mechanisation could take over much of the menial work which is currently needlessly occupying the time and energy of millions of people. The problem i think is that this country needs to build an infrastructure that can support 1 billion people, but more than half of the population cannot be engaged in this process because of lack of education, and lack of necessities of life (food, housing, clean water, sewage)...therefore the large population becomes a burden, rather than an asset.
In contrast, if one looks at countries like Singapore for example...they have no natural resources at all and they have a relatively tiny population...but have managed to become one of the wealthiest and developed countries in the region. They are also a mere 50-years post-independence, however their public infrastructure puts even Canada to shame! How did they do it? They did it through immense political will...mind you it has been heavy-handed and often unjust at times...however, they have succeeded in producing a highly educated society, whose talents can go towards work which is worthy of the human spirit, rather than destroying their bodies doing slave-type labour for meagre pay. Singapore is an extreme example, but I use it simply to illustrate the contrast that exists between nations who allow the private sector to drive development and those nations who decide that the public good must be prioritized in development.
If you have read-on to this point, hopefully that means that my pontification above did not bore you to tears! On a lighter note, we have 2 days in Delhi now before we head back home. Unfortunately we recently got notification from our airline that our flight time leaving Delhi has changed, and as such we will miss our connection from Milan to Toronto. :-( As of right now, despite having made numerous phone calls to the airline, we have still not been informed of any resolution to this problem...so it's possibly we'll be coming home a day or two late. But we'll hopefully find out soon!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
From the Falang Cage
Hi everyone! Our trip is starting to wind down. We're still in Vietnam a few more days, then we start winding our way back to Delhi to fly home. Because we spent a little longer in India and Singapore than we expected, we've only been able to skim Laos and Vietnam. We've pretty much stuck to the well-beaten tourist trails, but both countries have been very good to us. I would definitely visit both again and get to some more out-of-the-way areas.
Laos was a big favorite of ours. The country has only been open to foreigners for a decade or so, so it's sort of in the Early Tourism Era. It seems to be a "next big thing" in backpacker/travel buzz - a less spoiled, more undiscovered alternative to Thailand or Vietnam. However, the two towns we visited - Vientiane and Luang Prabang - are already full of white folks. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to travel anywhere else. My suggestion would be to go soon if you're interested in traveling in Laos. And that is something we highly recommend - the country is beautiful and the people are very friendly.
We spent three days in the capital, Vientiane. after flying in from Kuala Lumpur. At the airport , we exchanged money and receiving a giant pile of bills with very large numbers on them ($1 = 10,000 kip). We tried to ask people for change so we could make a phone call to a hotel, but everyone looked at us as if we were crazy. It later occurred to us that this was because there are no coins in Laos. We're still not sure how you use a pay phone!
As we took a taxi into town, we experienced an odd sensation. We were going slowly..... traveling at a reasonable, nearly leisurely rate of speed. And so were all the other vehicles. There were people crossing the street without a look of fear in their eyes. It seemed so.... civilized. We decided it would be nice traveling in a Buddhist country, where people believe in karma and thus will be more concerned about potentially injuring or killing you with their vehicle. After the insanity of Indian traffic, Singapore and Malaysia's traffic signals were a relief, but they were still very car/motorbike-focused places. Vientiane was so relaxed and laidback we rented bikes one day and toured the city ourselves. It was great. It was certainly the first place on this trip we felt safe enough to do that.
On our bike ride, we visited some of the Buddhist monateries in town and the National Assembly building, as well as just tooling through some neighborhoods. There are a lot of roadside food stalls in the city and we stopped at one to get me some chicken-on-a-stick. They also had a pile of frightening looking chicken-feet-on-a-stick roasting. Ashifa decided to forego her veggie ways in order to commune with the locals and try one. (There are some amusing pictures of this, which I'll upload when I can find a USB port.)
There were a lot of westerners in Vientiane, including tourists. Being the capital, there were also a lot of expats who work for various embassies, non-profits, and organizations like the UN and WHO. Yet the city was very laidback and felt more like a real town than a tourist ghetto (like Luang Prabang). We spent one night leisurely gazing at the Mekong River from one of many riverside restaurants, enjoying our first taste of the Laos equivalent of India's tea, Beerlao. Beerlao is everywhere. Beerlao logos are everywhere. There are stacks of Beerlao crates everywhere. And Beerlao is cheap. I think Ashifa was working on a scientific study of comparitive beer prices in various places we've traveled to. I'm sure the results will be published soon.
After a few days in Vientiane, we headed north and up in altitude to Luang Prabang. We were taking a "VIP bus", which was fairly comfortable and featured non-stop Thai karaoke DVDs. At one point, however, we stopped because the bus was smoking. There was some kind of repair done and we were on our way again. The smoking started again an hour or so later and this time required a little more tinkering. Whatever the problem was, we made it up to Luang Prabang in one non-smoking piece. Thankfully, Laotian bus drivers also drive peacefully - compared to Indian bus drivers who may possibly have careened the smoking bus off a cliff.
Luang Prabang is a small city in a beautiful location in the hills and along the upper Mekong River. It has a lot of French colonial architecture and several nice Buddhist monasteries and temples. The town has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Center, which has resulted in development being controlled in the city. This has also resulted in the downtown becoming a bit of a boutique-y tourist area. We didn't have much opportunity to get out of that area, but we did meet a trekking guide who invited us to visit his village a few kilometers out of town. So, we hopped in a tuk-tuk (our 400th mode of transportation on this trip - sort of a Lao version of India's autorickshaw, but with the seats facing sideways instead of forward), and went for a visit for a few hours. Pon's family belongs to one of several ethnic minorities in Laos, the Khmu. The Lao government has relocated numerous villages from the hills to areas closer to the city, primarily to prevent deforestation of the hills (we saw some slash and burn agriculture in action a few days later on a trek, and the deforestation of the hillsides was pretty obvious on our bus ride). The government provides schools for the relocated kids, but apparently doesn't do anything to help the older residents get jobs. Pon was one of only a handful of residents of the village who had a job in the city. The rest were getting by farming rice.
One of the big attractions in Luang Prabang is the opportunity to trek into some of the remaining hill villages. We signed up for a trek - two days hiking and one day kayaking. We visited a couple Khmu villages and a Hmong village - you can see pics in the last post. We spent the two nights in huts in two of the Khmu villages. Our guide was a Khmu guy originally from a small village near the Vietnam border. He had a pretty common story - he moved to Luang Prabang to learn English and to get a job (these two things often go hand-in-hand, since most of the better-paying jobs are in tourism). He hadn't seen his family in two years. They don't have phones and very little mail access. He spends all his time either in class or working. He can't send money home to them, and his family can't send anything to help him.
The trek was an interesting experience - we got to see what life is like in these villages. The village we stayed in the first night had just gotten road access and some electricity (it would be interesting to see what changes happen as a result of those two things) but was still very traditional - totally agriculture-based. However, the trek was a bit odd - a continuation on a theme we've felt since India, that we're acting as visitors in a human zoo. Trekking is pretty common in this area, and these particular villages we were in see a small group of tourists (refered to as falang in Laos; falang originally referred to the French colonialists, but now refers to all foreigners; some people in Laos will tell you it's a term of endearment, but others laugh at that suggestion) passing through frequently. Our trekking company is known as one of the more responsible ones - part of their profit goes to the villages to help with various projects - but you still feel a bit weird. This was especially the case in the village where we stayed the first night. As soon as we got there, our guide Sitha showed us and the couple we were trekking with the hut we would sleep in (attached to the village chief's house), then went off to make our dinner and told us to walk around the village. We thought he would at least walk around with us or give us some background on the place, but we were on our own. We walked around a bit, but felt pretty uncomfortable, like we were intruding in someone else's life. We retreated back to the hut pretty quickly, and the other couple on the trek followed soon after. So, the four of us sat at a table inside the fence around the house, had a Beerlao, and chatted amongst ourselves while the kids playing outside checked us out. I referred to it as being in the falang cage.
The second day, we passed through a Hmong village in the morning. The Hmong live at higher altitudes and are a bit more traditional. For instance, almost everyone was wearing traditional clothes; in the Khmu villages, most of the men and kids and some of the women wore Western clothes. Sitha took us to visit a couple houses. We also saw the local blacksmiths making the machetes used to cut bamboo and grass. The were using old bomb shells as anvils! We also visited a hut where an older woman was making incense used in prayers for sick people and other situatons. Sitha explained that when someone is really sick, the Hmong first pray to the spirits, then if that doesn't work, will head for the hospital (this probably all has something to do with the fact that there's no road access to the village and medical care is very expensive). Then just as we were leaving that hut, we heard the sounds of a gong coming from another hut. There
was a three-year-old boy who was very sick, so that exact ceremony was taking place. And a sacrificial goat was being butchered outside. Ashifa volunteered her services and the family accepted some antibiotics, although they didn't seem keen on her looking examining the baby.
Dr. Shif was actually very busy on this trek. Our two trekking companions were both sick on the second day and required a little attention. Then our guide came down with either the same bug or something worse. He was up most of the night with really bad vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps. He is either not sick very often or is a bit of a drama queen, but he was moaning that he was going to die and he'd never see his family again. Poor guy. Our first aid kit has gotten a workout on this trip, but luckily we still had a few things that could help him. He was a bit better in the morning, and the trekking company sent a replacement for him and he headed back to town. We seem to be bad luck for guides - that's the second one who's had to evacuated out mid-trek!
That second night we stayed with another family, this time in a village that was along the main road. So were a little less of a novelty. We walked through the village to the river where the braver among us took a bath in the (really, really) cold water. Bathing is not a very private activity here. Ashifa and shared a Beerlao with the granddad of the family we stayed with. He didn't speak English, and we don't speak his language, but we managed to have a good time through some key words (we know how to toast in Khmu now), some silly gestures, and a lot of laughing. We got to try a few local delicacies on the trek too. Ashifa tried blood soup (I said no thanks) and we both tried rat. Not the worst thing I've ever tasted, but I didn't go back for seconds. We finished up our trek with a day of kayaking down the Ou and Mekong Rivers.
Laos was a big favorite of ours. The country has only been open to foreigners for a decade or so, so it's sort of in the Early Tourism Era. It seems to be a "next big thing" in backpacker/travel buzz - a less spoiled, more undiscovered alternative to Thailand or Vietnam. However, the two towns we visited - Vientiane and Luang Prabang - are already full of white folks. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to travel anywhere else. My suggestion would be to go soon if you're interested in traveling in Laos. And that is something we highly recommend - the country is beautiful and the people are very friendly.
We spent three days in the capital, Vientiane. after flying in from Kuala Lumpur. At the airport , we exchanged money and receiving a giant pile of bills with very large numbers on them ($1 = 10,000 kip). We tried to ask people for change so we could make a phone call to a hotel, but everyone looked at us as if we were crazy. It later occurred to us that this was because there are no coins in Laos. We're still not sure how you use a pay phone!
As we took a taxi into town, we experienced an odd sensation. We were going slowly..... traveling at a reasonable, nearly leisurely rate of speed. And so were all the other vehicles. There were people crossing the street without a look of fear in their eyes. It seemed so.... civilized. We decided it would be nice traveling in a Buddhist country, where people believe in karma and thus will be more concerned about potentially injuring or killing you with their vehicle. After the insanity of Indian traffic, Singapore and Malaysia's traffic signals were a relief, but they were still very car/motorbike-focused places. Vientiane was so relaxed and laidback we rented bikes one day and toured the city ourselves. It was great. It was certainly the first place on this trip we felt safe enough to do that.
On our bike ride, we visited some of the Buddhist monateries in town and the National Assembly building, as well as just tooling through some neighborhoods. There are a lot of roadside food stalls in the city and we stopped at one to get me some chicken-on-a-stick. They also had a pile of frightening looking chicken-feet-on-a-stick roasting. Ashifa decided to forego her veggie ways in order to commune with the locals and try one. (There are some amusing pictures of this, which I'll upload when I can find a USB port.)
There were a lot of westerners in Vientiane, including tourists. Being the capital, there were also a lot of expats who work for various embassies, non-profits, and organizations like the UN and WHO. Yet the city was very laidback and felt more like a real town than a tourist ghetto (like Luang Prabang). We spent one night leisurely gazing at the Mekong River from one of many riverside restaurants, enjoying our first taste of the Laos equivalent of India's tea, Beerlao. Beerlao is everywhere. Beerlao logos are everywhere. There are stacks of Beerlao crates everywhere. And Beerlao is cheap. I think Ashifa was working on a scientific study of comparitive beer prices in various places we've traveled to. I'm sure the results will be published soon.
After a few days in Vientiane, we headed north and up in altitude to Luang Prabang. We were taking a "VIP bus", which was fairly comfortable and featured non-stop Thai karaoke DVDs. At one point, however, we stopped because the bus was smoking. There was some kind of repair done and we were on our way again. The smoking started again an hour or so later and this time required a little more tinkering. Whatever the problem was, we made it up to Luang Prabang in one non-smoking piece. Thankfully, Laotian bus drivers also drive peacefully - compared to Indian bus drivers who may possibly have careened the smoking bus off a cliff.
Luang Prabang is a small city in a beautiful location in the hills and along the upper Mekong River. It has a lot of French colonial architecture and several nice Buddhist monasteries and temples. The town has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Center, which has resulted in development being controlled in the city. This has also resulted in the downtown becoming a bit of a boutique-y tourist area. We didn't have much opportunity to get out of that area, but we did meet a trekking guide who invited us to visit his village a few kilometers out of town. So, we hopped in a tuk-tuk (our 400th mode of transportation on this trip - sort of a Lao version of India's autorickshaw, but with the seats facing sideways instead of forward), and went for a visit for a few hours. Pon's family belongs to one of several ethnic minorities in Laos, the Khmu. The Lao government has relocated numerous villages from the hills to areas closer to the city, primarily to prevent deforestation of the hills (we saw some slash and burn agriculture in action a few days later on a trek, and the deforestation of the hillsides was pretty obvious on our bus ride). The government provides schools for the relocated kids, but apparently doesn't do anything to help the older residents get jobs. Pon was one of only a handful of residents of the village who had a job in the city. The rest were getting by farming rice.
One of the big attractions in Luang Prabang is the opportunity to trek into some of the remaining hill villages. We signed up for a trek - two days hiking and one day kayaking. We visited a couple Khmu villages and a Hmong village - you can see pics in the last post. We spent the two nights in huts in two of the Khmu villages. Our guide was a Khmu guy originally from a small village near the Vietnam border. He had a pretty common story - he moved to Luang Prabang to learn English and to get a job (these two things often go hand-in-hand, since most of the better-paying jobs are in tourism). He hadn't seen his family in two years. They don't have phones and very little mail access. He spends all his time either in class or working. He can't send money home to them, and his family can't send anything to help him.
The trek was an interesting experience - we got to see what life is like in these villages. The village we stayed in the first night had just gotten road access and some electricity (it would be interesting to see what changes happen as a result of those two things) but was still very traditional - totally agriculture-based. However, the trek was a bit odd - a continuation on a theme we've felt since India, that we're acting as visitors in a human zoo. Trekking is pretty common in this area, and these particular villages we were in see a small group of tourists (refered to as falang in Laos; falang originally referred to the French colonialists, but now refers to all foreigners; some people in Laos will tell you it's a term of endearment, but others laugh at that suggestion) passing through frequently. Our trekking company is known as one of the more responsible ones - part of their profit goes to the villages to help with various projects - but you still feel a bit weird. This was especially the case in the village where we stayed the first night. As soon as we got there, our guide Sitha showed us and the couple we were trekking with the hut we would sleep in (attached to the village chief's house), then went off to make our dinner and told us to walk around the village. We thought he would at least walk around with us or give us some background on the place, but we were on our own. We walked around a bit, but felt pretty uncomfortable, like we were intruding in someone else's life. We retreated back to the hut pretty quickly, and the other couple on the trek followed soon after. So, the four of us sat at a table inside the fence around the house, had a Beerlao, and chatted amongst ourselves while the kids playing outside checked us out. I referred to it as being in the falang cage.
The second day, we passed through a Hmong village in the morning. The Hmong live at higher altitudes and are a bit more traditional. For instance, almost everyone was wearing traditional clothes; in the Khmu villages, most of the men and kids and some of the women wore Western clothes. Sitha took us to visit a couple houses. We also saw the local blacksmiths making the machetes used to cut bamboo and grass. The were using old bomb shells as anvils! We also visited a hut where an older woman was making incense used in prayers for sick people and other situatons. Sitha explained that when someone is really sick, the Hmong first pray to the spirits, then if that doesn't work, will head for the hospital (this probably all has something to do with the fact that there's no road access to the village and medical care is very expensive). Then just as we were leaving that hut, we heard the sounds of a gong coming from another hut. There
was a three-year-old boy who was very sick, so that exact ceremony was taking place. And a sacrificial goat was being butchered outside. Ashifa volunteered her services and the family accepted some antibiotics, although they didn't seem keen on her looking examining the baby.
Dr. Shif was actually very busy on this trek. Our two trekking companions were both sick on the second day and required a little attention. Then our guide came down with either the same bug or something worse. He was up most of the night with really bad vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps. He is either not sick very often or is a bit of a drama queen, but he was moaning that he was going to die and he'd never see his family again. Poor guy. Our first aid kit has gotten a workout on this trip, but luckily we still had a few things that could help him. He was a bit better in the morning, and the trekking company sent a replacement for him and he headed back to town. We seem to be bad luck for guides - that's the second one who's had to evacuated out mid-trek!
That second night we stayed with another family, this time in a village that was along the main road. So were a little less of a novelty. We walked through the village to the river where the braver among us took a bath in the (really, really) cold water. Bathing is not a very private activity here. Ashifa and shared a Beerlao with the granddad of the family we stayed with. He didn't speak English, and we don't speak his language, but we managed to have a good time through some key words (we know how to toast in Khmu now), some silly gestures, and a lot of laughing. We got to try a few local delicacies on the trek too. Ashifa tried blood soup (I said no thanks) and we both tried rat. Not the worst thing I've ever tasted, but I didn't go back for seconds. We finished up our trek with a day of kayaking down the Ou and Mekong Rivers.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Our Week in Laos
Okay, we still don't know what the point is, but we're having fun anyway. [insert ironic smile here]. :) Ashifa was very interested to read all the comments responding to her post. I think Doug's especially has her brain churning. We'll have lots more to say in a day or two, but I wanted to post something today. We arrived in Hanoi yesterday, just in time for Tet - the mother of all holidays in Vietnam, it's usually referred to as the equivalent of Christmas, New Years, and everyone's birthday all rolled into one. We got to see some of the celebrations last night and today, which was very cool, but the other feature of Tet is that everything shuts down for several days. So, I'm not sure when we'll be able to get back on the internet (or find an open restaurant or bus that's running).
So here are some pictures from our week in Laos - edifying explanation to follow (hopefully) soon!
One the bus trip from Vientiane to Luang Prabang - a preview of the weather the next day, which we spent mostly soaked:
Rice paddies:
Some scenes from Pha That Luang, the most important national monument in Laos - in Vientiane, the capital:
A handful of Lao kip. One US dollar is equal to about 10,000 kip. That's a lot of zeros to deal with.
When you're traveling in countries that have a season called "monsoon", you need to be careful. It's actually the dry season in Laos right now, but we had one monsoon day. The people of Luang Prabang (most of whom seem to ride motorbikes) were prepared. They used the same umbrellas the next day in the bright sun.
Laos suffered badly during the Vietnam War. It's refered to as the "most heavily bombed country in the world" and hundreds of people here are still killed every year by unexploded ordinance. This old anti-aircraft gun was right next to the major Buddhist temple in Luang Prabang.
A reclining Buddha at the same monument:
We did a two-day trek/one-day kayak trip into the countryside near Luang Prabang. A random lovely waterfall along the way:
Some things we've learned on our trip: little kids are the same everywhere, teenagers are the same everywhere, and dogs are the same everywhere. Every puppy likes a belly scratch. And Ashifa can not resist a puppy.
A Khmu village where we stayed on our first night of the trek:
A Hmong village we passed through on the second day of the trek:
A rice and corn grinder in the Hmong village:
Hmong kids working on a homemade luge:
Scenery along the Ou River during our kayak:
The Pak Ou cave - the huge cave is full of hundreds of old and new Buddha statues and has been used for something like 800 years for religious purposes. [Why won't this underline go away????]
Some of the Buddhas in the cave:
So here are some pictures from our week in Laos - edifying explanation to follow (hopefully) soon!
One the bus trip from Vientiane to Luang Prabang - a preview of the weather the next day, which we spent mostly soaked:
Rice paddies:
Some scenes from Pha That Luang, the most important national monument in Laos - in Vientiane, the capital:
A handful of Lao kip. One US dollar is equal to about 10,000 kip. That's a lot of zeros to deal with.
When you're traveling in countries that have a season called "monsoon", you need to be careful. It's actually the dry season in Laos right now, but we had one monsoon day. The people of Luang Prabang (most of whom seem to ride motorbikes) were prepared. They used the same umbrellas the next day in the bright sun.
Laos suffered badly during the Vietnam War. It's refered to as the "most heavily bombed country in the world" and hundreds of people here are still killed every year by unexploded ordinance. This old anti-aircraft gun was right next to the major Buddhist temple in Luang Prabang.
A reclining Buddha at the same monument:
We did a two-day trek/one-day kayak trip into the countryside near Luang Prabang. A random lovely waterfall along the way:
Some things we've learned on our trip: little kids are the same everywhere, teenagers are the same everywhere, and dogs are the same everywhere. Every puppy likes a belly scratch. And Ashifa can not resist a puppy.
A Khmu village where we stayed on our first night of the trek:
A Hmong village we passed through on the second day of the trek:
A rice and corn grinder in the Hmong village:
Hmong kids working on a homemade luge:
Scenery along the Ou River during our kayak:
The Pak Ou cave - the huge cave is full of hundreds of old and new Buddha statues and has been used for something like 800 years for religious purposes. [Why won't this underline go away????]
Some of the Buddhas in the cave:
Saturday, February 2, 2008
The Point???
I have been spending the past couple of weeks really pondering what the point is of travelling. I must admit, it is not the first time these thoughts have crossed my mind...when I was working in Uganda in 2004 I recall talking to someone I was working with and I asked him if he had ever visited Kenya, a neighbouring country - his response to me was "Why would I go there? I have no business there". And it struck me that his statement held quite alot of truth in fact. We are travelling in another person's land...when we really have no business here, no relations here, no family here...so why are we here? what are we searching for? and is this really the most efficient way for one to search for these intangible things we are looking for?
These thoughts have been milling about in this otherwise cluttered mind of mine for a while now. The best answers that i can come up with are that travelling exposes us to different ways of life, causes us to challenge our long-held assumptions and beliefs, strives to break down barriers and foster inter-cultural understanding, and promotes understanding and humanity. Other answers are that it helps us to learn about ourselves, learn what we really value, learn how little material stuff we can actually live with (all we've got is what fits into our backpacks), learn how to adapt ourselves to difficult situations. It all sounds very romantic and I think that when I'm sitting at home in Toronto, going to the same job everyday, cooking the same stir-fry for dinner everyday, and walking the dog on the same route everyday i truly believe that this is what travel will achieve...and this is probably why i keep seeking out such adventures.
But now when i look at it really critically what i actually see is a bunch of rich western tourists (a category we fall into, as even a student back in Canada is richer than most people here), spending long periods of time in a country much poorer than our own because we can afford it (because hotel rooms only cost $10), haggling with taxi drivers over what is pennies to us - but what is a meal for their family to them, and really not gaining much more understanding of local culture other than the people we see walking by and the food we put in our mouths. The language barrier guarantees minimal cultural exchange in any sort of meaningful fashion. The socio-economic barrier likely breeds some amount of resentment in the people whose lives we claim to have come to learn about. And the superficial nature of any cultural exchange that occurs as a tourist is unlikely to bring about any true understanding or compassion from either side. In addition to all of this, one must also think about the harmful effects that tourism can have...it creates an alter-economy for people who live here which is much more profitable than any work that can be done locally...this has both positive and negative impacts...for in a developing country there is much work that needs to be done, and if all of the educated labour force goes into tourism-based industries (because it is SO much more profitable), one has to wonder what impact that has on the country's development. Then of course there is the environmental impact which is likely larger than we can imagine...the planes, the cars, the buses, the taxis, the tourist infrastructure, the toilet paper we use (local people don't use toilet paper b/c the sewage system cannot handle it), the processed and packaged foods we eat, etc. etc.etc.
Despite the above barriers, we did manage today to connect with a young fellow who spoke fairly good English. He invited us back to his village and we spent some time chatting with him and his uncle over a BeerLao (the local brew). His uncle was a soldier for Laos during the Vietnam war, and had some horrific stories to tell about some of the things that went on during that time. We asked him what he thought about the future of Laos and the possibilities of sustainable peace in the region. He made a very insightful comment - he stated that though there is no overt war in Laos right now with bombs or weapons, there still remains a war of an economic nature...he felt that the "falang" (Lao for "foreigners") are still trying to control his land - they do it through business, and they do it through regulations on his city (the city of Luang Prabang has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and with that come some restrictions on development and such). I think that he also suggested implicitly that tourism business achieved the same sort of economic domination over Laos because many of the tourist businesses are run by foreigners, and also it makes Lao people dependent upon "western" money for jobs, etc. (because of the UNESCO ruling, this town's economy is now largely tourism).
The true Colonial era of our world has ended, but it has given rise to this neo-Colonial movement which is rising to be about as strong - international business, international travel, expatriates living in all countries of the world - a world with no borders - it sounds so utopic...but when the playing field is as unequal as global economies are today, this utopic vision could prove to be quite the opposite for those whose existence lies on the poorer side of the field.
I read somewhere today that some of the monks in town often ask "what are the foreigners looking for when they already have everything they need?". Indeed, what are we looking for? Perhaps we are looking externally for truths that can be more truly found within. Most boys in Laos spend 2-3 years between the ages of 17-20 as monks, dedicating those years to meditative contemplation. Perhaps this world would be a better place if we all sat down in meditation to search for this compassion, understanding, and self-awareness, instead of donning our birkenstocks and sunglasses and jetsetting off to poorer nations and warmer climates in search of answers to the meaning of life.
These thoughts have been milling about in this otherwise cluttered mind of mine for a while now. The best answers that i can come up with are that travelling exposes us to different ways of life, causes us to challenge our long-held assumptions and beliefs, strives to break down barriers and foster inter-cultural understanding, and promotes understanding and humanity. Other answers are that it helps us to learn about ourselves, learn what we really value, learn how little material stuff we can actually live with (all we've got is what fits into our backpacks), learn how to adapt ourselves to difficult situations. It all sounds very romantic and I think that when I'm sitting at home in Toronto, going to the same job everyday, cooking the same stir-fry for dinner everyday, and walking the dog on the same route everyday i truly believe that this is what travel will achieve...and this is probably why i keep seeking out such adventures.
But now when i look at it really critically what i actually see is a bunch of rich western tourists (a category we fall into, as even a student back in Canada is richer than most people here), spending long periods of time in a country much poorer than our own because we can afford it (because hotel rooms only cost $10), haggling with taxi drivers over what is pennies to us - but what is a meal for their family to them, and really not gaining much more understanding of local culture other than the people we see walking by and the food we put in our mouths. The language barrier guarantees minimal cultural exchange in any sort of meaningful fashion. The socio-economic barrier likely breeds some amount of resentment in the people whose lives we claim to have come to learn about. And the superficial nature of any cultural exchange that occurs as a tourist is unlikely to bring about any true understanding or compassion from either side. In addition to all of this, one must also think about the harmful effects that tourism can have...it creates an alter-economy for people who live here which is much more profitable than any work that can be done locally...this has both positive and negative impacts...for in a developing country there is much work that needs to be done, and if all of the educated labour force goes into tourism-based industries (because it is SO much more profitable), one has to wonder what impact that has on the country's development. Then of course there is the environmental impact which is likely larger than we can imagine...the planes, the cars, the buses, the taxis, the tourist infrastructure, the toilet paper we use (local people don't use toilet paper b/c the sewage system cannot handle it), the processed and packaged foods we eat, etc. etc.etc.
Despite the above barriers, we did manage today to connect with a young fellow who spoke fairly good English. He invited us back to his village and we spent some time chatting with him and his uncle over a BeerLao (the local brew). His uncle was a soldier for Laos during the Vietnam war, and had some horrific stories to tell about some of the things that went on during that time. We asked him what he thought about the future of Laos and the possibilities of sustainable peace in the region. He made a very insightful comment - he stated that though there is no overt war in Laos right now with bombs or weapons, there still remains a war of an economic nature...he felt that the "falang" (Lao for "foreigners") are still trying to control his land - they do it through business, and they do it through regulations on his city (the city of Luang Prabang has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and with that come some restrictions on development and such). I think that he also suggested implicitly that tourism business achieved the same sort of economic domination over Laos because many of the tourist businesses are run by foreigners, and also it makes Lao people dependent upon "western" money for jobs, etc. (because of the UNESCO ruling, this town's economy is now largely tourism).
The true Colonial era of our world has ended, but it has given rise to this neo-Colonial movement which is rising to be about as strong - international business, international travel, expatriates living in all countries of the world - a world with no borders - it sounds so utopic...but when the playing field is as unequal as global economies are today, this utopic vision could prove to be quite the opposite for those whose existence lies on the poorer side of the field.
I read somewhere today that some of the monks in town often ask "what are the foreigners looking for when they already have everything they need?". Indeed, what are we looking for? Perhaps we are looking externally for truths that can be more truly found within. Most boys in Laos spend 2-3 years between the ages of 17-20 as monks, dedicating those years to meditative contemplation. Perhaps this world would be a better place if we all sat down in meditation to search for this compassion, understanding, and self-awareness, instead of donning our birkenstocks and sunglasses and jetsetting off to poorer nations and warmer climates in search of answers to the meaning of life.
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