Another Weekend Down

Unlike last weekend, we entered Friday with almost no plans for how we would spend our time off of work. With little effort on our part, the weekend was filled up shortly after we returned home from work on Friday evening.

For some reason, the circuit breaker in our house kept blowing, so the landlord, Keo, was over to have a look. In addition to renting homes in Vientiane, Keo used to own night clubs in town and now owns clubs and a guesthouse up in Luang Prabang. He's a very nice guy and very connected with the high society in Laos. In addition to sorting out the power he invited us to a party at his house on Saturday night. So, Saturday night was covered, but Friday was still a bit open.

We decided to head down to the river with Dena and her boyfriend, Jason, who was in town for a visit. Just as we began dinner, my phone rang with a number I did not recognize. I answered and shortly thereafter was invited by a Lao person to join him and his friends at a Lao nightclub. When I hung up, after agreeing to go to the club, I had a slight idea about who I had just agreed to go out with. I thought the person calling was one of the guy's we played football with on Thursday night. However, when I called back to confirm, his voice sounded quite different than during our earlier conversation. We agreed on a time for him to meet us, but did not really know who we were mmeeting. However, I had narrowed it down to two people.

We were to be picked up around 9:30, but due to the mobile network being down, calls weren't coming in or going out. Our team left dinner feeling pretty strong about the evening, but began losing steam as we waited for our ride. Finally around 10pm, I got on my motorbike and drove out to the main road to try and get a signal. Fortunately I found one and our trip to the nightclub was back on. After waking from various states of napping, we all went out, minus Simon who was too knackered. Hatsoleth, who we worked with last week on some interview transcriptions, took us to a pretty western-looking nightclub called Romeo.

Vientiane has a curfew of about 12am, but a few establishments have been "allowed" to stay open much later. Romeo is one such establishment. Around 11:30, as other beer gardens began shutting down, Romeo got packed. The club was essentially one large room, with a DJ booth at the one end, a big screen at the other, heaps of strobe-type lights, tables everywhere and a very, very loud sound system. When we arrived, the place was almost empty, and the intense sound mixed with the lights left us all feeling like a seizure was imminent. As people began making their way in, it looked like everyone was shaking as they walked by. I think this effect was caused by the intense bass actually rattling my eyes. As the room filled, the atmosphere improved and we did as the locals did...drank Johnny Walker and danced. We befriended the table next to ours only to find that a couple folks were from Minnesota. The mother, originally from Laos, had brought her son over here to meet his grandparents for the first time. As a result of political upheaval following the Party's ascension in 1975, many Lao people have family who live in the States. Both the Minnesotans, as well as ourselves, had a fun time at the club. The night was capped of by a stop at a noodle shop for some soup and dim sum. I love the late night waffle house or krystal, but the noodle shop has them beat.

Saturday was kind of a slow day. We woke up a little late, went to a noodle shop around the corner from our house and then took a trip to the market near our house. The market is great. You can get everything you might want/need. I come out with some bananas, a pair of pants and some shoes. We also bought some vegetables and rice for some home cooking. We got back home and couldn't find any cooking utensils, and once again the neighbors came to the rescue. While borrowing a wok and some spatulas I arranged a trip to the market and a cooking lesson for Sunday evening. After a nice run around town, I had some dinner and got ready to head over to the party at our landlord's house.

We got to his house around 8pm and were immediately floored by the obvious amount of work that went in to decorating for the party. The path from the driveway to the front patio started with a trellis which had leaves from a banana tree hanging down like a curtain. On the other side, there was a red carpet lined with tea candles, leading to the patio. In front of the house there was a small pool of water, which had a banana leaf covered in flowers, floating in the middle. There was also a backdrop with various celebratory words written on it for photos. The inside of the house was as stunning as the outside. There were some really amazing buddha statues, gorgeous solid wood tables and one of the nicest bathrooms I have ever seen. As we were mingling around and getting drinks, the band come in to set up in the living room. The food was also done up like we were at an A list party. I hate being told something is amazing, but indescribable. But, the house and party where amazing, but sort of indescribable. We had a great time partying the night away with Vientiane's upper crust.

Sunday was also a quiet day, until the evening rolled around. After running some errands, I went with our housekeeper and her daughter to the market to get the ingredients for lap muu (pork lap). We purchased pork tenderloin, heart, liver, stomach, corriander, mint, cucumbers and chillies. I'm sure there were other ingredients I missed as Pik moved swiftly through the crowded market. When we got back home, she set about cleaning the meat and organs we purchased. Again, she worked with the speed and familiarity of a pro. My cooking class mostly consisted of me watching Pik and Boom mince the meat and prepare the herbs. Boom did give me a chance to peel some cucumbers, and Pik allowed me to be a taster as we were mixing the meat with the herbs.

The neighbors had spent all Sunday working on the hair salon they are soon to open in front of their house, and had set up an eating mat in front of the shop for a family picnic. Keen to spend time with our amazing neighbors, I offered our lap to the picnic and we sat around with them and shared their soup as they ate, and approved of, our lap. I had a friend who was fortunate enough to be in town that night, and he joined us in the fun. Suffice it to say, the night was for more than he could have hoped for when he arrived in Vientiane. He was quickly welcomed and enjoyed more than one round of "cheers." As the rain came down, we moved the party into the hair salon. We sat around drinking BeerLao, playing cards, laughing and joking until about 1am. It was great fun and such a treat to once again be privy to an evening with our Lao neighbors.

Monday came all too soon, and all too early, but the weekend was great and again, full of some great cultural, authentic experiences.

Hash House Fun

This past Monday, I finally made it out to a run with the Hash House Harriers. HHH is a drinking club with a running problem. The club was started in 1938 in Kuala Lumpur by some British officers looking to ride themselves of the excesses of the previous weekend. Here in Vientiane, the hash meets on Monday evenings at different pubs each week. There's a 50,000kip (~$6) buy in, which gets you your fill of food and BeerLao.

Before the run, the Hare lays down a trail throughout the city. The trail is marked by blobs of chalk on the side of the road, and includes many false trails. At intersections, there was a circle laid down and the trail could go down any of the surrounding roads. A few runners would check out each path looking for the correct trail. A wrong trail was marked by an X, usually placed about 50-100 yards from the intersection.

The trail we ran on Monday was about 6 miles and included running through a wat past chanting monks, through back yards and down dirt alley's. It was a great way to see some very interesting parts of the city. The run was not tough at all, but was great fun. The people we ran with were very nice and the "hazing" at the end of the run was quite mild.

If you are in city with a HHH kennel (click on the map on the left to look up your city), I'd highly encourage checking it out. You will see some awesome parts of whatever city you are in. And, you'll get to meet some interesting people, eat some good food and drink some beer.

What a weekend

When I first got to Laos, I was really stumped as to why everyone had told me that Laos was their favorite country in southeast Asia. Compared to Chiang Mai, and other spots I have visited in Thailand, Vientiane is a lot more laid back. Laid back is cool, but typically more fun if there is beach involved. The city closes down around 11 or 12 on the weekends, and there is not the plethora of evening activities like night markets or food stalls to offer late night entertainment.

After a few days though, I really began to enjoy the city's demeanor. As you can imagine, the laid back nature suits me very well. With each passing day, I also befriend my new Lao acquaintances a bit more. This has opened up some great doors that have allowed myself and my flatmates a chance to see the less beaten path in and around Vientiane.

Last Friday, we had a bit of a house warming party. Due to the early closure of many Lao establishments, house parties are key. Kind of like Macon, except there it's due to the dull nature of the entertainment establishments. The party began when we arrived home from work around 6pm to be met by our neighbor/housekeeper/cook who had prepared a huge dish of pork lap, a spicy minced meat dish that is very common on Laos, a couple huge containers of sticky rice, also a Lao staple, and two ginger-lemongrass boiled fish from the Mekong. We sort of remember the conversation we had with her about cooking, but just meant for her to bring over some Lao snacks when she and her large family came over to the party. The food was great and far better than anything we had had at restaurants. My friend Jase and I hopped on our motorbikes (my new favorite way to travel) and went down the street to pick up drinks for the party. When making purchases on a motorbike it is very important to not overdue it as there is very little cargo space on the bike. Fortunately we had planned ahead and made use of our backpacks. After we dropped off the cups, Lao whiskey and snacks it was time to head down the street to pick up beer and ice. Every shop sells BeerLao, but no one sells it in a nice prepackaged case. Instead you just tell the shop keeper how many big bottles you want and the plop them into the hard plastic BeerLao crates. We purchased 2 crates of beer and some ice, and after seeing our neighbors navigate their motorbikes while carrying a crate of beer, I figured Jase and I could do the same with ease. This was not the case, and we fortunately found this out before attempting to ride back home. The shop was close so we left our bikes there and walked back home leaving an amused group of Lao people behind to snicker at our inability to balance beer and ride.

Our neighbors came over to the house around 9pm in full force. Everyone from the youngest to the oldest joined us for what was a great evening. We supplied the BeerLao, snacks and ice and they brought over some playing cards and attempted to teach us the game they were playing. Continuing to test my modest language skills, I took full advantage of having the english speaking Lao neighbor. I pestered him with questions and had him critique my poor pronunciations. The neighbors, who are all great sports, got a kick out of my efforts, and I appreciated their patience.

After relaxing on our porch for a few hours we headed inside for a dance party after the younger kids were sent home to go to bed. We had a great time singing and dancing along to the American hip hop that I provided. It was quite amusing to see how readily the supposedly modest Lao people had picked up on western club culture. In fairness though, the people are very modest outside their home and village, but when you are amongst friends, it's okay to relax a bit. Thankfully the party died down around 12:30 because Sarah, my co-intern at CARE and flatmate, and I, along with fellow intern Melissa, were scheduled to meet Ting Toung, who works for CARE, for a trip to a museum dedicated to Kaysone Phomvihane.

Kaysone, was half Vietnamese and half Lao and was the leader of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, which is still the party in control. The museum was recently renovated at a cost of around $8 mil(USD). From the price tag, the overbearing statue of Kaysone that greets museum goers and the size of building, one would think the inside was filled with wonderful information. I guess, if you are a dedicated follower of Kaysone or a hard line LPRP member, then the museum would be great. Not being either of those things, the museum is sort of odd. It is basically a time capsule commemorating the man who brought communism to Laos. While he did not encourage a cult like following during his life, the pictures and artifacts in the museum make up for any humility he may have had. It is a very interesting place, and something completely foreign to those from the west. It was the first time I've been in a museum that proudly recounted events of people overthrowing the tyrannical American imperialist. Probably a waste of $8 mil(USD), but quite unique.

After the museum stop we headed to a small art gallery showcasing some local artists. I was really impressed at the range of styles the local artists employed. One sometimes gets the impression that less developed countries have failed to move forward in terms of culture, but the art was quite modern and very similar to what would be seen in many American galleries. Ting then took us for a much needed lunch at a cafe near That Dam, the black stupa. He and I had a traditional Lao sandwich made with cucumber, pork, pork pate and carrots. The idea of a sandwich in Southeast Asia sounds kind of odd, but thanks to the French influence, the pork pate sandwich on a baguette was quite delicious. After lunch we headed home and quickly found ourselves napping. Not wanting to waste a beautiful day, Sarah and I drove over to a huge market near our house.

The markets here make our "markets" look like a 7-11. You can get literally everything you might need for your house at the market. Cooking supplies, shoes, clothes, beds, shampoo and every locally grown fruit, vegetable and animal imaginable. There were rows of carrots, eggplants, kale, rice, chillies, lettuce, ducks, chickens, catfish, river fish (their description), eels, prawns, frogs and turtles. The animals by the way could be found in bot the living and dead stages of life. After walking around a bit, I decided I had gone too long without a haircut and found a barber who was set up near the open air cafe and meat counter. After a great 15 minute shampooing I got a decent haircut. I'm not too picky to begin with, but for $2 there's not much room for complaint.

After a great day full of Laos culture, our Saturday was capped off by a party at the French cultural center to celebrate Fête de la Musique, world music day. The concert featured some very loud playing, and even louder singing, Lao metal bands, a rock-reggae group and a few French guys featuring a guitar, sax, liquid courage and a small command of Lao phrases. It was an awesome night and me and my flatmates had a great time. It is so much fun to be in a place where there are cultural ingredients from just about every continent.

After a late night, we woke somewhat early for a trip out to our neighbor's family farm outside of Vientiane. Many Lao people have some property outside the capitol city where they will go on the weekends. Our get together included more family members, lots of food, BeerLao (beginning at about 10:30am) and a trip a waterfall/swimming hole. The food, as with most home cooked meals, was amazing. We had some great boiled fish, papaya salad, local bamboo soup and cow heart from the grill. The papaya salad, which is part of almost every meal, like sticky rice and BeerLao, was prepared two ways, mak phet and baw phet. The first being the normal stuff for the Lao people and the later being for the falang who cannot handle the spice. I had to try the real stuff and it was as advertised...really hot! The tingling was subtle at first, but within about 2 minutes my lips had gone numb. The cow heart, fortunately, just tasted like cow heart. It was not spicy or marinated in anything. Just a bit of salt and then it was thrown on a grill over an open fire. Take my word, if you can get some cow heart, give it a try. Maybe it was the fact that I have not had beef in about a month, but it tasted like a medium well done steak and was great.

After our big picnic, we headed to the waterfall, or what was billed as a waterfall. We rode to the falls in the back of a flatbed, passing around a cup of BeerLao which was constantly refilled, all while being tossed around on the dirt road. I should mention, the BeerLao is not a twist off top, and there were no bottle openers around. So, using the next best thing, the women took turns opening bottles with their teeth. After a boisterous 20 minutes ride, we arrived at the falls, which turned out to be a few man made walls built across a stream to slow the flow of the water. We were greeted by a pond full of Lao people, Lao music blasting from the cafe and cabana style patios full of families, food and BeerLao. Being that they are modest outside the village and home, all the women were swimming in their full clothes, and many of the men were also swimming in pants and shirts. This also included Dena and Sarah, who were swimming their dresses. Our neighbors daughter and friend went swimming in pants and t-shirts. And no one changed afterward. In the hot, hot heat of the afternoon it only takes about 30 minutes to get completely dry. I've had many enjoyable swims in my day, but after sitting out in the sun and eating the spiciest food I've ever had, this ranks up there as one of the best dips ever.

After a full day of eating, swimming and drinking, we headed back to town around 4pm. It was loads of fun spending the day with our neighbors, and a great weekend. So, after being a bit skeptical of Laos, and Vientiane, my misgivings were more than dashed. It has been great to be in a place long enough to not just see the points of interest mentioned in a guidebook, but to have a real chance to get to know the people and culture.

...and it rained

This afternoon, on my way back from purchasing some towels for the house, I was about a block away from the office when the heaven's opened up. I've seen some great rainstorms back home, but the storms here are epic. After about five minutes of heavy, heavy rain, the offices next to ours once again were flooded. Fortunately after yesterday's flood, most of the delicate equipment and documents had been moved to higher ground, so today's refrain was more of a nuisance than a setback. Although, the power was again shut off and the flu team were sent home early. Yet another part of working in this part of the world.

A Hard Rain Fell

It's the rainy season here and that means that in addition to being quite hot, it rains almost every day. Last night it poured and poured, and is continuing to come down slowly. After a wet commute to work this morning on a tuk-tuk that was in the middle of a repair when we were offered a ride, we got to work to find the block of offices next to ours flooded. The project office for the avian influenza team was about 8 inches under water. Computers were soaked, file cabinets were full of water and papers were aimlessly floating around.

Everyone pitched in and carried out what was salvageable and the team relocated to some free space until the office can be pumped out. While a flooded office isn't an everyday occurrence, the unexpected is always expected. So, people just roll with the setbacks and make do. The attitude is very un-Western, but a better way of tackling problems I think.

Into Laos

This is a little behind, but I've finally chronicled my overland journey from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Vientiane, Laos. It was a rather uneventful trip by local standards, but a bit different from any trip you'd take in the States. More pics on my photo site.

We made it. After a long bus ride, and several hours spent figuring out the last several kilometers, we crossed over into Laos via the Friendship Bridge. The bus ride was not the best, but far from terrible. About 30 minutes outside of Chiang Mai, the driver pulled over and sent his co-captain across the street to a service station. After about 15 minutes, and the exchange of some parts and automobile fluids, we were off again. I feared this detour would define our trip, but fortunately the bus motored on until the final destination without any problems.

The trip was quite uneventful for the most part. The road was good, traffic was light and thankfully we were not subjected to hours of Thai karaoke music videos. While the roads were good, there were patches that appeared to be under construction and were less than ideal. The driver seemed undeterred by the shoddy road and plowed through without the aid of much braking. As the road turned more twisting and dipped up and down, the driver remained heavy on the gas. I tried to sleep, but the feeling of bombing down a steep decline around twists and turns would usually jar me awake. The more I woke up and was made aware of our driver’s lead foot, the more difficult it was to sleep. Lest I make it sound like I was on a runaway train, the bus was similar to those that frequent the DC to NY corridor.

We made a pit stop around 2am for some snacks. Our ticket included a “free meal” that I figured was food and a drink. A bit bleary eyed, I walked in with a fellow intern, excited about our meal. We handed over our meal ticket, and proceeded to pick out a beverage and head towards the food. The food did not look particularly appetizing, but when offered something free, especially in the course of travelling, I decided not accepting would be unwise. However, we quickly learned that as we entered we had been told in Thai that we could have a drink or food, but not both. This was a bit upsetting, but fortunately most of our friends on the bus didn’t have the physical or intestinal energy to get off the bus and eat. So, we had a meal of rice soup and something that tasted like sweet pork.

After a meal I was finally able to get to sleep on the bus. I had been asleep for about 3 hours when the air con condensation began steadily leaking on me. I woke up with a wet shirt and no signs that the dripping was soon to cease. I grabbed the blanket that was provided on the bus and covered up. I was able to get about another hours worth of sleep before the blanket began to get soaked through to my shirt. In hindsight, my inability to sleep due to the waterfall was a blessing. I was up around the time of the sunrise, which was quite beautiful given the somewhat mountainous landscape of northeastern Thailand. It was also a blessing because the bus driver decided that he would honk, sometimes for several seconds, every time we passed anyone travelling in the same direction. This included people on bikes, people on motos and other cars. I sort of understood honking as we blew past motos to let them know not to veer into the road, but the driver continued this practice even when we were in the outside lane where there were two lanes on each side of the median. Being that I was in the front of the bus, there was no chance of sleep being had while the horn honking was going on.

A bit tired, but happy to be at our first transfer point, I rolled off the bus in Udon Thani at about 8am. About 20 Thai porters quickly greeted us ready and willing to lug our bags to the next bus. Fortunately for them, we had all our bags plus 14 boxes filled with books and no clue which bus to take next. After about twenty minutes we settled on a bus to take us to Nong Khai where we could catch another form or transport to the actual border. The buses here don’t stop picking up passengers when they’re full. So being the gentleman that I am, I gave up my seat to a Thai woman and stood for most of the 40 minute drive. After a 12 hour overnight bus, standing was far more preferred than sitting.

The bus dropped us off on the side of the road in front of some official looking building. We were quickly met by tuk-tuk drivers eager to take us to the border. The only problem was we still had all our bags and the boxes. After some negotiating we procured several tuk-tuks to transport people and a small truck to take all the bags. I rode on the back of the truck with the bags to the border, were we met the everyone else and once again unloaded the boxes, unsure of our next form of transport. In the process we also learned that one amongst us left her bag on the bus from Udon Thani to Nong Khai. Fortunately we had paid attention to where the bus was headed and the bag was found with minimal amount of worry.

Again, numerous people ready and willing to offer us a “deal” to get from the Thai border across the Friendship Bridge to the Lao border, where we got our Lao visas, met us. After some price comparisons we settled on a deal that landed us a private bus capable of holding our bags, boxes and us. The deal was to include transport from the border into Vientiane, but fortunately some folks from a partner organization were there to meet us and they helped us land a better deal.

The actual crossing was easier than going through security at most federal buildings. No metal detector, no bag screening, no dogs, just a booth taking passports and money and a window on the other side returning them. Once I had my passport I walked through the checkpoint and I was in Laos. The boxes of books, however, did not have such an easy time crossing the border. They were stuck at customs for a few days before being released to us. It was a blessing in a sense though, like having your bag arrive on a later flight after arriving back home from a long trip. We no longer had to lug them and could feel the weight lifted. Everyone was now dead aimed on our guesthouse and a much needed shower.

The first day in Laos was uneventful. We had a brief meeting with our partner organizations, and then an early dinner on the Mekong. Our timing turned out to be very fortuitous, as the restaurants propped up on bamboo along the riverbank were all removed during our third day in town. Turns out the government is building a road right through the prime spots along the river. On the second day we were in our office at CARE and started to work.

We did a quick overview of the project CARE is working on, but didn’t get too in depth on the specifics. The rest of the week was spent browsing through documents meant to get us up to speed on the project. I learned quite a bit on the Laos government and was somewhat shocked to learn how things actually operate here. On the surface it appears things are equal and democratic, but in actuality the Party has strong hand over the goings on in the country, from top to bottom. I asked one of the Lao people working on the project if most Laotians felt like the government was watching them. Without hesitation, he said people don’t just feel this way, they know the government is watching them to some degree. The Party is not as overt as in Burma, but people don’t speak negatively about the Party. It helps that most people are woefully uneducated on their rights and wouldn’t know what to protest against even if they had the opportunity.

It was nice to have an easy week to settle into the office, familiarize ourselves with CARE and with the city. On Saturday and Sunday I rented a motorbike and toured around town trying to get a sense of where things are. I stopped by That Luang, the golden stupa that serves as the national symbol of Laos. It was impressive, but the real fun at the stupa was had in the party we were invited to join in a backyard outside the walls of the wat. Still don’t know what sort of celebration we were watching, but it consisted of woman dressed in traditional Lao skirts dancing around a column of flowers, leaves and money. There was lots of music and the BeerLao was plentiful. We were treated to some bottles of water and were given a turn banging some finger symbols and bamboo sticks. It was great fun to be invited in and have the chance to see what I’m guessing is a seldom seen side of Vientiane. It was a good first week in town and I’m looking forward to getting more involved in CARE’s project next week.

Small World

Saturday, I met a guy who lives in Macon, GA, The same small town I live in. And today at my internship I met a girl who is from Atlanta, and actually spent one year as a student at the school where I spent the first 12 years of my academic study.

Crazy.

Revolutionary Heart

More on this later, but I've been learning more today about the legal system in a single-party state. Shocking! There are only about 100 lawyers registered with the fledgling Laos Bar. That's 100 lawyers in a country of about 6 million people. My guess is that most of those 100 lawyers are in and around Vientiane, and very few are out in the rural areas of Laos. My law school just graduated more trained attorney's in one year than the whole of this country.

I've also been learning about the security apparatus here. It's not like Myanmar, but people do feel that they are being watched by the Party.

Kind of shocking. More later.

Pics

new pics are up

Planting trees, building dams and teaching english

Last week I had one of the best experiences of my life. I spent all of last week with some hard core Thai woodsmen/women. I also taught English to 20 very energetic children aged 11-13. It was a week full of hard work, both physically and emotionally, but by the end of the week I was wishing for my time in the classroom and the jungle.

My teaching experience began shortly after arriving in Huai Lan. The kids, all 65 at the school, lost all focus to listen to their teachers when a truck full of white people pulled up to the school. I taught with a guy who is in school in New York, but grew up in North Carolina. As Sam and I walked into the classroom, which was not much more than a concrete room with some open windows and vents, we were greeted by a 4 foot long snake hanging out above one of the vents at the back of the room. We tried to play it cool, but the closer we got to the snake, dangling above us, the more the kids yelled at us in Thai to stay away. Apparently the unwelcomed class pet was rather dangerous. So, after an interesting start, we dove into teaching for the next 2 hours. As I said before, the process of planning lessons made me gain a new respect for teachers, but actually teaching takes that level of respect to a whole new level. It is somewhat terrifying to see a room of 20 kids staring back at you like you have the answer to all their questions. It's a little less unnerving when you realize that they won't understand about 95% of what you say, but still a bit stressful. As the kids warmed up to us and loosened up a bit, the teaching become much more fun. While I doubt we made a huge impact on the kids, seeing a few pick on our lessons was a hugely enriching experience. There were a few girls, orphans from Burma, and a few boys who really made the experience unforgettable. They were more confident with their English by the end of the week, and I'm glad I was able to play a part in helping them.

When Friday rolled around, the school had a little ceremony for the intern teachers. All the kids sat in the cafeteria, an open room with a ceiling and concrete floor, and the headmaster called each of us up to present us with a certificate. It was far more moving than I thought it would be, especially when the kids went bonkers as Sam and I were called up. Apparently we were quite popular. After the ceremony we went out to the pitch and said goodbye to the students and their teachers. This took quite some time and included many photos and numerous requests for autographs. Again, quite something to have 65 kids running after the truck as we drove, screaming and cheering.

The teaching was great, and the tree planting was awesome. We began last Tuesday morning after the Thai workers had a brief pledge to the king and country and then it was off to fill bags with saplings. I'm not sure what type of palm we were planting, but I can tell you the limbs had spikes. After we loaded a bunch of bags onto the flatbed, we preceded to off-road it up the mountain. After fording a few creeks and some steep terrain, our old Toyota Hilux pickup arrived at the planting site. We planted trees from about 9am until 11am, when we left to go eat lunch and teach. Spending the mornings sweating in the jungle, planting trees and clearing brush was tiring but mentally relaxing.

In addition to planting trees, our time in the forest also consisted of our Thai guides feeding us random things found on the forest floor. With the exception of the larvae, most of these treats were not living. It took a great leap of faith to accept these snacks from our non-english speaking guide and a keen ability to read sign language to determine what was supposed to be done with the treat. Eat it, smell it or just chew it? After accepting something on the second day that tasted kind of like ginger, I realized the doors that were opened to one brave enough to indulge in forest food. Later in the day, after accepting the ginger-like food, one of our guides, Sawat, showed up at our cabin to pick me up for a sightseeing trip. He spoke no English, not even hello or my name is, and I had no idea I had made an appointment with him and even less of an idea where I was going. I was still, and remain, unsure as to what I ate. Was it some crazy jungle drug or some healing root? By Sawat's laughter as I ate it, I figured I had just eaten something of the hallucinatory nature. Naturally, when he picked me up, I figured he was back to complete his mission of watching a farang lose his head by offering me up some other hill tribe treats such as opium. Fortunately after a short motorbike ride, we arrived at Wat Pat Tung, a much welcomed site.

The wat is gorgeous and built with amazing wood. I have some pictures from my two trips there. After my private tour, Sawat took the whole team for a visit. There are pictures all over the wat of a visit made by the King of Thailand to see Luang Pu La, a former Abbott at the wat. Known as Luang Pu La Ta Thip – Luang Pu La with Magic Eyes, he was a very important monk. He led monks from Wat Pat Tung to Wat Doi Suthep to build the current road that runs from Chiang Mai up the mountain. All of my history lesson on the wat was in Thai, so I'm still a bit unclear on some details, but suffice it to say the place was rather impressive. Being escorted around by my new Thai friend helped to make the experience quite special.

After the wat, Sawat took my to see his home. We figured the house had been in his family for three generations and was build with some beautiful wood. The house was raised about 10 feet and the cooking pot hung over an open fire stove which was under the floor. Inside were pictures of the King, Sawat's certificates from his time in the army, awards he had won as a muay thai fighter and artifacts from Lanna tribes he had found in the area. Sawat was a complete badass and could have no doubt out-wildernessed Bear Grylls with one hand. He was a very nice man and it was a pleasure to have had him as a guide in and out of the forest.

As you can see from some of the photos, our hard work was eased somewhat by the decent living conditions which were provided to us. Our cabin sat a little ways back from a lake, with mountains surrounding the horizon all around. We slept on mats on the floor, but spent most evenings on the porch or around the fire before heading to bed. The first few nights it was not easy to get to sleep. After seeing the snake in the ceiling on my first day at the school, I was convinced that every noise I heard from the ceiling was a snake waiting to drop on my face should I be foolish enough to close my eyes. By the third night, I was able to sleep through most of the night.

Our hard work was also eased by Porn, who ran the little restaurant where we ate our breakfast and dinner. After she warmed to us and the beer began to be served, each night was a mini party, complete with about 4 phrase books attempting to have a conversation. We would eat, drink and listen to music while Porn helped us with our Thai and gave us nicknames. I was fortunate to receive two, my Lanna name of Emauk (probably misspelled) and David Beckham. I chose to forego showering during my week in the woods which left my hair to its own devices. One night when we rolled in for dinner my hair was particularly crazy and with no prodding, Porn pointed to me and exclaimed, "DAVID BECKHAM!" That name stuck for the rest of the week.


There are pictures from the week on my Picasa page, and I'm sure some are floating on Facebook.

It was an amazing week. Now, I am in Vienetiane, Laos getting settled in with CARE. I'll try to post a little about our 14 hours over land excursion to Laos from Chiang Mai.