Sadly my attention to sporting matters has been less than undivided over the last few weeks as I have been preparing for a particularly challenging expedition to remote Laos. I won’t go into the details of what I am doing there (trust me, you’ll be bored) but I thought it might be fun to tell you a little bit about the place. I have stolen these travel photos from the interweb to give you an idea (I will try and bring back my own photos though).
I will be going here…
First I will fly into Vientiane where there will be some chatting (probably just smiling politely, as I don't speak a word of Lao) with governmenty types before flying to Xieng Khuang province, where I will see the Plain of Jars…
Then I will get on a long and windy bus ride to get to Vieng Xai/Vieng Xay/Viengsai (it all depends how you feel like spelling it that day).
Its in Hua Phan province (simmilarly irritating spelling variations are avaliable if required). Hua Phan is the province on the far north eastern bit of the map. You'll notice that Vieng Xai is not big enough to get labelled on this map (or in fact any others I could find on the interwebs).
Vieng Xai was the birthplace of the Pathet Laos, the Lao Communist Party. They took power in 1975 and have stayed there ever since. Their governmental strategy would be better described as 'authoritarian market economy' than 'communist' these days though.
Vieng Xai will probably look like this…
and this...
Think Halong Bay in Vietnam, only without all the water.
Apparently I will be eating this…
but hopefully I won’t have to spend too much time here…
Its all very nerve racking and very exciting, so you'll have to forgive me my distraction. I promise to be wholly obsessed by first world sporting concerns (The Ashes) upon my return.
And the really exciting thing is that by the time I get back this...
will be up and running. Wheee!
Note: Apologies for excess bracketing. I once read a novel which was as bracket obsessed as I have been in the above post. I threw it out.
