Home James

I'm sorry I have been so remarkably absent. I am now back in the country and have caught up on my work, my emails, my Christmas shopping and my sleep.

I had a really wonderful time in Laos and now feel the need to tell you all about it...

Anyone thinking about going to Laos...add Viengxay to your destination list. Its a long way from anywhere and you'll need to prepare yourself for a very small plane flight or a very long drive to get there, but if you want to understand the country you are visiting then you need to go there.

Between 1964 and 1973 the leaders of the Lao community revolution, their families, the revolutionary forces soldiers, party cadre and supporters ( around 20,000 people in all) set up Viengxay in northern Laos as their base. The US government saw Laos as the key to preventing the spread of communism in Asia (Dominoes anyone?) and subsequently bombed Lao, and the Pathet Lao forces mercilessly during the daylight hours for those 9 long years. The natural terrain of the Viengxay area, small floodplains surrounded by limetone karst formations created a natural fortress, and from the safety of over 200 caves (set within the limestone karst) the communist party fought and won a war of independence against the Royal Lao Government.

The leaders of the Lao nation suffered years of struggle in those caves, withstanding US attack and then fighting a massive ground war against RLG forces. The experiences of those men undoubtedly shaped the nation that Lao became of the next 30 years and will continue to shape the nation for many governments to come. If you are war buff, a history buff, or a communism buff, Viengxay is a town which illustrates, better than any other I've seen, a nation's heritage writ large on its landscape.

Sorry, enough propaganda... I had a great time. I spent a lot of money on silk ( I could have spent twice as much without even blinking) and spent absoutely no money on anything else. I fell in love with the country and its people and developed a lifelong hatred of the country and its buses. I dot sick, and I got well. I drank way to much backyard brewed booze and ate things I know I wouldn't have if I had asked what they were. I saw turkens (the results of turkey/chicken love affairs) and churkeys (the alternate coupling) and worked with a wonderful group of talented students and Lao people to develop a new heritage interpretation plan for the caves and surrounding heritage sites. All in all a very good time.

its nice to be back, and having not been bombarded with christmas carols and bad commercials since the middle of November, I have been captured with the Christmas spirit (It might also have something to do with the cold rice and undistinguishable meat product I have eated for every meal over the last month). Bring on Christmas lunch!