Cold Christmas away from home

Cold Christmas away from home

By Lorie Ann Cascaro on December 24 2013 4:57 pm

VIENTIANE, Laos (MindaNews/24 Dec.) — In a small country where majority are Buddhists, Christmas is definitely not elusive.

Back in my home the Philippines, Davao City is already teeming with Christmas decorations. The façade of the city hall, for example, shimmers with colorful lights at night. Almost all buildings and houses are embellished with plastic pine trees and lanterns as early as September.

But in Vientiane, Christmas decorations are barely seen.

Since the beginning of this month, a few restaurants and apartments which are occupied by expats have modest Christmas trees with blinking lights in the evening. Seen along Dongpalane Road are shops selling packages of “Christmas” food ingredients and bottled wines, wrapped in shiny water cellophanes with golden or red ribbons and greeting cards. Garment shops display mannequins in red Santa-inspired costumes.

Amid a bright sunny sky, the temperature sometimes goes down to 12 degrees here. A much colder breeze than the yuletide seasons in the Philippines! Sweaters, scarves, gloves and socks are far more saleable this month at Talat Sao Mall and Quadin Market. Foreign tourists and expats wear their winter clothes. Some begin fixing their hot showers, while others decide they need heaters, which apparently are not available in most accommodation rooms here.

“The cold temperature right now is making me feel at home,” says Ms Suzie Fairley, a volunteer for Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) from the United Kingdom of Great Britain. It will be her first Christmas away from home. She misses her family and friends, “all the Christmas parties”, and the food and drinks, especially mulled wine and minced pies.

“Last Christmas season here was not as cold as now. I’m still wondering,” says Mr Giovanni Solano Villafuerte, a Filipino VSO volunteer and adviser of a non-profit association.

He will not be home again for the holidays this year. He confesses that he is still trying to choose which one to buy: a trench coat or a pair of boots.

“There’s no big celebration here like how Filipinos do it,” he says, adding he misses Noche Buena (midnight meal), with a special mention of fruit salad garnished with keso de bola (cheese) and pancit (Chinese yellow noodles).

“Unlike here, I can feel the spirit of Christmas in my country. Even if you say it’s already commercialized, but it’s still there. Something there that pinches my heart, which I couldn’t find here,” he says.

Somehow, others had done gimmicks to feel the season. For one, a group of young falangs (Lao term for foreigners) in Santa Claus costumes or red clothes accentuated with small bulbs were hopping from one bar to another. They “painted the town red” that night!

Since last month, a few Filipinos who belong to the Sacred Heart Parish choir have been caroling at hotels and other establishments. The Philippine Embassy held last December 11 a little party for kids, dubbed “Mano Po Ninong, Mano Po Ninang”, which is a tradition of gift giving for the children from their godparents.

Despite donating more funds to the survivors of typhoon Haiyan (known as Yolanda in the Philippines), the embassy still found a way to give joy and hope for the kids.

Last Thursday, the British Embassy hosted a public film showing of Wallace and Gromit. Kids squat inside a tennis court where a pedal-driven projector flashed on a big white cloth. A Lao guy dressed like Santa Claus, minus the big belly, was giving lollipops to everyone, young and old.

Mr Andrea Caletti from Italy has been hosting a party for three years now in his restaurant, Soul Kitchen, in Vientiane. His friends, both expats and Lao, usually share a lot of pizza, pasta and overflowing red wine on the Christmas Eve. He says he’s never been back to Italy since he came here.

In Laos, December 24 and 25 are not official holidays. But Mr Souksakhone Vaenkeo of Vientiane Times says they seem to be treated as holidays by the younger generation. “Pubs and night clubs are always packed with teenagers at night,” he said.

Anyone can take vacation leave if they want. Even Lao journalist, Mr Phonsavanh Vongsay, who is a Christian, will take time off work to spend Christmas Day with his family in Champassak province. He says sharing time with his loved ones in a nutritious dinner and singing – as they are a talented bunch of individuals – makes him feel the essence of Christmas.

But both Australian editors of Vientiane Times, Mr James McDouglas and Mr Dan Riley will spend Christmas in the newsroom, working. “I’ll probably cover my desk with fake reindeer and bottles of Beerlao,” jests James.

Also from Australia is Mr Thomas Gadsen, who works with Lao Ministry of Education and Sports. He will be working in Luang Prabang province on Christmas day to collect education system data. It will be his first Christmas in Laos and first time working on a day that is a holiday in Australia. He adds that he has recently converted to Buddhism “as part of a process of experiencing different religions”.

Ms Fairley will also be working on December 25. “I will work all day but a friend has invited me for a quiet Christmas dinner in the evening at her house,” she tells MindaNews.

For Mr Villafuerte, a bunch of case study reports deserve his attention during the holidays.

Aside from the cold breeze, the yuletide season here is different from what it’s been in Davao City. Somehow, there is no sense of commercialism here. No midnight sales. No panic buying. No countless Christmas parties and exchanging of gifts.

For Christian expats, attending a morning mass and having dinner with good friends are enough to celebrate Christmas. Perhaps, an online chat with my family and short greetings from friends who remember me in the middle of parties can bring the “spirit of Christmas” here from home.

From the cold, foggy karst hills in Laos, Merry Christmas to everyone!

Lorie Ann Cascaro of MindaNews is one of the fellows of the FK Norway (Fredskorpset) exchange program in partnership with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists. She’s currently in Laos and hosted by the Vientiane Times.

Read more http://www.mindanews.com/travel-lifestyle/2013/12/24/cold-christmas-away-from-home/

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Another Day: A story about living in Vientiane’s wasteland

Another Day: A story about living in Vientiane’s wasteland

By Lorie Ann Cascaro on November 22 2013 7:39 pm

VIENTIANE, Laos (MindaNews / 22 Nov) – Welcome to “Disneyland”! It is a mosaic of blue, black and white polyester unevenly blended with brown soil surrounded by green shrubs and bushes. It was a gloomy Monday morning and the air is redolent of putrid residues or whatever people in Vientiane would call “waste”.

In a vast land of piled up rubbish that form like small hills, a tiny village hides behind the bushes at the side of a paved road inside the Km 32 landfill in Vientiane Capital. It is as colorful as a playhouse as shanties are thatched with used tarpaulin, posters and plastic curtains that used to be big grocery bags.

A man in his 40s, clad in a camouflage coat and faded black pants, is burning scrap electric wires near his hut. The smoke has blended with the gray sky. His hands are black with soot as he removes the plastic coverings to reveal the metal wires. “I earn 1,000 kip for every kilo of these metals,” says Mr Lumsy Sipanya as his eyes, shaded by a dirty whitish cap, are fixed to the flame.

In front of every house in the village has a black portion on the ground that is a mixture of ashes and burnt soil as a remnant of burning. Their income is quite sustainable for a bachelor like Mr Joy, 30, who has been living inside the wasteland for a year now. They can earn 100,000 kip a day, or at least 2 million kip in a month, for selling used electric wires.

“I don’t want to go back to the city anymore. No job can suit me. Here, I can earn enough for my own needs,” says Joy while fixing his motorbike. He is wearing fake gold bracelet and earrings.

Most of the houses are empty. Smoking cookstoves and soot-coated pots are left on the ground. Some packs of salt and other seasonings, used plates and plastic cups seem to tell that the inhabitants had to hurry after breakfast.

Over 200 individuals are working in a dump site not far from the village, according to Mr Bounkham Luangparn, 35, who is hired to manage a total of 30 households living inside the landfill. Most people who collect recyclable rubbish are outsiders. Some of them rummage plastic bottles, scrap metals and cellophane bags. At least 200 tons of garbage are dumped in the landfill everyday, a garbage collector told Vientiane Times while taking a break outside the small management office.

Children also play in the “Disneyland” in a purposeful manner as they help their parents, who taught them how to scavenge and help gather the collected rubbish that can be sold. It was almost noontime when two boys arrived on a motorbike towing a steel cart full of plastic cellophane. One of them, wearing a Spiderman-inspired sweater, detached the cart from the motorbike, and then the other boy drove away.

A seemingly three-year-old boy walked barefoot while eating a pack of uncooked instant noodles like some chips. When he finished it, he went to an old lady’s house to buy refreshment. He handed a thousand kip bill to the vendor while receiving a plastic bag of brown liquid and ice cubes. His mouth immediately caught the straw and indulged in delight.

Mr Bounkham, who has lived and worked in the landfill since its inception about six years ago, says their children have not had any serious diseases such as malaria, dengue nor diarrhea. The residents get free potable water. A doctor visits them regularly to conduct medical check-up, he says as he sits in a straw hammock tied to a manzanita tree beside his humble abode.

Separated from his wife, Mr Bounkham does not have any plan to live somewhere outside the landfill. He hopes that his kids will get a good education to have a chance to choose another kind of life. But, for the kids who work and live here, they do not go to school. “They’re not interested,” he says.

The sun never comes out but “bor pen yang” (it does not matter). These villagers continue to live each day, seeing hope for survival where most people would find as an utterly stinky and filthy place in Laos.

[Lorie Ann Cascaro of MindaNews is one of the fellows of the FK Norway (Fredskorpset) exchange program in partnership with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists. She’s currently in Laos and hosted by the Vientiane Times.]

Read more http://www.mindanews.com/feature/2013/11/22/another-day-a-story-about-living-in-vientianes-wasteland/

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Lao tourists ride “Korean wave”

Lao tourists ride “Korean wave”

The Republic of Korea has become a tourist destination for Lao people who want to see and experience being in a megacity as they indulge in Korean pop culture.

By Lorie Ann Cascaro

SEOUL, Republic of Korea (MindaNews/20 November) — While many Koreans visited landlocked Laos to take a break and find “healing” from buzzing Seoul, nearly 2,000 Lao tourists came here from January to October this year to see for real what they saw in Korean dramas.

More Lao people have become attracted to Korea because of Hallyu or the Korean wave, which refers to the growing popularity of Korean culture, Ms Maniksahone Thammavongxay, head of the Culture and Tourism Unit of the ASEAN-Korea Centre, said while sipping her coffee at Starbucks in Intaewon district. It is also known as “Western Town” where many international restaurants and shopping centers are located.

Amid the increasing number of Korean tourist arrivals in Laos, Korean culture has been promoted in Laos through Thai channels showing Korean drama series and popular bands, also called K-pop, she says, citing the dance fever “Gangnam style”.

In the past most Lao visiting Korea were government officials and students, who availed of the Korean Government Scholarship, said Consul Sungwon Hong of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Laos.

As of October 2013, the Korean embassy in Laos had issued 1,789 tourist visas for Lao nationals. The figure increased more than six times from that of 2008 when only 237 tourist visas were issued. This trend, Mr Hong said “is expected to maintain for a while in the future according to the economic development of Laos.” Based on the embassy’s total visa issuance, 2,934 Lao people had supposedly visited Korea this year.

He attributed the increasing number of mutual visitors between the Republic of Korea and Laos to direct flights launched last year by Korean Jinair and Lao Airlines. He also cited Korean travel agencies for their “vigorous marketing promotion that must have added fuel to the trend”.

However, Laos’ Tourism Marketing Department has put more emphasis on promoting Laos to Koreans than encouraging more Lao tourists to visit Korea, according to its Director General, Mr Saly Phimphinith. Since last month, there have been three direct flights to Seoul every week, he said, adding that he had noticed an increasing number of passengers. He has yet to collate the data.

Among four tour operators in Vientiane that offer packages to Korea, the Santhiphap Travel State Enterprise has a growing number of customers flying to Seoul since the direct flights have been regularized. The company’s Managing Director, Mr Amnong Phomphiboun, told Vientiane Times the number of Lao tourists who booked tour packages in Seoul rose from 21 customers in September to 34 in October. The travel agency began organizing group tours in Korea in August this year with a total of 28 tourists.

The tour packages usually cover five or six days and costs from 6,800,000 kip to 8,500,000 kip (US$856 to US$1,000), Mr Amnong said.

Lao tourists visited mostly the big cities Seoul and Suwon, traditionally known as “The City of Filial Piety” and is the only city that has remained totally walled in the country. Most of them also visited Nami Island or Namisun in Chuncheon as it has become famous through the Korean drama “Winter Sonata” in 2002. It is an imaginary country called Naminara Republic and visitors have to pay for their imaginary passports that serve as admission fees.

But, after seeing the megacity, Seoul, and indulging in consumerism at Korea’s shopping districts, most Lao people might not want to visit again. They would not mind taking the trip only once in their lifetime, Ms Manisakhone said and smirked.

“They are not used to big cities and it is enough for them to see for themselves,” she explained. According to some of her friends who also visited, their tour guide took them to a shopping area and subtly forced them to buy cosmetic products.

Others plan to visit again after some years, like Ms Noy from Vientiane, who went to Korea with her family this year. Her favorite places were the public parks and Nami Island. She said she might return to Seoul when her children have grown up. But for now, she plans to visit other countries like Singapore.

For some reason, Lao people are now riding the Korean wave because, Mr Amnong said, they love watching Korean dramas. As the number of Lao tourist arrivals in Seoul will continue to rise in the coming months, more and more Koreans will fly to Vientiane to avail of “healing tours” or to volunteer in schools, hospitals and other organizations in Laos.

(Lorie Ann Cascaro of MindaNews is a fellow of the FK Norway (Fredskorpset) exchange programme in partnership with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists. She’s currently in Laos and hosted by the Vientiane Times.)

Read more http://www.mindanews.com/travel-lifestyle/2013/11/20/lao-tourists-ride-korean-wave/

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On the Lao side, Naga fireballs remain…

On the Lao side, Naga fireballs remain…

By Lorie Ann Cascaro on October 24 2013 5:59 pm

People swarm into a small village in Vientiane to see the Naga fireballs themselves despite others’ belief that the phenomenon is but a legend

VIENTIANE, Laos (MindaNews / 24 Octet) – Somewhere around 7 p.m., visitors and the villagers of Pakngum in Vientiane see hundreds of golden lanterns rising slowly beyond a full moon from Thailand’s Nong Khai province. Between Laos and Thailand, where the Nam Ngum and Mekong rivers converge, an intermittent exchange of fireworks conveys the people’s excitement at seeing the Naga fireballs shoot up from the deep recesses of the river.

Locally known as “bangfai paya nak” and described as pinkish-red fireballs, they surge like rockets every Boun Ork Phansa at the end of Buddhist Lent, says Mr Khamphuan Bouthsingkham, 65, who was the village’s chief 13 years ago, speaking in an interview hours earlier. He says that according to their ancestors, the Naga festival has been a 400-year-old celebration above and “under” the Mekong. “While the human world holds a festival with boat races and fireworks, the Nagas underwater create fireballs to honour the Buddha,” he explains.

Buddhists believe the Nagas are servants of Buddha in the form of water snakes residing in the Mekong River. As Mr Khamphuan imagines, they resemble the structures of dragon-like snakes with golden and green bodies found in the four corners of a small tower inside the compound of the village’s Vat Pra That Yadee Sama Khee Tham Thin Soy. Built in 1570, the temple has a 500-year-old stupa sitting about 50 meters from the riverbank. He points out that the Naga visited the stupa 30 years ago as people discovered its tracks from the riverbank.


The Naga also took a human form, Mr Khamphuan continues. Sometime in 1978 or 1979, a novice monk crossed the Mekong to Thailand before the Naga fireballs appeared and bought two boxes of powder used to make explosives. The young monk has since disappeared, but people believe he was the Naga who used the powder to make fireballs.

The young Khamphuan saw fireballs rapidly emerging from the water and rising up past a big tree before they disappeared. He grew up in a traditional house which is a hundred footsteps away from the confluence of the two rivers. “They came out right from the centre,” he says, and points to an imaginary line in between the two flows. The water from the Nam Ngum is greyish green with a steady flow, while the one from the Mekong is brown and fast.

He has never seen the Naga, but a village fisherman did see it some years ago. Mr Khamphuan tells Vientiane Times that on the day of the festival, the man’s fishing net caught something heavy. Instead of pulling it up, the man was pulled into the river. Thought to be dead by his family and neighbours, the man emerged on the third day after his disappearance and told them about an underwater festival. He was sent back to tell the villagers to honour the Naga by refraining from fishing on Buddhist days, and practicing the precepts of Buddhism such as not telling lies.


The villagers’ strong belief in the Naga and Buddhist teachings might have influenced the emergence of the fireballs. Mr Khamphuan ’s 99-year-old father, Mr Thit Saun Bouthsingkham, says he saw hundreds of fireballs coming out of the river during his younger years. The only one left of his generation, this toothless old man narrates his earlier encounters with the fireballs. He says he could not touch them as they rose so quickly into the sky and there were hundreds of them coming out from the sides of his boat. But, as the environment changes and people’s belief fades, the fireballs seldom show up, he explains.

His granddaughter, Ms Lounee, 28, says she has seen fireballs every year for as long as she can remember. Her two children, a one-year-old and a five-year-old, also saw them last year, she adds. While decorating banana stems with flowers, candles and incense sticks that would be floated on the river later, she says “I expect to see them again tonight,” and smiles broadly.

But 13-year-old Jonas Onthavong from the distant village of Khosaath, who has been visiting Pakngum every year for the festival, has never seen any fireballs. He says he was too busy talking or playing with his friends and didn’t really care about them. Asked whether or not he believes they are real, he looks at the river and scratches his head with his left hand. “Ha-sip, ha-sip (50-50),” he says dismissively.

As the night darkens, everyone waits to see real Naga fireballs while drinking Beerlao and eating tam-mak-houng (papaya salad). Amid whistling firecrackers, a sailing boat loaded with some bubbly locals entertains the hovering crowd on the Lao side of the river. Hours pass as fireworks and flying lanterns continue to amuse the watchers’ eyes. Until, a red light, like a laser point, appears and rises over the silhouette of the dark part of Thailand’s shore. It is too dark and far to figure out if it emerges from the river. The people who see it gasp in awe as the light quickly disappears. A few minutes later, another one appears, coming from the same direction as the first. More people are now looking in the same direction, waiting for another red light to rise. The third one rises after a longer wait. And who knows, how many more red “fireballs” rise that night.

Last year, many fireballs appeared the day after the festival when there was less noise along the river, Mr Khamphuan says, adding that the more visitors there are, the fewer fireballs are seen.

But, the existence of the Naga fireballs remains controversial. Online articles try to provide scientific explanations on how the fireballs could be formed but until then they remain theories. For example, American writer Bryan Dunning said during his weekly podcast, Skeptoid, in 2009 that the “scientific” explanation of the Naga fireballs “is not very scientific at all”.

Dunning argued that there are “two fatal flaws” with the hypothesis that the decomposition of organic matter in the riverbed produces methane gas, which bubbles to the surface, have caused the fireballs. He said “methane can only burn in an oxygen environment within a specific range of concentrations” and “requires the presence of phosphine combined with phosphorous tetrahydride, whose needed proportions are unlikely to be found in nature.” But, he added that even if such conditions did exist in the Mekong, “the combination of oxygen, methane and phosphorus compounds burns bright bluish-green with a sudden pop, producing black smoke” and “under no conditions does it burn slowly, or red, or rise up in the air as a fireball”.

Some people have tried to solve the mystery or prove that the phenomenon is a mere fraud. In 2002, a Thai TV programme showed how soldiers were found on the Lao side firing tracer bullets to produce what those from the other side of the river saw as the fireballs.

Meanwhile, whether or not the red fireballs that people have seen in recent years are actually firecrackers discreetly set off to attract tourists does not matter for Mr Khamphuan . “Why should I care about those stories when I saw the fireballs myself?” Nevertheless, as long as there are still people like the Bouthsingkhams who hope to see them every Ork Phansa, the festival will continue to draw visitors to small villages like Pakngum and let them get to know its humble people.

[Lorie Ann Cascaro of MindaNews is one of the fellows of the FK Norway (Fredskorpset) exchange programme in partnership with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists. She’s currently in Laos and hosted by the Vientiane Times.]

Read more http://www.mindanews.com/feature/2013/10/24/feature-on-the-lao-side-naga-fireballs-remain/

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‘Winning beyond boat racing’

‘Winning beyond boat racing’

By Lorie Ann Cascaro on October 19 2013 11:12 am


VIENTIANE, Laos (MindaNews/19 October)–In Ban Sai Fong Neua, 17 kilometers south from the city center, at least 40 women, each holding a wooden oar, trekked down a steep slope into the Mekong River barely an hour before sunset on Tuesday. Children and husbands of the village women lingered at the cliff and watched a long traditional boat advancing as the river flows slowly.

The Lao-International Women’s Boat Racing Team prepares for its 20th year of joining the race in Vientiane. MindaNews photo by Lorie Ann Cascaro

They composed the Lao-International Women’s Boat Racing Team, a mixture of the village women and falang (expatriate) women from different countries who are living in Vientiane. Even before the race could begin, the team has already “won” this year’s Dragon Boat Racing Festival Women’s Category.

That is simply because the team has remained intact for 20 years now.

Starting today (Saturday) until tomorrow, they will paddle in unison along the Mekong River near the Vientiane Capital not just to compete with the other teams but most importantly to celebrate the sisterhood that they have strengthened for two decades now.

The boat racing has tightened the connection of the international women to the village people through the years.

“We have never won a race but the women continue to participate,” Ruth Foster, an international teacher in her 50s, told MindaNews during the team’s regular practice at the river bank near the village.

Although they trained hard, the women give more value to their friendship and experience, she added.

Foster had been rowing for the team since she arrived in Vientiane almost a decade ago and years later became the coach for English instructions, while a primary school headmaster, Mr Kibou, who has been training the women for 16 years, commands in Lao language.

Lao Women’s Union members, particularly Khamphao Phimasone and Amphone, are key people who have kept the team going through the seasons, Foster said.

The veteran Khamphao recalled the Lao-International Women’s Boat Racing Team first joined in 1993 with already non-villagers and foreigners as members.

While foreign team members were transitory, membership from the village hardly changed year after year. Thus, there is a “surprising amount of continuity” of the group, Foster said.

It is easy to join the team. One can try out and see if she can pursue the training. It is towards the big race day that permanent members get their respective places on the boat.

Women boat racers trek down to the Mekong River to practice for the Dragon Boat Racing Festival women’s category this year. MindaNews photo by Lorie Ann Cascaro

The boat racing festival is held every Boun Ok Phansa, the end of Rains Retreat, which is a three-month fasting of Buddhist monks in the rainy season. It has been a tradition for the Lao-International Women’s Boat Racing Team to bring food and alms to the monks in the morning before going to the race.

“Every year, we went to the temple with our finest, wearing best sinhs with the mandatory scarf over one shoulder and takbat bowls full of offerings for the monks,” Foster said.

But the women fear they could not continue their tradition in this year’s festival.

The competition for women’s category will be held in the morning on the same day that they have to visit the temple. She points out that the race seemed to become “commercialized” in the last two years. The village members find it costly to go the center twice as the boat racing will run for two days with men and women categories being done on separate days.

Nevertheless, the team will surely make it on the race day and paddle at their best.

The tree

Foster recounted their sleepover in a temple at Ban Nakham, about four hours ride from Vientiane in 2009.

There they saw “the tree,” which was eventually turned into their racing boat to replace a 50-year old one.

Boats that are used for the racing festival are made of a single tree. Villagers believe that the spirit of a tree will be transferred to the boat. They pay respects to the spirit by keeping the boat inside the village temple until the next racing festival.

The monks organized the boat making in exchange for the funds that the women raised from sponsorships to build a structure inside the temple compound.

Since they cut a tree, the villagers from Sai Fong Neua and Nakham planted more trees in the area. The relationship between the two villages has grown strongly since the making of the team’s new boat.

Most international paddlers are interns from a range of organizations or individuals working or studying here for a short period, while local members are professionals, employees and market vendors. The race has been a break from their normal day-to-day lives when they can show their extraordinary skills.  (Lorie Ann Cascaro of MindaNews is one of the fellows of the FK Norway (Fredskorpset) exchange program in partnership with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists. She’s currently in Laos and hosted by the Vientiane Times.)  


Read more http://www.mindanews.com/feature/2013/10/19/winning-beyond-boat-racing/

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Cooking hot to keep the climate cool

Cooking hot to keep the climate cool

By Lorie Ann Cascaro on October 16 2013 4:00 pm

VIENTIANE, Laos (MindaNews / 16 Oct) – Buying a new cookstove is not easy. Sellers offer heaps of different models that look alike and as a buyer, how do you know how it performs at home? Not to mention that the human brain does not like to make decisions. The problem is apparent in Dongmakind market, along Road Number 10 to Thangon. All outlets offer a wide array of models.

But, if you believe the saleswoman, Ms Sai, 35, choosing has now become easy. She sells something that the others don’t have yet – the improved tao payat (fuel-saving cookstove). A prominent, blue sticker distinguishes the stoves and a tarpaulin poster states that these stoves are “quality-tested and more efficient” than traditional stoves.

“They are better,” Ms Sai, who had sold two out of a first batch of five cookstoves a week after she began displaying them, tells Vientiane Times on a Friday afternoon. She promotes the stoves to customers, saying they are fuel-saving, long lasting, and friendly to health and the environment.

She is among Vientiane’s first five retailers of a new, improved tao payat model, which resulted from a project of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the local Non-Profit Association Normai. It was paid for by the European Union, Oxfam and the Blue Moon Fund.


The project started in Savannakhet in 2011, where in 2012 about 1,500 stoves already have been sold. Sales will reach 5,000 in 2013 and go up to 20,000 in 2014. Now, the first stoves are being sold in Vientiane. They are also going to be promoted at a special booth during the upcoming boat racing festival.

Mr Bastiaan Teune, Sector Leader of Renewable Energy of SNV in Laos, says the project tries to connect the private and the public sector and to improve the lives of the people as its main purpose. It focuses on making the traditional stove more efficient and durable. By replacing the old tao dam with the improved tao payat, a household can save about 20 percent of fuel, which is equal to 300 grams of charcoal per day. It also boils water faster.

This might not look like much, but quickly becomes so when scaled-up. In total, Laos can save at least 30,000 kilograms of charcoal per day with the 100,000 improved cook stoves that the project aims to produce by 2016. About 50,000 cookstoves of them will be distributed in Vientiane capital and province, 25,000 each in the provinces of Savannakhet and Champasak.

Mr Teune explains that the roughly 100kg charcoal that one new cookstove saves per year results in greenhouse gases equal of one ton of carbon dioxide (CO2). The total greenhouse gas emissions reduced by the project during the period of 2014-2016 will be 150,000 tons, he says. “This is equal to the emissions of 20,000 passengers flying from Vientiane to Amsterdam and back,” Mr Teune explains.

The reduced greenhouse gas emissions could theoretically also be sold on the international carbon market in the future. Unfortunately, they’re not worth that much nowadays. “The ‘market price’ to sell one ton used to be US$10, but is now at an all-time low at US$1 only due to the low international commitment to the Kyoto Protocol,” adds Mr Teune. The greenhouse gases saved by the improved cookstoves would have a total market value of about US$150,000.

While it is true that the use of the improved tao payat reduces carbon emissions from cooking, it does not stop suppliers of charcoal to cut trees and char wood. But wood and charcoal can be considered as renewable sources of energy only if another tree is planted after cutting one, says Mr Teune. This is beyond the scope of this particular project, and he has made steps to do so.

The producer of the first cookstoves in Vientiane is Mr Loth, 35, whose workshop lies in Oudomphone village. On the ground, hundreds of grey tao payat stoves wait to be baked in the kiln. While his employees are crafting stove after stove in the back, he says that he doesn’t expect to earn much more from supplying the new-designed stoves instead of the old ones, due to the longer durability. “But after using three of these stoves at home, I knew then that they would quickly sell out in the market”, says Mr Loth. An improved cookstove costs 10,000 kip more than a traditional cookstove but it lasts a year and a half longer, he adds.

Around the world, 1.6 billion people depend on charcoal and wood for cooking. In Laos, over 80 percent of the households still use traditional stoves for cooking, at least twice a day. Cookstoves are “detrimental to the livelihood of people,” according to Mr Teune, and their use also brings certain risks. Firewood takes time to collect, for example, and smoke creates a lot of health problems. Worldwide, about four million people die per year from smoke-induced diseases. Increasing the efficiency of the cookstoves lessens all these troubles.

Another long-term impact of the project, Mr Teune says, is the introduction of quality standards: “Let producers agree on quality standards with retailers. Consumers will distinguish a good stove from a traditional one by the blue label. The government can take part in quality assurance, using better methods to check the efficiency of stoves.”

Testing is done by the Institute of Renewable Energy and New Materials of the Ministry of Science and Technology, where staff tests the efficiency and characteristics of different models. For the first time ever a quality standard is introduced to the cookstove market in Lao PDR.

The second outlet that features the tao payat in Dongmakind market is the one of Ms Khek, 29. The new model is lined up together with old ones like the tao dam (black stove) or stoves made of cement. She points to a small wood-fired stove when asked which one sells best. Why? “It’s the cheapest and costs only 20,000 kip each. But it can only last for seven to eight months.” She notes that although the improved tao payat costs 45,000 kip, it can last up to two years. On her shelf, a quite special one, the first ever produced cookstove with the serial number 001, produced by Mr Loth, waits for his new owner.

[Lorie Ann Cascaro of MindaNews is one of the fellows of the FK Norway (Fredskorpset) exchange program in partnership with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists. She’s currently in Laos and hosted by the Vientiane Times.]



Read more http://www.mindanews.com/feature/2013/10/16/cooking-hot-to-keep-the-climate-cool/

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Lao farmers need no ‘magic’ to adapt to climate change

Lao farmers need no ‘magic’ to adapt to climate change

By Lorie Ann Cascaro on September 24 2013 4:20 pm

VIENTIANE, Laos (MindaNews/24 September) — The sky is still dark when 48-year old Ms Kham Phanyavong leaves her house at 3:30 AM on Saturday. She has to be at That Luang organic market before the customers arrive. She pays 40,000 kip to transport four baskets of vegetables from Nontae village in Xaythany district here. In her baskets are long beans, onions, morning glory, cucumber, papaya and carrots, all from her garden.

Earning four million kip a month, cash comes in regularly from selling vegetables and not from her two rai (0.32 hectare) of rice farm.

Her land that she tills along with her husband and six children produces 35 sacks or about 3,500 kilos of khao niaw (a variety of sticky rice) every year. But, everything is enough for her kith and kin. “Our farm doesn’t have irrigation,” she tells MindaNews. She says rain comes less frequent nowadays, causing the rice paddies to store less water. When it rains, flood destroys the plants and washes away essential nutrients from the soil.

Her farm yields enough to feed her own family. She doesn’t know if it can yield more with proper irrigation and fertilization. She does not blame “climate change” but rather talks about adjusting her farming period to the changing weather patterns. Learning from experiences in the past, she has to replant rice seedlings to the paddies two or three weeks before the yearly “big rain” so that the plants will not be uprooted by the flood that happens after two days of heavy downpour.

Vientiane is one of the six major flood-affected provinces in Laos, including Savannakhet, Bolikhamxay, Khammouane, Attapeu and Champasak.


“Climate change” is not a common term for most farmers in Laos. But, the Lao government recognizes the impacts of climate change by signing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1995 and the Kyoto Protocol in 2003. The government developed its National Adaptation Programme of Action to Climate Change (NAPA) with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

In the NAPA 2009, Deputy Prime Minister Chair of National Environment Committee Mr Asang Laoly says Laos has seen in recent years “more frequent and severe floods and droughts which are alternately occurring each year.” “Temperature is continuously increasing and the rainfall is erratic, resulting in a number of adverse impacts to the economic system, environment and the livelihoods of people of all ethnic groups.”

Over three decades, from 1966 to 2009, Laos has felt the impacts of climate change through the increase in temperature with an average of 0.1 degrees Celsius (C), between the northern and central part, and between the central and southern part. As observed in the rapid assessment, the average temperature in eight northern provinces increased from 23.0 to 23.2 C; 26.3 C to 26.6 C in five central provinces; and, 26.9 C to 27.3 C in four southern provinces.

Data from the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) show that drought occurred in Laos from 1995 to 2005 “characterized by higher and irregular increases in temperature.” The country also experienced large floods, including flash floods in the northern and eastern regions as recorded in 1995, 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2005. More recently, experiences with typhoons have been made in the south of the country.

In an earlier interview, UNDP technical advisor to the National Agricultural Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) of Lao PDR Mr. Manfred Staab said farmers can tell their stories of climate change events. As an example, he cited that previously a farmer grew enough number of seedlings in a single batch at the start of rainy season, but now the start of the rainy season is interrupted by dry periods. “When the second of third sequence of rain comes after the dry intervals, they don’t have any seedling anymore and have to try starting the whole process again.”

“Let the farmer fully understand what is actually happening to help them becoming aware that they need to change their livelihood, too. Either you may decide to move to another area if you can afford to do so, or you adapt to this changing environment,” said Mr. Staab.

Improving the Resilience of Agricultural Sector to Climate Change Impacts (IRAS), which is a project of NAFRI funded by the UNDP, has introduced alternatives to the farmers in two vulnerable districts each in Savannakhet and Xayaboury provinces. These areas are identified by the project as prone to flood and drought, and have a high percentage of poor farming households.

As a pilot project, IRAS has catered to nearly 500 households until 2015. In their latest results of agriculture and water management activities, significant improvements can be seen in some villages.

He says the strategies and adaptation practices that they taught to rice farmers are “not really new” and “not surprising ideas, but solid and demonstrated activities”. Aside from introducing new rice varieties that are adaptive to rainy and dry seasons, he cites proven alternative farming practices such as raising chickens, ducks, fish, pigs and frogs, and storing of water in reservoirs and large containers. He hopes that Lao people will learn from the project and replicate the activities in their own villages.

“It’s not anything magic here. The farmers know how to grow rice but they just have to deal with it differently with the farming system, opening up options for diversification of crops, fruits, vegetables, livestock. Just opening their viewpoint for existing choices with economic benefits.”

Back to the village in Vientiane, Ms Kham is unknowingly becoming resilient to climate change by doing crop diversification as she is also planting vegetables aside from rice. Thanks to her organization, the Vientiane Organic Farmers Group, that provides her seeds and trainings. The farmers sell their vegetables on Wednesday and Saturday morning in That Luang esplanade, and Monday afternoon at the Chao Fa Ngum Park here.

(Lorie Ann Cascaro of MindaNews is one of the fellows of the FK Norway (Fredskorpset) exchange program in partnership with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists. She’s currently in Laos and hosted by the Vientiane Times.)



Read more http://www.mindanews.com/environment/2013/09/24/lao-farmers-need-no-magic-to-adapt-to-climate-change/

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Laos kids express hope for the future through images

Laos kids express hope for the future through images

By Lorie Ann Cascaro on September 7 2013 3:59 pm

Through drawings, photos and role play, children from different provinces met in Vientiane to express their vision for their villages by the time they reach 20.

VIENTIANE, Laos (MindaNews / 7 Sept) – Luxon Keodavonh from Donkhoun village in Khammuan province’s Xebangfay district wants to be a soldier when he grows up. He will be 20 years old in 2020.

“My two siblings and I are living with my mother in Khammuan. Our father left us for reasons I don’t know. But, when I become a soldier, I will earn a lot of money and will give it to my mother to support us,” he told Vientiane Times.

He is one of 12 children picked by World Vision Lao PDR (WVL) to join the “Hearing the hopes of children for Laos in 2020” forum in Vientiane last Tuesday.

Coming from 12 provinces, they were selected as children’s council members to tell government partners about life in their communities and what they wanted to achieve by the time they were 20.


Using crayons and coloured pencils, the children used drawing to express how they envisioned their villages in the year 2020.

“The school in my village is very old; I want it to be fixed. My village also needs a hospital to treat sick people,” Luxon said, showing his own picture to participants.

Khamphay Vilayvong, National Leading Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Eradication Foreign Relations Department senior official, attended the forum along with representatives from government and non-government organisations and agencies.

Children also presented photographs they had taken in their villages.

Twelve-year-old Chansy showed a padlocked toilet in her school in Seanmeaung village in Champassak province’s Soukhuman district.

“We cannot use it because there is no water and we cannot keep it clean,” she said.

Vongphachanh, 13 and from the same village, showed a picture of a water pump.

“It’s very difficult for us to use this,” he said. “We need a sustainable water supply.”

Lattana from Pakbok village, Ngoy district in Luang Prabang province, showed a photo of farmers in cabbage farm.

“In the past, we grew a few vegetables only for us to eat but now we are growing vegetables in a very big field to eat and sell as well,” she said.

Photos taken by Phengkham from Samyaek village in Phoukoun district, Luang Prabang province show a market in her village and farmers climbing a steep hill while carrying huge baskets of vegetables.

She said the stalls in the market didn’t have strong roofs, the place was not clean and her family needed a vehicle to transport their goods.

One photograph from Khamla, from Vangxieng village in Phonthong district, Luang Prabang province, was of two men riding a bamboo raft along a river. One man is holding on to his motorbike, while the other is maneuvering the raft.

“The villagers need to build a bridge to cross the river more easily and safely,” Khamla said.

The group dramatised scenes of two families to show how parents can violate their children’s rights by not sending them to school or by depriving their daughters of an education.

WVL National Director Amelia Merrick said she had felt discouraged hearing children’s stories last year and had realised World Vision was not working fast enough to help the children in its 24 target districts.

She said it was around then her friend Sombath Somphone, a well-regarded Lao community worker who has been reportedly missing since December, told her stories of change.

“He told me, ‘I have seen it different in Laos, Amelia’,” she said.

“Mr Sombath said our greatest hope is listening to the youth and listening to the children. He said the children in Laos are very smart and they have great ideas and want to be a part of the change in Laos.

“Today I believe that it is true because I have been inspired that it can be different.”

More than 46,000 children are enrolled in WVL’s child sponsorship programme, which is run in rural communities in five provinces – Luang Prabang, Borikhamxay, Khammuan, Savannakhet and Champassak.

Unlike Luxon’s dream of becoming a soldier, Seua, who led the group singing, wants to become a policeman.

“But, I can also be a singer,” he said, showing his teeth in a shy grin.

The small boy sang along with the other children in a song honoring soldiers who fought for the country’s freedom, while Vongphachan, 13, played a wooden beat box like a true professional. (Lorie Ann Cascaro / MindaNews with Patithin of Vientiane Times)

[Lorie Ann Cascaro of MindaNews is one of the fellows of the FK Norway (Fredskorpset) exchange program in partnership with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists. She’s currently in Laos and hosted by the Vientiane Times.]



Read more http://www.mindanews.com/around-mindanao/children/2013/09/07/laos-kids-express-hope-for-the-future-through-images/

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Getting fit in Vientiane

Getting fit in Vientiane

VIENTIANE, Laos (MindaNews / 6 Sept) – It’s 5 p.m. here in the prefecture. In Vientiane Times newsroom, journalists take off work one after another, leaving the editors and layout artists to close pages of the paper. A few of them came out of the office’s comfort room after switching from formal shoes to sneakers, from uniform to dry-fit short pants and shirts.

They’re not taking their motorbikes or cars with them yet. Two-minute walk from the office at Pangkham Road sits the Chou Anouvong Park where a gigantic statue of King Anouvong, the last monarch in Vientiane, is enclosed by green patches, foliage and paved pathways for pedestrians and cyclists. A stone throw away from the statue, the Mekong River beside the park gulps the sunset. At the other river bank, Thailand unhurriedly lights up its street lamps.

I take my knapsack with me on my way to the park as I’m a bit shy to be seen by colleagues suddenly transformed into some kind of “sporty”. Inside a public toilet within the park, I changed my clothes and shoes for 3,000 kip (US$0.38). And, by running in a calculated slow pace (my first time to jog again after two months since I arrived here), off I joined the health enthusiasts of the capital. Non-electric exercise machines of free use are anchored to the ground in the shade of big old trees at another area of the park.

The asphalt road along the river bank stretches over a kilometer long. This road has no traffic rules; it’s not open to vehicles. My momentum has adjusted to run at steady faster pace when I abruptly halt as a boy in soccer shoes chases to kick a ball that rolls towards my feet. It’s a bit hard for me to keep the pacing while anticipating whether or not a bike exhibitionist would perform his next stunts as I pass by.


Some tourists jog in groups and others religiously finish their rounds to and from either ends of the road alone. Young people, usually wearing earphones and clad in bright color outfits, nonchalantly pass by couples and peers who prefer to watch the sunset squatting at the cemented dike. It resembles the benches in an Olympics stadium.

Flags of Lao PDR and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party alternately line in two sets of 10 poles in a platform like a center stage above the dike. Performing here are hundreds of women in pink shirts and headbands, dancing in Zumba. Another group of women, young and adult, perform their aerobic steps. They manage to synchronize their movements among members, without being distracted by overlapping music from other group’s sound box. The river is their backdrop and their audience is the array of red tents set up by bustling vendors in time for the night market.

Before darkness completely envelops the park, sodium street lights brighten the place. The small red tents are now full of almost everything that is saleable – handicrafts and garments from Laos, Vietnam, China, and Thailand; accessories with copied brands; pirated DVDs; media players and even mobile phones. Paintings are also sold by the artists themselves for as low as 50,000 kip each.

Four kilometers from the Chou Anovoung night market (seven minutes motorbike ride), the That Luang esplanade is simultaneously packed of fitness aficionados. With That Luang temple and the National Assembly building on the side, the esplanade has four-lane paved roads that connect Kaysone Phomvihane Avenue and Nongbone Road.

But, the vast pavement is not part of the city’s traffic. Both ends are temporarily fenced with steel bars. Several groups in aerobics sessions found their own spots at the side, while soccer varsity players are at the other. People jog in the middle undisturbed because drivers of motorbikes (either in a test drive or crash course driving lesson) change lanes to yield to the former.

It’s 8 p.m. in That Luang esplanade when I went there to jog after my Lao language lessons. I just did two rounds as I felt that I’d already run about three kilometers in 30 minutes. I left the place with still a few cyclists, runners, soccer players and by-standers. The place is open 24 hours.

Friday in Lao language is called “Wan Souk” and “souk” means “happy”. It’s 5 p.m. on a happy day. Let’s exercise in a form of sport that doesn’t require a change of outfit. Let’s play pétanque!

Men in their slacks and women in their Lao sinh skirts parade to nearby compounds that have pétanque courts. I sweat a little bit after several throws of those heavy metal balls that never hit the small one. But, it doesn’t matter as long as I sip enough beer. Yes, this is the sport that will help you gain back the beer belly that you tried to lose days before. You cannot see any pétanque courts here on Fridays without beer bottles or cans. Nevertheless, it’s a part of healthy lifestyle. This time your heart pumps regularly as you enjoy the start of the weekend laughing out loud with friends—usually with beer and some “pulutan” to go with it.

Or raw vegetables.

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Making friends in Laos by '11 Bus'

Making friends in Laos by '11 Bus'

 

I was walking along the bricked sidewalks at corners Chao Anou Road and Rue Setthathilath in Ventiane, Laos, when I met Hee Su Jung, a 29-year old Korean lady who was completing her 15-day vacation here all by herself.

It was an ordinary Tuesday afternoon (May 7), my fourth day in Laos, and I had been interviewing foreigners for the newspaper column "Streetwise" of Ventiane Times about what they can say about the World's Best Tourist Destination for 2013 title that the European Council on Tourism and Trade (ECTT) officially awarded to Lao People’s Democratic Republic on Thursday.

ECTT chairman, Professor Dr. Anton Caragea, said among the reasons for awarding Laos the title the preservation of its historical and cultural patrimony that comprises wonderful sites, including religious sites of world significance and value; and, promoting a new concept of community-based tourism.

I was looking for my third interviewee when I saw Hee Su, curly blonde hair, spaghetti-strapped blue sleeveless top that matched those loose cotton pants, donning her sunglasses and earphones on. I was hesitant to approach her at first as she seemed to be enjoying her moment in a sunny weather with temperature over 30 degrees Celsius.

Surprisingly, she agreed to be interviewed. And, that was the start of our friendship.

The interview was only brief, but I learned more about her when we met later for dinner.

Her trip to Laos, particularly 12 days in Vangvieng---a small town in Vientiane province that she reached by bus for four hours from the city---had been a therapy for her.

She said Laos is a place for healing, for people to spend time by themselves and think deeply. She read about Laos two years ago from New York Times but at the time she could not decide to give herself a break. It was only last year when she began preparing for the trip after making a major decision---quitting her job as an English teacher to pursue her passion for music.

She played Surdo 1 in a band, Rapercussion, which had several concerts in Seoul and some provinces in South Korea for five years now. She said doing what she loves is liberating for her despite her parents' worrying about her financial stability. Since her vacation here, she has taken rest from the band to think about what she really wants for her life.

She said people tend to miss the target and make themselves busy getting rich or accumulating material things. “Most people complained about their jobs everyday but never dare to quit because they need money,” she continued.

She said most of them don't know how to find peace of mind, and instead they indulge in travelling or sports. "Life is good and a gift from God," she said, adding that everybody has the choice to live and think freely.

Hee Su told me about her Facebook page, “11 bus” (spelled in Korean), which she started last month. In search for her life’s meaning, she decided to talk to strangers and listen to their stories, then share them in her page. She treated all the people she interviewed as her mentors.

She said most of the tourists she met in Laos also went here for soul-searching and to find peace of mind.

She explained that “11 bus” means her two legs, which resemble number 11 when standing, and walking as a form of transportation. By walking, she said, one can meet a lot of people who have their own struggles and stories of success. It only takes one’s willingness to approach a person and the latter’s openness to create a connection and learn from each other.

Actually, she interviewed me in return to talk about my purpose in Laos and how I became a journalist. I told her that maybe my stay in Laos has a stronger purpose than simply completing my assignments under the 11-month exchange program. I’m looking forward to discover such.

I had been walking from my apartment to the office since Day 2, and indeed, I met a lot of strangers, both Lao people and foreigners.

Although I have my officemates at Vientiane Times, which is my host organization in an exchange program of the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists, making friends outside the work place takes confidence and openness to talk to strangers.

On my way to work last Wednesday, I met Sara Holcombe, a photojournalist from Alabama, USA. She introduced me to her friend Dave, an American freelance journalist in his 50s, who has lived here for years. He promised to show me good places here and share some points about journalism.

That was a good start with my own “11 bus.”

Hee Su planned to visit Gangjeong village in Jeju Island, south of Seoul by May or June this year to take part in the protest of residents and activists against the construction of a naval base. Jeju is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

She said she realized during her stay in Vangvieng that she can show support for the people’s fight to protect the natural beauty in Gangjeong by simply visiting the village and be together with them.

Getting updates from each other through Line (an online social networking I registered in only when I arrived here), Hee Su and I continue the connection we began when we were on our “11 bus”.

My budding friendship with her reminds me of a journalist friend in Davao City, Philippines, Mick Basa, who taught me a quote from William Butler Yeats that goes “There are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met.”

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My first night in Laos

My first night in Laos

This is about my first night in Laos. But, I promise to answer all Jesse's questions to me later.

I was afraid of ghost inside my room. I never thought of anything like
it until I woke up in the middle of the night after I thought somebody
shouted at my ear: "Huy!" or was it "Oi!" I didn't turn off the lights
and TV to make me feel safe. At first, I thought it was only something
that I heard from the TV show. So, I went back to sleep and after a
few minutes or hours (I'm not sure anymore), I woke up again after I
thought I heard the same thing. And, at the time, the voice coming
from the TV was of a soft-spoken woman. That was when I thought, it
was not the TV...

Since then, I've been afraid to stay in my own room. Worse, my room is
in between two empty rooms. The other door in front of mine, just a
meter away, is always locked. The guard, Sumnek, told me the owner
keeps it closed because the other door in the opposite side is the one
being used. Despite that, I always think nobody occupies the room
until now. Since I arrived, only one window of that room has been
open. And, I can't see any shade of light coming from that room every
single night.

Fortunately, the other room near the staircase is now being occupied
by a couple, one from New York and the other from Israel. The American
guy, Benjie, is staying for a month like me. I will have to move in
another apartment after a month. My mentor said an Indian-Australian
volunteer, Step, will be staying with me in another house by June. So,
until now, I'm still struggling to be comfortable in my room.

Last week, a Filipina friend, Ellen, invited me to stay with her in
her apartment, which is at the top floor of a 6-story building. Like
me, she is also afraid to stay alone in an apartment with two rooms.
She lets me occupy the other room.

But, I can only stay there until this week. A former tenant asked her
to rent the extra room next week. This means, I will be back to my
apartment.

Two days ago, I took some clothes from my room. I realized that the
gloomy ambiance of my room might be brought by the weak light from a
small bulb, the only light I have. My bathroom has a bigger one,
fluorescent lamp. I asked Sumnek if it's possible for him to provide
my room a fluorescent lamp to brighten the room. He said, yes, and so
I expected it to be fixed before I go back.

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Sabaidee: Hello, Laos!

Sabaidee: Hello, Laos!

 

May 12, 2013

Sabaidee means Hello in Lao language. My officemates in Vientiane Times brought me to a house blessing right from the airport last May 4. That was such an exciting way to welcome a guest!

I've been here in Vientiane, Laos for eight days already. It took me more than three weeks since I arrived in Bangkok before I got the interest to write in this blog.

Maybe, I was still so overwhelmed after flying miles away from my homeland. Or was it culture shock?

When I first landed in Vientiane, I immediately fell in love with its French-influenced architecture. I never thought this place is so sophisticated because I was told it's more like a province back home.

But, the Talatsao Mall, it's lone shopping mall, looks like one of our small air-conditioned markets though. Most products cost thrice higher than the ones in Bangkok, where most stores here got their stuff.

The foods taste good---spicy and salty. Parsley is always present in almost all of their dishes, except for fried ones. But, expect that there's parsley in the dipping sauce. Lao people eat noodles, sticky and steamed rice as their staple food. But, what's so interesting is that they usually eat raw green and leafy vegetables.

I was advised by Ma'am Amy, my mentor in the Philippines for this exchange project, to drink Coke to get away from taste fatigue and to taste like home. Because I'm not a Coke drinker, I drink beer. And, since my first day here, I fell in love with Beerlao, which tastes better than our beer but still makes me feel like home. Honestly, I haven't had a Coke since I arrived.

It's sunset here now. My view from the roof top of a 6-story building and the chirping birds reminded me that home is near.

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From archipelago to landlocked

From archipelago to landlocked

The beach days are over. ... for awhile.

Twenty days to go before my journey to Bangkok, Thailand, from where I will enter Vientiane, Laos, will begin. This may sound familiar to my fellow Filipinos who are used to traveling abroad. But, mine will be slightly different because my journey to Laos is a part of my job. Travelling like a tourist will only be an incentive.

It will be my first time to fly outside the Philippines, outside my comfort zone. And, like I said, this flight won't be just an ordinary holiday for an amateur traveler. This will be the beginning of the next 365 days of my life in a landlocked country.

How is that for a woman, who had not missed the beach and island escapade in each of her 29 years in the archipelago?

But, I'll be missing much more if I will not spend a year in a country that will let me see a different world, than a day in the beach.

This journey is an opportunity for me to be the window of my fellow people in Davao City, and the country in general, to have a glimpse of the uniqueness of the people and places in Laos.

Allow my senses, heart and mind to convey the "beauty and wonders" of another Asian land in a way that I know I can be exact---writing and taking photos.

Welcome to my new blog! Your window abroad.

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