Sea Change

Last Day In Luang

So Sam the Man’s gone, on his tuk tuk and van back to Nong Khiaw. He took a nausea pill before he left, as the last time he did that trip, last week, he was as sick as a dog the whole time. His belly’s doing strange things at the moment.

It's a real bummer.

It was amazing to have some precious time alone with just him, and now we’re off on our own separate journeys.

Sam putting on a brave face

UXO

So after he left I went off for a little more history, but of the very sobering variety. For some light entertainment I headed to the Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Information Centre and Museum, which tells the story of the horrific bombing of Laos by the US during the civil war in the 60s and 70s, its ongoing and devastating consequences, and the work by UXO Laos, an NGO, to clean it up and educate locals on the very real dangers of UXO.

For much of the 20th Century Laos was a battleground. It had already been colonised by the French, and was then invaded by the Japanese during World War II. Then the country was involved in the fight for independence from the French, which it finally achieved in 1954.

But despite independence, political instability within the country, largely influenced by the superpowers and other bigger countries in the region, saw Laos again slide into war, with the Royalist government (supported by the US and its allies) fighting against the Pathet Lao, the communists (supported by the USSR and China). There was a Neutralist group too, which was a breakaway group of the Royalist army, who eventually ended up aligning with the communists.

Throughout this whole time ground munitions were used extensively in the country, posing a huge risk to civilians.

But by far the bigger risk was from the ruthless and relentless carpet bombing of the country by the US. Between 1964 and 1973 US forces dropped an estimated 2 million tonnes of ordnance on Laos, more tonnage of bombs than was used in the whole of the Second War War.

This makes Laos the most bombed country in the world. Ever.

At this time the war in Vietnam was in full swing. The Viet Minh, the communists in North Vietnam, had already occupied parts of northern and eastern Laos, and had established what the US called the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and Cambodia, a network of roads and tunnels that they could use to ferry troops and supplies between North and South Vietnam, away from US forces.

The US response was to train a militia of over 30,000 local hill tribesmen to fight the communists in northern Laos, from mainly local Hmong, Miên and Khmu hill tribes, and to fund and support the Lao Royalist forces in their military operations.

And the second strategy of the US was to bomb the living shit out of the place.

Doing the evil deed

The dead world

The proxy war in Laos was known as the “secret war” because both the US and North Vietnam had already signed the 1954 Geneva Accords, agreeing to maintain the neutrality of Laos, and neither side wanted to be seen publicly as breaching those treaty agreements.

The US operation there was the largest CIA operation in history up to that point, and was only superseded by the massive campaign in Afghanistan in the late 1970s and 1980s, when the CIA supported the mujahideen in their fight against the invading Russians.

And look where all that got them.

Anyway, back to Laos.

Cluster bombs were used extensively in the bombing campaign. These are large metal canisters containing up to 4,800 small submunitions (called ‘bombies’ in Laos - a remarkably cute name for such a brutal and deadly weapon).

Once the large canister is dropped from the aircraft or fired from a ground artillery weapon, it breaks open in mid-air, releasing the hundreds of deadly bombies over an area of about the size of 2 or 3 football fields.

The huge number of exploding bombies had incredibly deadly effects of course, but on top of that, an average of roughly 30% of them failed to detonate, resulting in huge swathes of the country being carpeted with UXO. When disturbed, even decades later, these bombies often explode, with devastating consequences for the farmers or kids or tribespeople or whoever else has been unlucky enough to accidentally come across them.

It’s estimated that there’s still 80 million unexploded bombies in Laos, and, at current clearance rates, it will take over 100 years to clear them all. And this doesn’t even include the millions of other, larger, UXOs littered across the country.

It all totally sucks.

Fuck these men with their war toys.

And it’s just yet another huge impediment to development in a country already cluttered with disadvantage. The widespread existence of UXOs in rural areas hugely limits the amount of land locals can safely use, and unfortunately economic pressures often result in farmers taking huge risks in ploughing, farming or clearing land that’s unsafe, with deadly consequences.

On average, one person a day is injured from UXO accidents in the country, and someone is killed every 2 weeks, on average. And this is 50 years after the last bombs were dropped.

UXO also greatly limits larger infrastructure projects, as clearing for them is extremely expensive, time consuming, labour intensive and is quite a complex and dangerous task, requiring substantial training and equipment.

Detonating UXOs during the clearing process

Scanning for UXOs buried deeper in the ground

Removing a big one. Practical local solutions for international folly.

The real face of the tragedy

People are so poor in rural Laos that they’ll even risk using UXOs as a source of income, because they often contain good quality metals such as steel and copper, which are melted down and used to make tools, or sold for good money as scrap metal.

For example, one large 300kg bomb contains so much valuable metal that it’s worth about two thirds of the average farmer’s total annual income, providing a huge incentive for poor locals to collect and sell them. This is of course an incredibly dangerous endeavour. Scrap metal detection and collection, helped by widely available and cheap metal detectors, is now the main cause of UXO deaths in the country.

Just imagine that, instead of dropping all these bombs, the US had just given the Lao people all the money it wasted making and dropping them.

Just saying.

Poor kids with their family’s metal detector

UXO Laos are doing an amazing job trying to clear the country of UXOs. It’s a massive task. If you’d like to help with a donation, please see the following link. It’s a little complicated, but you can contact them directly and they’ll sort you out.

https://www.uxolao.org/en/

Recapitalising

So off I went on the Chinese train back to Vientiane.

The horde board

Fast, sleek, and a debt trap for the government

The floodwaters are receding a little

Beer and chips!

Back at Dhaka Restaurant, with the preachers giving another shonky lesson, and my tastebuds getting yet another treat.

Jenni and Michael kindly hosted me again, it was great to be back at theirs. They’re definitely more than Warmshowers hosts now, they’ve become friends, and their place feels like home.

I stayed a night, made sure I got some exotic vegetarian food into me, and then took an overnight bus to Bangkok, via the Thai border town of Nong Khai. I was keen to catch up with Craig down there, who was due to fly back to Oz the next evening.

Portraits of the last king, at a small eating place near Nong Khai bus station.

I had a nice journey south, chatting with a young Russian guy called Evgeniy. He escaped Russia when their forces invaded Ukraine, like hundreds of thousands of other Russian men at the time. He told me how much he disagrees with what Putin’s been doing in Ukraine, but that because the Russian state completely controls the media and internet in the country, most Russians support Putin’s invasion.

A huge number have ended up in Thailand, due to the favourable visa situation for them here, and the relatively low prices. Evgeniy has fallen in love with a young Thai woman, no surprises there, so he’s planning on staying a while.

Back to Bangers

It was nice to arrive in the capital at 5am. I caught a clunky old local bus towards Banglamphu, and wandered the streets, waiting for my guesthouse, which Craig had kindly found for me, to open for the day.

It was amazing how many people were up and at ‘em at that time of day, on a Sunday morning.

Loads of stalls selling lotto tix, on the wide Thanon Ratchdamnoen.

Khaosan Road was still going from the night before. There was rubbish everywhere, including people trash.

Monks collecting food, as they do every morning

The backwaters of Phra Nakhon district

It was so good to catch up with Craig. We dropped my pack off at my guesthouse and headed out for brekky.

We took the crazy local ferry down river (the Chao Phraya Express), and then explored the alleyways of Chinatown.

We got lost in tacky plasticland, narrow laneway after narrow laneway packed to the nines with cheap and nasty plastic crap, stuff that breaks in 5 minutes, and then people just ditch it and buy a new one.

The lanes were also jammed with hordes of shoppers, killing free time on a Sunday, there were food snacks left right and centre, it was hot, and if Covid could choose to be somewhere to maximise its chances of spreading like wildfire, it’d be there in a heartbeat.

I really really wanted to buy one of these boob pillows for when I get lonely, they just don’t pack so well. That is actually what they are, btw.

Yeah, snow-spewing Christmas decorations. In Bangkok.

There’s some beautiful temples around too

We eventually found some cool empty laneways

Young Muslim women feeding fish in one of the canals

They’ve really cleaned up some of these walkways along the old canals. Years ago these places were disgustingly polluted, overgrown, and pretty much inaccessible.

The Golden Mount

Craig and I somehow ended up on the only hill in Bangkok, climbing up to Wat Saket, a beautiful temple I’ve visited before.

Buddha visiting Little Mermaid's place

A statue of a revered old monk, an Ajahn (teacher), surrounded by beautifully intricate decorative art.

Our chooks never looked like this

On the mistycle path up the hill

Our inner essence, the jewel in the lotus flower.

Trouble is, we just keep forgetting.

Yeah, sometimes flies get in too, but that’s all part of the journey.

They should have this sign in male dorms

There’s loads of exquisite shrines, and many stunning Buddhas, all over the wat complex

Incredibly realistic monk statues

Recreation of one of the ancient Buddha statues in Afghanistan that were bombed to smithereens by the Taliban back in 2001.

Craig and I went out in the evening.

Balinesey frowning devil creature, reminding customers in this bar of what they’re probably gonna feel like tomorrow

Hey guys, the food’s so tasty and safe at Gastro

So Craig and I went out for a farewell beer with ice, and then headed off to Mango, pretty much the best veg restaurant I’ve ever been to in Bangkok. Craig generously shouted. What a guy.

Only about $10 for a Dutch baby. So cheap! Thai ones must be even cheaper.

I can’t believe how generous my friends have been on this trip. Sure they’re all earning Aussie dollars and I’m not, and they’re travelling for just a short time and I’m not, but that’s besides the point.

They’ve all bought me things all over the place, I’m so grateful.

I should invite more friends over, haha.

Aloner

So off Craig went, on his way to the airport, and, for the first time in 3 weeks or so, I was back to being on my own.

While I was sad to say goodbye to my perfect friends, it also somehow feels good to be back on my own. I mean, we all travelled together really well. It was so easy. They’re all cruisey and totally cool with doing whatever, because, like I said, they’re perfect. But it’s still different to be totally on my own again.

So I stayed in my divey hostel, and the next day went searching for a puffer jacket, as I’m heading to super cold climes real soon.

I ended up in Khlong Toei market, a vast market complex way over in east Bangkok. They were selling everything there, except puffer jackets.

Making rice sheets for rice paper rolls

This guy was making the most amazing shoes out of crocodile skin

Life-threatening electrical cables tucked up right alongside the overpass railing. They don’t look as close in the pic as they actually were. One false move, and the consequences would be incredibly shocking.

Chandelier heaven

On Jenni’s suggestion, I headed out to a Decathlon store, a big Asian sportswear chain that sells good quality sports products and clothing. I found me a great new puffer jacket for about $80, way less than I would’ve paid in Oz for the same thing.

I think I’m pretty much set for the cold now.

My final meal at May Kaidee’s, an old favourite eating place in Banglamphu, run by an amazing woman from Isaan, northeastern Thailand, who serves all the Isaan traditional dishes, vegetarian versions though, packed with all those weird-arse crunchy bitter/hot and delicious Isaan spices.

I couldn’t resist going to a Chinatown for one last nighttime crack.

Walking down Buddha Statue Street on the way there

The beautiful Wat Suthat Thepwararam Ratchaworamahawiham, looking stunning at night. I dare you to read the name, and then close your eyes and say it again.

The crowds on Yaowarat Road. I somehow accidentally photographed a fembot when taking this pic (bottom right), I think maybe some of the prefab skin on her head had fallen off, and you could see right into her nuclear powered control centre. She didn’t look too happy about it either, but I guess that’s just a programming thing.

I wanna join the Antisocial Social Club too.

It’s longan and mangosteen season right now ‘round 'ere

This little ceramic gift, which Milena gave me before I left Oz, has travelled with me all over the Bananalands of Southeast Asia for the past ten months. And now she’s gonna drive all the way through the lands of Shiva and Shakti.

The seedy (and weedy) Near Hostel. It might be more aptly named the Nearly Hostel. I stayed in a shoebox, which was fine, and surprisingly didn’t have one bedbug, despite me knowing that was a very real possibility in a place like this. Craig paid for my first night’s accommodation too, what a bloody legend.

My capsule

Jungle view, through the mozzie screen

I had a great conversation with Phon Do on my last night, a young Thai agricultural student who lives and works at the hostel. He’s doing his Masters, trying to develop new anti-fungal fertilisers for durian trees, which are particularly susceptible to deadly fungi. It’s a problem that’s plagued durian farmers for decades.

He was such a nice guy, we talked a lot about Thai issues, including the royalty, politics, corruption, student activism, and the lot of poor Thai farmers, who always seem to end up swilling around for scraps at the bottom of the vat.

Well, they’re not the only ones there of course. There’s also the usual other suspects, such as people with disabilities or addictions, slaves and trafficked sex workers, Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian refugees, hill tribe people, etc etc. I’ll stop the list now, it’s too depressing.

My cute little district

Southeast Asians love cacti. I guess maybe everyone loves cacti? It just seems to be the oddest thing to grow in these wet humid parts.

Suvarnabhumi (BKK) airport. You’d never guess by the check-in queue where I was going. Plus, where’s all the women?

One last auspicious naga

It felt really weird to fly. I’m not really into flying because of the emissions, but there was no other way of me getting to India, as Myanmar’s completely engulfed in its own civil war at the moment. It’s a relatively short flight, and hopefully, after the return leg in a few months, I won’t need to fly again for awhile.

So I just swallowed my conscience for awhile and jumped aboard.

Rising into the Bangkok smog

The clouds were magnificent

Flying over undeveloped and forested southeastern Myanmar.

My Laos Journey

Just so I can be a tiny bit consistent in this otherwise pretty random blog, this is a map of my travels through Laos over the past couple of months or so.

It’s been an amazing journey, the first month I cycled, from Point A to Point E, and then I parked up my bike in Vientiane and spent 3 weeks getting around up north with my friends.

And it’s not over either. My plan is to come back in a few months and continue cycling through other parts of the north of the country.

Levitating

So now I’m sitting in the sky, looking down, as the lights of a random Indian town move slowly past.

My map app, maps.me even works when you travel on a paper jet.

Now I’m getting close to touching down in Delhi.

It’s late.

It’s mostly black down there, there’s a few buildings and roads lit up here and there, but most of it is mysteriously dark and unknown.

I remember the anticipation I felt decades ago, on my first ever trip to India, when I first flew into the thick black smog of Calcutta.

I feel it again now.

Even though I’ve been here many times before, it’s been many years since I last set sandalled foot in this country.

Eight years, in fact.

Yeah, India’s a completely different kettle of fish.

It’s another ball park.

It’s unlike any country I’ve ever visited, or will ever visit.

There’s no words to easily describe exactly what India is, it’s impossible.

India is just India ❤️

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