Archive for March, 2010
Upside Down, Inside Out
By Tony on March 31, 2010 | 4 Comments »
We finally had access to a TV with CNN, so I turned it on for a couple of hours to catch up. This is what I discovered:
Chinese citizens are outraged because Google finally decided to stop censoring their content.
A large group of women in Yemen gathered to protest a ban on child brides, arguing that marrying as young as 8 years old is a religious right.
Some American Congressmen are receiving violent messages, and even death threats, because they helped to pass universal health care. Evidently, according to opponents of the legislation, expanded coverage will bring on Armageddon.
I really feel like I missed something.
The Most Bombed Country in the World
By Tony on March 29, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Notice bomb shells integrated into architecture
Laos has the dubious distinction of being “the most bombed country in the world”, a record that no country wishes to hold. The province of Xieng Khuang, where we are currently traveling, is “the most bombed region” in “the most bombed country in the world” meaning we are surrounded by shrapnel, craters, blown up tanks, trenches, and no-growth zones.
Missiles, mines, mortar shells, and cluster bomblets litter the landscape. Reminders of the various wars are everywhere including in the local architecture. We saw shells and missile casings decorating stilt houses, shacks, guesthouses and even the local Internet cafe. Talk about surreal.
So who dropped all this on Laos? » Continue reading this post »
Not Just Blowing Smoke
By Thomas on March 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »
The air over Northern Laos is atrocious. The blue sky has been concealed by a thick blanket of gray smoke due to widespread and often illegal field burn-off. This is the worst air pollution Tony and I have experienced. It is so bad, in fact, that flights in and out of Northern Laos have been canceled. The source of the daily “fog” becomes apparent at night when » Continue reading this post »
The Plain of Jars
By Tony on March 25, 2010 | No Comments »
We’ve made our way to Xieng Khuang province to visit the enigmatic “Plain of Jars”, a large highland plain which extends out from Phongsavan dotted with hundreds of giant stone vessels of mysterious origin.
Believed to be over 2,000 years old, nobody really knows who created the jars or why they were made. There are a few vague clues which might suggest » Continue reading this post »
Party Capital
By Thomas on March 23, 2010 | No Comments »
Vang Vieng is Laos’ party central. Think Florida’s spring breakers meet Ibiza’s euro trash – and all amidst a stunning landscape of limestone karst formations. Travelers come here for three reasons: drinking from buckets, tubing on the Nam Song River, and more drinking from even bigger buckets. The party crowd is as ugly as the countryside is beautiful, and perverse curiosity made us break our long journey up North in Vang Vieng.
What probably intrigued us most about coming here was a Belgian’s comment about Vang Vieng smelling like vomit. We just had to see it to believe it. Our first impression was that of a » Continue reading this post »
