Luang Prabang, Laos

I left Vietnam and made it to the border of Ventienne Laos. From there I caught a bus to Vang Viang, a village that is famous for its inner tube rides along the river. Basically, you rent a tube and a tuk tuk drives you a few km north. You float down the river and every few meters or so there is a local on a raft in the middle of the river selling beers (Beer Lao). You float up, buy a beer and float away, getting increasingly plastered as you hit the rapids. I refrained, but did enjoy watching the idiot Irish guys behind me making complete asses of themselves. A few kids who were fishing jumped on our tubes and floated with us part way to town. The kid on my tube started shaking because it was getting cold so I waded him over to the bank, he got out and helpfully pushed me back into the center of the river. The experience was fun...and beautiful. The mountains shoot up into the sky dramatically. They look like giant rocks rather than mountains.

Being in a place of tremendous beauty makes me realise my Americanness, my westernness and its lumbering grotesqueness. As a result, it makes me want to shed it completely. I know this is impossible, but there is a shame one feels. I've come to realise that people from the West (myself included) do not know how to love beauty. We try, but in the end, consume it and ultimately destroy it. Whether it's taking a picture of a beautiful moment or walking so much in a place of beauty that the trail turns to a road that turns to a mudslide. As westerners, we must own beauty. In asia, it seems more the ancient belief is to nurture it. I am coming to realise as well, that the many layers of Lao culture (Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese included) make it glaringly obvious how our culture is lacking in sophistication, understanding and a true appreciation of beauty and therefore life.

Luang Prabang is a beautiful ancient town in the northern center of Laos. It lies along the Mekong river, nestled among the rainforest laden mountains. The Hmong tribe are just one of the many enthnic minority groups that call this area home. The town itself has dozens of Thiravada Buddhist temples, so at 4am, you can hear the gong bells awakening the young monks for their morning alms prayer. The chants begin and the air is filled with their gentle and beautiful voices. The town was named a world heritage site in 1995 by UNESCO, so as a result, there are incredibly clean streets (for Asia) fairly good sanitation, and strategic lighting at night to make the beautiful temples and hills spectacular. The Lao take great pride in their shops and abodes, with potted street plants and wild pointsettias. Butterflys fill the air and the sounds of caged birds (a tradition from China brought down generations ago) are heard along the shop corridors.

At 6:30 am the town comes out to give alms to the monks. It is the monk's main source of food. The locals come out along the river and give portions of sticky rice, chicken, cookies, and whatever was made in their small kitchens. The monks, many of them children, file along, all 276 of them. Holding their large ornace bowls strapped around them like a purse, locals place small rations into each monk's dish.

I went to the royal palace a couple of days ago where the royal family lived till 1977. After that time, the Communists took over, abducted the royals and banished them to a cave where they died of starvation and exposure. With that, the lineage died forever. In 2000, the Communist government had an exorcism ceremony because they believed the Royals had placed a curse on their government resulting in the country's economic woes (the average Lao makes about $10 a month). I'm not a fan of royalty, but there is a sadness to this tale. It was the royals who brought Buddhism to Laos and were a big symbol of Lao culture, and I get the sense the Lao long for that lineage that was so immediately exterminated. It would be like the Queen,Prince Charles and all the others being immediately executed and Buckingham palace being emptied by looters (though, to some, this could be a good thing).

In the palace was a room of gifts given to the royal family by different countries. China had given a beautiful porceline horse, Russia, a series of amazing pots and tea sets, Thailand, also beautiful china. Then you came to the USA's gift case. The US had sided with the royal family and the right wing Lao against the communists in the war against Vietnam. As a result, the US bombed Laos (which held part of the Ho Chi Minh trail) so much that it bestowed it with the dubious honor of being the most heavily bombed country in the history of warfare (much of southern laos is still mine ridden and extremely dangerous to walk in). That said, the US gave Laos a lovely case full of what I will call the most hideous series of bowling trophies I have ever seen seen. One was a replica of the Apollo 13 given by Nixon. Another was a bronze coin of Johnson. Kitschy blue plaques and a key to San Francisco as well as Cleveland also were included. If they were given to me, I'd put them in a box and take them to the Salvation Army. The French tourists were standing, pointing and laughing at this hideous display of arrogance. Indeed, it was so tacky, so embarrassing, so kitsch, so American. I told the French I was embarrassed, and they shrugged their shoulders, in typical French snootiness. Never mind the French colonized this part of the world for so long. Europeans have an interesting view of their own involvement in history I suppose...they are somehow immune to brutality. One thing they are immune from however is kitsch....they have good taste when it comes to giving gifts to the Lao Royals.

I walked into a Wat (temple) where the monks immediately asked where I was from. "San Francisco" ....The one monk (Luah which means "Fate") sang the first few bars of "San Francisco here I come"....Another monk whose English was really really good invited me back for their alms at 5:15 where an American Lao woman was going to be filming a documentary. So I returned at that time and watched them chant. It was so beautiful and moving even though slightly staged for the American woman. The young monks seemed to be excited to be filmed. I got a few shots in on my camera as I figured this would be the only opportunity not to be intrusive. The guest house I am staying at is next to another Wat, and every morning I walk through the temple past the monks to the main road. The monks are usually carving buddha statues as UNESCO is training them in traditional arts (this was almost eliminated due to the Communists but is now being reintroduced).

Yesterday I went to Pakou caves where locals and monks retire old Budda statues. When a statue is worn or broken, they take it to these caves along the Mekong where thousands sit, veiled in cobwebs beneath stalagtites. It is quite a beautiful site, though the throngs of tourists with their super Canon teleophoto lenses kind of ruins the ambiance.

Thus, the comment about consuming beauty comes back. I believe that in the west, our reality is based on superficial layers based on immediate satisfaction and survival, the extreme of which is consumerism. But for the Lao, the layers run deeper. Survival is obviously essential, but religion, compassion, family, community and duty (to community, faith and work) help complete the existance making a more gentle, less violent, less anxiety ridden existence. I believe that loneliness does not exist in their culture, and as far as I can see, neither does mental illness. If it does, it is not visible. If you are feeling lonely, all you need to do is go outside, and immedately you are greeted with smiling "Saba Di" and children playing . The private space is also the public (like Cambodia). Doors to homes are open, women cook bananas in the streets, a family of four fits onto one small moto bike (I've seen 5 people on a bike, with the baby stradling the gas tank). People's chickens and pigs randomly wander the streets, somehow miraculously making their way back to their prospective pens at night. There is a strange logic to the mayhem. Everyone's lives are somewhat revealed, accessible and open, at all times. It's refreshing.