A twelve week term lies ahead

It was good to find everyone at work had enjoyed the holidays - everyone traveled somewhere (Laos, Langkawi, Aust, KL, Bali and Sri Lanka) and their stories just get you itching for the next holiday. It seems we each brought home a little Laos tummy trouble. Surely it couldn't have been our own cooking at the class? Eric's developed straight away and mine brewed for a few days but we each got through the working week thanks to Imodium. At work we have found it is so much easier to start term 2.  We know names for all the faces, can pronounce most of the names (or if not, get close enough for them to recognise it), know the routine and where everything is kept. We have had a few timetable changes as the company arranges short 10 wk courses if there are any gaps they can fill. Can't let us have any dot time. When I saw the Dr on Monday after a bad night he said not to worry, to welcome a little diarrhoea, it is good to flush the system out. As he pointed out some people pay thousands of dollars for colonic flushing. It was only when I insisted that this was day 3 and the symptoms weren't lessening that he agreed to give me the bung to put a stop to it. 


Meanwhile, I still had to solve the problem of an outfit for the wedding so on Monday afternoon we ventured back to the shops even though the idea of stripping and trying on outfits was the last thing I felt like doing. But Bingo! What a surprise, I found something in the shopping centre right across the road from home. If I had gone there first I probably wouldn't have even considered it but at this stage I am very happy to have an outfit I can feel happy with.  And Eric has 3 more shirts and new shoes to boast that he is the better shopper.
We missed the group walk on Monday so we walked the Botanic Gardens on Tuesday. They are very easy to get to from here, just a few train stops away. And they are lovely; we managed to wander 2 of the 3 lakes, the healing garden, the scented garden, the evolution garden and the ginger gardem. We only managed about half the park as it is very big and we were dawdling too as we looked for birds. It turns out the walking group are covering this park next week and that will be a completely different experience.  The paths are lovely and wide for joggers, mothers with pushers and wheelchairs and we also saw a number of Tai Chi groups working out. 

Work has started on the painting of our apartment block so we need to be a little bit careful that the curtains are drawn and that the windows are shut.  The workmen ride up and down the exterior of the building in gondolas slung off the roof and controlled by pulleys.  It is a huge job and should take 2 months to complete, though small compared to some of the contracts that would be on offer.  A pity that we are having an influx of visitors at the same time.  Bianca returns on thursday this week on her way to Europe. Sandy and the Crisps will both be here around Easter.  We only get the Good Friday as a public holiday. 

Luang Prabang

Saturday 17/3
We have breakfast early and wait for our transport to arrive. Not being a good traveller on windy roads I did ask if we could possibly be picked up first so I could get a seat towards the front but they said that everyone asks for the same thing.  Alas, the vehicle arrives and already looks full. The driver gets out and pulls all the luggage from the back to reveal an extra bench that can convert into a seat and all the luggage is thrown up on to a roof rack. We get to sit in the back row, at least I am by the window but it will only open about 2 inches so I hope I don't have to try to get my head out.  I just keep telling myself to think of anything else.
We pass through many, many villages that cling to the edge of the road.  I'm not sure if the road follows them or they follow the road. If I had my choice I would build off the road so I didn't have to deal with the constant dust and bus loads of tourists eyeing my every move but there must be a good reason why they remain where they are. There is abject poverty here; dirt floors, woven walls, thatched roofs and no running water or sanitation of any kind.  In many we saw evidence of the community wells supplied by Vision Australia, French Red Cross and UNICEF. It was a journey of six and a half hours, was windy and sometimes bone shuddering and I swear I will never do this sort of travel again,  but we got to Luang Prabang safely and our accommodation is very pleasant. A shower followed by a Mekong on the balcony soon cheers me up. In the evening we took a stroll towards the night market but didn't feel like mingling with the crowds so detoured to the river and had dinner there and an early night.

Sunday 18/3
After breakfast at the hotel we rented bikes for the day (20,000kip or AUS$2.50 for both of them). We followed the Mekong to the end of the peninsula where the Nam Khan River flows into it.  The whole peninsula is UNESCO heritage protected, recognizing the mix of French, Lao and Indo-Chinese architecture. We consider taking a river cruise tomorrow but in the end decided on a cooking class.  I'm going along to take the pictures. I tried to donate blood at the Red Cross (they insist it is safe)  as voluntary donations means the poor villagers do not have to pay for transfusions, or alternately opt not to have them  which costs lives. We found the donation centre but it was unmanned, and try as I might, we could not find the office. In frustration I gave up and went to the museum where it would be cooler off the streets. The museum in housed in what was the royal palace until the revolution in 1975 when the royals were exiled to caves in the north by the Lao communists. On the way home we found the Big Brother Mouse Project which helps provide English literature to children either covering the cost of book printing and publishing or having volunteers purchase and deliver copies of the books to the outlying villages as tourist groups pass through.  A donation here helped appease my earlier frustration with the blood bank. In the evening we visited the night market which is almost exclusively Hmong handicrafts, we could still find the patterns hand sewn that we bought in Chang Mai in 1985. But there were other lovely current ideas too like lamp shades, shoulder bags and jewelry you are likely to see at the Mindl Markets these days.

Monday 19/3
A dreadful night with a cough irritated by the air con. Shutting it down and openning the French doors onto the balcony is cool enough at night but the street noise cannot be ignored. Even thought this is a quiet end of town we had to endure cats fighting and someone seemed to be moving furniture in the middle of the night.
We met Linda at the Tum Tum Cooking Class and discovered we are the only enrollments for the morning class.  After a cup of coffee and selecting the dishes we want to cook we are driven to the market in a Tuk Tuk along with our guide Noi and 2 other women who will do all the shopping. Noi explained many of the locally made snacks and dried products and arranged for us to sample some. She checked which vegetables we were familiar with and diverted only briefly into the wet area of meat and fish. Back at the restaurant our class began with an explanation of Lao respect for rice, since it belongs to Earth, one of the four elements along with wind, fire and water, that come together to embody the spirit of ourselves. Lao people eat rice everyday, at every meal. Then she explained how important it was for a meal to be prepared considering 3 fundamentals: it must taste good, smell good and look good.  We begin by learning to make the simple garnishes from tomato skin and cucumber. We are clumsy! Next we move to the kitchen to prepare the 4 dishes we chose (chicken laab salad, ginger fish, steamed fish in banana leaf and vegetable curry). We also learnt how to prepare sticky rice and cook a dessert of caramelized banana. It was interesting and fun, all the hard work is in the preparation of all the ingredients and in this class we have many staff who do it all for you with a smile or a giggle. But we also learnt quite a lot about using the wok and timing the cooking. Finally we sat down to eat our banquet which was delicious. We have a recipe book with over 20 recipes if anyone would like a copy.

At the urging of Noi, on the market run this morning,  we climbed the 300+ stairs in the late afternoon to the temple on the hill in town which gave great views of the whole layout including the junction of the two rivers.  Noi had said that until you have done this you haven't been to Luang Prabang. The sun was a glowing red orb in very smokey skies, evidence of the deforestation going on all around here to feed China's hunger for timber, the Vietnamese furniture industry and for cultivation.  Another environmental issue that is worrying is China's plans to dam the Mekong which will be to the detriment the Thai, Lao and Vietnese food production and tourist industries.
Luang Prabang has charmed us, we love the old quarter of the city nestled by the junction of the rivers, the friendly people and the fabulous food. We see ourselves returning here, but arriving by plane next time, not bus!

Vang Vieng

Thursday 15/3
The bus collected us at our front door and we were heading out of town by about 9am. While the road was sealed all the way there were quite large sections, sometimes only 200 m apart where it was torn up for repair.  It was rough, cramped and sometimes quite alarming but we arrived safely  in Vang Vieng for lunch.  Quite a test of endurance completed. We checked in to the Ban Sabia Bungalows overlooking the river and had a lovely fresh lunch overlooking the limestone karsts. We could go kayaking, rock climbing, caving, mountain biking, trekking or tubing but instead opt for a late afternoon stroll on the far side of the Nam Song River that includes a climb up the smallest of the outcrops. This is the home of extreme sports for a young crowd and we are feeling our age. As we make it to the top a hot air balloon rises over the valley. The climb down was even more difficult that the one up and  I'm a bit shattered to learn that in 2 days I have to do another bus trip of twice the length and much windier too. I thought it was a repeat of the first endurance test but it has been doubled!

Friday 16/3
Awakened by the sound of birds I get up early to seek them out but Eric is slow to move and by the time he gets to the balcony We agree on breakfast first.  Now it is already getting too hot to walk far but we put in a good effort until lunchtime when we return to town from the outlying rice fields and veggie patches that follow the river valley. We took a Tuk Tuk to the far end of town and ate lunch at the Mulberry Organic Farm. The food was delicious though the service poor, just as well we are on holiday time. The farm was set up by a local chap who was distressed to see the traditional farming methods being overlooked in favor of using herbicides and pesticides. He set out to prove that you could produce equally good food the old ways and still make a profit. He now uses the profit to support local community projects like providing a bus to get kids to school and evening  English language classes for both adults or kids. A great local enterprise that you can support by volunteering.  Only one downside. The Tubing companies have set up their floating bars right on the same bend in the river and they play loud funky music all day. The noise pollution is very apparent and there are no govt controls.

Wk 10 and we're off to Vientiane

Week 10, we've made it through the first term already.  We've got the class preparation sorted now, and the lesson content isn't a problem, it's just getting used to the change is schedule that still brings us undone from time to time.  We still don't get to bed before midnight often enough through the week. I tried shopping for something to wear to a wedding but without success in my mornings off this week. It was exhausting and frustrating, everything is either made for the Asian sized frame or too tizzy.
No Monday walk this week, we have an early departure and with very light traffic at that hour the taxi took only 15 mins to airport. Felt like we were driving to Bangkok we taxied for so long before take off. We had less than 2 hrs in transit but I nearly missed the connection because I seriously underestimated the distance to the next departure lounge. My, how this terminal has grown in the 35 yrs (can it really be that long) since we were here last time with Billi and Stu Hassett from Butterworth. Eric was very stressed when I eventually got there as they had been announcing last call and he had even had me paged but I was 2 floors above and didn't even hear it as I was running through the crowds. He was thinking we would be staying the night in Bangkok. We were the last to board the last bus that then drove us out to the plane and again we seemed to taxi an awfully long way to the runway.  I didn't dare look at anyone else but I could sense the stares of disapproval.  They probably all thought I had been shopping but in fact I'd been reading the news online and all I had bought was a bottle of Mekong for old times sake.
Vientiane was only a 1 hr flight but it seemed to take that long again in the queue for the visa on arrival.  We got a taxi into town, the driver spoke very good English and the hotel looks good so were we're off to a good start.  Only disappointment we discovered was the hotel is not actually on the river as suggested, view from our balcony presents an excellent option for birds to roost though. The mini bar is stocked with Beer Lao which is not a bad drop.

After a short rest we ventured out into the streets.  To get to the river we need to walk 20 m to the end of the street and through the Buddhist temple.  The river is at it's lowest level as this is the end of the dry season and the public walkways along the bank are actually a long way from the water which is a little disappointing, it must be amazing in the wet season.  We can see Thailand on the far side.

We meander some of the streets not too far from home, there is a lot of development going on so it is quite dusty and noisy. Fortunately we stumbled upon a very pleasant beer garden. The menu looks great and as with all of Asia it seems to serve meals anytime of the day.  Grilled ribs with garlic, fish with kaffir lime leaves and a green papaya salad. Yum, but then the chilli sambol was a bit too spicy so we had to order fresh coconut ice cream!
It's been a long day so we head  home for a Mekong nightcap and in bed early.
Tuesday 13/3
After the self serve breakfast at our Avilla Phasouk Hotel we walked all over town visiting the sites of interest. We started at the morning market but found it rather gloomy and dusty in comparison to the lively places we've seen in other Asian cities.  Perhaps we didn't actually find the throbbing heart of it.
The city has many ancient stupas and temples, most of which have been damaged and restored after conflicts with the Khmer, Thais or French since the 16th century.  Only one temple has never been attacked and they believe it might be because it was built in the Thai style.  It is amazing with over 10,000 buddha statues in every imaginable pose and is now a museum.

We climbed up the Patuxay Victory Arch which was built to commemorate the overthrow of the French and ironically built to replicate the arch in Paris. From here you get great views up and down the length of the tree lined central boulevard.  The climb reminded us of the Penang Temple of 1000 steps because like there, at every opportunity, there was a stall holder with items of every description for sale though there is no pressure to buy. We also saw the magnificent Presidential Offices from here at at the far end of the boulevard is the Palace. Foot sore and hungry we had lunch in the bakery around the corner from our hotel and then went home to rest and read our new bird book.
In the afternoon we browsed the shopping options and visited the Carol Cassidy hand woven silk workshop where we were able to watch the weaving process and see all the traditional as well as contemporary designs.  She also has a workshop in Cambodia where all the workers are survivors of UXOs. I bought a scarf made there. The money exchange is quite confronting at first but mathematically quite easy, the exchange is US$1 = 8,000 Kip.
Wednesday 14/3
We had booked a driver to collect us this morning for a half day tour.  We started out for Buddha Park which is only 24 Kim's from town and I had thought of riding bikes out there.  So glad we didn't, the road is either in a terrible state of repair or in the middle of roadworks -hard to tell which , for a big part of the journey and the traffic is heavy.  Buddha Park was not a highlight, one eccentric man's vision to construct concrete sculptures of both Hindu and Buddhist icons.

We drove under the Friendship Bridge which links Laos with Thailand just over the Mekong River. Back in town we visited the Pha That Luang, the most important national monument, the symbol of both Buddhist and Lao sovereignty. One disappointing thing we found here was locals trying to get tourists to purchase caged birds so that they could be released. They picked the wrong people to tempt when they approached us.

Finally our driver took us to the Cope visitor centre which is a project to assist disabled people with orthotic and physio treatment.  In an effort to disrupt supply lines to the Viet Cong on the Ho Che Min Trail during the Vietnam war, the US is estimated to have dropped a plane load of bombs on Laos every 8 minutes for 9 years. Unfortunately up to 30% are believed to have failed to explode on impact so now the country remains littered with UXOs, estimated to be at least 78 million. 300 people die or are injured each year by disturbing them either unknowingly or in an attempt to recycle the scrap metal.  We saw an inspiring video featuring an real Aussie hero who is here training teams of locals in disarming the UXOs. The cope Centre provides free support to the survivors of these explosions and also sufferers of polio, club foot  and leprosy or road accidents.  It was a profoundly moving visit and we are proud that Australia is listed at the top of the international donors list.

And then there was one

One week to go to the term break.
But first I need to retrace my steps and retract my words from last week, the week that was box check week.  There were found to be a few oversights in occasional boxes that needed to be addressed.  Not offenses that meant our pay would be withdrawn or contracts abruptly ended but still, I was pissed off because I thought I had done a 'Ron' (family joke) and checked everything twice. And to add to my chagrin Eric found chocolate frogs in his boxes as a reward - but his boxes were less complete than mine! Anyway Jim, I retract my shot at you in last week's post and blame it all on the officious nature of some box checkers (no names mentioned).
On Thursday we were invited to participate in a non-compulsory Professional Development opportunity which we had enrolled in but then Eric 'chucked an sickie' as they say, and we didn't make it.  Some people will do anything to avoid attending a PD in their own time.  He had been aiming to make it to work without a sickie for the whole term but dipped out in wk 9. Not bad considering his recent history, and hopefully next term he will cruise it in.
Other than that, the week went as smoothly as you could expect.  On Monday we joined the walkers to explore Bishan Park which has been recently redeveloped. The Kallang River runs through the park and used to be directed through a concrete channel but this has been transformed back to it's natural state including wetlands and a lotus filled lagoon. All along the stretch of river there are interesting bridges, playgrounds and shelters.  On our morning walk it was very overcast and cool so there were very few people enjoying it, but it must be very popular for picnics and family gatherings - every installment felt like you had entered a different room, but they were all very natural.

From the park we continued on to Lower Peirce Reservoir which is a water catchment area so surrounded by natural bush and rainforest with plenty of birds and other wildlife. We heard many but they were hard to sight. According to June who walks here regularly, this is a very popular site for Tai Chi enthusiasts in the early morning, but we are too late today.

By the time we have completed the walk back to the nearby road and suburbia Eric and I have walked far enough. But no, we walk through the suburb of Ang Mo Kio and into the park so we can climb the steps to the top of the hill just to say we have done it! Did I mention this is a walking club who shun escalators and prefer to take the steps.

 No view from the top, so we don't hang around, just head down again and on to lunch.  When we get up from the table to head for home we are both very stiff and sore!
We spent a lazy afternoon at home and then in the evening went to Holland Village to explore the area. Peter, who works at Kovan office as an assistant lives here and recommended we check it out as it is very popular with tourists and the ex-pat community. We found a wide array of restaurants and cafes offering anything from Thai to Mexican cuisine along streets that are closed to traffic in the evenings.  We decided on Cambodian and were not disappointed.