Elephants for Breakfast

Dear Marmite,

I woke up  yesterday morning, had breakfast, and watched elephants bathing in the Mekong across from the hotel I was staying in. How amazing is that? Laos was once known as The Land of a Million Elephants. Now their numbers are diminished and like everywhere else, they need our protection. I saw three of them and the photos from my phone camera do not do the view justice at all.

Pakbeng is a very sleepy backwater. I have noticed from my trips around Asia that the vegetable / wet market in poorer areas is conducted on the ground and there is less abundance of food. The market in this little place had quite a range of local produce all being sold by women seated on the ground. Our guide stuck with us and told us loads of really fascinating things about the produce and how it is cooked lao style. We shared some sicky rice and coconut that you eat by peeling way the bamboo that it is cooked in. It looks like a pipe and the contents are so tasty. What is special about this dish is there is no waste. The bamboo will rot.


By the second day the passengers on the boat had got to know each other better and it was like meeting friends as we set off towards Luang PraBang. I learnt a new card game and won - now there's a surprise!!! Then we played SPOONS... Yes, Marms - that game where my children wrestle each other to the ground and you disappear to a quiet corner. SPOONS with lots of people was fun but this one was a little too restrained compared to what you would remember. Maybe more Woolheads are needed to pep up the action.

We visited a village that specialised in weaving and the ladies were keen to sell their wares to us tourists. The trip to the village up a sandy bank from the river was more than a dirt track this time. Sandbags were steps and there was a bamboo rail to hold onto as you climb the hill. The scarves made by these people are beautiful and I was so tempted to buy. My plan to not buy anything was severely weakened and I almost suceeded. We even had rice whisky distilled in tbe village. as pictured in the carry-out bag.

As a nod to Christmas, I bought my first Christmas present fom this village. I think it is special in so many ways in that it is a reminder of where it came from and it is directly helping the economy of the village. Merry Christmas... It is now coming into view.

Much worse was the trip to a cave-temple. The cave held hundreds of Buddhas - many headless and on the steps up to the cave young boys and women holding children were trying to sell things including live fish in a plastic bag; live birds in tiny bamboo cages (so cruel) plastic wrist bands, beads, scarves, tat...The sheer poverty made me feel uncomfortable. The children looked malnourished. I know buying bits of tat is not the answer but whatever we as a world are doing, we are making life worse for those at the bottom of the pile.

Just a short hop down the river is Luang PraBang and first impressions are good. There is a fair amount of traffic but with a day and a bit to explore, I expect we'll get to know it pretty well without too much effort as the city is small. Last night the children on the street looked well dressed and one was playing on a smart phone. This emphasised the difference in extistence between the hill tribes and city life in just one country.

There is quite a nip in the air and this morning I'll be wrapping up warm... hope you are feeling less naked, Marms. Thinking of you.

XXX