oh no ngo

laos is a bit like the wild west.

the second car i saw after the 1972 for fiesta

was a yellow ferrari! yeah i know the fields are full of rice workers

this is the PDR of laos and some folk are suing the three good roads to ride about

in ferraris.  i also then saw a mustang to be fair!

well why is this?

there are several reasons!

foreign aide.

corruption.

drugs.

it goes something like this.

The non government agencies are giving money to the 

'needy' here and there an everywhere.  this is big business for

the folk administering it and also the folk receiving it.

note the recent reports that some of the money from live aide

went to weapons and warlords in africa!

so folk give money 

govs give money

you give money

the ngos then give it to the people deemed 

worthy by the govs and by themselves

its hard to work without go assistance though in any countries.

actually its nearly impossible.!

then when the money is given out 

it goes anywhere and everywhere in kickbacks

bribes, lies, mis-informed areas and locations.

this is not definite to happen. as there are some great 

people out there and not all aide workers are aware!

i was listening the other day to some aid workers 

give the estimates of there needs and its

basically inspired guess work!

corruption is endemic here and politics 

ice almost everywhere else is regarded as a

meal ticket!

its also legalised when you read that they are inviting western companies

here to abuse the power labour and the cheap workers

with no tax u can see its bad news.

druge.  this area of the world is famous for drugs

its drug laws are weak in laos so with the corruption bribery is everything!

possibly even state sponsored but i don't know.

so the aid trucks the ferraris and everything else is related to the above!

clusterfuck

clusterfuck

going to any embassy can be a ball ache.

the thai embassy is was closed on my first attempt 

making it a larger financial ball ache, but when i went back the next

day it was relatively easy.

if you get there early its not as bad

the line had been there since 6.30 am but even though i got there

at 8 am it wasn't too bad. half an hr later it was half a km long and 

folk were starting to get fruity in the heat!

it goes like this.

you line up and avoid the scammers outside charging you to use their

copy machines and buying forms for 50 bhp each

then when it gets to 8.30 am you pile in

get a number and wait with your forms to be seen.

then we sit underneath the hot tarps>?

the guy in front was from my home town in england.

the older chap behind me from 30 miles away.

small world

all manner of ex pats who have had enough.

i told them i don't often hang with brits as they moan like hell!

also they said the same. then they started moaning like hell.

cest la vie!

within half an hr i was called and gave in my passport.

this is what happens if you get there early!

if you get there late!

the line trebles and you stand in the sun.

then you et a number over 500! 

each 50 is half an hr. then you wait in the sun till called.

its insane and folk re like wild beasts chomping to get their forms in!

needless to say i got there early!!

moving

i jump into a small sang taw bus. int he back i find three young monks

looking at me like i look at them. fascination!  The bus moves slowly and as

we face each other eyes dart back and forth gently seeking some

understanding of worlds so far  apart.  It is wonderful!  Internally 

i realise how far away i am from the dharma the buddhas teaching.

but i take refuge that these wonderful orange robed lads will inspire countless

folk throughout the decades to come.

the shopping mall monks look at laptops and mobiles. i make a small

mental note that they are the same as me but different.  And as 

i walk on i smile and think how i can move like them from distraction 

to distraction!

Smiles across the miles

underneath the crumbling post colonial buildings and the

down beat broken roads Laos has a heart that 

is resilient regardless of the post colonial mess left by the 

french and destroyed by the americans!

If you don't know anything of the relatively recent

history of laos I would recommend you see a documentary

called The Betrayal.  It follows the life of a Laotian family!

After the americans had dropped more bombs on N laos 

than both world wars combined they then left the country 

in ruins and the PDR took over.  this left many Laotians

in the lurch and many died or had to goto 're-habilitation'

centres basically prison and hard labour!  The name of the 

documentary refers to the name these people give the 

americans 'The Betrayers.'  Its aname that could be applied

by many so called developing countries to the Brits and the 

the so called colonial benefactors.

even though this happened the Laotians are wonderful people.

when you get out of the tourism areas and head out just a little

in the capital you see the famous smile. the wonderful surprise that

that they seem to have when they see a white face smiling. 

Even though their lives are so hard and harsh and the 

effects of the wars that Nixon denied and Kennedy said 

Laos must be neutral whilst the bombs dropped these people

remain wonderfully upbeat.  A lesson for us in our narcissistic 

western state!

shmotel hotel laotian rip off embassy

the hotel was shabby

old, dilapidated! hot and the staff seemed like they had been l;eft

over from the cold war era.  But then again who wants to see dozens 

of rich white people do nothing but complain about the heat and eat great food?

he showed me half the way to the room! yeah thats service here!

half the way and then i managed to follow my nose to the door.

the room looked like a 1950's seasoned room in england.

old no charm and well worn.  I was paying through the nose for this!

hmmmm!  at least it had ac?/

wrong again as it seems that the only function that the 'ac' unit 

performed was to blow hot air around the room and give the illusion of cold.

none of this too cold after five mins in thailand stuff here.

its much hotter here so you are pretty quickly losing salts and all

manner of sweating beats the body into fatigue!

more soon

I woke, thats no strictly true as i actually didn't sleep, to the

sounds of joy as i turned the tv on and saw canada score the 

winning goal in the ice hockey.  part of the reason i had paid

a little extra was to watch some ice hockey. it had come on at three 

so i had overslept and just caught the ending.

anyway, i got dressed walked out of the hotel and stopped a 

took took to goto the thai embassy to get my visa!

at 7 am there are n't too many folk on the street but the

took took drivers are all over ready for the early whites to go

get there visa extensions.  

I haggled with three guys eventually setting into far too much 

for the small 5 min journey and before we knew it the wonderful cool 

laos morning air was cooling me and forcing me to smile!

within 5 mins we were outside the thai embassy and greeted

by hordes of so called assistants that want to help you for a huge fee!

it seems that the new thai embassy and the amount of foreigners 

coming here on the visa runs has been good for some lao!

they immediately told me that it was a holiday!

i corrected them and said no holiday today in Laos!

they said no no thai holiday!

i never believe this and always think it a ploy to get some more cash

out of foolish people. so i walked over to the thai gate and read the

very very small note saying that the embassy was closed for a holiday that

carrid over from sunday! Typical! I have always tried to avoid holidays but this one

had caught me off guard! no notice anywhere i could find.

So i looked at the took took driver who really did take me for a ride

and we blasted back to the small cafe where i am now sat.

when i got off the small tuk tuk i said you are a wealthy man aren't you.

i knew his english was negligible but i continued. you are also a con man

a crook and a liar as you knew thai embassy was closed. he smiled feigning

ignorance and i walked off with my Lao welcome tucked up my white ass!

Laos surprise

my first day in laos

and the people who smile all day are not in evidence!

the trip to the border is relatively painless

as i have found about many things in thailand!

its when you get thru the silly passport checking on the thai

side that the fun begins.

the friendship bridge that runs from nan khia to

laos is very long so you have to pay the busman

to get you over in the rediculous heat!

then when you land in laos a sign greets your to say

you are in LAo pdr. then its another sign saying our taxes?

then you re thru to the immigration.

i needed 1 passport $35 and then i was  supposed to be in?

i got the forms filled them in and waited in line

to be told that i was in the wrong line!

don't you love lines?

i then went to the small dark window and gave

in my money to a woman who looked like

she was wearing a 1950's russian uniform. a closer

look identified them all as che guavara look alikes!

then i was told to pay the overtime?

overtime?

yeah. apparently you have to pay overtime 

of $1 as the stae shouldn't offer this revise on the sunday!

hmmm

walking through the other mean looking border areas

iw as greeted by thirsty cut throat hawkers trying to

get my to Vientiane the capital.

two minutes of bullshit and a nice american couple had

scored the ride, a huge took took appeared and we blasted off to the city

talking about blues guitarists and the silly heat in lao.

the king and I

the taxi man ran through the traffic on the route to the railway station.
It was early so traffic wasn't too bad and folk had not woken
yet to begin the hustle of central Bangkok.
As we headed to the train station I saw masses of taxis and
tuk tuks trying to get passengers and expected the inner workings of the
train station would not be dissimilar to India where whole families live and
trade.

After paying the taxi driver I headed inside to be met by nothing.
No hustle, no bustle, no hawkers, no madness, no chaotic food sellers
nor any sign of unordered foolery that I always associate with asia!

I sat down near the very smart looking dunkin donuts
and wondered what was going on.
Everyone was so quiet. So polite.  You could hear a pin drop.
No rats hanging around the bins, ( i have become an expert at watching
rat behaviour over the years!)
Then as if I was in a time warp from 1920's england
someone blew a whistle and everyone stood up.
I followed their lead and did the same
and was immediately greeted by the national anthem and everyone
started singing to the king.  Everything stopped! Sellers, pedestrians
police all took a moment to respect the king.

i looked on bemused and fascinated as this odd throwback to
imperial times carried on.

Thankfully in England this has, at least on the surface,
passed away!

more soon!

Why Chiang mai

some things of interest about change mai

they bars at the side of the road
opening onto the road
folk just sit with small stools and drink

wonderful small sparkle lights tell u where
to ride if you are a bicyclist!

its full of lunatic tourists on scooters
who have never driven before.

there are blind dogs about here!

blind people sing at the night market
and walk up and down with small speakers amplifying there
voice!

haggling with a thai is hard work!

cheap clean water is everywhere with
machines that sell if for virtually nothing.
reverse osmosis.

the small moat, river running around the city is spotless

thais don't like mess, as in garbage! Not often anyway!

Its a common sight to see some crusty old white haired fuck with
a much younger thai lady.

It's not a common site to see me with a nazi german helmet on the bike but i had one on today!

the parks are lovely and clean!

the fish are ever so well feed and do the opposite when
you approach the lakeside.  the have been conditioned with over feeding!

you cannot throw a stick without hitting a watt! buddhist temple and they
are beautiful!

new buildings are going up very quickly so get here soooooon!!!!!

What Wat

Wat

Dusk had passed and i slipped out of my shorts,
put my jeans on and waltzed out of the hotel.
less than two minutes away was one of the most
famous Wats (buddhist temples) in Chiang mai.
All day people had been visiting here to see the beautifully
ornate carving and golden relief that adorns the
inner and outer areas of the building.

I had waited for the tourists to go to slip in and
see the monks before it all closed down.
I have never been mad on the hordes that come and visit these
places and being a buddhist its always great for me to observe
the monks uninhibited!

walking unto the entrance I saw that the large temple was locked
but it was still possible to walk around the smaller temple that contained some ancient relics.

As i dropped off my shoes I noticed that two monks were
sat down in front o the main area giving each other head massages.
I acknowledged them with a small bow and walked into the main area.
The buddhas looked on at me in serene solitude and it gave me the
wonderful feeling to see that here I was not in a minority anymore and so
many around me were part of the sangha and the followers of the
insight and philosophy of the many buddhass.

The temple was adorned in simple pictures and depicted many of the scenes familiar to monks in the area.  some ,magnificent and some super-mundane.
I waled slowly trying to appreciate the moment.  All alone without the
flood of cameras that this scene must see each day.

In the darkness I watched smiled and saw that once again i needed to practice
take note of the remarkable people around me who dedicate their lives to
the search for mental peace.

wonderful!

Cathedrals in the sky

When you walk around the main drag in Bkk
you re hit by the scale and wealth of the place. Or
should that be debt?  Anyway, its got so many shopping
areas that you cant throw a cat without hitting a designer store!
when you do walk through it and into one
of the many vast exclusive ac designer malls you are
greeted by a wave of cold air that welcomes you into
consumer heaven.  Yes folks stretching of for what seems like ever
the cathedrals to possession are some of the largest
and most comprehensive I have ever seen.
They even greeted a bum like me with open arms
and all i bought was some dental floss from boots
which has decamped here from the good lode uk
main street!

as you walk and take in the amazing cleanliness and the
synthetic charm of it all you are aware of the power of this
western idea that has washed the globe in greed.

the rich thais never get to feel too hot
nor do they actually go outside as its all done
in ac splendour and with the white faced
faring looking on and wishing that one day we can be like
them ha ha.!

All so far away from the local tribes near here that have nothing
but smiles in there life that has simplicity and community written
all over it!  Devoid of meaning and purpose we shop till
we drop and the reality of the emptiness of western life
is temporarily suspended….!

more soon!