Laos with the Vang Family - Part Two

On our second day in Laos, we had a tour booked that would take us all over the area.  Unfortunately, Ellie was not feeling well, so the Vang Family stayed behind and missed the morning’s adventures. I booked the tour through Viator.com, but it was really Manifa Travel that ran it.
We were picked up in a super big comfy van and driven to our river boat.  The boat was long and the seats looked like they were taken from vehicles.  It was a very enjoyable ride up the Mekong River.

I had been trying to learn all I could about the plight of the Hmong refugees since we started planning this trip, including reading “The Late Homecomer” by Kao Kalia Yang.  The author was actually born in a refugee camp in Thailand before moving to America with her family.  The book traces her parents’ initial meeting while running for their lives in the Lao jungles, their marriage, and later their escape from Laos by swimming across the Mekong River with a baby (Kao's older sister) strapped to her mother.  It then follows their life in the refugee camps and their later adjustment to living in America.
As we rode upriver in the boat, all I could think about was trying to swim across it in the middle of the night, with a rope tying me to 3 other people (husband tied to grandma tied to wife tied to baby). And the thing to recall was that the Hmong were not swimmers.  They were used to living in the highlands.  They were risking their lives crossing the river, not knowing how to swim, because they knew that if they stayed in Laos, they would surely be killed.  They just prayed that what lay across the river was the safe refuge they had heard it was.
This was after the Vietnam War was over.  The Hmong were being killed for helping the Americans during the war; they were considered traitors to Laos and the Communist party.  It was genocide.
I told our guide, Kia, that I was trying to imagine this middle-of-the-night river crossing by the Hmong families, and he told me he was Hmong!  Immediately I was disappointed that Janny and James couldn’t be there to meet him and see the river this way.  Janny later told me that her parents were able to cross on a boat; they didn’t have to swim, but her grandfather died in the crossing.

At this section of the river, the other side was still Laos.  The Hmong crossed further south, where the river is the border between Laos and Thailand.  We saw this at the end of our trip when we flew back to Vientiane.

I asked Kia why there were no birds or crocodiles/alligators or any other noticeable wildlife.  He said they were all eaten during the war, when everyone was starving.  We have noticed a similar lack of birds or even rodents in Korea.  Not even a squirrel.  Kia said even the fish population in the river has sharply declined and they now raise fish in fish farms.

There are water buffalo in Laos.  They are raised for meat.  We saw them grazing on the sides of the river.  We also saw goats and cows.

Kia said the river is narrower here than where the Hmong crossed, but also deeper.

A fish farm along the river’s edge

These pilings help determine the water depth.  During the rainy season, the water would rise above these pilings.

Small gardens along the riverside.

Water buffalo

Fishermen pulling in their nets

Water bottles are tied off like buoys to mark where fish nets or traps have been left by fishermen

Our boat captain steering us upriver

I asked Kia why there seemed to be such a haze covering the mountains.  He said it was burning season.  The farmers burn their fields in the dry season to prepare for the next planting.  As we watched the hillsides, we could see smoke plumes.  Kia said that as the season wears on, the hillsides are completely obscured with smoke.  It reminded me and Eric of burning season in Malawi, when ash would come in through the roof peak of our house, leaving a line across the room.

Smoke plume

Our first stop of the morning was Ban Xang Hai, AKA Whisky Village.  We saw how they make Lao-Lao, the rice whisky that is considered a staple drink (along with Beerlao, their locally made beer). We sampled 4 varieties of the Lao-Lao.  The darker ones seemed sweeter.  There were some bottles with scorpions or snakes in them.  Kia said this was to give the men energy when they drink them.

After politely declining to purchase any bottles of Lao-Lao as souvenirs, we walked up further, where the women were weaving raw silks and indigo cotton.  The indigo cotton is so incredibly soft to the touch, and the colors were so rich and deep.  Before I knew what was happening, Willow jumped in and started weaving at the loom.  I sure hope she didn’t mess up the woman’s beautiful pattern.

We made our way back to the boat and headed further upriver to the confluence of the Nam Ou River and the Mekong River.  Click the link to the see the Interactive Map.

At the confluence were very steep limestone cliffs.  You could make out caves in the sides.

Pak Ou Caves are across from the confluence.  These caves have been a pilgrimage destination for Buddhists since the 16th century.  There is an upper cave, Tham Theung, and a lower cave, Tam Ting. Together they hold more than 4,000 Buddha statues.  Kia said that during the war the really expensive ones were removed for safekeeping.  Now there are only wooden ones covered in gold leaf.  Kia taught us that there are different Buddha poses for the different days of the week.  The day of the week you were born on is supposed to have some significance and tells something about your personality.

The white line on the rock jutting down shows the high water mark in 2008.

The golden ones in the front row are in order Sunday thru Saturday, from left to right.

From the caves, we rode back on the boat downstream to Manifa Elephant Camp for lunch.  We saw elephants in pairs along the riverbank.

We sat on the top of the hill to eat lunch, with a view of the river and the elephants below.

As we walked to the van to ride back we saw a bunch of elephants being fed.  The kids jumped in and started feeding them too.

Kia said we would be driving back past our hotel, if Janny and James felt like Ellie was up to participating in the afternoon’s activities.  I messaged them and they said they could be ready when we rode past.  So, we picked them up!  Unfortunately, Eric wasn’t feeling well by then, so when we picked them up, we dropped him off.  Once Janny and James got in the van, it was all Hmong, all the time.  I was so happy to hear them conversing in the Hmong language with Kia.

We went to Kuang Si Waterfalls next.  It is southwest of Luang Prabang.  Before we actually saw the falls though, we walked through Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre.  It is a rescue center for Moon Bears that were rescued from poachers.  Moon Bears are distinguished by a white V on their chests.  

After we looked at all the bears, we finally made it to the waterfalls.  There were numerous falls at multiple levels.  We started at the bottom and worked our way to the top.  Midway there was a spot where people were allowed to swim.  It was freezing cold though, and I couldn’t stand it past my ankles.  James and Willow were the most brave and swam all the way across.  Charlie and Preston made it about halfway across.  Maya made it up to her waist.

This video is 13 minutes long.

Our guide, Kia, is in this photo too, between James and Maya.

We eventually made our way back to the van where Kia told us we still had one more stop to make on the way home!  I couldn't believe how much we had packed into a single day.  The last stop was a Hmong village!  When we arrived, it turned out to be not only a Hmong village, but also a living museum of their culture.  If you want to check them out, here is their Facebook page.
First, we passed out ice pops to all the kids. Janny was so smart to bring those with her.  It was a great way to make instant friends with all the kids.  Then we went shopping!  James wanted to buy something from every stall, so he bought us all gifts.

Maya passing out ice pops.

This little girl was running her own stall, selling embroidered purses.  I loved her traditional Hmong outfit.

This baby had her ears pierced in the Hmong way, with a string keeping the hole open.

Then we entered the exhibition area where this beautiful Hmong couple demonstrated traditional tools, like the corn grinder and the rice grain husker.

 Corn grinder:

Rice grain husker/pounder:

Before and after pics of the rice grains are below.  The pounding knocks the grain husks off.

We had just enough daylight left to get a weapons demonstration.  First they showed us the automatic crossbow shooting.  This seemed like a trap they could set to catch wild pigs.

The second was just a straight cross bow.  Each kid got a chance to try.  Maya got the closest to the bulls eye.

There were many other activities they could have done with us, but we just ran out of time.  The sun was setting on us and it gets dark quickly in the mountains.

We rode back to the hotel, watching the fires of the controlled burning from the van windows.
We ate dinner at the restaurant within the resort.  I had Khao Pad Kai served in a fried egg.

It was an incredibly long day, but totally worth it.  Without Manifa Travel arranging it all, we would never have managed to have so many wonderful experiences in Luang Prabang.