The Kingdom of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol

When we were in Luang Prabang I went to visit the National Museum and was hugely surprised to find that it was not a museum about the Lao people as I had expected but more a museum about the former Royal Family. Laos has had no King since the Pathet Lao took over in 1975 and he abdicated. Yet the Museum, which is housed in the former Palace, is filled with his furniture, clothes, jewels, photos and gifts. The building itself is a beautiful old colonial building with high ceilings, hardwood floors, verandas and windows designed for cross-ventilation in the heat. The display of royal memorabilia seems to suggest a respect for the former monarchy.

So why did the current government murder him?

When South Vietnam fell to the North Vietnamese Communists and the Americans evacuated the Embassy in Saigon, the other two countries of the “American War”, Cambodia and Laos also fell to the Communists (Khmer Rouge and Pathet Lao) who had been fighting a civil war in their countries for years and years. In Laos the Royalist government was finished and the new regime took over. These Pathet Laos members had been holed up in caves in the northeast, supported by the North Vietnamese and bombed continuously by the Americans. This was in a piece of real estate which straddled the political border called the Ho Chi Min Trail – the supply route to South Vietnam.

When the Pathet Lao assumed power, the King abdicated, becoming an “advisor” to the new government but he was actually under house arrest. Thousands and thousands of people in the former regime fled across the river to Thailand or to other countries abroad. Many who did not escape were detained and sent to “reeducation seminars” a euphemism for political prison camps, for varying lengths of time. Some were permanently “reeducated”.
In 1978 King Savang Vathana (aged 72), his wife Queen Khampoui (aged 68) and the Crown Prince Vongsavang (age 44) were taken from their homes and sent to a series of prison camps in northeast Laos. They endured some years of complete isolation, hardship, humiliation, starvation and illness before all three of them died. First the Crown Prince, then the King, and lastly the woman who was left alone in the most appalling conditions, the Queen.


It's really sad for me that despite searching for several days I could find only a few pictures of the King and one of the Crown Prince (both looking quite stiff, official and all) and none of the Queen, other than two views of her sitting beside her husband. Google Queen Khampoui and there's almost nothing there, as if she never existed. There is an amazing rare, also impossible to find online, picture of the King and Queen in captivity - a photo that tears my heart in two. It's reproduced as the last known picture of the King and Queen in Bamboo Palace, a book by Christopher Kremmer, describing his real quest to find out what happened to the last royal family. I wish I could add it here, but it, along with anything to do with these people, seems to have totally vanished. It's as if all three of them never existed.


The Lao government has never officially admitted how they died. They died of extreme abuse.

Much has changed since the 1970’s and perhaps as that so-called Communist government completely screwed things up after taking power and had to move away from doctrinaire positions that just didn’t work, it felt obliged to find a way to re-connect with the past. Especially once the Soviet Union collapsed and as all these client nations were left on their own, in Laos, things started opening up big time.

There are indications that political prison camps in Laos continue to exist, even after all these years. The story of the Hmong who ended up on the "wrong" side because of their support of and by the Americans is still unsettled to this day.

The last days of the Royal Family were so very sad. As were the fates of former government and military leaders of the defeated Royalist government, some of whom were kept in shackles virtually for years in their prison huts, let out once every week or two to bathe, starved and denied any medical attention whatsover. They were not allowed to read, write or speak to anyone. Silence, starvation, atrophied limbs. The government’s policy was to let them slowly die. The Royals were allowed, in the later days of their captivity, to move around within their own hut and to tend a garden. But they were never allowed contact with anyone and were guarded continuously. Their families and the people of Laos were never informed of their whereabouts.

All of these events of the wars in Southeast Asia took place within 30 and some years ago. A long time but well within my lifetime and memory – not that I ever really knew or understood what was going on back in the day. My current obsession with finding out the truth, if there is such a thing, about what happened in these countries I am now visiting and coming to love causes me much sadness and great heartache.

In our world the same things continue today – wars and brutality, famine and genocide, invasion and killing. Surely there’s only so much heartache to go around. People seem to learn absolutely nothing from the past. Nothing.

What Keeps Me Up at Night

The last time I got up in the night to watch something from another time zone:

So long, W.

Give Pizza a Chance

When we were in Vang Vieng we decided to give Lao food a rest one day and have what was described as a thin-crust, wood burning oven pizza. There are a lot of restaurants serving pizza catering to the thousands of backpackers who find their way there. However during our time there we noticed something a little odd. One day when we were having dinner in a restaurant by the river, we noticed that two pizzas were delivered to the kitchen in a box. That prompted the speculation that there really was only one restaurant in town that produced the pizzas that were on everyone's menus. I also noticed that when I ordered a mango shake in one place, soon one of the staff walked in carrying a couple of mangos that he had just bought. Don't be impatient waiting for your order, they may have to order in.

Back to this afternoon quest for pizza. When the menu was brought to our table, they also gave us a very unique, separate menu. More precisely, they gave it to 20-something Number 2 Son. Not to me. As a middle-aged woman, I am in deep camouflage. This was it:


Of course you could Just Say 'Bo'...


Although the town of Vang Vieng itself doesn't have the same kind of beauty as a Luang Prabang, it is not without its charms. The natural surroundings are beautiful. Some views from the porch of our bungalow...



Lots to do in the area around the town - boating, hiking, kayaking, rafting, tubing, caving... Along the river are several bars where the kids can get out of the water, drink beer and, if they want, enjoy the bar swings over the river...






Then there's the partying...

Same Same But Different Bar
A place for sunset in the hammocks

Will work for drinks

The Boys hung out with lots of new friends from all over the world...after putting Mom and Dad to bed.

Exploring the back streets...










Leaving Vang Vieng. After a few days, we rented a van and driver to take us on the long drive through spectacular country to Luang Prabang, about a 6 hour drive. Mountains, switchback roads, peace.

Pak Bat - Morning Alms

Pak Bat is a daily ritual which occurs throughout Laos. Morning alms giving to the Buddhist monks. The monks walk single-file down the road in silence, carrying containers to receive gifts of food. People who want to participate rise very early, cleanse themselves and prepare food to be given to the monks. Some do this every day. They receive blessings in return and believe that they earn merit by doing this.

In Vientiane, our hotel was across the street from the temple called Wat Chan and the very first morning, I was awakened by the sound of a deep gong. It was about 5:00 in the morning. The gong sounded several times and woke up the roosters and dogs who all started making a racket. In the dark the temple came to life and over the next 20 minutes or so, from my perch on the balcony, I watched the orange-clad monks assembling at the gate in the wall directly opposite.

You could hear the monks chatting and laughing as they waited for their compadres. These monks are kids, mostly teenagers, but some as young as 10. You see them all over town during the day, sometimes talking on cellphones or sitting in front of the screens in internet cafes. When you meet them in temples often they are very eager to talk to you - they say they are practising English, which they are learning. Boys in Laos families are expected to go to the temples and become monks for at least a few weeks or months, although many stay longer and receive their high school education that way.

Finally the troupe was assembled and the gates creaked open. The monks stopped talking and lined up single file in silence, carrying their alms bowls. Two of the temple dogs trotted alongside. I watched as they walked down the still dark street. As I glanced down to the crossroads they were heading for I saw another group walking single file across the intersection, coming from another temple. I don't know if it was the colour orange, or the earlier sounds of kids' voices and laughter, but all of a sudden the whole scene reminded me of trick or treating on Halloween. It made me smile.

Luang Prabang markets itself as a place to see this early morning ritual - also part of the World Heritage Site, a place to preserve living culture as well as structures and artifacts. Hotels there distribute flyers explaining the ritual, what it means to the local people, and asking travellers to respect it. They invite people to watch but ask that they maintain their distance, turn off their camera flashes and only photograph from a distance. These notices are all over town.


There's something else that is posted all over town, in shop windows and on walls and street posts. A photo of what NOT to do. This picture was also published in an article in the New York Times which talks about the numbers of spectators and food vendors and noise and interference with what is a religious ritual. If these tourists only knew that their own mug shots are being displayed prominently all over town to point at and mock, they would, I think, be mightily embarrassed. Or not.


By the way, about that early morning wake-up call in Vientiane. After two mornings the novelty wore off (imagine, waking up a rooster!) and I closed the windows and slept with the noise of the air conditioning on for a long, great night's sleep for the rest of our time there.

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

After our first visit to Laos about a year ago, the New York Times announced that one of the Hottest Travel Destinations for 2008 was...LAOS. Damn them.

At that first visit we were so enchanted that we decided then and there that we would return.

I will tell you the truth about Laos and then you must never again repeat it. Keep this quiet.

Laos is FABULOUS.


Traveling to Laos from Manila is relatively easy. Three and a half hours to Bangkok and then another hour to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Not bad. Feels easy.. We were all trying to travel with check-on luggage only (see earlier quest to lighten up) and the major issue was - guess what - contact lense solution. No, I'm not kidding. Try to get contact lense solution in something 100 ml or under. Just try. What kind of idiots are these manufacturers?

By the way, on the subject of traveling light, I'm now getting it down to a fine art, and am so pleased with myself I'm bragging to anyone who will listen or who will pretend to listen. Here's my luggage for a two week stay. A duffel bag and a purse. (Of course we later bought and filled two extra pieces on the return trip - for all the shopping!)

You read descriptions of Laos as being a "landlocked country". Which it is. But although I also love the ocean, there is definitely a lot of moving water in Laos, the type I adore as well. Rivers. Including the famous Mekong River. This is a beautiful country. We stayed in three city/towns during our two weeks there and we lived by the rivers in all three. Small hotels with terraces, balconies and porches overlooking the water. We spent many hours watching the rivers from our terraces, walking alongside them, crossing them on bamboo foot bridges, or traveling along them on hired boats.

Vientiane - the capital city. Our hotel was about 300 feet up the block from the Mekong. Our 5th floor balcony (just about the highest elevation in the city) had a view of the rooftops of the neighbourhood, the Buddhist temple across the street and the Mekong river stretching south. The river is low this time of year and at this part of the river there are huge sandbanks in the middle. In the distance is Thailand.

Vang Vieng - 3 hours north of Vientiane. We stopped here for 2 nights to break up the 10 hour bus ride between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Our cabins were 30 feet from the river and our view from our porch was across to the limestone karst mountains. Beyond beautiful.



Luang Prabang - our second floor room with balcony overlooked one of the quieter roads in Luang Prabang. Across the street was the river called Nam Khan which joins the Mekong at the end of the peninsula. I spent hours pretending to read a book on the balcony, but actually I was just inhaling the peaceful, fresh air and watching people walk past. Here's one of the many monks in town strolling past the sidewalk opposite.


I've been back only a few days and I'm already planning my return.


Don't tell anybody.