American Halloween

American Halloween! The expat community is doing a Halloween party on Saturday but as we won't be here (and Halloween is my favorite holiday), we decided to throw a Halloween party for our work buddies. 

Homemade costumes were a requirement :) I was a Jack o Lantern! 

We did watermelon carvings (instead of pumpkin carvings; haven't seen any pumpkins in Laos), which is nice because watermelons are actually super easy to carve, and you can put vodka in the watermelons...

For dessert I tried to do a black-and-white Spider Web cake, but evaporated milk is way less solid than vanilla frosting so it kind of all ran together. So I drowned the cake in hot chocolate sauce, put a "puddle" in the middle, and had sour gummi worms crawling out of it. Add vanilla ice cream to the hot chocolate cake and it was awesome (if I do say so myself)

On the way out one of our coworkers got stuck in the ditch we have along the dirt road in front of our apartment. Ten guys (all dressed in Halloween costumes) couldn't get him out, so they had to call a tow truck ...

Then Zach decided to scale the side of our apartment building.

Eye make-up.

I left the ten jack-o-lantern watermelons outside our apartment but the cleaning ladies threw them away before we got back from work today... very very distressing. And sad.

But Happy Halloween from Laos!

Pumpkin cut outs

Nothing says accomplishment like getting five computer programmer guys to get on your living room floor and do arts and crafts. 

Watching Sinister and doing Jack O Lantern cut-outs. 

Kiteboarding Hua Hin

Last Friday a group of us flew to Bangkok and took a shuttle down to Hua Hin, a resort town two and a half hours South. 

Playing five fingers in the van...

Nick's cousin flew in from the States for some SE Asian traveling. 

On Saturday we spent four hours learning to kite-board. It turns out that "learning to kite-board" means you don't get a kite-board, you get a kite, and you go into the water and learn how to control the kite. It was much tougher than I expected! And easily the most entertaining part was on the way back, when the kite-boarding instructor hooked Heidi and I up to his vest using five foot tethers and towed us back to shore.

This is the company we used: Kiteboarding Asia http://www.kiteboardingasia.com/

Also side note: the beach at Hua Hin is disgusting. It's covered in garbage... enough so that when Nick and I went on a walk along the beach, we played the game "Nature or trash?" 

For example: the below picture is of a catheter bag. Gross. 

Nut Massage

Can't decide if they're trying to be classy, like 'Lotus Massage', 'Lily Massage', 'Nut Massage'... Or if they're a brothel who decided to be less subtle than the rest.

Hua Hin, Thailand 

Bad translations

No charge for cockage fee

How to Win your Girlfriend a Stuffed Animal at an Asian Fair

Along the streets of Vientiane's Boat Racing Festival are little stall selling food, clothing, and junk no one needs, as well as these little "carnival" stands.  I put quotation marks around "carnival" because we're not really sure they know what a carnival is.  

Nick speculated that the people who set up the carnival stands saw the fairs in American films and tried to imitate them, but didn't really understand how the whole carnival stand system worked.

This is how the whole thing went down:

I wanted Nick to win me a stuffed animal at one of the carnival stands. Specifically, I wanted him to win me an "Asian-y looking" stuffed animal. (Prizes varied from juices to Hello Kitty crap to Asian-y stuffed animals... lots of pink and baby blue.)  So he walked up and asked this teenaged girl who was working the stand how much it was to play the dart game. Through Seth and my interpreting (we're learning numbers in our Lao classes), we figured out that it was 2,000kip ($.25) for three darts. We then asked how much it would be to win the biggest animal.  We couldn't understand her response to this answer... it sounded like she said "30,000 kip" ($5), but we thought we heard incorrectly. 

Anyway, Nick threw the darts (and got 3 of 3). 

When we excitedly asked how many more darts he had to throw to get the big blue stuffed thing, the girl again said 30,000kip. 

At which point we figured that they were charging people to throw darts, and simultaneously selling stuffed animals at the same stall. 

So Nick won me a stuffed animal! (By throwing three darts and paying 30,000kip).

And then even more awesomely he carried it around for me all afternoon. 

We're not sure who the stuffed animal character is... we just call him Mr. Ripoff. 

He's stuffed with styrofoam peanuts. 

Vientiane Boat Racing Festival 2013

The Boat Racing Festival is one of the biggest events held in Vientiane- our quiet and quaint city gets crazy and crowded with people from all over Laos.  The main streets leading from downtown to the river are roped off from cars and scooters, and taken over by stalls selling clothes and phones and food and sticky rice in bamboo sticks.

Technically the boat racing was this weekend, but the craziness lasted all last week, too.  Even taking the scooter downtown was near impossible. 

On Saturday around noon a bunch of us went up along the Mekong River to watch the boats practice for their races on Sunday (we never went to watch the actual races; too many people). It was pretty neat, but with temperatures in the high 80's and no place to sit but the dirty sidewalk, we were only there for 20 minutes or so :) 

On top of Vientiane being too small for such huge crowds, they didn't have the infrastructure or safety checks to deal with the night activities.  

For example, these are the "stairs" that lead down to the river areas. If you are graceful, they are no problem.  If you're klutzy, they are a huge obstacle, especially when it's really dark. 

The beer garden - with live music- riverside. 

One of the most special events of the Boat Racing Festival is the Festival of Lights (it might be called something else, but that's what I call it in my head).  On Saturday night, along all the streets, there are tables with "boats" made of banana leaves, bamboo, flowers, wire, and styrofoam beads, with candles coming out the top.  For 15,000kip, you can get one, plus a box of matches. 

Nick and I each got one, and took it down to the river to light them and put them in the water.

Like I said before, there are no safety precautions taken for the festival, so on the muddy steps down to the river, I slipped on my butt and got dirt all over my nice gray skirt.

A boy around 12 was swimming out about 10 feet into the Mekong to let the boats free (so they wouldn't get caught in the garbage that had found its way to the river bank), and Nick and I tipped him 20,000kip ($3) to bring our lit boats out. Of course the candles went out 10 seconds after we lit them, so we couldn't keep track of which ones were ours. 

There was a large lit boat in the Mekong that would sometimes let off small fireworks. You can see the banana boats people put in the water in the reflection of the boat. 

It was a fun night. Many people drank too much, stayed up too late, and rallied too hard, but I just liked sailing our little boats down the Mekong :)

Funeral for a Friend

On Saturday, we lost a coworker and a friend. Vanvilay was someone we worked closely with, and about six weeks ago she stopped coming to work. We found out a couple weeks later that she had gone to Thailand for treatment of leukemia.

She passed away on Saturday after spending her last days at home with her family.

In Buddhist tradition, her death was announced and friends and family from across Lao came to Vientiane to pay their respects to her family and to mourn Vanvilay.

We (as a office) went to pay our respects to her family on Tuesday,  and brought a large floral wreath and an envelope of kip we left with the family. (The donation goes to pay for things like the funeral ceremony, and the food that the family provides for those who visit them the week before.  We were unsure of what amount to donate, but were told that 50,000kip, or $7, would be more than enough.) The family hosts extended family and friends at their home between the death and the funeral, which can last any amount of time between one day and a week (but is typically three days). There were dozens of people at the home when we visited, eating and playing cards and telling stories about Vanvilay.  It was a time of mourning, but also a time of coming together, of celebrating and remembering her.  After all, Buddhism dictates that she is not going to the afterlife- she is traveling from this body to the next, until she achieves Nirvana.

The funeral was held on Thursday afternoon, at Wat That Foon.  The funeral customs are very different from those I've seen before, which is to be expected, but thankfully our office admin, who is Lao, sat next to me and would explain what was happening.

Around 1:30pm, the men in the family, dressed in monks robes, lead the procession, followed by the women in the family, dressed in the traditional Buddhist's nuns' garbs. The procession apparently lasts 500m, ending at the location of the ceremony in the temple. The truck brings in the casket, which built tall, and adorned in white and gold.

Over the ceremony, the Buddhist monks listed the names of Vanvilay and her family, and her employer "listed her history". We didn't understand any of this, as it was all in Lao, but we could watch the ceremony.

There were several men that had been hired to help with the funeral services. They dismantled the casket and the wood coverings in order to move them from the truck to the table, then covered the casket in coconut oil. This is to "clean" the spirit, to ensure it has a good start into the next life.

Then the close family came to lay gifts upon the caskets- things that would be cremated, along with her body. These things included mementos, or new clothing. While this was happening, a man came around with a basket collecting donations- the typical donation, from what we could see, was about 5,000kip (less than a dollar).

After the family gave their presents, the men in the family and the men hired to help with the funeral laid large floral arrangements on the casket, and then the guests of the funeral were invited to place flowers and candles (which were provided) along the casket.

After placing the flower and candle on the casket, we exited the casket area, "nopping" (or bowing your head in reverence) to the family members. I left after this, but there were more ceremonial traditions I missed.  Cookies and money are then thrown amongst the crowd, apparently as a good luck token. Guests are invited to stay for the lighting of the pyre,  though expected to leave right after.  The family then takes pictures in front of the burning pyre.

 In this way, Vanvilay's soul was sent from this body to whatever comes next.

Resource (with pictures) for Lao funerals:
http://www.laoworld.net/index.php?document_srl=10494&mid=culture

Vanvilay's pyre (I did not take this picture)

Lao Airlines Plane Crash in Pakse

There was a plane crash of a Lao Airlines flight from Vientiane to Pakse on Wednesday, which killed all 44 passengers, as well as the 5 crew members. Right now the news is stating that the crash was due to bad weather, left over from a recent typhoon.  There were warning from some embassies not to travel to the south of Laos, because of the weather, but apparently this was something the airline felt they could ignore.  The plane crashed into an island near the Pakse airport, along the Mekong River. Bodies are still being pulled from the river.  It was a tragedy.

The crash hit international news - I saw it on CNN the next day- but not before expats in Lao had posted it on Facebook.  The postings included a photograph of a page that had a list of the passengers on the flight.  This means that before the news even knew of crash, we (the expats of Vientiane) knew the names of the dead, and their nationalities.

I read an article a couple months ago about how the U.S. military was having problems controlling information leaks of deaths abroad : specifically, that a wife of a soldier had been informed of his death over Facebook by the wife of a fellow soldier. (Article here: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/22/military-spouse-learns-of-husbands-death-by-facebook/)

It's incredibly sad that Facebook has become a primary way of communicating "breaking news" the way it has (and often it's completely inappropriate, as seen in the article above), but for those of us living in Laos, a country with limited infrastructure and few channels of communicating important information, it's become an important tool for us to stay in contact and to stay informed.

Because the Mekong River lies between Thailand and Laos, Thai agencies are helping to recovery the bodies.

The dead include seventeen Lao natives, along with expats from Australia, Canada, France and one from the States, as well as families on vacation. Only 17 of the bodies have been recovered so far, but they expect no survivors.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/18/laos-air-crash-debris-bodies-retrieved
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/17/us-laos-crash-idUSBRE99F0GH20131017
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/18/laos-air-crash-debris-bodies-retrieved

Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their loved ones.

Fall in Laos

Back in the States, fall meant pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks, caramel apples at Greenbluff in Spokane, and warm scarves.

In Laos it means the rainy season is coming to an end.

But also Joma is selling pumpkin pie.

$13 gets you a kilo of mussels

Went to Chokdee, or 'the Belgium Bar' by the river for a birthday dinner on Saturday.

Not only did they have at least a hundred types of beers and ciders- including an amazing 'elderflower and lime' cider, but they also have mussels on the menu (Friday/ Saturday only).

before 

After (Nick helped. A little)

Friday: football, tequila and man meat

Nick and I walk into Q Bar on Vientiane, an hour and a half after everyone else, and of course they have tequila shots waiting for us. Because nothing starts your night off classier than tequila shots.

The Aussie guy who owns this bar has 'Lady Pies' (meat pies from down under) that are made in Phuket, shipped to Bangkok, flown to Udon Thani and driven to Vientiane. If they're worth that much effort, they HAVE to be good, so that's what I got for dinner.

Also even though it's Friday night (Friday morning, US time) they still play Thursday night football. 

I don't even like football but it's nice to have the guys sitting around, drinking a beer and yelling stuff at the TV.

What happens when you find a cheap day speed boat tour out of Krabi

Krabi in October has really rainy weather, but that wasn't enough to stop us from using our Saturday to book a day tour by speed boat. On Friday we went to Ao Nang beach and found a tour information booth, and booked a daylong trip to Koh Phi Phi (along with some other islands and coves). We paid 2,300 ($80) baht for the two of us with the Ao Nang Speed boat company- it included hotel pickup, crappy lunch and snorkeling equipment.

We were picked up at 8 at our hotel by a slightly maniac Thai man who spoke very little English. We also had to pick up a group from the Sheraton. When we got there, Nick and I sat in the truck for 20 minutes as the crazy Thai man paced the parking lot, cursing about 'from India'. Turns out our Thai driver is pretty racist... Which was proven when the group of ten Indians came out, got in the retro-fitted back of the truck (nick and I were sitting in the cab), and he drove like a bat out of hell, taking turns wayyyy too fast. Every once in a while, when I had to grab Nick's arm for stability, the Thai driver would look over, wait for me to give him an awkward smile, and then laugh like a crazy comic book villain.

We were some of the only white people on the boat, and also one of the only groups willing to sit up front during the rain and choppy waters to get from Krabi to Koh Phi Phi (45 min).

We got to sightsee quite a bit, but I wish there had been more snorkeling. We even visited Maya bay, where some of the scenes for the movie 'The Beach' were shot. It was incredibly beautiful, even with the rain.

For lunch we stopped at Phi Phi Don, which is mostly backpackers and Aussie guys who run scuba shops. Next time we go, I want to stay THERE :)

The 'Marijuana Thai Massage'... Like I said, lots of backpackers.

We snorkeled a bit after lunch (snorkeling on a full stomach seems like very dumb scheduling), but didn't see much, especially since the rain made it harder to see underwater, and since the staff of the boating company yelled at us every time we got too far away from the boat.

Passing Chicken Island (named for the chicken head-like formation)

Like I said before, there weren't many Westerners on the boat (maybe 5 of 45 people?). There were a lot of Thai and Chinese people, however. And maybe because of the choppy waters, or the crowded claustrophobia of the boat, or maybe even the Tigerbalm menthol balm they rubbed on their temples to make themselves feel better, but all FOUR of the Chinese girls on our boat got seasick and were throwing up in these plastic bags. 

Also, a thirteen year old boy drank too much sea water and had to poop in a plastic bag. 

It was a weird experience. 

Nakamanda Resort in Krabi

I found the Nakamanda Resort and Spa on Agoda.com - our room (or Sala Villa) was incredible. Our bathtub had a skylight, our porch had a covered cabana (which was great for reading in the rain) and it was absolutely beautiful.

Also we got massages at the spa and they were top-notch, especially for $40 a pop. 

Swedish pizza and bakery lunches

This is a calzone the size of a baby.

And this is what most of the salads look like. So much cucumber and tomato.

Travel agency

Vientiane is a bit in the 90's as it was actually cheaper to book a round trip ticket Vientiane - Krabi (Thailand) through them than to do it ourselves, even for the same flight itinerary. We used the one next to the American embassy.

It's called the All Time Travel Service. 

Which you could read as

'All Time

 Travel service'

Or, more awesomely,

'All

Time travel

Service' 

Time travel agencies would be awesome. 

Pimenton

Back at my favorite restaurant in Vientiane. I just ate a bowl full of manchego cheese dip with a fork. It was delicious .