Saturday, February 20, 2010
Vientiane and Vang Vieng
Thailand was a blast, but we must leave it for now and head for Laos. The overnight trip was a bust. Minivan 12 deep and mostly asshole Australians. This might be a good time to speak about the different backpackers in Southeast Asia. They are divided not necessarily evenly into 4 groups:
1) Piece of shit Aussies traveling from party town to party town, making a mockery of them and all places in between.
2)Piece of shit Brits traveling from party town to party town, making a mockery of them and all places in between.
3)Liberal people/animal/treehuggers intent on learning as much about the countries, cultures, and environments they tread lightly upon.
4)French people.
Meghan and I would identify most closely with Group 3, but must woefully come in contact with the other groups and cringe acrimoniously when locals assume we are part of Groups 1 or 2.
Anyway, we had to spend a dreadful night with Group 1 on the bus to Laos. Loud, rude, and drunk, they made me ashamed to speak English. But, as their description suggests, they skipped Vientiane (read: cultural capital) and headed straight for Vang Vieng (read: mountainous paradise ruined by an onslaught of Groups 1 and 2). So we had a few days respite.
1) Piece of shit Aussies traveling from party town to party town, making a mockery of them and all places in between.
2)Piece of shit Brits traveling from party town to party town, making a mockery of them and all places in between.
3)Liberal people/animal/treehuggers intent on learning as much about the countries, cultures, and environments they tread lightly upon.
4)French people.
Meghan and I would identify most closely with Group 3, but must woefully come in contact with the other groups and cringe acrimoniously when locals assume we are part of Groups 1 or 2.
Anyway, we had to spend a dreadful night with Group 1 on the bus to Laos. Loud, rude, and drunk, they made me ashamed to speak English. But, as their description suggests, they skipped Vientiane (read: cultural capital) and headed straight for Vang Vieng (read: mountainous paradise ruined by an onslaught of Groups 1 and 2). So we had a few days respite.
Vientiane is a lovely, small capital. Everything is within walking distance and was clean, safe, and wonderful. Days were spent wandering the French colonial streets in search of cultural enlightenment and nights were spent indulging in $2 all-you-can-eat Indian food or noodles and beer and cards on the Mekong. A nice intro to Laos.
Next was the inevitable stop Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is nestled in limestone hills, but it is more of an area instead of a town. The 'town' is littered with shabbily-built restaurants, bars, and travel agencies catering to 'Friends' fanatics and perennial spring breaker types. "It's Spring Break somwhere!" It left me with a knot in my stomach to see so many toilsome Lao slaving for a bunch spoiled Western brats whose main objective was to get as wasted as possible (weed and mushroom shakes abound), write "I love Cock" on their bodies (equally distributed between the sexes), tube down the river blaring MGMT next to locals doing laundry riverside, swing wildly in all directions off of precarious ropes and zip lines, and try to take each other home at the end of the night. The only saving grace was the country-wide curfew of midnight. Maybe I'm getting old, but stay in Australia and do that shit. Don't bring the worst of Western culture here.
It felt like a Wild West enclave. A place where nearly anything goes, a Kafka-esque hellscape, a place where locals are little more than indentured servants, where the exchange rates ensure that foreigners will always have the upper hand. Where, no matter how much Kip you earn, you'll never be able to convert it to anything significant in dollars, enslaving you in the cruel game of worldwide currency, making $2 a day serving those who have a seemingly endless Kip supply that they waste on sheer hedonism--scoffing at the impoverished beggars along the way.
Thankfully Meghan recognized this as well, and we tried not to participate. We found a bungalow across the river in the mountains and spent our days in the glorious pursuit of nature. Kayaking, navigating an underground river, spelunking, hiking, bike riding, and rock climbing. We did spend one day tubing, and had it been in the States, it would have been a blast. Rope swings, music, flesh and drugs galore, and $5 buckets full of alcohol. But here. Here, it was an affront on all things decent. A place where, just 35 years before, the US was indiscriminately bombing the people back to the Stone Age. Frivolity with that kind of history and current poverty I cannot tolerate.
Are you still reading? I'm surprised. Despite all of this, Vang Vieng has a lot to offer. But instead of holding your nose, as some guidebooks suggest, you need to blindfold yourself as well. But the people are amazing, the scenery is stunning, and the activities are top notch. I spent a day biking through the country-side exploring wondrous caves along the way. Cave shrines are a big thing here. And its wonderful. To see either deteriorating or well-maintained Buddhas far away from the sun's suspicious eye is a marvelous experience, conjuring up images of midnight meditations and clandestine rituals. All the caves were deserted, or nearly so, further enhancing the experience and the risk had I misstepped.
Meghan and I went rock climbing one day, and had a great time. The routes were quite challenging and we met some great people. Two, particularly Andrea (Australia) and Karen (France) would be with us in Luang Prabang.
Comments:
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Fascinating, and disappointing, Matt. I can easily picture the unruly types you describe; I remember seeing groups of them in Prague from time to time. As for the authentic culture you're experiencing, WOW! Thanks for sharing. Keep up the adventure!
# posted by 
: 25/2/10 05:08
: 25/2/10 05:08
I know exactly how you feel. It´s the same in Ecuador. Only instead of Australians and Brits, it is, of course, North Americans. It makes you ashamed to be a foreigner and frustrated when a local mistakes you for one of those types.
I´m all for tubing and drinking, but you´re right. We should keep that within the cultural safety of our own coutries, instead of flaunting it in impoverished nations.
I´m all for tubing and drinking, but you´re right. We should keep that within the cultural safety of our own coutries, instead of flaunting it in impoverished nations.
If Americans had 4-5 weeks of vacation, or "holiday", a year you could have a fifth category.
# posted by : 25/2/10 17:46
: 25/2/10 17:46
Isn't the "seemingly endless Kip supply" the reason that you are there?
Lauber
Lauber
# posted by : 1/3/10 11:16
: 1/3/10 11:16
I had one of those realizations one night in Okinawa. The Japanese themselves are ones to imbibe and make scenes, but my fellow Marines were particularly bad this one night when we took over a bar, broke the chairs, then went outside and began pulling the windshield wipers out of people's cars. I did not participate, but i was ashamed to be an American that night. People lose a certain graciousness when they drink in a testosterone-driven environment.
On a lighter note, continue to have fun out there and be sure to recreate the American name!
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On a lighter note, continue to have fun out there and be sure to recreate the American name!
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