While it’s not always easy to stay in touch with our families from abroad—Singapore is at least 12 hours ahead of the East Coast, and 15 from the West, depending on daylight savings—we both were lucky enough to have our parents fly around the world to visit this year. I could barely get my parents across the bridge to Brooklyn before I moved! But really, it’s unlikely that we would have otherwise spent a week vacationing with each family this year and a third week all together in Canada. Quality over quantity. See how I turned that around?
Andrew’s parents, Kirk and Sue, had a tough trip from California into Singapore in February due to bad weather in Japan, and arrived more than a day later than expected. Although our time in the red dot was brief, we packed it full of sightseeing (always easier said than done in Singaporean heat) and good food. And then: Laos!
We’d been looking forward to this trip not just because we’d catch up with Andrew’s parents, or even that we would be staying in much (much, much) nicer accommodation than we were used to, but because we’d have a personal tour guide in Sue. In 1974, she took a six-month leave from Pan Am to work for a community development foundation in Laos after America’s so-called “Secret War.” Today, Laos is still one of the least developed places I’ve ever traveled (though there’s a well-worn backpacker and even upscale visitor path), and back then it was truly remote. Sue brought amazing photographs that she took during her time there that were a window into daily life in post-conflict Laos. Like Cambodia, it’s heartbreaking to think about what Laos might be like today if it hadn’t gotten caught in the crosshairs of the Vietnam War.
Our first stop was the capital of Vientiane, where Sue was based during her time away from the small village she worked in during the week. While Vientiane now boasts (mostly) paved roads, it’s still a really small city without much going on. Travelers typically use it as a quick stopover on their way in and out of the country, but it’s worth a day or two to poke around. It had some of the best and cheapest craft and textile shopping I’ve encountered, a lively restaurant scene with a lot of French influence, and some memorable group aerobics classes down by the Mekong.
The massive Patuxai “Victory Gate” is also worth seeing, if only for the bizarre signage and backstory. In the 1950s, the US government donated the concrete to Laos for airport construction, but instead the concrete was used to make a monument celebrating Lao independence from France. Everyone refers to it as the Vertical Runway. There’s also some dark irony going on as it looks just like the Arc de Triomphe, and shortly thereafter, Laos was engaged in combat with America.
For me, the most memorable part of our time in Vientiane was visiting COPE (Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise), a nonprofit that has a small but very impactful museum about Laos’s ongoing struggle with the unexploded ordinances (also called UXO or “bombies”) dropped by the US in the late 60s and early 70s during the Secret War in conjunction with the Vietnam War. Two million tons of bombs were dropped by the US, making Laos the most-bombed country per capita ever. Unfathomably, people still die every day in Laos due to UXO, most of them children. Numbers are finally dropping due to efforts by organizations like COPE to educate locals and disarm UXO… but only something like 1% of UXO have been diffused. It’s awful.
While the museum was harrowing, it was extremely eye-opening to the ongoing impact of US involvement in Southeast Asia. I wish more Americans knew literally anything about this! The museum also made a strong case against buying any souvenirs or jewelry out of old found military metals in Southeast Asia, as it encourages local people to seek out objects that could be deadly. I’ve never seen this case made elsewhere and it’s something that should be better communicated to tourists.
From Vientiane, we flew further north to Luang Prabang, a small temple-filled town on the Mekong that is the main tourism hub in Laos. It’s incredibly charming, with monks walking around everywhere, French cafes overlooking the river, and huge mountain peaks in the distance. It also seems to be a love-it-or-leave-it destination for backpackers, some of whom find it too sleepy to justify a hop into a new country. It’s true that there’s not a lot to pack your schedule with here, but I was taken in by Luang Prabang’s slow pace. We spent lots of time biking along the river, eating fresh baguettes and pâté, and shopping at the awesome night market.
Also, did I mention that the hotel we stayed in, Satri House, is maybe the most picturesque place I’ve ever stayed? No mosquito nets or squat toilets here! It spoiled us for the rest of our travels this year. Plus, we actually relaxed! Readers familiar with a Rakowski family “vacation” know that they typically involve 5 AM wake ups to ski/fish/hike. Traveling Dryden-style was a delight. Kirk, Sue, count me in next time too.
That said, one of my favorite activities in Luang Prabang did require a very early alarm clock: Andrew and I got up before sunrise one day to see the local Buddhist monks receive alms. Single-file lines of monks in bright orange robes walk down the streets at dawn, in order of age, holding out bowls. Townspeople give each monk one ball of rice as an offering, which is also their breakfast.
I’m cringing a bit at these photos because I’ve gotten a lot better with my camera since. But, it was still an iconic and beautiful sight, only partially ruined by Chinese tourists jumping in front of the monks with their camera phones. Any leftover alms are deposited along the top of the temple walls, and hilariously, locals will casually snack on these rice balls throughout the day.
Another highlight of Luang Prabang was a day trip up the Mekong River on a riverboat with the whole crew (including, in true Southeast Asia style, the boat captain’s family!). I had only ever thought of the Mekong as it appears in Apocalypse Now, as a swampy delta. Up in Laos, it’s a huge, flowing river fringed by giant mountain peaks. At the halfway point, we made a stop at a group of Buddhist temples set into caves and left small offerings.
One of my regrets about our backpacking trip this summer is that we didn’t make it back to Laos. Given that it’s so rural, it takes some time to traverse by boat and bus, and we just didn’t have an extra week or two that it deserves. Like Sue, it will be at the top of my list when I make my first visit back.
one degree north 