John and I are huge fans of the Fred Hollows Foundation. For those who don't know, this charity works in various parts of the world ensuring that even the poorest people have access to eye care. They've done some amazing things, including devising simple cataract operations that can be carried out just about anywhere and building a couple of factories in poorer countries that manufacture lenses for a fraction of the price you would pay in a first-world country. The foundation started in Australia and spread from there.
We knew they operated in Cambodia and Laos and so we contacted the Sydney office to find out if we could visit. After a number of emails back and forth, we finally arranged to meet the team in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
We rolled up at the office and were welcomed with open arms. On the left is Souphonesa, the Laos country manager. She's a very smart lady. She's won scholarships to universities in Australia (she studied at Monash Uni) and elsewhere, and has held some impressive positions. The two girls on our right also worked there.
We also met the management at the eye hospital and were given an extensive overview of the hospital's operations. We all made formal introductions and sat in a large meeting room for a formal presentation. The manager there was only new and was very enthusiastic. Unexpectedly, we were given gifts - John was given a framed silver Loas scene and I was given a beautiful silk scarf.
Coincidentally, the day we visited the FHF was also the day that the Australian Embassy was holding their Australia Day event. The FHF people were invited so they asked us along. It was an amazing night. The event was held outdoors and it was so hot! Men in suits had sweat pouring off them. Ladies were generally well covered so I was glad I had my new scarf to cover my shoulders.
The ambassasor gave an impressive speech and Australian tourism videos showed all night. The food was incredible - trays of Aussie lamb sliders, bocconcini sticks and famous local sausages were presented with little Aussie flags in them and were served from silver platters. And this was just the starters! After that, people queued up for roast lamb and salads. Most amazing of all though was the cheese selection with huge slabs of brie that were served up at room tempreature - about 30 degrees! The gooey mess was heaven for John! This was followed by a variety of desserts, including lamingtons. It must have cost a fortune!
It was a rather formal event and John and I had no good clothes. I quickly bought a pair of sparkly sandals in a market and got away with my dress and the new scarf, but poor John had no time to find long pants. He was the only one there in shorts so we stood behind a table all night so nobody could see his lower half!
Over the coming days we expored the town. The name of the pub in this photo is Wind West Pub & Restaurant. We thought it was just a silly place with a dumb spelling mistake - it's clearly supposed to read "Wild West" however apparently it's one of the biggest nightclubs in town!
We came across a statue of a past king. Around the base were hundreds of model horses and elephants. We have no idea why.
Those of you that have been to Vietnam might recognise this - the amazing mess of cables lining the streets.
We had timed our trip to be in Vientiane for Chinese New Year, or Tet for the Vietnamese. Apparently there are enough Chinese and Vietnamese people here to make the New Year celebrations an event. There are many nationalities here and our hotel was a classic example. The people who worked there were Laotian, Vietnamese and Chinese, and many of them didn't speak English, so sometimes they couldn't communicate with each other! If we asked the Vietnamese guy where to get good Lao food, he would say there is no such thing as good Lao food. If we asked the Lao guy about Chinese New Year he would grumble that of course he doesn't know anything about that! Consequently, we got most of our info about Chinese New Year celebrations from the Lao/Chilean couple who ran our favourite cafe! Across the road from the cafe was a Vietnamese temple, so the owner of the cafe said it would be a good place to come to see what was happening. There might even be some people dressed up as Chinese lions.
What they didn't tell us was that the Chinese and Vietnamese also do the fireworks thing at midnight on the night before! We were woken to loud bangs as our Chinese staff lit crackers on the footpath right outside the hotel. They were delighted but I don't think the guests or the Laotian staff were!
The next day we visited the Vietnamese temple and it was lovely. It was decorated with flowers and lanterns.
There were a few monks and even some nuns.
Red was obviously the special colour to wear. Most people had something red on.
Some kids had their very best red clothes on.
Sadly though, there were no dancing lion performances. I'm really glad we saw it though. It was really lovely.
Many wats lined the streets of Vientiane. They were all enormous. While wandering past a fairly small and inconspicuous one, we heard a drum. We followed the noise and found a group of monks sitting inside the main temple.
An older monk struck a gong and it was clear something was happening. To our disgust, a tourist with a big camera openly took photos, standing right in front of the monks to get the best pics. It was so rude.
Just after we arrived, the monks started to chant. It was really special.
When the chanting finished, they all turned around and started eating their simple rice meal. Again, the tourist continued to take photos. For goodness sake, hasn't he seen people eat before? The monks didn't react at all. I think they're used to it.
A couple of stunning Buddhas sat at the end of the temple.
So many of the temples here are strikingly decorated on the outside but this one was quite plain. It gives little indication of all the beauty inside.
We later checked out some of the more decorated wats. They're amazing!
On our last day we found this really beautiful one. Every inch of the place was painted or decorated in some way.
Even the huge gong was painted!
Scary creatures guarded against evil.
We were wandering along a back street to get to our next destination when we heard drumming. Never people to let an opportunity pass, we followed the noise. To our delight we found a New Year event happening at a private home! It was a day late but perhaps that doesn't matter. Dancing creatures (are they lions? dragons? we're not sure!) came down the street and performed in front of the house.
The family then all posed for endless photos with the performers.
There was a small band and plenty of performers that kept rotating positions in the creatures.
We dragged ourselves away from the performance and headed to the COPE Visitor Info Centre. COPE stands for Co-operative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise and is a group dedicated to helping people who have had limbs blown off by mines leftover from the war. The American "secret war" targetted the Ho Chi Minh trail, which ran through Laos. Again, they were trying to cut the supply lines going into Vietnam.
The damage the Americans did was incredible. They ran so many bombing runs in Laos that they dropped an average of a plane load of bombs, every 8 minutes, day and night, for 9 years! Plus, many of those bombs were cluster bombs. These are large bombs that open mid-air and release up to 640 smaller bombs, each about the size of an orange. To make matters worse, an estimated 30% of those bombs didn't explode on impact. That left millions of unexploded bombs scattered across the country. Again, people get killed or maimed every year. For some reason, the Apopo rat programme hasn't reached here so all mine clearing is still being laboriously done by metal detectors.
There are incredible stories of people who have been injured. Many people live in remote communities and sometimes don't make it to medical help in time. The lack of proper prosthetic limbs is a huge problem. Check out the sign below.
It seems to us that these sorts of places are doing such a fantastic job. COPE now does regular visits to remote communities as well. There are people who have lived for many years without a leg or arm and are just getting prosthetic ones for the first time now. It's incredible.
There are calls to ban cluster bombs around the world and many countries have agreed, however some haven't so this terrible situation where people suffer for decades after a war has finished will continue.
We explored more of Vientiane, including this Arc de Triomphe-style arch. It was built using the concrete that the Americans donated to build a runway!
Weirdly, we found this elephant sculpture made out of cups and saucers!
Our last stop was a stupa that's really important to the Buddhists, but it was nowhere near as spectacular as the wats.
It did have some beautiful 400 year-old statues though.
Vientiane is a strange kind of capital city. It's not that big and it has a great mix of cultures and food, yet it's still quite noisy, crowded and dirty. Lots of expats live there and seem to enjoy it though.
Bye for now!
Heather and John.
Heather and John.
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