Journal
Friday,Oct 24 2003, 05:39:00 PM* Trip to LAOS and CHIANGMAI * Finally back...
* Trip to LAOS and CHIANGMAI *
Finally back from a my APEC holiday trip. The Hmong crew and I decided that since we got a whole week off of school because good ole Bush was coming to Thailand, then maybe we should take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and head out to the motherland - Laos.
We started our trip late last Wed night with a 12 hour train ride to Nongkhai, one of the entry points into Laos. We ran into a bit of trouble there when our tuk tuk driver wouldn't take us to the Immigration Office. Instead, he took us to a private dealer who charged us 1500 baht for a Lao visa! We're stupid, we should have done it at Khao Sarn Rd for 850 baht. Oh well. Anyway, we safely crossed the Mekhong River using the Friendship Bridge that connects Thailand and Laos.
Sylvia's auntie lives in Ban 52 about 45 minutes away from the capitol, Vientiane. The capitol isn't really a city, more like a small town. There is not much development and does not compare at all to Bangkok. With the exception of Thai people everywhere, Bangkok could easily be mistaken for a city in the states. However, Laos is still pretty undeveloped. The majority of the population still farms and grows rice for a living - meaning they grow rice for themselves, not to sell, like Thailand. Rice is the number one export of Thailand. I don't think Laos exports much of its rice because people cultivate rice fields for their own consumption.
It only takes about ten minutes to drive through Vientiane before you start to see rice fields and huts. In Laos, instead of a car, you have a motorbike. It seems affordable and the most easy to get around. Even lil kids as young as 10 years have motorbikes! Some kids ride their motorbikes to school, but the majority of them walk or bike. The little girls wear the cutest uniforms - way cuter than the thai girls. They wear white button up shirts with a black lao skirt with white trimming at the bottom.
We spent 4 days and 3 nights in Laos. I spent a day and a night with Jennifer's family in Nong Hai - a treacherous 4 hour ride away from Ban 52. I'm really glad I decided to go with her. Besides the fact that I wanted to see more of Laos than just Vientiane and Ban 52, I thought it would be a good experience for me to see a real Hmong village. It was a really emotional trip. Just seeing Jennifer reunite with her long lost Aunt, her father's sister, the only one left in Laos, was very touching and something that I could relate to. The weird thing is that once I was there in Nong Hai, I discovered that I had family there too. It was kind of weird for me because I didn't really expect to meet anyone related to me nor had I prepared myself. Usually, hmong people are practically all related to each other. But it seems that with my family, we aren't. Taking into the consideration that I am also a Chang, which is rare to find, there's not much chance that I'm related to anyone. My family is pretty small in the states. But my uncle that I met says that I have a lot of relatives still left in Laos.
My uncle says that he was still young when my father already left Laos and fled to Thailand. Because my dad was already old enough to understand what was going on (20) he could leave Laos and go to the states. But for my uncle, who was maybe only 15 at the time, said that he had to stay behind because the elders did not want to go to the states. When I hear that, it makes me so sad. They live in poverty and struggle to exist in the life they live now. But when I think about the life that they could have had if they had the chance to come to the states, its truly tragic. I am thankfully grateful that my dad was smart enough to get out of Laos when he knew he could and make a better life for himself.
I can't wait to go home and hear the whole story. But my dad is weird. He never talks to us about his past. I know nothing about his family. I didn't even know that he used to be called Paj Zeb Shoua Blong. He was named after his uncle, who took him in after his dad died. I feel like I've found a little more to add to my family's history. Some questions have been answered but there are still so many more questions. I can't explain what I am feeling ... but there is something about coming to a different country and seeing and experiencing for one's self. You just gain so much more insight to how things work. I can't really explain it. But after this trip, I just feel like I have a better understanding of the lifestyle my parents led and how that affects them now. Just seeing and meeting Hmong people who have not been westernized also has given me a better sense of hmongness, if that makes any sense.
My final thought: Hmong people really don't change, no matter where they go or where they are.
Oh yah, I forgot to mention Chiangmai. I love Chiangmai - it's way more chill than Bangkok. Didn't do much there except do a lot of shopping and did a one day trekking trip. The most exciting must have been the elephant ride. Met some Hmong peeps here and there but it wasn't too exciting and I was really disappointed that we didn't get to see a real Hmong village. Tourism in Thailand sucks ass real bad. More on that later.
Now for pictures!