Sabai dee Laos

Is it my imagination or are the Laotians more humble in their following of Buddhism? While in Tibet I wouldn’t have dreamed of accusing the devout in being less than humble, though the religious fervour within the Potala Palace was frenzied and hinged more on throwing donations at every icon than at any form of devotion. I’m not wholly sure, but now I see slight differences in methods to which people follow the Eightfold path. What I see in Laos comes from the heart, there’s no frantic show of worship, reverence; they just seem to get on with it. Even the pilgrims, prostrating themselves for hundreds of kilometers, would stop their actions and hail the passing traffic. Such actions smack of attention seeking for their glorious righteousness, watching a line of monks gathering alms in Udomxay gave a completely different feeling. Humble is the only word for it, they were almost coy about it. As they stood in line accepting a handful of rice in turn there was certainly no arrogance in their attitude, which I’m afraid can’t be said for the monks I encountered in Tibet. That is of course a gross generalization, and I’m sure there are extremely devout adherents seeking enlightenment in Tibet. It must also be borne in mind that Tibetans do follow another branch of Buddhism, they practice Tantric Buddhism and I do believe they view it as a purer form of Buddhism. Could this be the root cause to a certain arrogance amongst the practitioners, or does my mind go too far along flights of fantasy? In my humble opinion I think the Delai Lhama has been away from home for too long. If only the Chinese would sod off out of Tibet, then the poor guy could go and do some house cleaning. I think he’d be appalled to see monks hiding bottles of beer in their bags, playing argy-bargy in the courtyard and carrying wristwatches and mobile phones. (Photos: 1] Monks receiving alms - Udomxay, Northern Laos; 2] Nam Uo - Nong Kiew, Northern Laos)

But it sounds like I’m picking holes, which I don’t mean to. I found the people of Tibet inspiring for their warm friendly nature, my criticism rests solely on what smacks of religious arrogance. Maybe looking at the political situation they have a right to a touch of arrogance, they have after all maintained their devotion under the harshest of regimes. In Laos life does not have such pressures, and it shows. From the minute I crossed the border the atmosphere changed in my eyes. I wasn’t hustled at all, whilst not bothering me people did enquire as to where I was going. Of course I didn’t know my first destination, only that a bus left for Luang Prabang, which I missed by dithering with my map. Someone suggested I take a minibus, again I messed up by assuming she meant a private hire. So I took songtheaw, a pickup converted into passenger transport. I headed for the nearest town, and form there caught the shared minibus that had been at the border. Oh well, you live and learn! (Photo: Not quite a Dragonfly- Nong Kiew, Northern Laos)

I find it hard to say no to nice mannered people, so reaching Udomxay I took a room in the first guesthouse I looked at. I took the £4.50 one with a balcony instead of £5 with toilet ensuite. My hosts were a lovely old couple, she’s the one doling out rice to the monks. Despite travelling a lot through Buddhist SE Asia, I’ve never seen a procession of monks gathering alms before. I loved the shy glances and barely concealed smiles of the three youngest members of the entourage, poor lads found it hard to join in the mantra they were smiling so much. That was at 6am, so heaven knows what time they got up. I’d forgotten to change the time on my clocks, so got up thinking it 7am. It wouldn’t have mattered as the bus I wanted to ensure I caught didn’t go, there weren’t enough of us going to Nong Kiew so he buggered off again. (Photo: Riverside village - Nr Nong Kiew, Northern Laos)

Pak Mong is little more than a transit point, which is where I had to take another bus. This time it was a full size bus heading for Luang Prabang, but it would take me to within about 20km of my destination. With all day to play with I wasn’t concerned, the only aspect I do find hard is the policy of being given literal information. Inquire about Nong Kiew and a person is as likely to point in the direction of the place, rather than at where you can catch a bus. As it happened I got a lift from a pickup, not free gratis, any space in transportation costs money here. You can put goods or luggage on the bus and have it picked at it’s destination by someone else. And you can transport anything by bus; one had five motorbikes on the roof. If you’re willing to pay for it they’ll find a way of loading it for you, and there was me worrying about my rucksack being strapped to the roof. (Photo: The burden of village life - Nong Kiew, Northern Laos)

Nong Kiew is a sleepy little place with a growing tourist infrastructure, though I don’t mean much in the way of luxury accommodation. There is only one place that exceeds basic backpacker needs, and that’s only £25 a night. I’m trying to be frugal though, funds are hard to access here, the nearest ATM is hours away by bus. The only alternative is the luxury resort, who no doubt make a fair wedge for every cash advance against your card. I discovered this morning that a bundle of notes I thought were of 10,000kip denominations were in fact only 1,000 kip notes. So I’d been ripped for about £30 at the border by the Chinese money changers, no wonder she was in such a hurry to get away after we’d completed the transaction. Don’t I feel stupid now? After countless times of changing money on the street I’ve never been had like that, the worst has only ever been a fairly low exchange rate, often the exchange rate is better than at the bank. (Photo: River trading- Nong Kiew, Northern Laos)

None of it matters, I’m here now, in Nong Kiew and about to leave tomorrow to head up river to Muang Ngoi, an even quieter more remote destination. So although I’ve been telling people I’ll have better internet access I’ll actually have less. That’s the price I’m willing to pay to finalise my book.