For the last two years we have lived by the influence of the Mekong River one way or another. It drew us like a magnet, connecting us with dramatic civilisations, bustling markets and the unequal struggles of the poor. At the ancient Laos capital of Louang Phabang the brown swirling Mekong flowed steadily, its level dropping every day of the dry season. We were told that the bigger cargo boats would soon stop sailing north until the rains came in June. It was time to continue our journey north by boat to Hauy Xai, a border town near the confluence Laos, Thailand and Burma.   

Consulting the riverboat crews on shore we were presented with several options. Slow cargo boats carrying sacks of corn being exported to Thailand, passenger boats with fifty hard benches for a hundred people and livestock, fast speedboats which could navigate the rapids in one day and new, comfortable, but expensive, slow passenger boats which took two days.  We discounted the speed boats because of their deplorable safety record. We were told of boats skipping off of submerged rocks and smashing into rock buttresses in the river. Whilst spending a day on a crammed local bus was fun and interesting the prospect of two days on the hard bench of an overcrowded boat going through dry season rapids had less appeal. So we checked our finances, bit the bullet and opted for the slow comfortable boat up the Mekong.

At dawn the ropes were let go and we slipped out into the Mekong.  Moving against the current our progress was certainly slow but watching the sun rise over the jungle was unforgettable. We were headed for a remote stretch of the river where there were few roads through the mountains, sparse population and only jungle villages. Within minutes the mountains crowded in and we were buffeted by swirling water powering through narrow gorges. High above us were towering walls of rock which were submerged for most of the year.  Where the river widened out the jungle fringed banks were fifteen to twenty metres above our deck, that’s the incredible change in water level that drives this river every year.

Our fellow passengers were a great bunch of French, Danish, Dutch, British and Thai tourists. We established an instant rapport, spotting birds, waving to other river users and chatting about life in South East Asia. Some lived and worked in Bangkok or Singapore.  At Pakbeng we tied up with the cargo boats and walked up a wide sandy beach to the steps of an Eco Lodge to spend the night.  We were not sure exactly what an Eco Lodge was, but the local insects were certainly friendly.  Having a six inch long bright green preying mantis clearing up the smaller flying insects on your mosquito net is not however a welcome sight at close quarters.  Delicious, fresh locally produced vegetables and fruits from the jungle surrounding the mighty river gave us a taste of the range of Laos foods and made a perfect ending to a breathtaking day.

Mist shrouded the mountains as we slipped back into the current in the morning. At wider parts, where the indigenous people were panning for gold, the boated slowed and the crew tested the water depth.  As the jungle closed in and the sun rose higher in the sky the brown river twisted and turned. Flecks of black lace fluttered slowly on to the deck like despondent butterflies. The familiar smell of wood smoke gradually increased until at one turn we heard the crackle of burning wood and saw the flames of slash and burn dart and spring through the jungle.

At sunset of the second day we tied up at the frontier town of Hauy Xai having thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful slow boat trip up the Mekong. It was a great end to our visit to Laos and its delightfully friendly people. 

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In the grey ethereal light of early dawn a single line of bare foot saffron clad Buddhist monks progressed down the main street of Louang Phabang. They neither hurried nor lingered but moved steadily with dignified confidence. Each of the hundred or so monks carried a silver container for alms. Along their route the townsfolk and visitors from other Buddhist countries sat with offerings of boiled rice, bananas and other cooked food. They sat so that their heads were lower than the monks. Each supplicant placed a handful of rice or some other morsel of food into the containers held by monks so that each monk in the solemn procession received food from several people. This ritual was performed every day at 6am in Louang Phabang and provided the monks from the many pagodas with their food for the day.

Louang Phabang is an ancient capital of Laos and contains many old and hallowed Pagodas or Wats. It was also an important city in French colonial days and a strong French influence remains in the shophouses lining the main street and the administrative buildings. At the beginning of last century the French built a palace for the King and this Royal Palace has been beautifully restored and converted into a museum.  The balance of ancient Laos buildings and the hundred year old French colonial buildings is so pleasing that the whole town has been listed as a UN World Heritage site.  We enjoyed several days sitting in river front cafés watching the brown Mekong flowing by, strolling through the old streets and visiting the many pagodas.

Laos is undoubtedly a poor country and that poverty was illustrated by the morning market. With meat from domestic animals relatively expensive game is important in the local diet. We marvelled at large monitor lizards, red squirrels and a variety of common woodland birds laid out for sale.  There were also live guinea pig type animals tethered in woven baskets on offer. We were told the Laos name for this animal and an expat suggested they might be short tailed bamboo rats – who knows? As with all South East Asia markets there were many types of river fish, prawns, crabs and shells along with live frogs. The area is also famous for a wide variety of mushrooms and river weed.

We were very fortunate to be Louang Phabang in the lead up to Laos New year. Traditionally Buddha statues are bathed in sacred water. Monks also ritually wash in water to wash away the sins of the year in preparation for the new year. This has been taken up with enthusiasm by the general Buddhist population but in a much more exuberant form! As new year approaches people start throwing water on each other and then on anyone who passes on foot, bicycle or motorbike. Given that April is also the hottest time of year being hosed down can be welcome, if a bit unexpected by strangers to the town.

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All the way up through Laos we had seen missile casings used as flower pots or cluster bomb casings used as fence posts but we were quite unprepared for the extent of war debris scattered around the Plain of Jars. Speaking to Laos people who had been with the communist Pathet Laos forces, Hmong people whose parents had fought for the US and American veterans who were visiting the country again we put together a rough potted history. 

It seems that in 1961 when the Americans were concerned about the spread of global communism they opposed the inclusion of the Laos communist party in a coalition government in Laos. They also of course opposed the Viet Minh in Vietnam who had defeated the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1953.  There were two main issues. Firstly the Plain of Jars was a large upland area close to northern Vietnam which the US wanted to control. Consequently the Vietnamese wanted to prevent US influence there.  Secondly the Vietnamese used Laos and Cambodia as a route for moving supplies down into southern Vietnam and the US wanted to prevent this.

In 1962 a conference in Geneva agreed that Laos would be a neutral country in which there would be no foreign ground troops.  The US reaction was to recruit and train the local indigenous people, the Hmong, to defend the region and fight the Pathet Laos supported by the Vietnamese. The American CIA oversaw the operation so that the US could say that there were no foreign ground forces in Laos. The CIA also recruited serving US air force pilots to operate secretly in Laos supporting the 30,000 strong Hmong army. The air support given to the CIA operatives and the Hmong in their battles with the Laos communist forces and the Vietnamese troops resulted in all the war debris we saw.

In addition to the bombing of the Plain of Jars the US also bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail which ran down the length of Laos. Official US figures are that over 2 million tonnes of bombs were dropped in 580,944 sorties. The total cost of the bombing alone was US$7.2 billion or US$ 2 million per day for nine years. Since the country was officially neutral the operations were kept a secret from the American people until 1970.

On our walk between Plain of Jars sites 2 and 3 we had to keep within white stone markers which indicated a safe path. The paths had been cleared by the British Mine Advisory Group, MAG. Even so just off the path we saw bomblets from cluster bombs and mortar bombs left from the fighting.  There were also large bomb craters clearly visible on the pastures. One local man told of us a farmer who had been awarded a grant to plant trees. He was killed a month before whilst ploughing the hillside when his tractor hit an unexploded bomb.

As we walked our guide picked up fragments of bomb casings. He told us that there was a brisk scrap metal trade in the market with 4kg of ordnance scrap fetching 1US$. Unfortunately this led to children digging in bomb craters to find enough scrap to sell for pens and school books.    

The American veteran said we should look out for the plain clothes soldier on our regular local bus. Apparently such armed guards travel on every bus to deter attacks from Hmong dissidents still hiding in the jungle.  For many years this area has been designated as a “Special Zone”, closed to foreign visitors. In 2004 buses were strafed with machine gun fire killing at least a dozen passengers.  However the restrictions on travel were relaxed recently. The veteran thought that the Hmong dissidents were related to the Hmong army who had fought with the Americans and who were evacuated when the Americans finally left Laos in 1973. Their finance, he believed, came from their US based relatives who still had grievances with the current government.
           
Despite the huge burden of unexploded ordnance there seemed to be no resentment of recent events and optimism for the future. We saw forks and knives being made from aircraft aluminium and other war junk being put to peaceful uses. The week before we were there an American team were also in the area looking at aircraft crash sites hoping to find the remains of missing men. So everyone is looking for final closure on the unfortunate period of history.

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