I'm travelling in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia. My descriptions are very "wordy"...

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Laos : Luang Prabang : Royal Palace; Vietnam War; Western Food

The Royal Palace was very jaded. An understated airy colonial building was sparsely fitted out, except for the throne room – a grand deep red with sparkling glass murals everywhere. Another room was fitted out with completely incongruous paintings/murals on large canvases that totally covered the walls. They were nevertheless beautiful – idealised depictions of Lao life. Muscular men and demure women caught the light in broad brush and flowing brushstrokes that were almost luminous. Time and light progressed around the wall giving a warm tropical feeling.
Despite the opulence of these rooms, it was apparent that the Lao people were very downtrodden. Compressed by powerful neighbours and colonials, the Lao nation has flickered in and out of existence through history.
The country became caught in crossfire in the Vietnam war – the U.S. ran circles around Laos. Long Tieng became the second largest city in Laos (i.e. larger than Luang Prabang) as it was the main U.S. air-base. Meanwhile, the U.S. were flattening all of Eastern Laos along the Ho Chi Minh trail (the supply line from Communist China to Vietnam) with both carpet bombing and Agent Orange. The area was quickly deserted and is still uninhabitable due to the high soil toxicity. The U.S. only ceased Agent Orange use when GIs began having deformed babies and chemical traces were found on U.S. coastline.
To add insult to injury, the U.S. pilots would clear out their bomb bays over Eastern Laos to fulfil their orders of releasing their entire bomb cargo. Laos is the most bombed country (per capita) in the history of warfare.
One room in the Royal Palace had become the Lao National Theatre. The place was sparsely fitted out with a makeshift stage and seating. Most of the dancing and music was repetitive and underdeveloped. It had a school play feel to it. But it was rescued by the beautiful costumes and the MONKEY DANCE.
The Monkey Dance was sharply observed and dynamic – lots of prancing and scratching armpits. One jumped down to pinch a banana from a punter.
We continued eating WESTERN. Lao cuisine seems pretty basic – does exactly what it says on the tin. If you order fried chicken and rice you will get fried chicken and rice, possibly a few pieces of cucumber but no sauce or spice flavours. The bakery across the street did great bacon cheeseburgers. We savoured them after the long absence of anything similar. One evening I had naga – giant Mekong catfish. These huge creatures are about as long as a bus and have venomous green eyes. They taste pretty much like fish (but they do have a strong meaty texture).