Hello from Loas!!

Before I start I would just like to say that all my begging, pleading and massive hint dropping has paid off because Kate and Harvey are engaged!!! Finally!!!!! I’m so happy for you guys, congratulations!!! Although Harvey I don’t know why you didn’t just do it that last night out we all had together…I mean surely it would have been even more perfect if cupid had of been there as well, sobbing in the background? 😉 Just a thought….but no doubt I will make up for it at the wedding…I can’t wait!

I arrived in Bangkok about 10 days ago…..and ended up staying in the most beautiful hostel in the entire world, just off Khosan Road. Honestly, it was like paradise……all the beds were separated by clean, white netting, the sheets were white and spotless, the duvet was white and spotless….my first night in bed was just sooo incredible CLEAN and spotless!!! You get the idea! I remember the first time I came to Bangkok 2 years ago, I thought Bangkok was the dirtiest, smelliest city I had ever been to. This time around…..I absolutely marvelled at how clean everything was…..it just goes to show how easily your perspective on things can change, especially when you have been travelling in India!

Well, I’m not going to go into too much of the details, (as being sick on this holiday is starting to bore me) but yes after 2 days in Bangkok I was sick again for another week. It started my last day in Bangkok with the most incredible migraine ever and then just turned into what seemed like flu. I was rather reluctant to go to the doctor, as I just felt like my body needed a rest from medication. But after 3 days of not much changing, I decided to go to the hospital in Vientiane. The nurse who saw me went through a whole list of symptoms, as I nodded pitifully to each one and she then informed me that she thought I might have dengue fever! DENGUE FEVER! I had to have a blood test and then dragged my little dengued, ravished body back to my hostel. On returning back to see the doctor 3 hours later he asked me what the problem was????
It took every inch of self-control not to snap: “you have my blood test in front of you…YOU tell me!!!”
(he obviously wasn’t as skilled as the nurse had been…at least she could tell I had dengue and was on death’s door! )
And then it turned out that, no, I wasn’t going to live to tell the tale of surviving dengue fever, as I just had flu. Flu! He gave me paracetamol and sent me home.

I spent another 2 days in Vientiane and as soon as I felt able to travel I headed off for a place called Si Phan Don or the 4000 islands. (It appeared that 3900 of these islands were simply single trees growing in the river) But never the less it was still very beautiful. I and spent the next 2 days forcing myself to just lie on my hammock and recover! Its hard work doing absolutely nothing you know, the inclination to constantly want to get up and go do ‘something’ ‘anything!’ was overwhelming- but I struggled through it!;-) The place that I stayed in was right on the river and I had my own little cabin. There was a guy that worked there, and I think he was the gardener…I say ‘THINK’ because in the entire two days that I was there….all I saw him do was pick up a lawn mower for about half an hour each day. The rest of his time was spent lying in the garden hammock sleeping. I don’t know how one man could possibly sleep so much…but sleep he did. Laos life is needless to say very relaxed and very chilled!

Exactly a week later I finally felt human again and decided to decide to head back to Vientiane. While I was there I visited the COPE centre, a rehabilitation centre who fit UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) victims with prosthetic limbs. It was absolutely amazing to see the work that they are doing, all free for the victims.

So for those of you that don’t already know about the ‘Secret War’ in Laos, allow me to fill you in! (It was called the ‘Secret war’ because at the Geneva Convention in 1962, a formal “Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos” was signed…Neither Vietnam nor the US held up their part in this agreement, resulting in a 9-year attack on a country, that the majority of the world knew nothing about!)

Between 1964-1973 Laos was hit by an average of one B52 bomb load every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day. (2 million tons of bombs – at a cost of nearly 7billion dollars) thus making Laos today, the most bombed country on Earth.
US bombers dropped more ordnance in Laos during this period than was dropped on all the other countries combined during WW2. The bombs that were dropped were cluster bombs, that had an average of 680 ‘bombies‘ inside each case…..the cases were meant to open mid-air depositing all the bombies over an area of about 3 football pitches. It’s estimated that 30 % of them failed to detonate, so of the 260 million bombs dropped, that leaves a staggering 80 million still left all over the land. That, of course, doesn’t include the millions of Bombies that were scattered and that never exploded.
So basically what is now left, (over 35+ years later), is a country so contaminated with UXO, its mind boggling. Every year over 300 people are killed or maimed by these bombs. (Close to 40% of the accidents result in death, and 33% of the victims are children) So much of the land as a result of this is just completely unfarmable, resulting in Laos being one of the poorest countries in the world. I think the most shocking thing is that most of the bombs were originally destined for Vietnam, but when their airspace proved to be too difficult to enter….the bombs were simply off-loaded onto Laos, (an easy undefended dumping ground), so that the air crafts could return safely to their bases or carries. (They were not allowed to land with the bombs still on them) 

Unfortunately, it now happens that in a country so littered with metal- one of the best ways for Laos people to make money is through collecting these UXO. If the pieces aren’t sold as scrap metal they are kept in the houses and used for everyday items. (pots, cooking utensils, made into lamps, the large casings used as animal feeds or legs to hold up the houses) As a result of this familiarity in everyday life…..children often come across UXO on the land and immediately recognize it from home, thus resulting in so many deaths of children. Of course, it doesn’t help that the Bombies are small clusters that are brightly coloured and look like small balls. Children also know that finding metal can be a very lucrative way to make extra money….so they often go out searching for it.

The sad thing is that even though so many of Laos farmers know the risks, they still continue to farm their land, often finding and moving the bombs themselves. For so many of them, the everyday risk of their family starving is worse than the threat of a bomb exploding. I can’t imagine what it must be like to grow up in a world where the threat of bombs are a part of your everyday life.

And that brings me to the end of my lesson. But I’m sure it will continue at a later date!

I hope you are all well, thanks for all the messages I have been getting from friends and family…..they always seem to come at the right time!!!

Lots of love

x