Some trips are such a jumble of colours and textures that they more closely resemble a crazy quilt than a tidy tapestry. So it was for me on the short trip to Attapeu Province in Southwestern Laos in January: a mix of Wats (temples), waterfalls and monuments; rural plantations and rough-board housing rubbing shoulders with chic French-style coffee shops; dusty streets with brightly coloured clothing; and ‘peaceful’ monks racing over sun-lit sands.
So, this last post in the Attapeu series is a scrapbook of scattered impressions; a crazy quilt of clashing colours and cultural contrasts.
 Washing Away Any Sins ~ Wat Pra-ong San Sukharam, Ban Sakae, Attapeu  Monks' Dormitories ~ Wat Pra-ong San Sukharam (วัดพระองค์แสนสุขสําราญ)  Airing the Orange ~ Monks' Cloths, Wat Pra-ong San Sukharam, Ban Sakae  Morning Blues: Rinsing the Bike in the Xe Kong, Attapeu, Laos Purple and Red! A Child's Coat Brightens the Dusty Street Scene, Attapeu Market Is it Cool Enough Yet? Oye Man Checking the Temperature of the Clay Pit Kiln, Ban La Yao White and Gold Against a Cloudy Sky : With War on One Wall and Peaceful Agrarian Industry on the Other : The Two Nations (Laos and Vietnam) Monument, Attapeu Golden Comrades in Arms: Lao and Viet Soldiers at The Two Nations Monument, Attapeu Colours on the Beach ~ Monks on the Run ~ Attapeu Shades of Lao Coffee, Bolaven Plateau Green and Dusty: Coffee Bush, Bolaven Plateau Contrasting Bedding ~ Airing the Blankets ~ Coffee Grower's House, Bolaven Plateau, Laos The Coffee Planter's Wife Taking Time Out ~ Out of the Heat of the Day C'est Charmante! A Little Piece of France ~ Sinouk Coffee Resort and Café, Lakkhao, Laos Purple Bougainvillea Fresh Green Tea Leaves, Pakxong, Bolaven Plateau Still-Life: Basket of Tools for the Tea Harvest, Pakxong, Bolaven Plateau Still Waters: Kong Dung Waterfall... Waterfall? Where? Bridge to the Pasuam Waterfall: Constructed from Locally Recovered Driftwood On the Bridge: Visiting Soul Sisters ~ The Kmer Buddhist Nun and Her Cambodian Friend Orange and Green: Buddhist Monk from Cambodia at Pasuam Waterfall, Laos Monks' Day Out: Photographing Each Other, Pasuam Waterfall, Laos Nature at Work: Pasuam Waterfall 
‘Till next time ~ enjoy your days in full colour, and happy travels.
Posted in Culture,Every Day Life,History,Laos,Memorial,Religious Practice,Rural,TravelTags: agriculture,blog,buddhism,farming,Laos,nature,people,Photo Blog,religion,rural,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,work
First impressions count for so much.
On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever… On a Normal Day at The Peak in Hong Kong, You Can See Midlevels… and Almost See Kowloon! My first flight into Hong Kong was a surreal sensory experience: I can still wrap myself in surround-sound memories of listening to Asian flutes in luxurious Cathay business-class comfort, fuelled by love and champagne, as the plane descends through the clouds, allowing the first sight of that beautiful harbour with its sparkling light, junk-sailed boats and triangular karst islands rising out of the mists.
That whole trip, ten years ago, was magical. I must have walked, cabbed, bused and ferried just about every inch of the city and its harbour. My (now) husband was living there at the time in a perfectly-situated high-rise in Midlevels, overlooking the city, where the sight of the mists rolling out and the city lights coming on through the picture windows stopped everything in its tracks.
So, smoggy, cold, windy, and damp… it doesn’t matter – Hong Kong can do no wrong! That first impression entranced me, and I am forever in the city’s thrall.
Our most recent trip to Hong Kong, two weeks ago, was primarily about business and catching-up with old friends, but we did make a point of revisiting The Peak. We (wisely) elected to take The Peak Tram straight up, rather than walking the rather long and circuitous road as we had done when we were ten years younger.
The Track Divides Higher up, for the Double Reversible Funicular System Funicular Trams Operate as two Cars That are Permanently Attached to Each Other by a Cable Here Comes the Funicular Tram: A Smiling Operator and Potentially 120 Passengers 120 Years and Proud: The Peak Tram Company It is only an eight minute trip up to Victoria Peak from Central; considerably quicker than the walk from Midlevels! The incline ranges from 4 to 27 degrees, and the views over Hong Kong, if you are smart enough to get on the right side of the the carriage, must be amazing on a clear day.
Passengers On The Peak Tram I’ve never been in Hong Kong on a clear day, so I take my photographic subjects where I can find them; inside the tram-car rather than outside it, if necessary!
Hong Kong is composed of hills which are made manageable by stairs and escalators. In that respect, The Peak Tower is a microcosm of the city. And, like downtown, the trip up or down the various levels of The Peak Tower is punctuated by food, entertainment and shopping…
Like Hong Kong Itself: Bright Lights, Multi-Levels and Escalators: The Peak Tower, Hong Kong Gray on Gray: On the Escalators, The Peak (太平山頂) Hong Kong ~ Through the Glass ~ The Peak Tower So, we dutifully ate (a lot!) and shopped (a little) before embarking on the 3.5 Peak Circle Walk. I had no illusions about photographing views, as the the combination of overcast from the sea and smog from China showed no signs of lifting. But it is a pleasant circuit and (hopefully) helped to work off the super-sized strawberry shortcake I’d eaten with lunch.
凌霄閣 ~ The Peak Tower (Relaunched in 2006)~ as Seen From The Peak Circle Walk A Break in the Natural Jungle Affords a Glimpse of the Concrete Jungle Below I Love How the Building Contours Follow the Hong Kong Hills and the Karst Islands The Curves of the Iron Banisters on Lugard Road ~ The Peak Circle Walk ‘Old and Valuable Tree’ Says one Sign; ‘Ficus Elastica: India Rubber Tree’ Says Another, More Scientific but Less Poetic Sign People actually live up here, although I think the prices are well outside ‘normal’ ranges. Clearly some of the rambling properties have become too much to maintain and have been abandoned.
Garden Gate on Harlech Rd Rusty Gate Above an Abandoned Greenhouse Taking in the View? Bench on the Peak Circle Walk View Over Aberdeen From The Peak After our perambulation, we returned to The Sky Terrace to see if the view had cleared enough to make it worth while waiting for the night lights to come on.
View from the Sky Terrace Young People on the Sky Terrace It hadn’t, so I satisfied myself with some people-watching before we headed back down The Tram and walked over to The Escalators at Midlevels for drinks and dinner.
Ticket Seller, The Peak Tram, Hong Kong
That’s the thing about Hong Kong: there is always a viable alternative.
And, good wine, good company and good food always makes a good impression!
Photos: 12March2011
Posted in Architecture,Hong Kong,Mass Transportation,TravelTags: architecture,blog,funicular,Hong Kong,people,Photo Blog,rail,railway,train,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall
I was in Japan several years ago with three other reasonably well-travelled adults. We had arrived into Tokyo late in the evening and were tired and hungry. We went to a shiny restaurant of chrome and formica across the road from the hotel and were met at the door with a “Hai!”, given menus, and shown to our tables. Once we had deciphered the pictures (there was no English) and decided what we wanted, we looked around for someone to take our order… Not a serving person in sight! We waited. And waited… We stood up and craned our necks. We waited. We tapped our feet and looked around. And waited. Finally, two young women, customers at another table, took pity on us. “You have to push the buzzer on the table,” they explained. Once we did this, our server instantly appeared, as if by magic, with an electronic pad, and transmitted our order to the kitchen as we were making it.
The Price of a Room: A Fist Full of Lao Kip This memory came back to me as I was looking through my cache of photos from Attapeu in Southwestern Laos and I came across the one of our group leader, Khun Napat Sirisambhand, holding out the bundle of Kip she needed in order to pay for our rooms.
This particular trip, to Attapeu and to the Lawae and Taliang villages in the region, was rich with cultural experiences. But, I find it is often the seemingly simple things that stand out most when I travel: ordering food, paying for a room, or getting a cup of coffee…
Lao Coffee, or Pakxong Coffee, is Served in a Glass with a Rich Layer of Condensed Milk at the Bottom (Lao coffee is wonderful! Don’t be fooled by the Nescafé mugs on the table in the picture: although Laos exports their robusta coffee to Thailand, where it goes into Nescafé instant, I’m drinking the locally-grown Bolovens Plateau arabica that is also grown in the region.)
It’s not just the differences for myself as a traveller – it is the differences I see in other people’s daily lives. How they get to work or do their shopping. How they wash their laundry; themselves; their dishes. What people’s houses and gardens look like. What pets or animals they keep in their yards. What the town streets look like…
Walking to Work in the Fields... Dusty Attapeu Sunrise Going Shopping at the Attapeu Morning Markets Suburban Housing: Wooden Home on Stilts, Attapeu White Buffalo Calf in the Garden, Attapeu Attapeu Street: Cleaning Supplies and Garbage Bin made from Recycled Tyres Laundry Day, Attapeu Province Lunch Dishes Hanging in the 'Kitchen' ~ Attapeu Province Children may be children all over the world, but different cultures have vastly different expectations of them. What amounts to ‘sharing household tasks and responsibilities’ at one end of the spectrum can run into child labour at the other. On our travels, we crossed the Xe Kong by small ferry or ‘bug’. The old ferry operator was ably assisted by his pre-teen granddaughters. It was impossible to know how many hours a week they help or to what extent they are paid for their help…
Small Ferry, or 'Bug' on the Xe Kong River Ferry Man and His Granddaughters Young Lao Sisters: Working on the River The trade-off for the expectation of work, I suppose, is the sense of belonging to a tightly networked community. We visited Ban La Yao, home to the Oye, one of the many ethnic groups in the Attapeu province. It seemed that half the village turned out to greet us, play music, sing, dance and show us their wicker weaving and pottery.
Oye House - Ban La Yao Oye Dancers Get Ready to Perform (Again we See the Red Face of Someone who Has Used too Many Local Skin-Whitening Products) Music, Singing, Drumming and Dancing: Women on the Wooden Xylophone Smiling Oye Drummer A Young Woman Models the Traditional Oye Headdress Oye Mother and Children at their Daily Bath in the Yard I wandered out into the dusty ‘main road’ (the only road?), past the ‘petrol station’ and had a chat with the local shopkeeper. He told me that they’d had no school teacher for some time. I stopped into the schoolyard, where three children were playing in the dirt with small stones – a game that looked like a cross between tiddly-winks and marbles.
Gas Station - Ban La Yao Schoolyard - Ban La Yao Oye Kids in the School Yard The young girl who was was the ring-leader of the three had organised her friends into a game she was clearly winning. Children will make games out of whatever they have at hand, and those with sufficient intelligence and attitude will get ahead. I have no doubt she will do well! What sticks in my mind, though, is that tray of flat ‘marbles’; as I said earlier, it is often the small things that stand out.
Main Road - Ban La Yao I hope you enjoy your travel experiences: large and small.
Posted in Culture,Every Day Life,Laos,Rural,WorkTags: Attapeu,blog,children,nature,people,Photo Blog,rural,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,work
I believe in grabbing opportunities that cross my path when at all possible. This is how, with virtually no turn-around-time, I went last week from the under-funded schools and bumpy back roads of the Northwest to a luxurious ’boutique’ resort at the other end of Thailand, and how, with hill-dust still ingrained in my feet, I ended up practicing yoga surrounded by perfectly pedicured toes in blue, orange and French-tip polishes.
Tibetan Singing Bowl The rest of this post is at risk of sounding like an Infomercial!
I had seen the add for the YinYoga retreat on my Facebook page, of all places, and as soon as I’d checked my diary and the instructor’s credentials, I booked myself in. We’ve been to Koh Samui many times, but never to the resort hosting the retreat. So, why not?
It wasn’t a mistake. Although Yin Yoga is a relatively new style, it is firmly grounded in age-old yoga traditions and Victor Chng, our instructor, has studied a broad range of Chinese healing practices and philosophies. As for the Absolute Sanctuary resort: what can I say? The staff were attentive, the food was heathy, tasty and colourful, and the sun was shining…
In the spacious and well-equipped Ocean View yoga room, I spent several hours a day listening to the whirr of the overhead fans, the birds, Victor’s instructions, my breathing, and the slap of swimmers’ arms against the water in the pool. It was a wonderful setting to practice self-nurture and ‘quiet’.
The Moroccan-Inspired Rooms at Absolute Sanctuary, Koh Samui Gardeners Keeping the Bougainvillaea Beautiful White Bougainvillaea and Blue Pool We've Been at Work for Hours Already: Sunrise from the Ocean View Room The Space: The "Ocean View" Room The Juice Bar (View From the Yoga Studio): Healthy Drinks Only! The Studio is Equipped with Everything you could Need ~ Including an Anatomical Skeleton Fresh and Tasty ~ Lunch is Served! Staff Member ~ Serving Spicy Thai Som Tam Fresh Air ~ Fresh Food Colourful Nails and Fresh Melon A Full Set of Colour and Fun Hazel Tsui, Yoga Teacher from Hong Kong, assists Victor Chng from Singapore in Demonstrating a Posture while Countless Cameras Look On
Flower Nails in a Yoga Twist
Savasana: A Reward for Hard Work Even the Spirits are Well Accommodated: The Spirit House ~ Absolute Sanctuary 
It was a wonderful few days. After the workshop, we spent a few days revisiting the rest of the island. More on that some other time…
In the mean time, breathe… relax… and travel well…
Posted in Culture,Religious Practice,Thailand,Travel,YogaTags: Bay of Thailand,blog,buddhism,Koh Samui,people,Photo Blog,Surat Thani,Thailand,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,yoga
“How long does it take to get to the school?” I asked Khru Apichart who had just turned off a minor road into an even more minor road. “About 45 minutes,” he replied. Then, with a twinkle in his brown eyes, he added: “Twenty minutes when I don’t have passengers!”
He was very proud of his new four-wheel drive utility vehicle, which was carrying us relatively smoothly over potentially bone-breaking potholes, up impossible inclines, and around dizzying single-lane curves. The patchy combination of concrete and packed dirt was too much for the van which had driven us into the Mae Sariang area of Mae Hong Son, so our official driver had lengthy breaks while we crossed all types of terrain to reach schools in remote hill villages.
Thai Countryside: Water Buffalo in the Fields with their Calves It was day two of a three day trip into the hills of Mae Hong Son to visit various school building projects managed by THEP (Thailand Hilltribe Education Projects) and to interview students who, without the benefit of modest scholarships, won’t be able to continue their studies. I’ve talked about this collection of projects before, after my first visit, in my posts of mid- and late-November last year.
On the first day of this trip, we visited the new dorm that had been officially opened at Ban Mae Na Chang Nuea (you won’t find that on many maps!) on our last trip. Seven boys, ranging from age seven through to fifteen, were there to show us around. The other twelve-odd dormitory residents had returned to their families in even-more-distant and inaccessible villages for the weekend.
School Shoes in the Bathroom Dormitory Toilet Looking Like a Little Angel : Young (Age Seven) Dorm Resident We were re-visiting this school because the dormitory still had no furniture: no beds or cupboards and very little bedding. The school principal was there, with costings in hand, to see if Susan Race, the THEP originator and manager, could find the necessary funding. They nutted out the details and we ate a full and delicious ‘pre-dinner’, knowing we were expected at another school for our main meal. But you can’t say no to food! Nor can you say no to a late afternoon dance performance, when the girls have been so excited that they put their make-up on in the morning, only to have it melt off their faces in the heat of the day.
Our Keen Karen Dance Performers: In Traditional Woven Fabrics and a Liverpool T-Shirt (With Some Remaining Make-up), Ban Mae Na Chang Nuea Hmong Children in the Neighbouring School Yard at Twilight, Huay Pheung Mai These trips are about the children – and their ability to continue their educations against the odds. And it is the children that make these trips such a joy! Smiling, curious, making fun out of practically nothing, they seem to be thriving under very difficult conditions.
Once we reached our final destination for that day, we were treated to more food, more dancing, and a ceremonial opening of the canteen we had watched being built on our last visit.
Karen Girls Ready for Church: This Karen Village is Mostly Christian Sunday Best: Karen Boys in Traditional Tunics Formal Passing of the Key: From Susan Race, THEP, to the Village Head Man, to the School Principal, to the Head Teacher, to a Student… Mae Tho School We went on, in Khru Apichart’s new truck, to visit two more schools, where we were entertained by singing children and fed more food. More importantly, other canteen and dormitory projects were reviewed and students looking for scholarships were interviewed.
Kids in the Dam, Mae Lit Impromptu Grouping: Boys in the Road, Mae Lit Khru Apichart’s Lovely Mae Lit School A local Five Year Old, Showing Off in the Kindergarten Classroom, Mae Lit View from the Mae Lit Canteen Window: Cabbages, Beans and Tomatoes… Girl’s Dorm, Mae Lit School, Complete with Mosquito Netting Canopy Eighteen Boys to a Room: Six in the Bunks You Can See in the Back Corner, Mae Lit Nothing Gets Wasted: Bicycle Tyre Staircase: Om Pai School Heading up to Class, Om Pai School Checking Out the ANZWG (Australian New Zealand Women’s Group) Canteen ANZWG-Funded Canteen, Mae Lit School Grade Five GIrls, Mae Lit School Khru Apichart and his Wife, Khru Usa. Both Work Full Time – Not Just at their Schools, but Liaising for Projects and Advocating for Students and Schools in their Area. Susan does these trips two or three times a year, and you have to admire her for it! They are not particularly comfortable: the van has seen better days, and the roads, even the better roads, challenge it fully. Accommodation is often on floors: on this trip we slept on mattresses on the floor: one night in teacher housing, and another night in ‘cottages’ on one of the King’s agricultural projects. But, the food is great, scenery is beautiful, and the people are warm and welcoming. Most importantly, they so clearly need what little we can bring them, and are very happy to receive it.
When I got home and was talking to my husband, he asked, “Why doesn’t the government provide these things?”
Why, indeed!
Here’s hoping we can all do better for the children of the future.
Happy Travels!
Posted in Culture,Education,Every Day Life,Rural,Thailand,Travel,WorkTags: blog,children,education,Mae Hong Son,nature,people,Photo Blog,schools,Thailand,Thailand Hilltribe Education Projects,THEP,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,work
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your life itself has truly become a rich tapestry of colour… lovely, thanks for the share..love to you both
Thanks! See you soon. 😀
[…] of the people, the brilliant hand-woven fabrics, the colourful markets, the ethnic villages, the beautiful countryside… I’m less fond of the border markets like those I talked about last week, with their […]