Revenge of the Red Prince
One final bit of torture remained as I flew to Asia. When I had set up my new laptop and ported over my programs and files, my iTunes library had oddly duplicated every single song of mine – and lacked any sort of de-duping feature. I briefly considered using my long trip back to Asia to manually de-dupe the library…but that would mean deleting 6,500 songs, and I desperately wanted to avoid wasting a single minute on a task so aggravating. Before leaving Boston, I Googled around and found a program called Marketsoft Dupe Eliminator for iTunes. Looked like what I needed, so I forked out the $35 and crossed my fingers.
On the flight, I powered up the program and got it going. Sure enough, it cranked through the library and found all the dead files and dupes based on my stringent criteria (I didn’t want to delete any non-dupes). It then cleaned up the library and I was good as gold. $35 to be free and clear and not waste 24 hours – a real bargain.
Transited through Narita in Tokyo. Near my gate I found a new little sushi/sake outlet – highly Americanized, with California Rolls, Spicy Tuna Rolls, and all that crap – but good basic sushi and sake too. Sated, I boarded my second flight to Bangkok.
Bangkok, as usual, was to be only a quick stop before heading someplace more unusual. In 2006, it was Burma – this year thus far, it had been Cambodia, and was now to be Laos and Vietnam. Landed at 11 p.m. at Suvarnabhumi – again, a long line at Immigration. Welcome to the Land of (Weak) Smiles. Got a cab to Bob’s place of residence, Starry Place, where I had a room for the night. Bob was already in Laos with his girlfriend Kate, waiting for me there and getting his Thai visa extended. I got into my room, dumped my bags, and walked across the street to the infamous Water Bar for a couple slugs and some food. I’d been traveling for 26 hours and while tired, severerly in need of decent refreshment.
Ordered and devoured a fine plate of ostrich meat and veggies – the meat was quite good. Try ostrich meat if you haven’t yet – it’s lean and tasty. Had a few Singha beers and checked my email. Was more or less hoping not to see Bob’s friend Jan, a random East German married to a local. I like Jan – he’s an educated, opinionated fellow. But he is a low-grade alcoholic, and sits at the bars and cafes for hours upon end, pounding beers. Before I flew to the States Bob and I ran into Jan on Soi Rang Nam…and that kept me out for 3 extra beers and an extra hour that should probably have been spent asleep in bed.
Didn’t see Jan, thankfully, and went back to the room to get some delicious sleep. My flight the next day wasn’t till early afternoon – I had lots to deal with in the a.m., but jet lag would ensure an early rise. And so it did.
Ran around in the morning – got some DVDs, vitamins, and God knows whatever else. I put myself on autopilot when doing errands – helps keep me sane. Went back to the room and decided to test out a new surge protector that I bought in Boston. Connected it to my world plug adapter and plugged it into a wall socket – and promptly jumped back as it emitted a loud pop and a burning smell. Somehow I’d overloaded the circuit and (probably) blown both the surge protector and the adapter. Threw ’em both away – it was time anyway for a better global adapter, mine was a bit creaky. As for the surge protector, well, if the end result of having one of those meant getting electrocuted, then I’d better just take my chances on having my mobile or iPod fried. I felt very lucky that I didn’t just get electrocuted – only a bit surprised. Lesson learned…
Went back to the airport to fly to Laos, a country that had long been on my list. It’s a little country of just 5.6 million souls – fewer than in, say, Massachusetts or New York City. The Lao people are, of course, more relaxed and cooler than residents of those other places. More on that later.
Lao Airlines – formerly Royal Lao Airlines. Not one of the world’s more highly regarded operators. I’ve heard old Asia hands say that you should really make sure that the L.A. plane you fly has been serviced by the carrier’s single French mechanic. Gulp. The plane was small, probably held 50 passengers. Small, but larger than the SEAir plane I took in the Philippines. That didn’t bother me. I did find it slightly unsettling to see the crew huddled together on the tarmac filling out last-minute paperwork. But I got on the plane and settled in.
As I sat on the plane headed to the Lao capital city, Vientiane, I read in my guidebook that NGOs and the UN prohibit, or at least strongly discourage, their staff from flying L.A. Hmmm. I still wasn’t that bothered…but I made sure to switch off my mobile and refrain from using my iPod during the entire flight, just in case those old wives’ tales turned out to be true. Lao Airlines didn’t seem to need any more of a challenge than was already at hand…
I flipped through the available in-flight mags. There was one from June, fairly recent…but also one from April. Apparently L.A. isn’t as anal about rotating old the old editions at the start of each month. The mags were largely in either Lao or Chinese, so I really didn’t care – I was more interested in how they ran the customer-facing aspect of the airline, anyway. There were lots of ads and articles in there about the Chinese province of Yunnan, close to northern Laos. And loads of photos of Lao and Chinese officials shaking hands with 2nd-rate Westerners – hotel managers, mining officials, etc. How depressing. Laos is such a small-time place that I imagine the magazine is put out by Chinese publishers on behalf of L.A.
Those Chinese are really extending their tentacles all over SE Asia – can’t say the same for the USA these days. Once bitten, twice shy? Or is it that 99% of our resources and attention is focused on Iraq? What do you think?
Looked out the window as we started to descend. Beautiful, lush scenery awaited – but at the same time I was a bit surprised to see that the land was pretty much all ‘defined’ and under cultivation. It’s damn hard these days to go anywhere and not see farms with boundaries and other evidence that man dominates his environment.
Had to pay US$35 for an ‘instant visa’ at the modest Wattay International Airport. Canadians, for some odd reason, had to cough up US$42. And there were a few other pricing differentials listed. Food for thought, when I’m old and infirm…
Lani Guesthouse, where I’d be spending the next few nights, had kindly sent a car to come get me, and the driver was waiting for me. It was just 20 minutes to the guesthouse and the road in was lined with modest buildings and establishments. Unremarkable, but certainly not evidence of widespread poverty. Laos is apparently one of the world’s poorest nations, but I’d be seeing surprisingly little evidence of this, at least in Vientiane, the capital.
Lani turned out to be an absolute charmer. It’s an old colonial villa with just 12 guest rooms, and they’re all full of character. It’s set back from the road – not that any roads in Vientiane or any other Lao city are particularly bustling and noisy. If the Philippines is the world’s noisiest country, well, Laos must be at the other end of the spectrum. And that was fine by me. Here’s a shot of Lani from the driveway:
And it’s right across the street from a lovely temple, Wat Hai Sok – here’s that one:
Parked just outside is an early 80s model Honda Prelude. I used to love that car, and once tried to get my parents to buy one. Still like the lines today – but I doubt this one runs:
So I was happy about that. Walked downstairs and located Bob and Kate’s room, and got them going. They’d arrived the night before and would be staying for just 3 days. Bob gave me a ride to PVO, a little Vietnamese restaurant that rents out motorbikes. While waiting, we ate a khao-jii paa-te, which is a baguette (available everywhere in Laos) with fresh vegetables and thin slices of pork – delicious, really. Got myself a Honda and we rode back to Lani. As we were pulling out onto the riverside drive, Bob pulled up short and I hit the brakes reasonably hard. The road was dusty and rocky, and my bike went down on the right side. I held it and it didn’t hit the road, but I did drag the foot-peg and that got a bit cut up. Nothing that a leatherman couldn’t disguise. Bob helped me right the bike – even those little Hondas weigh 800 pounds, methinks – and we were back in business. No injury to me – except to my pride. I had, after all, just gotten my motorcycle license and was already acting like a clown. I silently vowed to be more careful…and to give Bob a lot more room from now on!
Went out to a rooftop bar nearby called Bor Pen Nyang – Lao for ‘don’t worry.’ Good enough. It was rainy and we had umbrellas, but still the walk was a bit messy. Ordered some old the very nice local Beer Lao…ordered some Lao food, namely laap (spicy beef salad) and a couple other favorites. The rain was heavy, and got worse as the night progressed…so we just sat there and got pleasantly hammered on Beer Lao. I estimate the 3 of us killed 12-15 640 ml bottles of the potion – and the total bill, including dinner, was about US$7. I love Laos.
Went back to Lani, whereupon Bob – quite an enthusiastic beer guy – suggested we break in the 2nd-floor patio with a few Beer Lao. Hard to pass up a proposal like that – so went sat on the deck there and finished off a few more large bottles. We broke out our iPods, I brought out my little speaker, and we listened to a random combination of music from Billy Joel to Dreamgirls (you already know that I’m getting old, and Bob isn’t much younger). God knows what Kate was thinking. Anyway, we drank more, Kate gave me a powerful leg massage, and it was a brilliant first night for me in Vientiane. Better than expected, not that I really knew what to expect…
Went sightseeing the next day. Vientiane doesn’t have dozens of things to see, but enough for a couple days. Visited Wat (temple) Si Saket – the only building left standing by the Thai Army when it sacked the city in 1826. Then, up to Patuxay by motorbike – Patuxay is a virtual copy of the Arc de Triomphe. Not sure what victories the Lao were really commemorating, it’s all they’ve been able to do to survive being stuck between Thailand and Vietnam. Maybe that’s the victory they’re celebrating, come to think of it. Here’s Patuxai in all its glory:
And a brutally honest caption – I love the naivete:
Back to PVO for another baguette sandwich. Then over to the Thai Embassy so Bob could fetch his extended Thai visa. As Bob and I sat on our respective motorbikes at a red light – there were close to zero other vehicles around us on the city’s major thoroughfare, Lane Xang (Million Elephants) Avenue, Bob looked over at me and said, innocently, ‘I like Vientiane!’ And I knew what he meant. This city is eminently likeable – it’s dilapidated, but pleasantly so, whereas Rangoon (and Havana) are far more majestic and impressive in scale and ambition (and architectural gems), but those cities are literally crumbling by the minute and I didn’t get the sense that Vientiane was that bad. The sidewalk test is often useful – in Rangoon the sidewalks look like they’ve been bombed, whereas in Vientiane they’re largely intact.
And across the board, Vientiane, and by extension Laos, seems a relaxed, mellow place. You never hear any news about the place. That’s usually a good thing. The government is a one-party Communist system, and it makes itself known in annoying ways, but the sense I got is that it’s more of a ‘mommy’ government than a ‘daddy’ government, at least these days. The Lao government is afraid of having the country become the next Thailand, replete with sex tourists and heavy drinking. So the bars must close at midnight…foreigners are prohibited from having sex with Laos…and is general the government tries to impose some sort of moral control. That’s certainly aggravating and patronizing, but it’s far better than having Chinese-style, or Burmese-style, heavy-handed power over nearly everything people do or say.
As for being relaxed…well, here’s what I mean:
A bit of background may shed some light. Laos became a Communist state in 1975, as did neighboring Vietnam and Cambodia. But the civil war in Laos always seemed to be, well, in true Lao form, relatively tranquil. Most of the ‘fighting’ was done at the negotiating table, between well-defined right-wing, neutralist, and left-wing (Pathet Lao) factions. And throughout the 50s, 60s, and through 1975, various coalition and single0-faction governments came and went, with some fighting around the country but at a much lower level of venality than was the case in the other 2 Indochinese countries. Perhaps the worst of the violence actually came from the US aerial bombings of Laos, meant to kick out the Vietnamese and ‘attrit’ the Ho Chi Minh Trail(s). Laos was the most-bombed nation in world history on a per-capita basis.
And as in Cambodia, US bombings did very little to oust the Vietnamese, and much to recruit villagers to the left. But unlike in Cambodia or Vietnam, the endgame was not that bloody. After Saigon and Phnom Penh fell in April 1975, the Lao left put pressure of the right/neutral Royal Government and organized street demonstrations that eventually brought down the government and opened the door for the Communists to gain power. Vientiane never ‘fell,’ per se, to the Pathet Lao, everything happened in a quasi-legal manner. Of course, on the front page of the English-language Vientiane Times, there’s a small box in the upper-right corner commemorating August 23, 1975 as ‘People’s Uprising Day.’ Fair enough, methinks…
My point here is that Laos is a lot different from its neighbors. Laos don’t like to be hassled or start trouble…there aren’t many Laos anyway…and they seem pretty fun-loving. Except for a vague forboding about being caught by the government for doing something wrong – like parking my motorcycle in an official space, or sleeping with a cute Lao woman, well, I felt at ease.
We went clubbing that night, as it wasn’t rainy and we could move about. We visited a number of places we’d read about and heard of. The Anou Cabaret was hilarious – a Soviet-style nightclub that was one of the greater time warps I’ve experienced. An old-style ‘big band’ on stage…rotating crooners of variable quality…and ‘house girls’ who are available for conversation, and, I suspect, a bit more. We watched these girls dance for a while – there’s a random Lao ‘hand-dance’ wherein they roll their hands around slowly. Must try that sometime. We finally, powered by Beer Lao, got up and joined a growing crowd on the floor. I seem to recall a Credence Clearwater Revival classic – was it Proud Mary? We’ll never know. But there we were, Bob, Kate and I, dancing with a cohort of Lao girls (and a few lads) and it was more than fun. Vientiane, it seems, is a happening town, if you’ve got the right mindset.
Moved on to another old-style place, the ‘disco’ at the Lane Xang Hotel. Also good fun – a bit less friendly and open, but worth a drink or two. Finally, as it was getting a bit late, we shifted over to the city’s newest star, the massive and hideous Don Chan Hotel, an edifice that brutally violates Vientiane’s heigh limit – a figure which I had estimated at 3-4 stories, notwithstanding heavy bribery.
Word has it that a couple nearby nightclubs/discos were forced to close when the Don Chan’s disco opened up. Again, the stink of graft pervadeth. But this club does stay open late, till 2 a.m., whereas the law on the books forces everywhere else to shut around midnight. The place was mobbed – it was, after all, midnight on a Friday. Somehow found a tiny table – staked it out. Shared it with some local ladies who may have been ‘working ‘ – not sure. As I’ve remarked before in these pages, there’s often a fine line in Asia between prostitutes and ‘good-time girls,’ the latter of which would be happy receiving a monetary gift from the rich foreigner in the morning but wouldn’t necessarily expect it. I just stood and drank with Bob and Kate and told old tales and jokes…danced a bit with the cute Lao girl to my left…probably made a fool of myself but what the hell. Got out of there around 2 a.m. and went back to the Lani. Again got some Beer Lao and sat on the patio. I fell asleep there…finally got up and went to bed around 3 or so.
Hadn’t been sleeping that well, despite the welcoming comfort of the Lani’s bed. Had a bad case of jet lag and the running around in the heat and massive consumption of Beer Lao with Bob wasn’t helping matters. But decided to just ride it out and all would be well shortly.
Went to the Morning Market, Talat Sao, the next day to get some essentials. There’s a new, modern mall with car park next to the old market, which is housed in a stunning old wat-style building. Here it is:
The modern mall is pretty boring – all no-name outlets. There was one music shop selling a pirated Scorpions CD and I briefly considered buying that before realizing I hadn’t actually listened to the Scorpions in 15 years and really hadn’t missed them. They were also selling DVD sets of various Sopranos seasons – I imagine you could pick up all the latest/final episodes if you were so inclined. I was constantly surprised at which you could get in Laos…more on that later.
Rode with Bob out to Pha That Luang, a beautiful golden stupa that’s the national symbol of Laos. Less impressive than Burma’s Shwedagon, but then again the comparison really doesn’t matter. It was impressive to see and here’s what I mean:
Said bye to Bob and Kate, who were returning to Bangkok, new visa in hand. I’d see them in 6 or so weeks, after my Indochina romp. Prepared myself for being solo (not a difficult adjustment) for a couple days, until my buddy Harsh arrived in Vientiane from Bangalore, India.
Drove out to Wat Sok Pa Luang outside town to participate in a Vipassana Mediation session. A bunch of foreigners go there every Saturday afternoon, and a local monk who speaks a bit of English leads the session, with assistance from an expat who knows the ropes. It was an hour long, with sitting and walking sessions. Not that easy – practicing yoga helps, but it’s still difficult to just sit and meditate, following your breath, for 20 minutes. One foreign woman got up and left – I thought that was rude and inexcusable. But hey – if she can’t sit still for 20 minutes and ruminate on her breath, well, my sense is that she’s got lots of other problems in life.
Went out that night, it being Saturday. But took it fairly easy – went to Jazzy Brick, an upscale cocktail bar, and then Bor Pen Nyang. I checked out the few remaining clubs that we didn’t hit the previous nights – and found that Laos like their clubs noisy. The rest of their lives are mellow, and the country is peaceful and quiet, but Lao youth like to crank the volume when they go out. My ears were ringing after an hour and I had had enough. Returned to Bor Pen Nyang for a final drink – the Lao girl a few stools away kept giving me the eye. I wasn’t into it, so didn’t return her gaze. Took off soon thereafter, to get a bowl of feu (pho in Vietnamese – beef noodle soup) somewhere. Went to the night market and got a bowl – sat down at a small table. Heard a noise – the girl from the bar was sitting at the next table over. She invited herself to my table – oh well. Shot the breeze while slurping noodles. Surreal. Then she offered me a ride back to Lani on her bike. I was on foot…thought about declining…then said what the hell. I wasn’t planning on inviting her in (I’m no cheap floozy…), but all that happened was that she drove me to the gate, I kissed her on the cheek, and then we parted. I was happy about that, and went to my room to collapse. It was the most sober evening I’d had in a while…
Next day, I finished up my Vientiane sightseeing. Went to the National Museum, where I received a heavy dose of anti-US imperialism. Lots of guns from the war days, and a set of seized drugs, including some pretty weak over-the-counter products that are more a product of Customs vigilance than any heroism on the part of the government. A couple photos from the museum, guns and drugs, feast your eyes:
Drove by the US Embassy, which is down a heavily-guarded side street and has the requisite white-washed, wintry look. Had lunch at the Sticky Fingers café, a great little spot with good salads. Had a lao sauage from a street vendor – couldn’t resist. Very nice stuff. If you have one of these, you’ll never be happy with a hot dog for the rest of your life. Honestly.
Took a long nap. Read a good chunk of the Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov. Had picked it up from my storage room in Boston – the last time I read it was in my early 20s. Besides that, just hung around and waited for friend Harsh to arrive from India. He’d be in the next morning, ready to conquer the town.
Harsh arrived on schedule. We got him a motorbike, then I took him around the major sights. That done, we could get down to business – feasting and making merry. Ducked into Vins de France for a glass or two and some snacks. This place is incredible – huge selection of French wines, a nice room in which to try them out, and a friendly manager named Ken, with whom I spoke French and bantered about Laos. Spent a very nice hour in there.
Then brought Harsh over to Bor Pen Nyang for some Beer Lao and Lao food. That engendered yet another long nap – no complaints here. Got up, didn’t exercise, and went for dinner at Cote d’Azur, where I had a bowl of French onion soup and some coquilles St Jacques (scallops). Harsh had a very nice pizza. And, of course, a few Beer Laos. Allow me to point out the obvious – you can eat like a king in Laos for next to nothing. The food is just awesome – local, French, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian – even Tex-Mex. Not everything is perfect, but I felt like I ate very well every day and spent just a few dollars. Vientiane might be one of the world’s best-value eating cities. You heard it here.
Took Harsh to the time-warp Anou Cabaret. More CCR music, and also a number by the Carpenters. Classic. Then over to the music club On the Rocks. Then to D-tech at Novotel – ear-splitting. Then I needed a bowl of feu, and a tuk-tuk driver took us to his favorite place. I sat there and inhaled a bowl…Harsh meandered around and entered a building across the street. I prepared myself for legal/police trouble – then Harsh emerged with the information that it was a music bar. I finished my bowl, we found the entrance (the front door had just been locked, as it was midnight and the management probably wanted the police to stay out).
This place stayed open till 1 a.m., and we befriended a couple locals and got more drunk. The music was fine, but the camaraderie was the real treat and Harsh and I had a fine old time there.
It was good having Harsh around. He and I were officemates at Monitor in 1997 in Boston – in fact, he was my first officemate at the firm. When I went overseas, he stayed in the States, with some short overseas assignments, then came to Asia a few years later before leaving the firm and joining Fidelity. He now heads a global research group based in India.
Besides the bonding that came from gossiping about all the Monitor people we knew, Harsh’s general try-anything demeanor meant that he was checking out places that I tend to overlook – hence the late-night music bar. Between the two of us it promised to be a dangerous week together…
The next day was our finale in Vientiane – the ensuing afternoon we’d fly to Luang Prabang, the ancient capital and tourist center of Laos. We had already hit the major Vientiane tourist sites, the only sight I wanted to see now was a museum/shrine dedicated to the country’s top Communist leader and first President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Of course, Laos is Democratic in the same way that North Korea is, but you get the drift. I wanted to get my dose of propaganda and perhaps try to learn a bit of unbiased history at the same time. My political filters were in place and ready to sift.
Kaysone Phomvihan led the left-wing of Laos for decades, starting in the 30s/40s and continuing until his death in 1992. Don’t worry – despite my frequent reading I’d never heard of him either. Laos is a sleepy place and they seem to like it that way. Anyway, I’d heard that his house was kept as a memorial to him, and that the Vietnamese had funded a huge museum in his honor – undoubtedly with massive anti-French/American imperial messages. I like these off the beaten path sights and Harsh was game too.
You can see the museum from the road – there’s a huge state of Kaysone in front, here it is:
The museum, as you can probably tell, is the usual gaudy Communist kitsch. It’s huge and must have required a major investment in time and cash. Loads of old photos and household items in there. Great photo of Kaysone and Uncle Ho having a laugh in Hanoi. Definitely worth a visit – just be sure to take the captions with a pinch of salt. As you always should…
After perusing hundreds of anti-American snapshots, I went to the toilet. As I stood there relieving myself, I noticed that the toilet was an American Standard product, so designated. Most Americans have no sense of irony, but I pride myself on having one, and laughed as I finished pissing. American imperialism comes in many forms, you know…
After the museum, we drove over to Kaysone’s old house, part of a complex that was formerly a CIA post known as ‘six clicks city,’ as it’s 6 km from Vientiane. After 1975 the Communist government took it over and Kaysone and his associated moved in. Lots of US military-style bungalows, arranged neatly in rows. The Soviets built a sauna in the back – now closed due to lack of funding. Hey, don’t the Russians have a lot of cash these days?
Getting into the housing complex was weird. As we drove up and asked to visit the house, the guard on duty asked us to wait. He woke up another fellow, who didn’t seem thrilled that we were there. Then a few calls were made…and after 5 or so minutes we were waved in. It all seemed very bureacractic and full of suspicion.
We were, needless to say, the only visitors there – foreign or local. I got the sense that not many people bother to visit. A young fellow showed us around, and confirmed that the place was pretty much a ghost town, outside of a few meetings taking place in the conference rooms in the complex.
Very modest quarters for a national leader. My family’s house in Framingham growing up was far more comfortable and spacious. But I suppose for a guerilla leader who had lives in caves in eastern Laos for years, this was a big step up. I got the sense that he’d be embarrassed at the Viet-built museum a mile away – but you can’t do much spinning after you die, right?
Loads of books in every room, in French, Lao, English, and Russian. Kaysone’s shoes, clothes, and other belongings were in full view, and apparently left as they were the day he died. I noticed a few bottles of lao-lao (local Lao whiskey), half-consumed and probably fermented to pure sugar by now. I noticed that one of his books was titled Hatha Yoga and I imagined the old Commie leader practicing his downward dogs outside on the driveway.
As we were getting ready to go, the tour guide got out a comments book for us to sign. He sat us at a large desk, replete with microphones, from which various statements have been televised to the nation. I was able to make my own statement, as you can see here:
We were actually a bit knackered from the ride out to ‘Kaysone-land,’ so took it easy for the rest of the day. I went over to Monument Books, as the museum/house visit had provoked a curiosity in me for Lao history. Didn’t find anything that provocative – I suspect that any books that shed harsh light on the Communist regime have been censored. I don’t think the government is nearly as paranoid as its Burmese counterpart – the Internet is wide-open, at least it seems to be, and you can get all the major magazines, including recent editions of The New Yorker. I found that amazing – I get my New Yorkers from the US, and the editions in Monument Books are more recent than those I’ve got and am now reading. Small world, Laos included.
Went for Lao food that night, then over to the Don Chan disco. I wanted to show Harsh the one late-night place in town. It was Tuesday night, and it was completely dead. We just stood outside on the deck and looked at the Mekong River. Eventually we moved to a table, and I started chatting with a cute waitress. We talked for a while…Harsh was a superb wingman and talked me up…we eventually made plans to meet again at 2 a.m. (it was now midnight) and we’d have a drink. I was hoping to maneuver her back to the Lani, and that didn’t seem out of the question – we had a pretty good rapport. Harsh and I left and went back to the Lani. I took a shower – needing one badly – and I started getting ready to return to the Don Chan and fetch the fetching lass.
That was the plan. Foolishly, I sat down on the bed and leafed through a New Yorker. And then I woke up, and it was 4 a.m. Ugh. There was nothing I could do, besides call myself names. After an hour of that, I went back to sleep. Oh well.
Got up early. Read an article in The New Yorker about meteorites that hit the earth. In the US, if your property is hit by one of these babies, you own it. And can often sell it for lots of money. Not common occurrences, but every now and then it happens. The article covered a few instances of collisions, and covered the tale of Eugene Shoemaker, the father of ‘astrogeology.’ Shoemaker and a colleague were honored by having the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet named after them. This comet crashed into Jupiter and left an earth-sized dent – scale that’s hard to fathom.
I found the saga of Shoemaker interesting for a couple more reasons. One, he died in a car accident near Alice Springs, Australia in 1997. I went to Alice Springs last year, and drove like a maniac en route to Ayers Rock/Uluru. I was pretty lucky that I didn’t wrap the rental car around a feral camel. Two, Shoemaker’s ashes were shot into space aboard an orbiter/craft that eventually was crashed into the moon. His ashes are the only human remains on the moon, and probably on another celestial body. Random knowledge, and quite fascinating.
Next day, Harsh and I flew to Luang Prabang. I write this posting having been here for 24 hours, not that long, and am slightly fried, so will cover LPB in next week’s entry. Make your reservations for Laos now – the inflation rate is 6-7%, you know. Over and out.
Tags: Travel
mbsloney
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