Tour of the Bolevan Plateau.

I’m putting the “tour” in tourist today. I haven’t yet gone on a bonafide tour while on my travels, but today’s the day. I am going on a tour of the Bolevan Plateau. A Spanish couple, a couple from Holland and a girl from France and I will share a minibus with an English speaking tour guide named Boun (meaning luck in Lao).


Boun.
We will see coffee and tea plantations, visit two ethnic group villages (one coffin makers and one weavers), and see three waterfalls. It has been raining non-stop for three days, and today is no different. It’s the rainy season in Laos and we are near the part of Laos that gets the most rain. The couples complain a bit about the lack of sun, but the rain doesn’t seem bad, just appropriate for the season.

The first stop is at Tad Fan, the highest waterfalls in the Bolevan plateau. Boun suggests that we skip these falls, even though they are the most magnificent, because the rains will obscure our view of the falls. As a group, we decide to visit anyhow on the off chance that there is visibility. When we get there the mist curtain is so thick that it's like we are in a cloud. The falls are completely invisible, but I can still feel the force of falls in the deafening sound and I can smell the mist. In my mind's eye I can imagine the 120 metre drop and the water carving sharply into the rockface and then hammering down into the floor of the valley below. It was still worth the visit to hear the falls.

The second falls are visible, but the winds and mist are intense at the bottom where we want to go.

None of the other tourists want to go down the final set of flooded rocky and slippery steps with me as we near the foot of the falls. One girl already fell and we are all slipping on the mossy rock surface - all except for Boun in his flip flops of course. I am concerned too because I can't see anything as I get closer. I give my glasses and camera to Boun and tell him that I'm heading down. The glasses are of no use cause I can't see anything in the blinding white mist water. He tells me to be careful.

All I can do is squint to keep the pelting water out of my eyes. At some point during the descent it becomes difficult to breath because the water is getting so thick. I cup my hand over my mouth to create a pocket of air. At some point I can no longer see the steps in front of me and I stop my descent. I am by myself and very near the bottom of the waterfall - I feel a huge thrill as I grip the slimy wooden railing to prevent myself from getting swallowed into the falls...I try to breath the water-air without drowning. The water takes away the sound of my laughter and I feel so alive.

I am drenched now, and the raincoat becomes a joke but keeps me warm.

It's been raining for several days and the dirt roads are very muddy. Our minibus gets stuck on an uphill and we all get out to push it. Gwladys from France slips and falls front first into the mud. This is just two minutes after we had talked about how the red mud acts like a stain. She's a bit upset but tries not to let it get her down. The van just spins and spins in the mud and doesn't progress any higher on the hill.

Then Boun gets the idea to tie a rope to the front of the van and get us to pull it.

The girl from Holland refuses to pull and gets frustrated and says "This is stupid, it won't work. Why are the Lao people so full of pride. He can't admit that it won't work. We're stuck." I'm not sure it will work either, but we really don't have any choice but to make it work. Boun is still very positive and full of cheer and he's barefeet in the mud at this point and encouraging us all to pull harder. Eventually the van moves out of its rut and up the hill and we all let go except for Boun who continues to pull and run up the hill. I laugh because he looks like he's flying a kite, except that it's not a kite, it's a two ton van! He doesn't seem like he's full of pride; he just seems like he's a person who's determined to make things work, even in the face of adversity, and he's not about to get too worked up over it, especially if solutions are possible. If this is pride, then this is the type of pride I like!

The last falls are also beautiful as you can see.

We pass by some women selling produce on the roadside and I stop to buy some cute minibananas. I notice that a couple of women are passing something back and forth between each other. They are smoking something in what looks like a bamboo bong. I crouch down to get a closer look and the woman atomatically passes it to me. I think...what the hell...

I have no idea what it was, (most likely tobacco mixed with something else?), but it actually was pretty smooth and enjoyable.

In one of the villages we have a chance to see an ethnic group do some weaving. The loom is made up of a few sticks and the extended legs of the woman make up the frame to form the loom. I buy a piece of fabric from the woman. I'm digging myself into a deeper and deeper souvenir hole.

Piglets.

A child holding a child.

Another child holding a child.

This is a common sight in rural Laos. There are so many kids being born that they have to take care of each other and don't question this responsibility as well as others. I wonder if I will be less tolerant towards my own students after seeing so many kids here being independent and resourceful. It just goes to show that if given responsibility with a set of expectations (implicit) they live up.