Town & Country : TRAVEL
The cover of Town & Country’s latest travel edition features a beautiful picture of a temple in Laos. In this winter 2007 issue, there is an article written by by Laurel Delp. Delp returns 50 years later after having spent her childhood in Vientiane and Luang Prabang. There are also some really beautiful pictures taken by Frederic Lagrange too.
When you get the chance, pick up a copy of your own at your local bookstore ($4.99 US).
Here is a little excerpt from Laurel Delp’s Lost (and Found) in Laos:
“There was no school for me to attend, so I spent whole days pedaling my crude little bicycle with gum-colored wheels down jungle paths. I loved Laos.
Theravada Buddhism has been the core of the country’s culture since the 13th or 14th century, but its exists comfortably alongside animism and the belief in spirits. And although Buddhism is intricately laced through daily life, the Lao are some of the least pious people on the planet. Bouns, or festivals, last all night and sometimes for days, involving pageant, much consumption of beer or lao-lao rice whiskey, dancing and, just before the rains, rockets and phallic symbols. In spite of access to modern Thai television, relationships between the sexes remain reserved and manners formal. Lao do not touch strangers. An attitude of laissez-faire is balanced by a repugnance for emotional displays. Anger and rudeness are unacceptable.
Vientiane has quadrupled in size since my days here. In the past few years, it has grown to 700,00 people and is exploding with new construction and ostentations villas of the nouveaux riches — many of them government cronies taking advantage of the opening of the economy to private enterprise. There are Mercedes, Lexus SUVs and Hummers barreling through streets recently regulated by a dozen stoplights. Still, it’s the same city I remember, the last of the cities of my childhood that remain recognizable and as exotic as ever.
So often, romantic childhood memories are shattered by a return. But not here. Not in Laos. Not yet. “
thanks for sharing…i am going to pick it today,,i want as a keepsake
It is worth having as a keepsake. I think articles like this will inform more people about Laos. At least to American travelers and tourists.
Thanks Salat for the posting. You always have good finds about Laos. I want a copy of this too.
This is a nice find, thanks for posting this Salat, I need to visit Barnes & Noble and get me a copy.
Thank you for doing a wonderful feature on Laos. It’s nice to see some good news about our country for once. Perhaps the next time you visit, you can do a feature about our country’s magnificent waterfalls. Mum says there magic, but like everything else she says, you have to take it with a grain of salt. =p. It’s important that we keep doing these kind of stories in order to generate positive publicity about Laos. The more publicity we generate, the more people will hopefully invest in Laos, which will lift the poorest country in south east Asia and it’s 3 million inhabitants out of poverty. Thnx again, Grazi. : )
The more attention we focus on the positive things about Laos… the more we will see them appear. And the more the people of Laos will make them appear. If we focus on poverty and corruption, the people in Laos may accept them as a part of their lives. It’s so easy for them to accept their fate because achieving more is hard work. Especially, when Buddhism has taught them that their misfortunes in this lifetime is the direct result of their past lives. The best thing we can do for them is to passionately expect their success. And by finding great articles about them and talk about great things that they may do, they may one day live up to that expectation. …but I can’t help but notice the words "government cronies" (in the article) echo in my mind.
[...] made a comment that sort of stuck in my head, “The more attention we focus on the positive things about Laos… [...]