Last Post from the Air

Greetings from the air once again.  I’m on the fifth and final leg of the marathon set of flights to Hanoi – and more and more excited. The overnight 17 hour flight from LAX to Bangkok was luxurious – I was served three meals (excellent – although I’m hoping for better at my destinations.  I got to sleep for a total of about 8 hours without drugs. My plan is to trick my body into thinking that I’ve just had a 36 hour day – and just blend into the new time zone. Of course, tomorrow night I’ve got an all-night train journey to Lao Cai – so why bother to get my sleep pattern right anyway?

The airport in Bangkok is ultramodern and exceptionally efficient – and so much more multicultural than in the states.  There are saffron robed monks all over, as well as Sikhs and gulf citizens decked out in traditional white.  English is the second language spoken, and it often seems that the announcements in English are so much shorter than the ones in Thai, I wonder what’s being skipped over.  It’s a different feeling to be a minority and not understand what’s going on.

On the last leg of the flight to Bangkok I finished “One Foot in Laos,” by Dervla Murphy, a crusty 66 year old who did a solo bike tour (no gears and no helmet) in Laos in 1997. This was just after the country had opened up (a little), and before it had paved many roads. She rejoiced in talking about her status as the only Falong (white person) many of the Laotians along the way had ever seen.    She describes Laotians as laid back and friendly – and she describes the food as a vegetarian’s nightmare – but I’m counting on the tour company’s assurance that they’ll find me meals with only fish and vegetables along the trip.   I’ve also got lots of bars for sustenance just in case.  

The book does a good job of framing the difficult question about what development means for diverse ethnic cultures and for the environment – as she was traversing the country, its military was tearing down rare ancient trees so that it could afford to pay its soldiers, and the Thais and others were funding giant hydroelectric projects that threatened to inundate important tribal lands.   She romanticizes the subsistence peasants though, and doesn’t fully acknowledge the benefits they could see from further development, including better nutrition (although the advent of Coca Cola and Nestles’ prepared sugary products belies this) and adequate medical attention.  She does point out that there are few bird songs in Laos because the subsistence farmers have shot them for a stew regardless of their endangered status.   Even lack of development is not nirvana.   I’m guessing that for our ride there will have been substantially more of the development that Murphy condemned.   I hope to hear bird songs too.