Project Phongsali 2011: With transport secured, our team and equipment will soon head for Phongsali Province.
Week One
Day One:
As was the case last year, the starting date of our project hinged on our finding proper transport for our team and equipment. Our work in Laos occurs seasonally and never for more than three months at a crack. Given the fact that we don’t operate here year-round, it makes no sense for us to own a vehicle. Storing even a motorbike would create security problems during the months that we are absent. So… it seems likely that our projects will, of necessity, always start with a search for vehicles to rent.
Vientiane has reliable car rental agencies. “Europcar” would be happy to rent us a four-wheel drive pick-up (but at a price they’re more enthusiastic about than I am). In addition, the Ford Rangers that they have in their fleet are just a tad small for transport of our seven-person team and a bit underpowered to haul our equipment up mountain roads.
My assistant, Yai, was supposed to scour the town looking for a better alternative, preferably a Hyundai Porter, the real workhorse of cargo transport here in Laos. It’s essentially a flatbed truck that has half again the cargo space of a full-size American pickup. With a couple of benches bolted to the bed and a canopy overhead, it’s a great vehicle for transporting eight to ten workers and equipment to a worksite.
Yai claimed for days that no such vehicle was available. My suspicion grew stronger each day, as Yai continued to advocate for renting me his personal car, a minivan that he insisted he could modify to increase the cargo and passenger space. The more I pressed Yai to find me a truck, the more strongly he urged me to rent his van. Finally, I dashed the last of Yai’s hopes by telling him in no uncertain terms that the van was out. “No. No way. Not this year. Not next year. Never. No van. Find me a truck.”
That made clear, the next day Yai found a Hyundai Porter, owned by his cousin. Funny that he didn’t think of that truck earlier.