Nakai Tai Village - Khammouan Province - Laos Peoples Democratic Republic About eighteen months ago, thanks in large part to some “good deed money” donated by students at Madison Elementary School in Stevens Point, Wisconsin a Lao toddler from Nakai Tai Village received life-changing surgery. Vieng, whose name translates literally as “Hole-in-the-lip”, was born with a...
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Vientiane - Laos Peoples Democratic Republic There has been a lot of whispered conversation about Sompawn Khantisouk. Everybody I know who has ever worked with Pawn or befriended his family says the same thing. They all hope that, despite the dwindling odds, he will turn up alive. The Boat-Landing Lodge, the eco-tourism resort in Luang...
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Nam Nian Village - Khammouan Province - Lao Peoples Democratic Republic It was nearing day’s end in Nam Nian village when word reached us that a mother and daughter had discovered an aluminum tube filed with cluster bombs. The pair had been out in the forest most of the day, foraging for food, when they found...
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Vientiane - Lao Peoples Democratic Republic In recent years, while passing through Vientiane, I’ve worn a comfortable rut; Vientiane has become a retreat, a place for me to rest up and recover from weeks in the field. I usually arrive with firmly set notions of what I want from the city. I anticipate a favorite...
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Nong District - Savanakhet Province - Lao Peoples Democratic Republic I knew I should have had my wedding ring cut off my finger before leaving for Laos. I’ve gained 20 pounds since my marriage thirty-six years ago and the ring was beginning to feel a bit snug on my finger. In addition to having packed on...
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Nong District -Savanakhet Province - Lao Peoples Democratic Republic Like a wide belt, Savanakhet Province spans the entire width of south central Laos. The western border of the province is the Mekong River, which also forms the national border with Thailand; to the east a jagged mountain range demarcates the Provincial border and the Lao...
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Nong District - Savanakhet Province - Lao Peoples Democratic Republic Legends abound about the Ho Chi Minh Trail. While most Americans associate the term with the Vietnam War, the trail was actually cut through the forests of Laos in the late 1950’s as an infiltration network for Viet Minh forces moving from north to south in...
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Odoumsouk Village – Nakai District – Khammouan Province – Lao Peoples Democratic Republic I arrived back on the Nakai Plateau two nights ago. It was raining then and it hasn’t stopped since. This is the rainy season so it’s nothing out of the ordinary, but coming here directly from droughty conditions in Wisconsin the...
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Tha Lang Village - Khammouan Province - Lao Peoples Democratic Republic Americans and other Westerners sometime rationalize the low life expectancy, high infant mortality, and staggering accidental death rate of Asians by repeating the old saw, “Life is cheap in Asia.” What that observation implies is that we in the West value the lives of our...
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Yesterday we made the village of Oudomsouk a safer place to live. Readers might remember that several months ago I wrote about the 750-pound bomb that was located under a house in the middle of the village. The bomb was discovered a couple of years ago by the homeowner when he was digging a...
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