COUNTRY: Laos
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Honnie Bilston-Norup, Griffith University
Sabai Dii! The first half of the flight to Bangkok was spent watching movies until a number of us realised we really should be spending time with our "Country Manuals" learning some of the Lao language. We harassed one of our facilitators and the two return students from the first Griffith trip who are now Registered Nurses for corrections on our pronunciation. We were very lucky to have them to talk to as they were fountains of knowledge on the best places to eat and where to get sim cards, even showing us photos from their time in the villages. It was reassuring to hear them say that what they learned on their Laos trip has stood them in such good stead for their Nursing careers.
Bangkok was a bit of a shock for a lot of us, the heat, humidity and smog knocked us for a six and some even braved the night markets near our hotel! It was amazing to see the electricity wires looped along the streets and on buildings like massive festoons of black spaghetti, some with 20 plus cables in each bunch. The city is a starkly contrasted mix of tradition and 21st century.
A smooth 2 hr flight to Luang Prabang saw us land in beautiful weather, such a relief! The airport is so quaint with dark wood paneled passport check points, so very different to Bangkok which is more like Brisbane International. We and our belongings all piled onto the small trucks with open trays at the back and bench seats (now we know them as big tuk tuk's) and got a look at the countryside, so many motorbikes and scooters, some with four people on them at once! The sight that was most commented on was the people riding their bikes whilst holding umbrellas. Skill! Pulling into the hotel we were greeted by our guides and they planned a huge afternoon for us with a walking tour of Luang Prabang.
This tour included the visually stunning Temple of the Golden City (Vat Xieng Thong) and an epic stair climb (well over 400 steep steps) up The Holy Mountain (Phou Si) to watch the sun set. Our lecture on Buddhism was enlightening, we came to learn about the monks which was made even more special early the next morning when they came down our street in single file, all in orange robes, past the locals who had offerings of food for them. All that they will eat during the day, is what is collected on the procession. It was moving to see such devotion, some monks as young as 8 were amongst them. So different for us to see people with so little themselves giving so freely to others. It was inspiring.
The language barrier has proved amusing, one such incident was when someone ordered juice but forgot to ask for no ice due to concern over getting sick from it. When she asked for another juice but no ice that time, they brought back boiling apple juice! She drank it.
It is glaringly obvious we are tourists so tuk tuk drivers follow us, we have now learned to haggle....immediately halve it and go from there! It is not something that comes naturally to most, but we have the hang of it now...a very handy skill to have in the evening night markets. Food stalls line most of the town streets, the majority of us don't eat at them as we are warned not to, but we cannot resist walking down those alleys with all of the hustle and bustle and little children everywhere...the families are always together, babies always cuddled! A big difference in food was discovered when one of our tuk tuk drivers pulled into the driveway to collect us and we noticed a medium sized fish just chilling on the driveway...when he saw us all looking at it he rushed over and picked it up, saying it was his lunch and he returned it to his water filled bag full of live fish hanging on the side of the vehicle, it had gone for a lovely wander across the concrete! He mimed pulling off the skin and just popping it in his mouth, that was unexpected.
We had a tour of Army hospital 107 which is a first for our uni and we were given the royal treatment. It is a completely different type of service delivery in that the families need to do a lot of the every day type of care but similar in that it gets funding from the government, the consumer pays for the pharmacy items and the bed though in this case. We asked the Doctor in charge of the hospital how much an appendectomy would cost and it was around $100-$150 then he asked how much in our country...he just replied with an exaggerated "Oh". Both sides found it very funny and it added to the rapport building.
Group A,which was on its second last day, came back to share with us about their clinics and answer our questions. Person after person gave advice to be open minded and embrace the homestay family experience! Noted and thanks guys!
Today a bunch of us took a long tuk tuk ride up the winding mountain roads to the Kuang Si waterfalls and swimming holes, the rural sights on the way were transfixing in their complete difference to anything we could see at home. The Sun Bears refuge and rescue centre is along the track to the waterfalls, so beautiful to see them all happy and healthy, frolicking and wrestling with each other. Three of us trekked all the way to the top of the falls, oh my word, that was exhausting, sweaty and dirty work but oh so worth it when we jumped in the bright blue freezing water fully clothed. Yours truly will sleep like a baby after that hike!
We are privileged to have had time to adjust to the language, food and culture in town before heading up to the villages... and speaking of culture, some gathered with other Aussies in town to celebrate Australia Day this evening before getting some much needed shuteye as we set off tomorrow with our clinical supplies, health education tools and donations to begin our clinic adventure! There will be so much to tell next weekend when we get back to town.
Sôhk dii der until next weekend,
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