A long trip. Chris Ryan and I
left his home at 5:30 AM Tuesday morning January 22 for the
Philadelphia airport. After stops in Chicago and Tokyo we
got to Bangkok after midnight Thursday AM. Following a
brief hotel stay in Bangkok, we took the hour-long flight to
Vientiane, arriving by 2:30 PM on Thursday; the entire trip from
Chris’s house to the hotel took 45 hours. Most of the rest
of the team arrived on Friday, just in time for a brief (less
than one-hour) practice for a lot of exhausted people. Some took
the other way around the world, e.g. via Paris and Hanoi.
Either way, from the Eastern US, Laos is about 10,000 miles from
home.
The team arrives: Thursday and Friday 1/24 and
1/25/13. On our arrival we met Maggie and several
youth leaders of Lao Rugby, including Lao Kang, who was to
become a great friend. The youth leaders – Lao Kang, Joy,
See Ya, Ja Toa and Nu Jeng Yang, were all from Nonghet district
in the northeast of the country. In the van on the way back to
hotel I asked the girls - through Maggie - what the reaction of
their parents had been to them playing rugby. One of them
said “My mother is very proud because I’m one of the first girls
in the province to be playing this new sport.”
The first group arrives at
the Vientiane airport L to R: Tracy, Maggie, Lao Kang, Chris, See
Ya, Karen, Sarah, Joy, Sara, Emil, Ja Toa, Nu Jeng Yang Lao Kang, See Ya, Joy, Ja Toa and Nu Jeng
Yang are all youth leaders for Lao Rugby
We stayed at the Chanthapanya Hotel in downtown Vientiane, just a
block from the stadium where we were to play, and only a 5-minute
walk from the Mekong River. We had a nice meal at the Lao
Kitchen; I had a papaya salad and a very hot – as in many
peppers hot – soup. Ah yes, and my first beer – a large
“Beerlao” – how large could large be? I reckoned. Very
large: 640 ml for a mere 12,000 kip ($1.50).
Karen,
Tracy and Sara shopping at a market near our hotel: Note Beerlao sign on awning indicating we
are in the land of wholehearted people
Enough
with the awning ads: here’s the real thing A wonderful beer (IMHO)
Speaking of Kip, it’s both the national currency of Laos and my
son-in-law’s name … I’m not sure what he thinks of the fact that
one of him is worth approximately 1/100 of a US cent in Laos.
Sign
advertising laundry at 10,000 kip per kg (about 60 cents a
pound)
Following the meal, we walked to the Mekong River (our goal at
this point was to try to stay awake until 8 PM so we could attempt
to get on Lao time). It was already dark, so we couldn’t see
much of the river but there was a big walk a few yards from its
banks. Strangely, perhaps, walking in short sleeves down this path
along the water with many other people reminded me of the Jersey
Shore of my youth.
At one point along the river walk there was a huge statue of a man
pointing across the river. I figured this was just, well,
just a statue, until I stood at its base and saw two girls walk up
to it, kneel in front of it, bow their heads, and pray… It
reminded me of people praying at the altar of a Catholic church…
Who was this dude, anyway?
The statue is of Chao Anouvong, the last monarch -
in the early 19th century - of the Lao
Kingdom of Vientiane. He is pointing menacingly across the
Mekong to neighbor but traditional antagonist Thailand, a country
in whose prison he died.
my
L:
Statue of Chao Anouvong pointing across the Mekong River at
Thailand R: Two girls praying at the statue of Chao
Anouvong
The Laos National Stadium – where we played the tournament – is
also named for Chao Anouvong.
Walking back behind the statue to our hotel - the Chanthapanya -
we passed a group of people doing aerobics to quite loud music,
apparently a nightly occurrence.
Aerobic exercise at the Mekong: picture taken from the river
walk
- The
Chanthapanya was our home throughout
our stay in Vientiane
Friday, January 25. Chris and I took
advantage of our extra day in Laos by getting a traditional Lao
massage at a place where Maggie claimed we would get the best
massage in Laos – the Papaya Spa. It was a very nice start
to our visit.
We took a Tuk –Tuk (pronounced “we took a took took”) – a kind
of motorbike-pickup truck-taxi – to the spa; this would be our
preferred means of transportation throughout town during our
stay.
A Tuk Tuk stand at corner by
Mekong River (background, left)
As seen from
the back seat of a Tuk Tuk
The rest of the team arrived on Friday. After we had all
gathered, we had a brief practice, as much to meet each other as
anything else, and hear Ray Cornbill’s always valuable reminders
of first principles. We were all jet lagged and without a
lot of energy so we kept it short.
The team at our first (and only) practice Standing, L to R: Luna, Sarah,
Ray, Josie, Karen, Dot, Chris, Sara, Hannah, Emil Squatting, L to R: Misha,
Lauren, Casey, Heather, Brittany, Tracy
Noy’s Fruit Heaven.
I think Friday was the first day we visited this fabulous place,
which became nearly a daily stop while we were in Vientiane.
Fruit Heaven was about a block from the Chanthapanya. They
had an incredible assortment of smoothies, fruit shakes, etc.
and it was always a refreshing stop.
One of Princeton’s centers, Nida Leeuwenburgh, is half Lao and
has spent most summers of her life in Vientiane. She knew
Fruit Heaven from very many visits and remembered the
proprietor. When we showed the proprietor Nida’s picture,
she recognized Nida as well.
L: Noy’s Fruit Heaven:
a daily stop R: Dot and Lauren enjoying
Fruit Heaven treats
Lauren and the
proprietor of Fruit Heaven
We had a nice team dinner at the Lao Kitchen in our
"number twos": white polos with Laos 2013 embroidered under the
Atlantis patch. Note that we are in
short sleeves, with the restaurant fully
open to the outside, in the evening on January 25. Sweet!
Team dinner Friday
January 25, Lao Kitchen L
to R: Luna, Casey, Misha, Dot, Tracy,
Chris, Sara, Sarah, Emil, Ray (hidden) Aileen, Karen,
Brittany, Josie, Hannah, Heather, Lauren
Following an early dinner we gave out the tour jerseys and also
our Lao “number ones.” For the women it was Lao pattern sinhs
(skirts); for the men pantaloons. Both this dress and the Lao
script and pattern on our jerseys were another part of Atlantis’
traditions, showing respect to the host country and valuing
their culture. The pantaloons were just one approximately 12-foot long piece of fabric: we never really
got them down right. The sinhs were awesome!
Ray trying to get pantaloons to
fit; they were just one piece of fabric!
Digression: Pantaloons and Pantaloon fabric.
When Maggie told me about pantaloons and sinhs I jumped all over
the idea as a way to show our respect for the Lao culture.
When she later discouraged me from getting the pantaloons, I
said I had become enamored of the idea and let’s go with
it. When they turned out to be just one long piece of
fabric that we had to get a couple of Chanthapanya Hotel male
workers to arrange for us I began thinking Maggie was
right. And when I realized - the way they were arranged -
there was really no way to pee without
undoing the entire arrangement, I realized I should have taken
her advice.
So, anyway, a week later we still had these big long [about 12
feet] pieces of fabric. Nice fabric. During our last
two days in Vientiane, Chris and I tried to visit a couple of
tailors to get the fabric made into … something wearable, we
weren’t sure what … But the tailors were closed. I still
have my piece of fabric waiting to have something done with it.
L: Chris in
his pantaloons prior to tournament party R: At home, I’m showing the
piece of cloth that was, briefly, a pair of pantaloons
Following the kit presentation the four “oldsters” (sorry,
Chris) gathered for a few minutes of friendly chatting and a
beverage of choice in what would be a nightly ritual at the
Lotus, a restaurant/bar attached to the Chanthapanya.
Chris, Emil, Aileen, Ray gather
at the Lotus
Vientiane
International Rugby Championship: Saturday-Sunday
26-27 Jan. 2013
Tournament Poster We Spotted in Vientiane
The Vientiane International Rugby Championship consisted
of two divisions: eleven men’s teams, who played 10s, and
six women’s teams, who played sevens.
The national stadium is named
after Chao Anouvong
A large number of the Thai national
women’s team players were there, playing as “Thailand National
Development VII,” and there were 5 other teams, including
Atlantis and the Vientiane Lions, the only women’s club side in
Laos and pretty much representative of the Lao national women’s
team.
Atlantis Kit. Thanks to Chilly at Love Rugby for being
willing and able to provide kit with Lao patterns and numbers in
Lao script. These jerseys impressed the local rugby people
as they weren’t able to get Lao numbers done for their own
jerseys.
The Atlantis squad in team kit Players wore club sox
(Princeton alums wore orange for their alma mater) Back: Emil, Sarah, Aileen, Chris Middle: Ray, Misha, Casey, Josie, Tracy, Heather, Hannah Bottom: Lauren, Sara, Brittany, Karen, Dot
Atlantis team shows off our
Lao-script numbers Left to right: Bottom row 1-5,
top row 6-10 6-10: Misha, Casey, Josie, Tracy, Hoop 1-5: Dot, Karen, Brittany, Sara, Lauren
The women’s tournament consisted of 4 teams from Thailand
including the Thai National Development VII, also the Vientiane
Lions and Atlantis. We lost in the final to Thai Development
(disappointing, but they had just too much speed!) The Thais
crushed us by 40 points in our pool match; in the final,
however, the score was tied 7-7 till late in the game when a
turnover sealed our fate; the final score was 7-19.
The second match was a winnable game for sure; we would have
liked, however, to play them one more time: based on linear
progress, minus 40 to minus 12 in the first two games would have
extrapolated to plus 16 in the third.
Misha Renda: “For a group of girls who had
never played together and had only one brief practice ahead of
the tournament, I thought we came together as a team
impressively well.”
Misha going
for the poach
Casey on a break vs. the
Vientiane Lions
Hoop scores against the
Vientiane Lions
Dot on the run vs. Vientiane
Lions
Megan Knight tests Lauren’s
jersey
Sara digs for ball against MSU
Karen fights to maintain
possession vs. Thai National Development
Brittany on run vs. Thai
Development
Videos of all tries we scored in
the tournament may be seen by clicking on
the images below (which are frames from the video and therefore not as high quality as the other
pictures in the report). Each image
represents one of the six games we played. Linked to each
image are our tries from that game.
L:
Atlantis tries, game 1 vs Issan Barbarians R:
Atlantis tries, game 2 vs Vientiane Lions Click image to view
L: Atlantis
try, game 3 vs Thai National
Development
in Round Robin game R: Atlantis tries, game 4
vs. MSU (Mahasalakham University) Click image to view
L: Atlantis tries, game 5
vs. RMU
(Rajabhat Mahasarakham University) R: Atlantis try in final Click image to view
Awards presentations. We received the
award for tournament runner-up and Dot was selected tournament
“Best and Fairest.”
Here are Lauren and Dot receiving their awards:
Lauren
and Dot receive awards following tournament
There were trophies enough for many teams. There were
the usual Cup, Plate, and Bowl winners – then also Runners-Up
in each division – and finally I noticed on the awards table
“Spoon” and “Chopstick” Winners. Not sure what they were (pretty sure in the Men's Division),
but … Gotta love it!
Trophies for Spoon and Chopstick Winners
Baci ceremony. We were to partake in
several of these during the week, as part of being welcomed
into groups that hosted us. One description of a Baci ceremony
is found at http://www.laos-guide-999.com/baci.html,
from which I got the following.
“Baci (also spelt basi) is a specific ceremony in Laos which
has been practiced for hundreds of years. The term commonly
used is ‘sou khuan’ which means ‘spirit enhancing or spirit
calling’. The ceremony involves the tying of white cotton
strings around person’s wrists and the prayer saying or well
wishing for the person that the ceremony is intended for.
“Lao people believe that a human being is a union of
thirty-two organs, each has a spirit or khuan (Lao word for
spirit) to protect them. These spirits often wander outside
the body causing unbalance of the soul which might lead to an
illness. The tying of the white string represents tying of the
32 spirits * to the body putting them back in harmony as well
as bringing good luck and prosperity.”
* the more I read, the more I've concluded that there's no
agreement, within or between ethnic groups of Laos, as to
how many spirits there are.
By the time the ceremony was over we all had several strings
around our wrists. And by the end of the week even more.
It is believed that if the receivers of the blessing want
their wishes to come true, they should keep the white strings
tied around their wrists for at least three days after the
baci. When it comes time to remove them, they should untie
instead of cut the strings as the good wishes might be
severed. Thus more than three months
after the tournament I’ve still got mine on … I reckon if
three days is good, three months is great … and besides, I
can’t untie them. [Update of June 1: mine are still on, as are
Ray’s (whom I saw today at a rugby championship in Philly).]
And anyway it’s usually best if they’re kept on till they fall
off by themselves. I guess I’m following that philosophy. So,
I hear, are several others.
Celebrant at centerpiece chants introduction to
Baci ceremony
An overview of the ceremony
We
were asked to stay connected
Teammates
stringing each other up at Baci ceremony
From competition to socializing. Following the event
there was time for a team picture with our spoils, then a
joint picture with the Thai team. That picture
symbolizes the end of the competition and the beginning of
joint socializing; it was taken after
most of the players on the two teams had swapped jerseys.
Unity: one
team, one Atlantis ball, one trophy, one case of Beerlao
Intermingled
teams: Atlantis and the Thais together;
You can’t tell them by their jerseys
Following the Baci ceremony and a change into our sinhs and
pantaloons, we attended a tournament party at Kob Jai Deu.
The team in our
number ones en route to party Front, L to R: Luna, Sara, Tracy, Karen, Emil,
Hannah, Josie, Misha, Casey Back, L to R: Chris, Sarah, Lauren, Brittany, Aileen,
Dot, Hoop, Ray
At that point although the competition was over, our real
rugby work (and reward) in Laos had not yet begun.
Monday January 28: City Tour.
All day Monday and Tuesday morning were days of formal
introduction to Laos, from the perspectives of the organizations
ChildFund and COPE and also the US Embassy, all of which we
visited. We also took a brief city tour, which mostly comprised
visiting a couple of Buddhist temple sites.
The visits to the temple sites were very impressive and a reminder
of the long history of Laos. Nevertheless it was – merely,
perhaps, given its place in the context of our trip – a stop at a
tourist destination. For other trips, this visit would have
been a key piece of the tour. For this one, it was a
gentle, enjoyable prelude to a profound life experience.
I’ll include in this Vientiane section a few pictures from this
little tour, mostly of the temple sites of
Sisaket and That Luang. Here are a few pictures; I think
most are from That Luang, but I’m no longer sure.
Atlantis visits
That Luang
L
to R: Luna, Lauren, Chris, Hannah, Ray, Casey, Emil,
Karen, Aileen, Dot, Heather, Josie (hiding Brittany),
Sara, Tracy, Misha
Fierce Dragons
and a Happy Buddha
Dot visiting
the prone Buddha
We hear about ascetic Buddhist monks, but it looks like in
Laos they may be worldlier. Here is one monk
photographing another and a (his?) family. A nice modern
orange satellite dish graces the background.
Monk
photographs Monk & family
Ah yes, following these visits, we still found time for a
massage for the entire team. For Chris and me, not as
good as Friday’s, but … still pretty damn good ☺! It’s a
shame that (I believe) no one took any photos here – too
relaxing to just lie back and be massaged, I guess.
For Monday dinner, we went to a popular type of Korean
barbecue restaurant called Sindat, or “sliced meat” in Lao.
Outdoor dinner
Monday evening at Korean BBQ restaurant It’s always
nice, for the Northeasterners
anyway, to eat outdoors in January
That was the tourist part of our Monday/Tuesday. The rest of
our activities on Monday (and Tuesday morning) – our visits to
ChildFund, COPE and the US Embassy – were truly the first phase of
our trip to Xieng Khouang, our trip to Hmong country, our trip to
visit people living partly in the 19th century but about to jump
into the future, our trip to see the legacy of the Vietnam [and
Laos] War. Continued in Atlantis Women in Laos: Atlantis Visits Xieng
Houang: We meet the Hmong, Revisit the Vietname War
my
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