Laos 1970-1972
The population of the kingdom of Laos in 1970 was estimated at 2,670,000, although there had actually been no reliable census taken. Its sleepy capital, Vientiane, was home to some 130,000, making it the smallest capital city in Asia. Laos was a ‘remote’ country. It had few roads and no railways (except for one miniature line which ran the length of one island down south near the Khone Falls, where the Mekong breaks up into hundreds of islands. It did boast one railway station, in Thakhek, which had been built as the terminal for a projected line to Quang Binh Province in Vietnam. The Lao side of the line never materialised, but the Vietnamese section was completed. It was used to supply the Ho Chi Minh trail.
The eminent travel writer Norman Lewis wrote in his book A Dragon Apparent: “It is considered ill‐bred and irreligious in Laos to work more than is necessary”. Mr. Lewis was noted for his sense of irony, but one can also feel affection in his analysis. It was also said that, in Indochina, the Cambodians cultivated rice, the Vietnamese sold it, and the Lao watched it grow (or something like that).
I heard an anecdote about one aid project where an enthusiastic foreign agronomist introduced an improved strain of rice seed to Laotian farmers that would produce double the yield. When he went back a few months later to see the results, he found they had planted half as many seeds as previously, thus getting the same amount of harvest. That gave them all they needed, so why plant more?
(Stamps): I found the same stamps that I had as a kid. This was my total ‘image’ of Laos. The artist was “Chamnane Prisayane”. There is another name, “Pheulpin” in the bottom righthand corners, but I have no idea what that signifies.
The pathway to Laos was complex and convoluted. It was not a planned landing or a direct flight. I had never thought about Laos as a destination. In fact, I knew very little about the country. My only image came from some postage stamps I had collected as a kid. There were elephants and kings, and the stamps were beautifully engraved, not just printed like English stamps. The journey overland to Asia had been exciting and exhausting. It never seemed really dangerous but it kept me on edge. Hong Kong turned out to be a pigs’ trough of disgust and disillusionment. I headed back to Southeast Asia in pursuit of my ‘image’ of Asia. I was looking for a feeling, a spiritual anchor, something that related to my inspiration to come here in the first place; the magic of its music, the infinite space of its art, escape from western materialism. The worst place to end up had been Hong Kong. But escape from there saw me broke in Thailand, and survival became the focus of my existence. After a month, I had to renew my Thai visa. So I did a “visa run” up to Laos.
As soon as I crossed the river, I could feel the difference. It was like I was gulping in lungfuls of air. I had come to Asia in search of an illusion, and now I was here. Laos was simple and deep, simple and deep in the people and the flow of life. I felt at home. Nothing was expected, nothing explained. Just like the kid in this picture, I was coming up for air. I felt like a lotus surfacing out of the mud and chaos. The river, the deep water, was the key, and the aroma of teakwood. It was the right time and place…
Behind it, there was a war going on; and next to it, there was Cambodia.
As for the story, I’ll come back to that later. Right now, I just want to drop into Laos, as I did then.
(Note: Nearly all these photos are scanned from prints, most of them postcard-sized shop prints, because the negatives were lost).
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