Planes, Trains, and a Broken Down Automobile
I left Singapore on a photographic journey to head back in the world of rice fields, $4 massage, spicy food, small villages, and hill tribes – Laos. I hired Jonathan Taylor, a professional photojournalist out of Bangkok, to accompany me and tutor me for the next 9 days. These 9 days were the least planned of any of my travels to date; all I knew was that Jonathan and I were to take an overnight train from Bangkok to the border of Laos, cross over by foot, and the rest was a great big mystery to me.  Read More

The Fast and the Furious – Boat Racing on the Mekong
I arrived at the village of Tha Phra as the sun was going down. It was a normal Tuesday night for the men and boys of Tha Phra, they showed up on their motor bikes after a long day, they chatted amongst themselves, changed into their boating clothes, and played wicket ball. Wicket ball is a Laos game which is a mix of hackey sack, badminton, and volleyball. It was truly mesmerizing to watch their athleticism as they jumped through the air and contorted their body to kick the wicket/ball over the net.  Read More

Processional for Food – Giving Alms
Every morning in Buddhist communities it happens like clockwork – giving alms. Giving alms is the process of monks going out to get food from people that want to make a ‘good deed’. People fill monk’s bowls with rice, drinks, oreos, biscuits – anything that they may enjoy. By offering food to monks, the lay Buddhist is making a stronger connection with the Monks and Buddhism in general. This is really the main source of food for the monks living in the temple, they depend on the community to feed them. It’s a wonderful ‘ritual’ and I was lucky enough to participate and witness it while in Laos.  Read More

Whiskey and Babies – Luang Prabang, Laos
Yes, this may be an unlikely combination, however, when you enter a rural village in Laos, you never really know what you are going to encounter. I went in search of whiskey, and found a 5 day old baby.  Read More

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I’ve had an ill feeling that has plagued me for the last year. I first remember it coming on in New Zealand. Then it hit me stronger in Vietnam. I was feverish about it in India. It is the feeling of being in some type of moving vehicle, traveling through a country, and seeing about 25 perfect photographs outside my vehicle window. I would feel ill thinking – “if only I could tell them to stop so I could get out and take a picture.” Yet I sat there helpless watching my beautiful shots go whizzing by, wondering if I would ever be able to capture this image again.

I would get queasy when I saw a group of people intimately interacting, simply being themselves, but I couldn’t get the nerve to go up and ask them if I could take a photograph. Instead, I would linger a bit, and then sulk off mad at myself for not having the guts to be a real photographer! The few times I did get the guts to go up and ask if I could take a photograph (fumbling through this conversation in broken English, pointing at my camera and smiling) they would normally say ‘yes’ and then give me some big, posed, toothy grin – transforming the shot from a nice little intimate, cultural gathering, to a Sears family portrait.

However, I have decided to put an end to this fear…I decided to hire a professional photographer to help me improve my photography skills of people so that I am no longer afraid to go ask someone for a photo or to ask someone to stop so that I don’t have to shoot out of a car window. I had actually been thinking about this for quite some time. I had taken photography courses in New York, but now I’ve been practicing photography on the road daily. When you actually start using a skill you had learned, then you have a ton of questions.

So I’ve been traveling around gathering up photography questions in my head with no one to ask them to. Questions about technique, the profession, using flash, saving digital photos, editing digital photos…the list if long. I have looked into taking a photography workshop in various countries, but none really had worked out until now. I was doing research on travel in Laos when I came across an ad for a photography school in Asia – specifically Bangkok. The ad talked about custom photography tours to Laos, so I clicked through and inquired about more information. After a number of emails back and forth with the photographer and checking references, I decided to splurge on this unique opportunity – I hired the photographer to travel through Laos with me and teach me about documentary photography.

Jonathan Taylor is a professional photographer from the UK living in Bangkok. He’s a photojournalist that has done work for various publications including Time, as well as serving as a photo editor for a publication in Bangkok. He also speaks Thai, which would prove useful in Laos. Plus, the real benefit was that he knew how to go into a town, talk to the locals, talk to the taxi drivers, develop the right relationships with people, and sniff out a good photographical story.

In one of our many email exchanges, he told me that we would go into towns in Laos, find out what was happening there, and then hopefully find some story that we could document, such as a traveling Chinese acrobat team. Little did he know, but the idea of following around a Chinese acrobat team and photographing them was what sold me…it sounded cultural, unpredictable, crazy, and fun! Granted – I knew that I may not find that acrobat team, but I would get further with him than on my own. At the very least, I could have him tell someone to stop the car so I could get out and take a photograph. Plus, I would be traveling through Laos – a scenic, quiet little country in SE Asia that I had been wanting to see for quite some time now.

You can read more about my adventures with Jonathan in the “Destination – Laos” section and below is a preview of some of the photos taken during the trip.

Photography School of Asia – http://www.jonathantaylor.net/photographyschool/courses.php

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It’s hard to believe we are already in Laos – our final destination. It’s bittersweet as this is the place I was most looking forward to going but it also means our trip is quickly winding down. But we couldn’t ask for a better place to unwind than the French-colonial town of Luang Prabang.

We knew very little about Laos beforehand, but that was part of the appeal. And the little that we did hear proved to be true – it was much more laid back and less hectic than other Southeast Asian countries, we’d run into far fewer tourists, and that the towns and people were lovely. And that is the perfect way to summarize the essence of Laos – lovely. Even before landing, the site of the green rolling hills from the airplane were so inviting and the friendly smiles of the immigration officers were so welcoming. We knew this would be a great place and way to end our adventures.

We decided that after running around for eight weeks we would base ourselves in Luang Prabang for our short time in Lao rather than trying to squeeze in too much. And that was a great decision. Luang Prabang is located in Northern Laos amongst the rising mountains and flowing rivers, most notably the mighty Mekong. And if you were to pick the most popular destination in Laos, this would be it. And it’s easy to see why. Laos opened up to tourism in 1989, and with over 30 temples in Luang Prabang alone, it was recognized as an Unesco World Heritage site in 1995. This meant that years of disrepair were addressed yet its French-colonial antiquity was well preserved.

And as you walk the quiet streets and alleys past colorfully shuttered doorways and saffron-robed monks, the charm reverberates through your body. It’s easy to spend a day just strolling amongst the temples with stops at the many craft shops and even a rest for a $4 massage or a refreshing Beerlao.

Luang Prabang has no shortage of quaint guesthouses and boutique hotels and we decided to stay at the Apsara, which has been recognized as one of the top boutique hotels in all of Southeast Asia. And the accommodating staff made the stay that much more pleasant.

One thing that has also impressed us in Laos is the level of English spoken by those we encounter. Perhaps it’s because most hotels and tour operators employ university students (where it is required to study English), but the level of comprehension is pretty amazing. Not only can you easily have a conversation with someone, they also understand our sense of humor, making for lots of shared laughs.

We decided to do a couple of day trips from here – one being a kayaking trip down the Nam Ou to where it meets the Mekong. And the other excursion was a trip out to the waterfalls of Tat Kuang Si. But our favorite experiences were the little things that make Luang Prabang special: early mornings to watch hundreds of monks and novices receive alms; a dinner of Laos barbeque with the helpful staff showing us how to properly grill; and bartering over 50 cents for a scarf with the women at the night market.

Our stay in Laos was short but sweet and made a lasting impression. We definitely plan to venture back for more.

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Michael and I traveled to Laos as part of our 2007 career break. The following is an excerpt from our travel blog.

While in Laos we did tear ourselves away from Luang Prabang for a two-day trek through some local hill tribe communities. We were told that for a true authentic hill tribe experience, Laos was the place to do it. It was what Thailand was like 40 years prior before the lure of the tourist dollar turned the experience into a Disney-like operation.

And there is no lack of operators in Luang Prabang offering guided experiences. After some research we decided to go with White Elephant Adventures as the owner, Derek, sold us on a trek that had only been done once before.

This trek started along the banks of the Mekong River and would take us up and through three types of ethnic villages – the Lao Loum, who reside along the rivers and most closely resemble the Laos in language, religion and culture; the Khamu, who live on mid-altitude mountain slopes and have been used in the past as indentured servants; and the Hmong, who live at high-altitude and breed cattle, pigs, water buffalo and chickens. Previously the main source of income for the Hmong was opium but the government has aggressively eradicated those crops.

(Click here for more information about the Hmong involvement in the CIA operations during the Vietnam War.)

The lowland part of the hike didn’t last long as we quickly began our ascent up the mountain. Our small group of three was being led by Gai, otherwise known as Mr. Chicken, and the only person who has done this hike before. He is also an ethnic Hmong. He was accompanied by Tomchan, an ethnic Khamu and university student who just began leading treks, as well as Mr. Year, also an ethnic Hmong, who would be assisting in carrying our food and extra water.

Our hike took us through beautiful forest terrain and after a couple of hours on the trail we stopped in a Khamu village for lunch. There were several children, puppies and chickens running around but otherwise this village of stilted houses seemed like a ghost town. They don’t encounter too many falang (foreigners) here and are extremely shy. But we could see some people spying out of doorways and windows and eventually a group of giggling kids gathered around to watch us eat. As they have their own language the little Laos we learned meant nothing so it was frustrating not to be able to communicate. But smiles and waves seem to be universally known.

Ahead for us that afternoon was several hours of a steep ascent. And when Gai pointed to the top of a mountain proceeded by a jagged 45 degree angle path, we knew we had our work cut out for us. Even with necessary rest breaks every ten minutes, we had to keep reminding ourselves that this was what we wanted to do – get off the beaten path. There were many “just one more up” from Gai and when we thought we could no longer pull ourselves up, we were on top of the mountain.

Glowing bright red from the crimson surface and setting sun we were welcomed into this Hmong village by the sounds of giggling children, crowing roosters, oinking pigs and yipping puppies. It was as if we walked onto a movie set. Every breathless step up the mountain was worth it for this moment.

After putting our bags down in our thatched hut we strolled around the village. Much like the Khamu, the Hmong are very shy, but there seemed to be a lot more activity happening about, and it wasn’t just the people. Everywhere we turned were an assortment of animals roaming about – we wondered how anyone could keep track of which ones belonged to them. And soon one of them, a waddling duck, was to become our dinner.

As the sun quickly set we ate dinner by candlelight before retiring to our platform bed for the night. With individual mosquito nets protecting us from intruders, we soundly slept as our tired bodies desperately needed a good rest. We were greeted in the morning by the sounds of roosters and a beautiful clear sky. As we were actually on top of the mountain, the clouds that usually appear every morning in Luang Prabang were actually below us. And as we began our steep descent into a sea of clouds, we felt like we were literally on top of the world.

For an hour and a half we trekked straight down through the forest before coming upon the rice paddies of the lowlands. And during our afternoon hike back to the Mekong, it was hard to believe how far and fast we had descended. It was a hard two-days hike but well worth every step.

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