Impressions of Laos: poverty, monks and the arc of triumph

My first impressions of Laos were mixed. The "VIP" night bus we took from Luang Prabang in the north to the capital city serves a symbol for the country. The scenery was awesome. Beautiful green mountains covered in fog lined the roads. Unfortunately, so did hundreds of homes made exclusively from palm leaves and wood; we had not seen such poverty any where in the countries we had travelled. The night buses we took in Thailand were not wonderful, but we slept some and could be confident in arriving. Loas was different. The roads were windy and rocky to the point of nausea. The "VIP" bus was dilapidated and played loud Lao karaoke the entire night, stopping every thirty minutes to pick up more people. At one point, the driver stopped for a bathroom brake (as there was no toilet on the bus). When I exited the bus, I almost fell over a squatting woman relieving herself on the side of the road: I had found the bathroom. Laos in a nutshell: magnificent land, profound poverty.

When I saw my first monk in Thailand, I couldn't stop taking pictures. I was like a cured diabetic in a candy shop for the first time. Carmen, having visited the heart of Tibetan Buddhism in Dharamsala, just rolled her eyes. I have now been so sufficiently overwhelmed by the sighting of monks in construction orange that I worried about the monks stealing our bikes at the monastery (a silly worry, as monks can have no worldly possessions). Monks are everywhere. Shaven scalped teens and elders wearing the standard orange robe teem every city. It is tradition for every man to serve a year or two as a monk in his youth. As some countries require military service, Loas tradition requires servitude to the monastery.

In the middle of the capital, Vientianne, stands a gargantuan concrete arc modeled after the arc of triumph in Paris, France. A comparison of the two arcs serves a great analogy (I haven't put my finger on the analogy, but I know its great). France's beautiful arc stands at the end of the most famous boulevard in the world and serves as a center piece for culture and history. Laos' arc was build in the 1960's with cement donated by America for the purpose of building an airport. The arc is decorated with Buddhist images and statues but looks like funds ran short after 80 percent of construction was finished. Steel rods numerously hang out of walls and wires lay exposed. Most striking of all is the top floor, totally built out to house nick-knacks to sell foreign tourists. Fake polo, lacoste, and hard rock cafe shirts line half the walls. Graffiti, mostly done by tourists and written in English, line the other half. While France's arc serves as a center piece, Laos' arc is an eyesore prostituting itself to tourists.