December 2020

TRUMP’ETS – COLD COMFORT – SEING STARS – OBSERVING PLANETS – SEASONAL FESTIVITIES – ROAD TRIP – INTO THE FUTURE

What in the world!

Hunter turned field guide and boatman on the NNNNS with his baby boy.

Never before has a cycle trip faded so quickly from my memory than my trip across Laos which ended late last month. Partly familiarity and partly the current workload of dumb ass chain-reporting and desk-based deadlines, but still I had hoped for some higher level of residual memory, energy and enthusiasm. Probably this has been compounded by the alarming situation around the world as my family and friends back in South Africa brace for a second round of lock down, but only now with an even more deadly COVID 19 strain of virus. Then there is Trump, running through the halls of American democracy and civil society with a flame thrower and a bunch of hand grenades while his handlers, to week or unprincipled to care for anyone beyond their own skin walk indifferently some distance behind him, or at worst, keeping him in steady supply of fuel, grenades.  

 Of course, beyond this rant, scenes and incidents of courage, humanity and compassion are played out daily, although largely escaping the media’s selective scrutiny. The large majority of people like yourselves and your friends, family and acquaintances, living their best life under difficult circumstances, caring about the things they say so as not to cause undo harm, finding meaning in honest work, sacrificing for those they love and generally wanting the best, even for those with whom they are mealy acquainted. The very least of these principles, values and deed’s, exceeding by far, the greatest evil concocted by men. Goodness and justice will prevail in the end.

 Winter mission to Nam Et Phou Louey.

Dinner spot on the Nam Nern Night Safari

I travelled up to Hiem by pick-up this time, which was great as I could load up my new “Hiem” MTB which will remain there for my monthly missions. Phonsavan, usually cooler than Vientiane due to its elevation was “better pack warm clothes” cold, colorful padded jackets enclosing rosy cheeked children shopping with mom and dad at the local market. The dry season made it possibly once again for us to use the short cut to Hiem, cutting a good few hours off the normal route time. Soon to be paved, a large section of the route had been upgraded and repaired, making for an even faster journey. 

Besides the normal management planning activities and work-related discussions, we managed to get in a trip on the Nam Nern Night Safari (NNNS) where we tried out a new birding route and investigated potential locations for camp sites on a two-night route option. It was a wonderful, so cold that its cold, trip upstream where instead of staying over in the cottages at the campsite, we chose to camp out on the sand bank normally used for the dinner spot. On this occasion, we were joined by a few of our staff who have not yet experienced the NNNS, always a privilege to share in the joy and excitement of first-time visitors, especially our Lao staff. Opting to try out a dawn safari instead of the traditional night safari, we recorded a disappointingly low observation count, only proving that a sample size of one is no sample at all. Our rangers assure us that dawn is the best time for viewing wildlife along the river. While we didn’t see much wildlife on this trip, the night sky was clear, its canopy heavily laden with stars, a spectacle seldom seen in the tropical areas due to the moisture laden air. 

 Back in Hiem, while walking back from Songphet’s restaurant one evening, I noticed something that seemed out of place in the clear night sky, high above the horizon. Later that evening after some internet searching, there it was, Saturn and Jupiter coming together for a once in 750-year kiss. So glad I caught this spectacle, as I clearly remember the nights of watching Halley’s, which showed up brightly above the oak tree at my parents’ home in the late 80’s. I suppose I could see it again, if I make it to 103, we shall see. 

 Tis the season……

Happy birthday

In the West, we have been handed down a rather thin variety of year end festivities, Christmas, New Year, and possibly thanksgiving if American. Here in Laos, we have first of all, the Hmong New Year celebrations, then Christmas for the benefit of the Falang’s (and retail), then international New Year for all, followed by Chinese and Vietnamese New Year celebrations in February and finally, Lao and Thai New Year celebrations in April. While up in hiem I was invited to celebrate, first one of our staff birthdays, followed by a Hmong family new Year celebration. While all this was all going on my own Lao family were attending a week-long family wedding in their home village far into the countryside, followed immediately afterwards by our own Christmas celebrations at home. Tis the season to be jolly all right! 

 Back on a highway

Vang Vieng -

A few days after Christmas we decided, rather spur of the moment, that a road trip for a few days would do us some good before the heavy lifting of 2021 begun in earnest. The trip really highlighted for me, the rapid development (in certain aspects) occurring in Laos. 

 Our first stop was the Nam Pien Yorla Pa resort located within the largely unmanaged Phou Khao Khouay NPA where we were met with a very organized and professionally run operation offering a range of outdoor activities. From tree top walkways, ziplines and a unique suspended cycling rail high up in the trees to more random activities such as BB gun shooting, a very steep downhill luge and the normal 4-wheeler track. They plan to provide accommodation and camping soon, and this should prove very popular among the rapidly emerging middle class within the country.  

 The next leg landed us at a very gross, stale cigarette reeking casino hotel, labeled as “Dansavanh Nam Ngum Resort”, close to, but strategically not actually on the banks or within a view of the Nam Ngum Dam (Lao ocean). The blue water stretching out beyond the patio size windowpanes I had seen on the website were in fact taken from the resort pier, located some way beyond the windowless, nicotine-stained room we actually spent the night in. Weaving a teenage daughter and 6-year-old boy between one arm bandits and scowling Chinese to the lift up to our room was in itself a walk of shame and fair punishment for not looking more closely at the fine print.

 Our final destination the familiar Vang Vieng, although the way there was anything but. Having been used to the pothole strewn broken road, crisscrossed by cows and herds of goats heading for the fields on each side, trucks and minivans in a chaotic slow procession, dusty, hot and very very dangerous, the prospect of using the new Lao expressway, sounded somewhat over optimistic. We entered the expressway at Phonhong, and what a surprise and a pleasure. Dual carriageways perfectly surfaced and well signed complete with tunnel, offramps and modern toll systems. 20 minutes was all it took to deposit us, relaxed and smiling on the main road of Vang Vieng town. Wow, thanks very much China, I’ll take one of those any day of the week. It really does make a massive difference to a trip of this nature and returning back into Vientiane was only an hour’s drive. (I won’t bother to mention the additional 50 minutes needed to drive the final 12km’s from the exit through town to our home.)

 Vang Vieng proved a subdued version of its former self due to COVID 19, which was not a bad thing really. The mountains, rivers and fields remain the same, quite beautiful and inviting. Two days of swimming, walking and eating was good for us all and provided some welcome relief from the traffic and rush of Vientiane City. As a result, we were happy to bid goodnight to 2020 at a reasonable hour, been woken, pleasantly so, at the appointed hour by a crescendo of fireworks from right next door to well beyond the far bank of the Mekong in Thailand. We murmured good wishes through puffy eyes and drifted back into dreamland.

Tomorrow, yet another year, no doubt. 

November 2020

SOCIAL MANIA – ORWELL - CYCLING ACROSS LAOS – SMART RANGERS – FILM PHOTOGRAPHY IN 2020?

 Social media

I’m still struggling with my determination not to be dictated to by social media. The reality though, is that sharing my stories, images and thoughts with you all is a big part of why I do the things I do, and what gives meaning to my photography. There is no point to documenting my life, only to lock the book away in a box under my bed.

 I am a storyteller, we are all storytellers, we cannot not communicate. Even my attempts at not communicating on social media, is an attempt at communicating that fact …. on social media! Actually, its really not at all the communication that’s the problem for me, it’s the knowledge that every line we write, item we click, photo we post, page we view is been collected and sold to the highest bidder, a bidder whose motives, values and purpose is largely unknown to us, except for one sure thing, the exploitation of who we are and what we think. 

 So I decide to print out a book instead, there, that’s content definitely off the grid right?..... except for my 360 revolving online subscription of Photoshop, Lightroom, and InDesign, a trail of YouTube how to tutorials, a series of email exchanges to the printer followed by an online transfer of files via my Dropbox account and an online payment transaction, followed by a thank you post to me from the printers, on their Facebook page!   

 Ok so how about I get off Facebook and Instagram for a while and focus rather on a website, that’s it! That will keep me off the mainstream social media, so I redesign my website to accommodate more regular and varied content and create a subscribe button which I share with you all on Facebook, subjecting everyone I know to have to decide if what you really need in your life is yet another request to click, like or subscribe, and the boomerang of hypocrisy once again fly’s around the corner only to hit me squarely on the back of the head. 

 Aggghhh, can’t live with it, can’t live without it. In my book review of George Orwells novel; Keep the Aspidistra Flying this month, I see the harsh reality of fighting against something that mainstream society has openly embraced. Of course you can do it, and many do, but few can avoid the loneliness that comes from being the only person in the room who is “right”. 

 There must be way, a path down the center, or to the left a little, then to the right, but until then, we

 Like, 

Comment, 

Click,

Subscribe, 

and let the algorithm report that, at the very least, we’re still alive.

 Cycle trip across Lao

My cycle across Lao continued on through much of this month ending near the Cambodia Lao border 18 days after starting at the China Lao border in October. Covering a distance of a little over 1,700 km in 16 days of actual cycling, it was wonderful to be out of the city, the office and the routine of everyday life. Reduced to a single purpose, one backpack and a bike, life can be very uncomplicated indeed.

Riding across the country in such a short time frame really highlighted the uniqueness of the various regions, mostly sampled through my interactions with the locals, especially the kids along the route. The outcome of COVID travel restrictions imposed around the world were evident across the country with most of the guest houses closed up and needing to be opened specially for me. 

 Southern Cross, my custom bike built for me by David Mercer proved herself perfect for a trip of this nature. By the time I reached Hiem town after a few days riding, I had reduced my kit to only the bare essentials, making my kit light enough to just enjoy the actual cycling. 

 I need to put my thoughts down and go through all my photos of the trip, sorting through 1,000’s of mostly bike selfies! Although I have riden in a few countries now, this is only my second actual crossing of a country by bike, but what counties! Bhutan and Laos! Can hardly wait for the next…….. 

 Ranger training 

The remainder of the month was taken up with forest ranger training in Thakhet, a town I had just cycled through on my bike trip across Laos. The Rangers and management team are responsible for managing Khounxe Nongma Provincial Protected Area in the central Annamite range of mountains separating Vietnam from Laos, an area of high biodiversity in the region.

Training involved field navigation using maps and GPS, recording patrol tacks and observations and collecting information of incidents encountered while on patrol. This information is then all downloaded into a software program called SMART, where the PA management team can analyze the data, and generate patrol reports and maps depicting the location and distribution of these key observations. Its an incredibly useful tool as it immediately highlights the; what, where, when of snares, hunting camps, people arrested, ranger patrol efforts, both spatially and graphically. 

I love this kind of work, always so inspiring to work with rangers in Lao. While their capacity may be low, they are hungry for knowledge and quick to learn, and as a result, any positive input results in immediate improvement in terms of protection of these areas.

 Photography

Life on the street - Thaket Laos (Ilford HP5 - Canon EOS 1N)

Coming back from my cycle trip across Laos, I sent in a batch of film shot during the past month to be developed by our local “garage” film developers, young Lao hipsters who have developed a passion for film.  So great to have these guys operating here in Lao, otherwise I would have to stop shooting till after COVID has come under control and I can once again travel regularly to Bangkok.

 Every time I see the results of one of my rolls of developed film for the first time, I experience a sense of disappointment and even frustration at why I am bothering with film at all. Visible grain, strange color profiles, artifacts, scratches and dust on the image, and more than a handful of frames out of focus thanks to poor technique on my part. But then after a second look and some reflection, a handful of images start to grow on me, and by the end of the process, I am in love with them. I load another roll of ILFORD HP5, KODAK POTRA 160 or KODAK EKTAR 100 into one of my 20+ year-old film cameras, closing the film door with a satisfying clunk. 

 “This roll will be different” I tell myself, “Better, for sure!”.

October 2020

LAST STORMS – BOAT RACING FESTIVAL – LAO OCEAN CYCLE – EARLY CHRISTMAS - MANAGEMENT PLANNING – ACROSS LAO CYCLE PT 1 – GOODBYE MOM.

Last storms of the season

last of the rain season storms, dramatic and ferocious, hit the country causing some serious flooding down south in the province of Savanakhet. Between these storms, the annual rice harvest is in full swing all over the country. 

Approaching storm on the Vientiane waterfront.

Boun Ok Phansa / Boat racing festival

A subdued and largely reduced, (due to COVID restrictions) annual boat racing festival took place in Vientiane immediately after the last day of the Buddhist lent period. Along with all the people from our village, we got to place our small boat float of flowers, candles and offerings into the Mekong river. The ceremony represents a blessing to the Mekong river for all the gifts it provides villages, towns and cities along its route to the ocean. A primary source of fishing, transportation recreation and refuse removal, but now increasingly under threat due to the many dams built within its catchment areas and on the river itself, higher up in China.

Our river blessing float about to be let loose in the Mekong River.

Lao ocean cycle

To make the most of the long weekend this month, I decided on a 3-day circular cycle trip from Vientiane via the “Lao Ocean” which is the Nam Ngum dam.  My original plan was to cycle to the dam, take the ferry over to the other side and continue around and over Phou Khao Khouay national park and back to Vientiane. When I arrived at the village on the other side, however, I was immediately blown away by the relaxed and peaceful atmosphere of the place. This was truly a paradise, one of the most beautiful, laid back places I have come across in Laos. I couldn’t bring myself to leave the next morning, so instead, I cycled around the village coastal areas, exploring the small bays, fishing jetties and villages. The children especially appeared to be thriving in the freedom and beauty of the place, diving off the wooden river boats, fishing and generally enjoying life on the “ocean shores. Huge mountains arise from either end of the horizon, adding yet another dimension of beauty to this place. It was difficult to leave when the time came, the local ferry loosely at anchor just below the window of my guest house. As with many of these experiences I have enjoyed in Laos over the years, I was the only foreigner.  

Nam Ngum dam

Early Christmas

With some opening of international freight services, I received a number of very welcome packages, some of which I had ordered in March, before COVID lockdowns earlier in the year. My sister sent me my driver’s license, wrapped with Cape Union Mart clothes and cycling shorts for my trip across Laos, and a colleague brought in with her from Canada, a batch of film stock I ordered. This was followed a few day later by the arrival of the original batch of film stock I had given up on which I had ordered from China in March! In addition, 2 classic film cameras ordered through e-bay, arrived from Japan after a 5-month delay in Singapore.

Film stock from China arriving just after a back up stock from Canada.

NEPL Management plan consultations

I had time for one quick trip up to the Nam Et Plou Ploy National Park (NEPL) before starting on my Lao country crossing cycle. I have been trying to take my annual leave for a few months now, but each time, someone on the program has something so important, that I need to postpone my leave. In this case, it’s to participate in the NEPL management plan consultation process, which is an important task. I can feel I need a break, its been non-stop from before COVID, and I feel stale and unproductive. 

Some of the NEPL technical team during a draft management plan review process.

Lao country crossing cycle

I have always wanted to cycle across Laos and with COVID international travel restrictions still in force, this was the ideal time. After a few days at home, catching up with a backlog of work and digging from next month’s pile, I was finally able to turn this idea into reality. My trip started on the 21st  with an internal flight to Luang Namtha and a short cycle up to the Lao Border with China at Boten, a crazy casino city. I then basically headed SE across Lao on my Mercer steel framed custom cross bike, Southern Cross” By the end of the month I had travelled 846km’s from the border to Muang Mo in the central area of Laos, with body and bike still very much intact. The journey continues into November.

On the road near Oudomxay

Farewell Mom

On the 19th my mom passed away quite peacefully with my siter Ellen at her side. She was doing ok only a few weeks before, but then she had a small accident in her room and broke her hip. The operation seamed to go ok, but soon after, infection set in and she slid into her final days with us. Although not entirely what she had in mind, even before the accident, mom had come to terms with the fact that she was nearing the end of her life, even embracing it, saying that she was ready to move on and go to be with dad. Always a mom, ever content, consistently considerate. I'm happy she went peacefully, but I regret that I didn’t get the opportunity to visit her in Cape Town just once more time, to take her out for tea, have fish and chips at Kalkbay harbor and have her spend time with Mina.  

 Not only did she give me life, she taught me how to live.

Goodbye Mom.

Mom during my previous visit to Cape Town during 2019