ANOTHER MOTORBIKE – RAIN SEASON IN HIEM – LIMA SITE 85 – VIENGXAI CAVES – COVID-19 RUNS AWAY IN VIENTIANE – LOCKDOWN – WORK FROM HOME – SCHOOL FROM HOME – BOOK PUBLISHING PROGRESS.
Brummmmm..
A month ago, I bought, or rather, replaced my adventure motorbike back home in South Africa with a road bike here in Laos. It’s not a conventional bike for me, a replica of an old classic, but lovely looks, old school handling and a beautiful voice. I took it up to Hiem, a good 800km round ride over a variety of road conditions and loved every moment on her.
LIMA site 85
My three weeks up in Hiem were hot and wet, as is the case now in the rainy season. It was a busy time work wise, but we also got to visit the top of Phati Mountain (LIMA site 85). The site is the scene of an infamous battle during the secret war in Laos. During this battle, the Vietnamese attacked a small company of American soldiers and “contractors” maintaining a radar base to guide the US bombers into Hanoi City. The small area on top of the mountain is still full of the remains of the base after the attack. Anti-aircraft guns, parts of a downed helicopter, machinery to maintain the old STOL runway, and sections of the bullet ridden accommodation unit are clearly visible.
We went on further to the town of Viengxai. Here we visited the network of caves that the Lao revolutionary army and civilians lived and worked out of out of during the secret war in Laos. They have an audio recording of the history and first-hand accounts to listen to while you visit the various caves. There are caves used for hospitals, command center, library, jail, living quarters, and even a large entertainment center. It’s quite moving and genuinely inspiring to see the level of solidarity during that time, and to hear first-hand accounts of the pain, courage and bravery. I think they should encourage more people to visit these caves at regular intervals to remember what the original ideal was all about. In some cases, these ideals appear to have been lost somewhere along the road to riches.
COVID 19 run
By the time I headed back to Vientiane, a fresh wave of COVID-19 had broken out in the capital, and so I returned directly into a “work from home” situation. Along the road back from Hiem, I endured a dozen police and military checkpoints, all related to the COVID-19 travel restrictions. Fortunately, all my paper and vaccine work was up to date, so my encounters, while tiresome, were pleasant enough.
The next weekend, we found a hole in the lockdown curtain and could do a quick weekend trip to Vang Vieng. There, as a family, we could enjoy the hotel swimming pool and surrounding countryside, as always, stunningly beautiful. On the night before we returned to Vientiane, we heard ominous news that Vientiane was to be placed immediately under an even harder COVID lockdown. There was a strong possibly that we could not return to the capital at all. Leaving early the next morning, we travelled down through endless roadblocks and police checkpoint taking 7 hours to do a normal 2 hour road trip. We got home safely, although to a now very locked down Vientiane.
All from home
The last few weeks at home have been taxing. With School from home for Christopher and Work From home for me, it's proving to be extremely challenging. Despite my efforts, I can see him slowly slipping away from the rest of the class. Regardless of how many Zoom classes in the day, it’s still home schooling, and needs full time parental supervision and input at his age. I am trying, but just can’t do it all. It hurts.
Self-publishing
After struggling to find a competent book cover designer for my upcoming book publication, I decided to go the route of contracting a small publishing company. So far it proved to be the correct decision and the first set of cover designs they offered me were next level in terms of professionalism. The next stages are typesetting and proofreading for the print version of the book, followed by formatting for e-book. Lots for me to learn about the process of self-publishing!