Sabadee Pi Mai Lao

Happy Lao New Year, belated now, as I departed Vientiane and internet facilities just before. Due to the three day festival falling mid week, the governmant adjusted working days to permit a full week off. This proved to be a significant factor in Project Pineapple's itinerary, initially causing disappointment but ultimately proving beneficial.

Heading back east to pick up the Ho Chi Minh Trail again in easy stages to Lak Xau and Mahaxai. A commercial clearance company had originally offered to let me witness demolitions but the extended holiday interferred with this too, fortunately. They do much work for the hydro electric power plants such as the vast catchment area potentially generating 1,000MW at Nalaolouang. Past Muang Phine where I had worked 6 years earlier, I sped by the 38 kilometer detour to the Xepon gold mine. Previously intending to visit there showing the contrast of commerial interest versus mere human interests, you know, legs, arms and eyes getting blown off in the remote 'uncommercial' villages. It gave me more time to head up into Nong District, the most heavily bombed area in the world to date, where I had walked those 6 years earlier on the water well project. But before that a quick spin up to the Lao Bao border with Viet Nam that I reached 2 weeks earlier. Looking through the arches of time, it was hard to guess there had been such horrors here, at least in these commercial areas. But what of the remote villages? well I'm going back there now.

No buses to Nong but where there are people always transport as any traveller would know. I rode up the improved laterite road on the Minsk past the now fenced off portion or the original cobbled Ho Chi Minh Trail that was the road 6 years earlier looking like a sad forgotten cemetry which it effectively is.

I found the new Naiban, village head, Mr Somsanit. I explaned my return visit and gave him the brochures from COPE, the limb fitting enterprise, asking them to be distributed to the mostly forgotten outlying villages so they would know to contact their centre in Savanahket. There free artificial limbs could be supplied.

This is one of the main purposes of Project Pineapple, to put these people on the political map. In these new days when the USA is seeking to talk about old issues in a new light, when emerging countries are demanding to be spoken to properly on equal terms and not in some neo colonial form with demands and conditions it is surely time for the USA to clean up the mess that it made on someone elses back yard that still kills and maims. This would be unacceptable were in in a Texas or Florida or Ohio backyard. There would be a Hue and Cry about it. So what is less about these people, what is less about their human rights, what is less about their right to farm these fertile mountain slopes without the fear of losing eye and limb or death.

Cluster Bombs here were scattered widely to carpet bomb the multiple tracks of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Nong District is the most heavily bombed area in the world ever yet most of the world does not know it. That is why I am riding down the Trail or what is left of it.

Next day, I rode, baggage free, to Phounmarkmy village where I had located 2 water wells and the Health Centre previously. Met the naiban and nurse. Caught in the start of a downpour, I napped for an hour to allow the track to dry up.

Fortunately the village is in a fairly level part of the plateau so only a few slips and slides but a warning of the dangers ahead were a motorcyclist be caught on the Trail in the serious monsoon season. In 1989. I made the trip to Luang Prabang by truck convoy, semi automatics behind each drivers seat, in October the height of the rainy season, 4 days of heavy treacherous driving on the axle deep mud 'roads', now 9 hours by bus.

The forecast was right, four days of rain then a break of which I took advantage to rough ride the old Ho Chi Minh Trail down to Saravane.