HOME | NEWS | SPECIALS    The Rediff Special/ Major General Ashok Mehta (retd)

It's a tiny, but thoroughly fascinating, country. Nine out of 10 persons quizzed on Kaun Banega Crorepati probably would not know of its existence, let alone be able to even vaguely pinpoint it on the map or figure how to get there. Let me test you. It's Buddhist and has five million citizens... Yup just five million people... that is roughly the population of outer Delhi. India has an embassy there, which includes two army officers affectionately called 'Teachers', who teach army English to the soldiers. Any guesses? The place is landlocked Laos, the single-party Communist state of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, located contiguous to its closest ally and mentor, Vietnam. Vientiane (pronounced Wieng chang), the country's pretty capital, rests at a bend in the sluggish Mekong river and is also home to 150 Indians, mostly Tanjore Muslims, who run tiny thriving businesses. Many more Indians once lived in Laos. But they departed in something of a hurry when the Communists took over in 1975 and did not return. You may bump into Pakistanis, Sri Lankan Tamils and Afghans as well in in Laos or Lang Xane, the Kingdom of One Million Elephants. I must confess that we did not see a single elephant during the three-day visit to Laos. Where do you hear of tales of Laos being an R&R station for the LTTE? Or that Osama bin Laden, considered transferring his base from the Hindukush mountains to the Mekong delta ? In Vientiane, of course, where you get an instant visa for US $ 30. We first fly north out of Vientiane, in a French ATR plane. Lao Aviation is a rickety domestic and international airline, but its aircraft are flying. Just two weeks before we touched down at Vientiane's Wattay International Airport, a Russian-built passenger plane did not make it to its destination in the northern province, where a small scale insurgency is being waged by Hmong tribals. All except four South Indians, who came to make a fortune, were killed in the crash. Wattay is being renovated. Prominent at the domestic terminal are two notices. First is about the public address system being under repair. The second is an order 'Show all weapons'. Laos has an army of 30,000 and two squadrons of MiG-21 fighters which are lying grounded and Indian help has been sought. Forty minutes later we arrive with a small group of friends in the ancient royal capital of Luang Prabang. We became the very first lot of 'Indos' to touch holy soil venerated by the Laotians and protected by UNESCO as a world heritage city. This bit of detail is provided by Vieng Suvang, our young guide for the day-long city tour. Luang Prabang is also the name of the largest of 17 provinces of Laos. The Mekong and Nam Khan rivers meet in this quaint, picture-postcard but sleepy city, dotted with temples Vieng, blessedly, is not the typical babbling guide. He lets each word sink in, as our Toyota van cruised along the LP roads. The airstrip is still under construction by a company from Thailand. There are no parking bays near the arrival and departure terminals, so after checking in you are driven out of the terminal to a makeshift shed from where one boards the aircraft. The embarking drill is reminiscent of procedures still being followed in remote airstrips of Nepal. Vieng begins his conducted tour by announcing that LP has 38 UNESCO-registered temples, the first of which is called Vat Visounaratha, originally built in 1502, but destroyed by the Thais, Chinese and Burmese successively and courageously rebuilt each time. All the highlights of a Buddhist temple are present at these sites: the banyan tree, a stupa, a monastery, a chapel and living quarters for the monks. Opposite the temple is a restaurant called Nazim's (probably, in spite of the mutilation of its name, a cousin of Nizam's, Calcutta), an outlet of a chain of Indian restaurants in Laos. There are two such restaurants in Vientiane, one on the banks of the Mekong and the other near the Victory Monument (built in 1960 and modelled after the Arc d'Triomphe in Paris), apart from the one in LP. Nazim's has a Pakistani rival, nearby, Khyber Pass, which is comparatively deserted. As we wander through LP, Vieng fills us in on other details about the country in general. Laos did not escape the ravages of the Vietnam war. The Ho Chi Minh trail passed through the Eastern Province, which was heavily bombed and subjected to chemical warfare like Agent Orange in the late 1960s. Other than this, the last external aggression, according to Vieng, was by the How tribe from China in 1878 and encroachments by Burma. But Laos suffered repeated invasion and pillage by Siam (Thailand) in the south over centuries. The Thais, and to a lesser extent, the French, were responsible for a critical degree of loot and plunder that made Laos a poorer place. Example: The Emerald Buddha, stolen in 1779 from Laos, is now in the king's palace at Bangkok. For Laotians it is their much missed and mourned Kohinoor. We discovered a few handy tips right off. By simply saying BeerLao and LaoLao you are guaranteed immediate action. For half a dollar, which is about 4000 Kip (the local currency) beer or whiskey emerges instantly. Besides BeerLao, it is useful to know two other words: sabaidee (Greetings) and bopaniya (No Problem). It is also useful to carry the Kip instead of the dollar. The hangover of French rule manifests itself in strange places. You will still be called monsieur and madame. Restoration work in the museums has been done by French artisans and curators. Every local I saw at the domestic airport terminal had a bagful of French loaves. And there were French tourists around the place. The French left Laos in 1953 after an eventful 90-year rule. The temple on the hill, next to Mekong river, with the That Chomsi stupa is next on Vieng's tour of LP. Some 328 gentle steps and 15 minutes of a breathe-easy climb positions you for a breathless view of the city. Here, the temple is incidental to the grandstand observation point the hill provides. The chassis of an antiaircraft gun, minus the gun, perched on the hill has become a sorrowful reminder of the country's Vietnam war. Lunch is next. It is typically Lao cuisine: sticky rice, beef, pork, fish and chicken, washed down with BeerLao. Indians, used to butter chicken and parathas, will find the meal bland but healthy. The royal palace museum, built in 1904, contains a magnificent collection of traditional Lao art. The most striking section of the palace is the king's audience hall, embellished with colourful inlay work of Japanese glass. The palace is tiny by any royal standards. Displayed in one of the rooms are gifts from India, including attractive ivory carvings from the kings of Benares. The most glorious and celebrated of the temples is Vat Xieng Thong. Laid in emerald stone and spread over an expansive courtyard, this is the site of the That Luang annual festival, during the full moon in November. The resident priest, as decrepit as the temple, is having his daily massage by four newly recruited monks... what in Bangkok is advertised as multiple-therapy massage and costs a fortune. At the end of the Phothisalat road is the UNESCO Heritage House which is a renovated French colonial structure that once housed the city's custom office. The end of this main road is also the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers. The best way to savour LP, officially designated, by the way, as Magic of Laos, is to walk around or hire a tuk-tuk (three wheeler). For me the highlight of Laos Magic was the absence of the pandemonium of touts, beggars or loud-voiced guides; so different from Bangkok. The air journey, though a hefty $ 100 for a return ticket and another US $ 25 for Vieng and lunch, is a price worth paying. Back in Vientiane the mood is sombre and traffic mildly dislocated. The reason? President Jiang Zemin of China has arrived on a one-day visit. He has checked into Room 612 of the only five-star Lao Plaza hotel, where the tariff for an ordinary room is US $ 75. This price is worth paying when you realise you are sharing the hotel with the Chinese president. There are cheaper hotels like Asia Pavilion, next to Khyber Pass, for just US $ 20, with breakfast. Although the hotel staff do not understand much English, they make up with their laugh and smile. The Vientiane Times is the country's only English newspaper and a fascinating one at that. Each issue covers four days. For example, the copy sold on November 9, reads November 10-13, 2000 on its front page and naturally carries a picture of Jiang Zemin. The accompanying story on his visit is just 20 words, while his biodata, virtually a womb-to-tomb of the visiting president, is more than 2,000 words. Phonesaveanh Thikeo is a reporter for the paper. Her visiting card sums her up as 'LaoPress' in foreign languages. She has trained in Pune and Delhi! Like Kathmandu, there is no end to temples and museums in Vientiane. Sisaket is one of the world's most endangered monuments. Built in the Year of Tiger 1818, it has survived numerous Thai invasions. It contains 10,136 Buddhas of different sizes. The Emerald Buddha was stolen from here in 1779. Vientiane is much more than lovely temples. It has eateries and French wine parlours and once had a scandalous reputation. Nightlife -- unlike in the 1970s when brothels and drug shops bustled with business -- is now regulated and disciplined. Discotheques masquerade as cabarets and the Paris By Night club is more famous for its Western food than any nocturnal entertainment. One can enjoy drinks and a hearty meal for less than US $ 3, even in a nightclub. Lao food, which is different from Vietnamese or Thai, is found at KuLao restaurant, owned by one of the government ministers. Every tourist is taken there for a taste of local food, dance and music. The orchestra plays Indian tunes without request. The wine parlour opposite Asia Pavilion boasts of the world's oldest and best collection of vintage French wines. The owner is a Frenchman, married to a Laotian girl. Incidentally, the Vientiane duty free shop is excellent for bargains in French wines; you can pick up a bottle of French wine for US $ 1.50 (about Rs 60). And if you are seeking thrills, a meeting with a Tamil Tiger or a Taliban can be arranged as I discovered. The LTTE has chosen Laos for R&R, especially since there is a lull in the war in Jaffna. The Tigers are also here, scouting for cheap weapons which are freely available in this region. Some Indians I met swore they had seen LTTE amputees, and other Tamils, near the Victory Monument. They are known to climb the monument and speak on their walkie talkies with comrades who have spread out in the interior. In August last year, Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar met officials in Vientiane and Cambodia, requesting LTTE activities be monitored. I met a Jaffna Tamil in the Chinese-run evening market, Xang Lane. He told me that he had moved from Jaffna to Madras in 1989 and then to Zurich and was now in Vientiane selling Thai toothpaste and soap in a market full of cheap Chinese goods! Two Indians also owned shops alongside Muthuswamy's. I came across another interesting landmark in Vientiane -- humour. Not just the Lao people but their officials also have a great sense of humour. One junior minister told me that for being a successful member of ASEAN (Laos joined the association in 1997), there are three requirements: Playing golf, singing karaoke and cracking dirty jokes. The Rediff Specials Do tell us what you think of this special

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