Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Chilling out in Maoist Laos
The capital of Laos, Vientiane, has a total population of 200000. In fact, it feels more like a sleepy country town, than the capital of Southeast Asian powerhouse, Laos. Laos is known for a few things. One - the quality of its rice. Two - the quality of its beer (this time I am not being facetious.) Three - in a country that lacks electrification, its exports of "high-quality" electricity. How electricity can be "high-quality" I have to admit mystifies me. Four - being the most bombed country in human history. Yet another reason why Henry Kissinger is a war criminal.
Last night, I met up with my Australian friend James and a couple of his friends. One of his roommates is the younger sister of my evidence prof for this year. It's a small world. She is also a lawyer. She was telling me over some cold, Lao beers that Laos has no published laws. Obviously, developing a functioning legal system is not an objective of the current administration of the country. That's probably one of the reasons why this country is so poor compared to some of its neighbours. Having visited three communist countries during this trip, I have to say that Karl Marx is one of the greatest villains in human history and his ideas have resulted in billions of people being enslaved. Thank god the Soviet Union collapsed.
Vientiane strikes me as a fairly laid back place. One isn't really approached with constant offers to buy useless goods. There is a 'manana' attitude towards life. People saunter slowly down the streets. Today, I am going to do some sauntering myself and look around the center of town. This evening, I am going with some of James's friends to the driving range, and tomorrow, James is going to try to get me into the Australian Club so that I can work out and then I am going to play golf with him and his friends that are here on the program with him.
Last night, I met up with my Australian friend James and a couple of his friends. One of his roommates is the younger sister of my evidence prof for this year. It's a small world. She is also a lawyer. She was telling me over some cold, Lao beers that Laos has no published laws. Obviously, developing a functioning legal system is not an objective of the current administration of the country. That's probably one of the reasons why this country is so poor compared to some of its neighbours. Having visited three communist countries during this trip, I have to say that Karl Marx is one of the greatest villains in human history and his ideas have resulted in billions of people being enslaved. Thank god the Soviet Union collapsed.
Vientiane strikes me as a fairly laid back place. One isn't really approached with constant offers to buy useless goods. There is a 'manana' attitude towards life. People saunter slowly down the streets. Today, I am going to do some sauntering myself and look around the center of town. This evening, I am going with some of James's friends to the driving range, and tomorrow, James is going to try to get me into the Australian Club so that I can work out and then I am going to play golf with him and his friends that are here on the program with him.
