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| View of Laos from Nong Khai, border town on the Thai side After several attempts, Andy caught the lightning on my camera |
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| Sunset over the Mekong River |
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| Mulberries, an organic silk farm |
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| I helped out making thread from silkworm cocoons! (I wonder if the ladies working look forward to tours for the break they get because of tourists wanting to give their job a try. Silly tourists.) |
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| Haiku: Unexploded Ordinance (UXO) Beware of UXOs! May look phallic but they're deadly. Bomb makers, perverts? |
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| Between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. dropped over 270 million "bombies" on Laos. Up to 30% failed to detonate. Approximately 80 million UXO remained in Laos after the war. http://www.uxolao.org/ The presence of UXOs still affects the lives and livelihoods of Lao people who cannot farm uncleared land. Children play with bombies, some the size of tennis balls, thinking they are toys. People can be killed or injured from UXOs that explode when struck or stepped on. |
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| MAG International is an organization that conducts the long, painstaking process of clearing UXO. The white part of the blocks on either side of the trail mark safe places to walk. (Great work they're doing, but I think their logo and slogan could pass for a sarcastic drug ad.) http://www.maginternational.org/where-we-work/where-mag-works/lao-pdr-/ |
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| Trees growing out of bomb craters |
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| This is how people in some villages get water to their houses. Hey, that's just like my site. |
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| Plain of Jars It's like the Stonehenge of Laos |
