Author: Philip Walsh

We began our very last day in Laos, with the well-awaited “Great Race”. We were given an hour and a half, to complete the tasks set for us on the day. We were put into groups of 5 and each given a role for the day, such as; photographer, in charge of taking photos for evidence from the tasks given to us, time keeper, to make sure we weren’t taking too long at certain places, banker, in charge of the money given to us at the start of the race and keeping track of what we needed to purchase throughout the day, recorder, to write down the answers to some of the questions and last but not least, navigator, to show us the way around the streets, making sure we didn’t get lost. Some of the tasks we had to complete throughout the day included visiting the “Phousy Market” and finding various items such as rice, pig feet, and river reed. We were also climbed a mountain, took photos at a temple, and purchased a postcard each, with stamps, to write to our families. We finished the race with a well-deserved lunch, followed by a visit to another market. 

Later in the day we were given the chance to visit a local high school. A portion of the money raised from the walkathon was put towards funding resources for the school such as textbooks, stationery and sports equipment. It was amazing to see how a school from another culture differed to ours; how their classes were taught differently to ours, and the fact that they had only twelve classrooms to house the same number of students as St Leonard’s! The director of the school was very grateful for the donations that we had brought, as the Laos government is not able to provide enough textbooks and resources for the large number of students in these overcrowded schools. There were 70 students in each class, with 3-4 sitting together at one desk. Some of us helped to teach grammar to a Year 7 class, while others were put on the spot to sing or talk at the front of the room. It was satisfying to know that we had been able to make such a difference in this community both through our donations and our visit.

 

Our last night ended with a dinner, and a traditional ceremony, performed by some of the local people of Laos. We all took our shoes off and sat on the floor whilst the elders from the local temple gave us a blessing for good health, energy and safe travels. After this, the elders came to give us individual blessings, tying white string bracelets around our wrist. Then, we were privileged to a performance by five girls from a local music school, who performed three dances for us. One dance included three parts representing the three groups of Lao people. When they were done, they gave us all a flower (a frangipani) as a sign of thanks and respect.

 

We all are very thankful for our Big Experience. It has been a massive eye opener to see the things we were very lucky to see on this trip. We have learnt about the lives of people living in Cambodia and Laos. We have learnt about their religions, their food, their history, politics and so much more. We have been building up to this experience, and imagining what it will be like for such a long time, and we just can’t believe that it’s already nearly over. We will all remember this experience for the rest of our lives, and we now realize how lucky we are to live the lives that we all lead.
By Rachel Heath, Amy Galston, Lucas Riddell and Sam Pogrund

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 

The day began groggily as some of us sipped on coffee to wake us up for the adventurous day ahead. Upon arriving at the elephant reserve, half of us unsteadily sat on the elephants as the other half fed them their morning snacks. According to the manager of the reserve, elephants eat for up to 20 hours a day! After parading around on the elephants and providing them with lots of attention, we headed off to get something to eat.
Following lunch, we headed up a small hill to discover the ABPC (Asian Bear Protection Centre) and the breath-taking three tiered waterfalls. Unfortunately we could not swim in the glistening water; nevertheless we stood on the bridge where the large waterfall sprayed water droplets across our faces. 
Our next destination was the Mong Hill Tribe village, here we learnt about how they lived and about their personal lives. After speaking to two women, we learnt that one got married at the age of 15 and had her first child at the age of 16, which is her age currently. The next woman explained how she got married to her husband whom she met at school and they currently just had their 3rd child. She is 25 years old and her husband is 35. Amongst the village, there seemed to be less elderly and more youth. It has been proven that Laotian men live up the age of 64 and women live up to the age of 67.  

Once again we visited the Laos night market and explored the isles of colourful shops lined up in front of the Royal Palace where we had previously visited. The night ended with hype about the great race that will be taking place tomorrow, going to sleep now to prepare for our last day in Laos. See you all soon…

Written by ACDC (Anita Condello & Daniel Choi)

   
    
    
  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   

In one day we do buses, bikes and boat whilst managing to leave a teacher behind. Waking up from what we call a sleep in these days. We came down to the biggest breakfast we have seen in days, defiantly a step up from our last morning’s meals. We even got specially made pancakes! Heading onto the buses we ventured off to yet another temple. On arrival to the temple the group spread out looking at the several ornate buildings with handcrafted walls, holding the past kings golden funeral carriage. As we sat and took a short break from looking around the temple, we were introduced to a 13 year old boy. He had pledged his life to that of a monk. We learned about his daily life and the rules that came with the lifestyle. We found that one of the rules was that they were not allowed to touch a woman and we mean not touch at all, including his own mother.  

After saying thankyou to the monk and bidding him farewell, we travelled to the royal palace. Since Laos is governed by communist regime, the palace has been turned into a museum. The group saw the countless private rooms and a golden throne. The palace was surrounded by beautiful gardens. Within the garden there was a large pond, which housed some enormous coy fish. We gazed at the fish for a while then gradually strolled through the gardens to our meeting point.

 

We walked down the street to collect our bikes for our second bike ride on the trip. Now experts in bike riding in Laos, we travelled along the busy chaotic roads with some intersections frightening the majority of our bicycle convoy. Once we rode over unconventional bridge we discovered that we might have left one behind teacher (not mentioning any names). We sent out our trusty tour guide to search for our missing member. After being reunited we got to our destination at the silk and papermaking village. Where we saw how many amazing artworks are made in this location.

 

Then on our third type of transport for the day we got onto the long boat for an exciting 4 hour journey and had the best lunch so far. We stopped at some caves that consisted of many Budda statues and 250 plus steps under the incredible cliff face located along the Mekong River. After spending some time there our group got back onto the boat to travel back to the Pier where we boarded the bus to hotel for a quick swim.

 

After a well needed shower and some rest we headed out to the night markets for the second night (which we all love) and had a ‘choose your own destination’ dinner. Overall it had been an exciting and eventful day with all of us looking forward to the elephants tomorrow. It’s day 14 and our Big Experience is drawing closer to the end.

 

Blogged by Charlotte Hayward and Eleanor Chadwick 

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   

We were all woken with a loud banging on our doors very early this morning. Who could it be? and what do they want? On opening the door, we remembered Ms Werba was our early morning wake up call. After jumping out of bed we headed to the dining room for breakfast Bread and eggs were on the menu again and much to our delight there was also fried rice. 

After our meals we packed up our bags and hopped onto the bus to begin our very, very, very long bus journey to Luang Prabang!!! We drove for 8 hours along many winding roads that fealt like you were going nowhere and we were all in awe as we passed the most incredible sceneries. We drove through the beautiful mountains that were a vibrant lush green colour that brightened up our journey. This was due to the fact that Laos is coming off the end of their wet season, which runs from May to October and their dry season runs from November to early May.

Our first break was a short stop off at the top of a mountain with the viewpoint having the most spectacular scenery. The views from the toilets were extraordinary. It beats having to read the paper.

At about 1pm we reached our mid way point of our trip and we split into two separate groups to buy lunch at different restaurants. The restaurants happened to have exactly the same menu.

-Fried rice with a choice of meat (The bomb)

-Noodle soup with a choice of meat (Even better)

-Noodles with a choice of meat (meh)

After a few more long hours of winding roads and steep mountainous climb, we were headed for the home straight to the hotel. As we arrived to the hotel , we didn’t know what to expect. From the outside the hotel looked ok, but when we entered the lobby and checked out the pool, we knew it was the best hotel we have been to yet! After being united with our new room mates, we unpacked and went for a refreshing swim. Our pool it stunning. We played ball and laughed and had time to unwind before we got ready for dinner.

 The mini buses drove us to dinner and we feasted on traditional delicious Laos food. Afterwards we split into small groups and headed to the night markets for an hour of shopping. As we tried our best to bargain with the experienced locals, we stumbled upon the other BE group from St Leonard’s. We exchanged stories and laughs for a short time and then went our separate ways back to the hotel.

After a long but exciting day, we headed to bed for a much needed rest in preparation for the big day ahead of us.

By Matt H and Victoria K

   
    
    
    
 

Breakfast this morning was eggs and bread. That’s it; just eggs and bread. We were all very excited for the 15km bike ride with a stop at a limestone cave. The caves themselves contained odd beauties such as long dark tunnels and stunning views of the other side of the mountain, but all of this was protected by a 240-step climb. Cooper and Lucas decided to get the most out of this climb by sprinting up them. They’ll have sore quads tomorrow! We continued our bike ride along rocky, freshly tarred roads. The heat was today’s main enemy with this physical activity making it feel 10 degrees hotter. Exhausted, we stopped by the Nam Song River for a well-deserved lunch break. We had front row seats to some locals swimming in the river. Everyone was dying to jump in and join them but the currents were pretty strong, forcing us to remain dry. 

The locals sorted us into groups of 2s and 3s for the kayaking, dividing friendship groups. With little confidence, we hopped into the kayaks and paddled along the river with the strong currents. With large goofy helmets and puffy life jackets that looked like traffic cones, we really stood out. Along the river, we spotted many locals who were fishing, swimming and bathing in the river. We even saw a few water buffalos. The riverbanks were lined with bars and restaurants filled with other tourists taking photos and waving as we paddled by. Max and Jake thought it would be a good idea to start splashing everyone and this turned into an all out war of who could stay the driest.

 

And then it began to rain!!!!

 

This was the first time anyone had been cold on the trip. As we came to the end of our 2-hour journey, everyone was completely drenched and couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel and have a warm shower. Everyone was depressed at the thought of having to walk back to the hotel, but we were all saved from the storm when Hong pulled up with the tuk-tuk trucks. The buzz in the back of the truck was unreal and everyone felt lit up. Of course, it was Choi who started singing and everyone joined in until the whole truck was booming.

 

After a well-deserved shower and rest everyone concluded that this was the best day so far and that they needed food. Luckily, we headed out for another delicious dinner of Laotian cuisine and another stop to pick up snacks for the long bus ride tomorrow to Luang Prabang

Blog by Cooper Green-Sheil and Nina Coghill