They're off !!!

First of all, many many thanks to all those who responded to my "special edition" appeal with offers to help Pouy. She is now back at school having only missed one day.

The boat racing season has begun. I went to a village outside of Luang Prabang today, and the boat that I tipped in my Letter some weeks back won its first heat by about 8 lengths! The following photos show another team trying to get their boat out of a small lane and across not much wider road. Given that they have to do this at least once a year, if not more often, the general air of confusion  was such that I thought they might struggle in the races. Today they got beaten by miles and promptly sank as they crossed the finishing line.

On a more sombre note the village has just experienced a suicide.  A young man (mid 20s) slit is his  throat following a  LaoLao drinking session. LaoLao is the local "moonshine, a rough rice whisky. By the standards of a good Scotch it is not that strong, but the quantities in which it is taken and the conditions in which it is produced combine to make it potentially lethal. Nevertheless no party is complete without LaoLao.
I tried to discover what the suicide rate for Laos is but it appears in none of the world rankings, presumably reflecting the fact that any figures collected would be incomplete and inaccurate, though I suppose I could ask the  Lao Coroner? I imagined that suicide rates would be relatively low in Buddhist countries, but apparently they  are almost twice the rate of Christian countries.
Just as an aside, whilst checking out website trying to get the suicide rate, I was on BBC News where I saw a reference to the "Chief Executive Officer of the National Offender Management Service ".  What ???

My butterfly collection continues to grow and receive more attention. One visitor was able to discern a similarity between the markings on one and the traditional motif on ladies' skirts. Sadly, my camera is not up to the task of picking out such detail.

I don't think I have yet commented on the impact of deforestation in  Laos. There is a lot of (allegedly Cambodian organised) illegal logging taking place, in addition to that which is licensed by the government., much of it in apparently unfavourable deals with China. The impact of it is very obvious going up river on the Mekong and also from the main road to Vientiane. The picture below was taken not more than a mile from my home.

Pretty much the whole hillside is coming down. But this country has few exports; hydro-electricity, some semi precious minerals,coffee...and timber. So I guess the temptation to cut down more timber and more is, in the short term irresistible; its not as though Laos is ever going to rival Brazil when it comes to  its coffee, which in fact even here is quite expensive;.twice the price of Nescafe; but I assure you I am not tempted towards that particular economy.

I am always anxious about taking photographs of children. But on Sunday I made an exception; I thought this little lad was just about the most beautiful child I had ever seen.

Then on Monday I was having lunch and he was hanging around; I became a little alarmed in case I had sent out some unintended signal. But I was assured it was ok,and  that this was just one of several cafes in the district that he visited. His sole intention is grab any leavings before the waiting staff  remove the plates; apparently this is how he keeps himself  and his younger siblings. What a life....he must be all of  8 or 9. He was quite unfazed by modern technology when I showed him his photo on my laptop; he merely commented that although  today he had the same shorts he was wearing a different shirt. (  So at least he has a wardrobe !)

I hesitate to write about the weather, as generally as soon as I have finished writing things go into complete reverse. But as of this moment in time it has not rained for 3 days. The mornings are overcast which keep s the temperature down, but the mercury seems to sneak up on you and before you know it, by about 1.30 it is quite oppressive for several hours.

I have heard a rumour of a shop in town that sells baked beans; I shall be there tomorrow at the crack of dawn  Maybe for special customers, behind the curtain there is a chilled cabinet with Melton Mowbray pies, ans Stilton cheese?

No time to tell you about elephant remains this week......just wait for next week's gripping installment, which is  an event in itself...21st Letter; we become of age (or not ). But let's finish with something a little quirky. I am not suggesting that this competes with Magritte when it comes to the oeuvre of headwear but I rather liked this juxtaposition

Same place, same time next week
Alan