It continues to be a dreadful time in much of South East Asia as people count the cost of the storms that have ripped through the region. As I write, the death toll, arising from Tropical Storm Ketsana, in Laos is reportedly 24: in the Philippines it is 293, in Vietnam at least 107 have died, and in Cambodia the storm has claimed 17 lives.

The biggest catastrophe has been in Sumatra, Indonesia, where earthquakes have claimed the lives of over 1000 with thousands more believed missing.

I have allowed myself to feel overwhelmed by such numbers and as a result have been gripped by inertia. From the inertia has come frustration.

Fortunately a friend reminded me of a story about a starfish. For those unfamiliar with the story, it goes like this:

A Buddhist monk was on the beach with his apprentice the day after a fierce storm. Thousands of starfish had been washed up and stranded on the shore. Stooping down, the monk carefully lifted a single creature and returned it to the sea. His young apprentice wondered aloud why his master bothered to do this when it made little difference to the mass of helpless creatures. As they walked along, the monk picked up another single starfish and replied, “It makes a difference to just this one.”

I have copied this version, aptly, from The Starfish Project in Cambodia.

It is of course relatively easy to donate to one of the disaster relief funds like UNICEF’s Asia-Pacific Disasters Children’s Appeal and thereby help at least one ‘starfish’ in the short term but I am also concerned for the future. Many survivors will have lost everything: what will be their longterm prospects? As ever, such disasters seem to affect the poor the most. Houses and crops destroyed. Fishing boats lost.

I am now looking for that one starfish that I can help over the longterm and given my travel and tourism background I believe it will need to be a project in that sector. That does not mean I am going to pass by all the other starfish until I find the ‘right’ one: I will help where I can which is why I want to tell you about the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation in Vietnam.

Since 2002, the Foundation has been helping ‘street kids’ into education, training and apprenticeships. A recent focus has been on children from central Vietnam who had been trafficked to Ho Chi Minh City to work on the streets or in factories. Today Blue Dragon runs a children’s home in Hoi An, Central Vietnam, providing a safe and healthy environment for these vulnerable young people.

According to a post on the foundation’s blog the recent flash floods in Central Vietnam have caused damage to the Home; although the full extent is not yet known. The crucial part of this particular story though is that, with the devastation caused to local economies, families might be more inclined to send their children off to the garment factories. A story that could easily be re-told throughout the region. I want to help prevent that happening.

For every one person already taking action I am sure there are many more who, like me, are transfixed by the scale of the problem. If we can all find a starfish to help, together, we can make a difference.

Do you know any small charities working in the region and dealing with the aftermath of these tragedies?

Images: IFRC

The Vat Phou Temple complex in southern Laos is over 1000 years old and according to UNESCO “bears exceptional testimony to the cultures of south-east Asia, and in particular to the Khmer Empire which dominated the region in the 10th–14th centuries.”

This World Heritage site sees relatively few visitors and so I was vey interested to read this piece in the New York Times by Thomas Fuller who recently visited the area following in the footsteps of Frenchman Antoine Fayard, his maternal great-grandfather, who built and designed roads, dams and canals across colonial Indochina.

Fuller explains that “On the Laotian side of the border (with Vietnam) it was not difficult to understand the pioneer ethos that motivated the French to explore what had been a black hole in the knowledge of European travelers until the mid-19th century.”

He then goes on to draw parallels between his great-grandfather’s journey and his own: “He had servants carry him by palanquin or rode his white horse with a retinue of 25 coolies, often hacking his way through the jungle and carrying a revolver as protection against bandits.

I took crowded buses, or taxis and……ate at greasy foodstalls lit by fluorescent tubes, downing countless bowls of beef noodle soup and luke-warm Beerlao.”

In my experience Laos, and certainly the south, is still something of a “black hole” but this time in tourism terms. World Heritage status does not necessarily mean that the world will beat a path to your door. In all my years of tailor-making tours for individuals around Asia rarely was I asked to include Vat Phou in the itinerary.

However, when I was, I like to think that the arrangements I made for my clients were more akin to those of Fuller’s great-grandfather than his own.

Vat Phou Cruise Boat at Night

Yes, for sheer romance, I would usually create my clients’ visits around the cruise boat named after the temple, Vat Phou. This vessel was originally a ferry that carried teak wood between Vientiane and the south of Laos: with assistance from the World Bank it was converted into a comfortable ‘floating hotel’ in 1993. The Rosewood superstructure is mounted on a flat barge of 6mm steel and there is accommodation on board for 24 passengers in 12 airconditioned cabins.

The 3 day/2 night river cruise starts and finishes in Pakse and includes Champasak, Vat Phou Temple, the 4,0000 islands, Khon Phapeng waterfall and Khon Island with its colourful French colonial houses. For me, river cruises (and train journeys) capture the romance of travel and given the choice would be my preferred mode of transport.

The cruise schedule is:

From 01 November to 30 April:
Departures every Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday on a cruise down or cruise up

From 01 May to 31 October:
Departures every Saturday for cruise down and Tuesday for cruise up

This limited scheduling does make it that much harder to include the programme in a 2/3 week vacation and indeed I would usually plan the whole itinerary around the cruise; but when it worked it was worthwhile.

Laos, in general, does not have the tourist infrastructure of its neighbours (Thailand in particular of course) and that is probably why the country does not attract so much attention. But then from the traveller’s point of view, is that such a problem? What do you think? Would you rather work a little harder to reach sites like Vat Phou or would you rather they were more accessible?

Is Vat Phou Temple a black hole or a hidden gem?

The train will travel through Isan, the relatively unknown north-eastern region of Thailand. The two main tourist sites here are Surin famed for its annual elephant roundup held in November and the Khmer temple at Phi Mai.

Isan is one of the poorest regions of Thailand with a mainly agricultural economy. This new train service could help the region by bringing more tourists to it. Currently the rail service stops at Nong Khai on the Thai side of the Friendship Bridge and only the more adventurous would come this way as opposed to flying. On the other hand it might have no affect at all as visitors trundle by to their final destination, Laos. I hope the former is true.

This train service notwithstanding, I would say that Isan is best seen as part of a road tour perhaps taking in Surin, Phi Mai, the ancient capital of Ayuthaya and Pha Taem National Park with its pre-historic cliff paintings.

It is worth bearing in mind too that, according to The Guardian report, by taking the train across the bridge to Laos the visitor is only gaining around 2 miles (3.5 kms): there is still a 20 mile (32 kms) road journey to Vientiane. That’s a long way in a tuk tuk!

Flying still has an appeal for me and then there is also the option of taking a boat down the Mekong from Chiang Khong in the north of Thailand.

However you get there – train, boat or plane – you will need a visa to enter Laos and I recommend you contact your local Lao Embassy for further advice.