Great Wall of Southern Laos

Today, I decide to see one of the few nearby sights Thakek has to offer: The Great Wall. This is a sandstone wall that formed a part of Laos's defense system back in the day (so don't quote me on local history...I'm just passing through for the sights). Best viewed from a site 8km north of town, I walk to the local bus station and try to find a tuk-tuk alternative. There are a couple of guys sitting around what I hope is an information window (cannot read the Laos signs) and one of them jumps up to help me. Is there a local bus to the Great Wall (I point to the Laos name on my map)? He says, Tuk-tuk? No, no...local bus. Thao dai? (how much) He quotes me 100,000 Kip. $10?? Ha! no-no, local bus! Cheap. He asks how much I mean by cheap. I say 2-4000 Kip. 4000 Kip, ok. Go with this guy, then find your own ride back. hmmmm, not sure about this, as "this guy" is obviously not a local bus and just happens to be heading in my direction. I decide to go for it and trust all will be well. I hop in the back of his truck with an older woman and a young boy (13?) and an assortment of rice, veggies, and watermellons. We bump along down the main road and he pulls off onto a dirt side track at a gravestone shaped road marker that says Thakek, 8km. This is about what my map said, and soon the wall comes into view. I do not want to make him drive any farther off his route than he has to, and partway down the road I motion and holler for him to stop and hop out, handing over my Laos equivalent of 40 cents. I feel proud of myself for the bargain ride, he seems proud of himself for getting the extra cash for a drive he was going to do anyway.

I begin walking, yet he continues to drive in my direction! I am a bit confused, but he soon parks at an opening in the wall and his family hops out, too. I snap out of my usual laid-back wandering mode and follow them through the opening, under a hole in some barbed wire fence and am shortly rewarded by what appears to be a church! Locked behind a steel grate, protected in a stone cubby hole about 10' up the wall was a 4' tall figure of the virgin Mary--Mary?? Next to this, a stone alter was sheltered by a brick and mortar arch and arrayed in front were several rows of manufactured stone seats, wide enough for two people each. It looked like a flattened amphitheater and I was struck by two things: this is quite possibly the most beautiful church I have ever seen--outside in nature where praise should be done, and the feeling that I know how to pray here. I have been feeling a bit awkward and out of place at the Wat's, since I don't know buddhist customs except that I am a woman and therefor have some restrictions. I have been missing Kirtan and Sunday morning meditation and long walks in Utah's desert. Lonely single rooms and open dorm rooms for $1.50 a night are not generally conducive to prayer. Neither are the busy streets, and public parks are few and far between. I can find solace walking on my own and occasionally on a boat or by the Mekong river, yet these are not always accessable to me and I had been feeling like I have forgotten how to pray.

I walked off aways and found a small boulder to sit on near a small pond (someone's cattle watering hole?). I watched 1/2" long red ants march along tree branches and studied spiders' webs on the ground. The dense nets of webbing form a fog, funneling into an abyss about an inch in diameter where the spinner waits for her prey. I sit here and write in my tiny journal, three lines of my penned hand to each line of the journal (a source of amazement to locals and fellow travelers alike...I just try to be thrifty with my paper!). I walk back to the wall and climb about, proud of my summit, retracing my steps and tearing my pants a bit to get back down (see pictures of me about 30-40' in the air in the MareinLaos photo albumn).

The family that brought me here has long since departed (as agreed), a tour group of 5 air conditioned mini-van buses has come and gone, and I decide I am ready to leave. I walk back to the main road and try my hand at hitch-hiking, but several trucks pass without stopping. hmmmmm, beginning to doubt my plans (or lack thereof), I try to keep my consciousness focused on enjoying the walk and the continued views of the massive stone wall intermittant behind the weeds to my right, rather than on the 8-12 km I still have to walk and the fact that no one is stopping for me. Maybe 10 minutes later, a bus comes and I wave it down. It stops and I run up, Thakek? ok. Thao dai? 5000 Kip...hmmmm, 4000, dai baw? no no, 5000... well, not interested in walking anymore than I have to, I hop in. We arrive in town 6-7KM later and I try again, 4000 ok? pulling out exact change, driver smiles and nods. I smile and walk the last 5 k into town, saving $1 on a tuk-tuk ride and completing my adventure for the day.