Run To The Future

There's been a few changes here in Vientiene since I was last here. Notably most of the riverside outdoor restaurants (along the dirt track part of Vientiene on the Mekong) have been, or are in the process of being dismantled. There are plans for a redevelopment, all due to the flooding last year caused by the Chinese up river. The other change is the banning of tuk tuks from the city centre. Supposedly. They are still there of course. Banned, it is rumoured, because the government doesn't like the look of them. Slowly being replaced by small pickup trucks with a metal frame and roof. Sound suspiciously similar to a tuk tuk? Just not quite as gaudy. Yesterday after returning from a bike ride on one of those lovely girls bikes that you wouldn't be seen dead on in Australia, I was standing up on the landing (my room is on the first floor). The grandmother signalled to me...not sure what she wanted, so I just smiled and nodded, then she picked up a long stick with small basket on the end, swung it up into the mango tree, whipped off a mango and swung the basket up to me, from where I just plucked out my lovely, delicious, totally unripe and green mango! Later that night I had dinner in Cathy's room, and Chang Peng brought us sticky rice and a Lao curry to have with our bread and cheese. Her daughter, Nom Phong, came by to visit and watch tv, and sort of play around. I think she has ADD. She is seven years old and speaks pretty good English. Then after dinner there is a knock on the door and little Pon Pachon is there. He is three and doesn't speak any English at all. To begin with he was very shy. You know there's this thing with Lao kids where it's a great insult to touch them on the head. I guess it's true, but when you are told you are not allowed to do anything, all you want to do is walk around slapping kids on the head. Hmmm. Probably better not. Anyway, I was sitting on the floor at the end of the bed, with Nom Phong and Pon Pachong sitting up on the bed, when suddenly I feel this little touch to my head. Little Pon Pachong had kicked me in the head! It wasn't hard, but what the hell happened to no head touching? Obviously this only applies to Laos and they can do whatever they want to whities. I made a funny face at him and it was like a signal. The two kids then totally lost it, and started running and yelling and laughing and hiding all over the room. With a lot of effort put into hitting me in the head. It was quite fun but very tiring. Although Pon Pachong doesn't know any English, he was looking at a dinosaur book yesterday and has picked up the word "humongasaur", and was standing on the bed, roaring and yelling "humongasaur!!". Kids are kids.