Unicycling through Laos
March 12, 2006 2:16 PM Subscribe
In January 2006, nineteen people unicycled through Laos, juggling cameras and notebooks in their oh-so-steady hands.
If you have the temerity to travel to a country where the camera on your hip costs enough to feed an average family for a year then you have a sort of karmic duty to be at least as fascinating to those you meet as they are to you. It sounds like these guys qualify admirably in that respect.
My memory of Laos is of a country where most forms of transport are so bone-shakingly slow and uncomfortable that a unicycle would qualify as somewhat pampered.
Great link - thanks for that.
posted by rongorongo at 3:19 PM on March 12, 2006
My memory of Laos is of a country where most forms of transport are so bone-shakingly slow and uncomfortable that a unicycle would qualify as somewhat pampered.
Great link - thanks for that.
posted by rongorongo at 3:19 PM on March 12, 2006
Having seen much footage of decked-out mountain bikers in some of third world countries, I don't share the apparent amusement of the participants in the bewildered reactions of villagers. Maybe it's because I'm a uni enthusiast, too, but this seemed entirely in a better spirit. Thanks for this.
posted by dreamsign at 3:35 PM on March 12, 2006
posted by dreamsign at 3:35 PM on March 12, 2006
I've never met kinder or more laid back people than those that I met in Laos. I hear the PDR stands for Pretty Darn Relaxed.
posted by furtive at 3:55 PM on March 12, 2006
posted by furtive at 3:55 PM on March 12, 2006
Some of the photos are charming or amusing glimpses into daily life there.
posted by nickyskye at 3:59 PM on March 12, 2006
posted by nickyskye at 3:59 PM on March 12, 2006
A friend of mine married a Laotian woman, and I was exposed a bit to a large immigrant culture in California.
They are _very_ nice people. And they all desperately wanted to Be American and not be Laotian anymore. It made me so sad. It felt like they were blind to their own cultural strengths and seduced by the flash, glitter, and essential hollowness of a lot of American culture.
And that was years and years ago, well before the modern nastiness.
I kept telling my friend that he needed to raise his daughter bilingual, but I don't think he did. (we fell out of touch) Such a shame.
posted by Malor at 5:41 PM on March 12, 2006
They are _very_ nice people. And they all desperately wanted to Be American and not be Laotian anymore. It made me so sad. It felt like they were blind to their own cultural strengths and seduced by the flash, glitter, and essential hollowness of a lot of American culture.
And that was years and years ago, well before the modern nastiness.
I kept telling my friend that he needed to raise his daughter bilingual, but I don't think he did. (we fell out of touch) Such a shame.
posted by Malor at 5:41 PM on March 12, 2006
I got shot at in Laos. Otherwise, it was very nice.
posted by johnny novak at 12:36 AM on March 13, 2006
posted by johnny novak at 12:36 AM on March 13, 2006
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