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[1] The current flag of Laos or the new regime established in 1975.

[1] Friendship Bridge is the first bridge built across the Mekong River

connecting Laos to Thailand

[2] DokChampa is the national flower of Laos. This term connotes both

a longing for the country and a symbol of our people

[3] ThaNaleng is the place where every tourist to Laos coming

from the other side of the bridge has to check in.

[4] Vientiane is the capital of Laos - about 15 miles from ThaNaleng

and the Friendship bridge itself.

*****

Sabaydii,

Here is the continuation of a series 'Coming Home' entitled 'First encounter'.

Hakphaang,

Kongkeo Saycocie

*****

First Encounter

Busily filling out an entry form

I was then approached by

A boyish looking man

A LPDR[1] official

'Sabaydii[2]

do you recognize me?'

Couldn't say if I really recognized him

A man with the AiNong[3] face from SamNeua[4]

Might he be someone I knew

At...

Before I could say anything

The young man stated his name

And the place he used to work

The very place I used to work too

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Back in 1980-81

A group of recently high school graduated

From SamNeua and Xiengkhouang[5]

Came down to work at my Ministry of one year

Among the tens of them

One did look like this official

Standing in front of me

He then added excitingly

'I saw your photo ID

and knew instantly

it was no one else

but you

my English teacher and co-worker

at the old ministry'

Also

'know what?

Many of us did make it big'

He then rattled off some names

One was posted as a deputy ambassador to Germany

While not a few was on the way up

Before taking off to his desk

He graciously gave me his phone number

And said

'Call me some time

we will get together

and drink to the good old days'

Couldn't really say

If I had the good old days

Like an old wound

Rekindled through this encounter

Not at him

Nor at his friends

But at the injustice

Done in the name of the revolution

I remember well

Not a few of the outsiders

Were left fending for themselves

With the low position

With so much talent and energy

Badly wasted

One of my dear friends

Posted at this ministry

With so much prospect as a diplomat

Ending up quitting his dream job

After so many false promises

But little substance

I myself a less fit

Opted out earlier

By leaving the country

Wishing not to return

For good

Here I was

in this land

filling out the form to enter the country

American citizen I might be

Still not a time

Feeling like an American

But Lao

No less different than the official

I just met

I guess

This is the reason

I was home

And relived my olden days

Whatever they might turn out to be

*****

7.29.03

[1] LPDR is the acronym for Lao People Democratic Republic

(Laos under the new regime)

[2] Sabaydii is the greeting like 'Hi'

[3] AiNong is the term used to refer to the people from the

new regime. Literally, it means brothers

[4] SamNeua is the province where once the forces fighting against

the old regime concentrated. At the same, those who hold power in

Laos now were originally from that part of the country

[5] Xiengkhouang is another province where once the forces fighting

against the old regime concentrated. It is also the site that holds the

well-known Plain of Jars. At the same time, this province was the

most bombarded place in Laos because its terrain is the key access

to the whole of Vietnam territory

Here is the continuation of a series 'Coming Home' entitled 'On the way to the city'.

[1] Thadeua road is the road connecting the town of Thadeua

and of ThaNaLeng to Vientiane. This road was built by the

American in the 60s. When it was first inaugurated, its surface

was as smooth as silk itself.

[2] Suan 555 was the Chinese garden built by the cigarette

company called 555.

[3] Chinaimo was the regional military headquarter. Of all the

5 regions, the one at Vientiane was the most powerful one

[4] T-28 was the fighting plane used by the Royal Lao Air Force.

It was mainly used to drop bomb in the Communist stronghold

of SamNeua and Xiengkhouang. During the late 60s and early 70s,

General Ma, the head of the Royal Lao Air Force, along with his

trusted pilots among them my brother, made a coup d'etat by

bombing the support base of the government.

*****

Sabaydii,

Here is the continuation of a series 'Coming Home' entitled 'Vientiane at a glance'.

Hakphaang,

Kongkeo Saycocie

Vientiane at a glance

Our pick-up stopped at the restaurant

Grandly decorated

But no customer was in sight

The old Chao Anou[1] hotel by the restaurant

Looked gloomily at us

My LaoNai[2] acquaintance the driver

Two Japanese businessmen and me

Glancing outside the window

Waiting for the food to be served

I saw Vientiane frenziedly dressing herself up

With the big truck pounding the road in front

Not far by the other road

The black Benz Mercedes

Waiting impatiently

For its turn to pass by

Once in a while

A horde of bicyclists and motorcyclists

Rushed by

Throwing the ready-to-fly dirt

Everywhere

A middle aged waitress

Dressed in the Lao traditional costume

Perching by window

Sent out a long and weary look

Into somewhere

Far far beyond

With nothing to do

I approached her

Inquiring about the place she came from

'Savannakhet[3]'

a town to the South of Vientiane

she gently replied

I told her

I was from Savannakhet too

A long time ago

Like two long lost friends

Met in a land not of their own

Our eyes met

And we understood

On the way to That Luang[4]

And out of the city itself

We passed through

The once grand LanXang Avenue[5]

The very one I was first at awe

When seeing it for the first time in the 60s

Now this avenue was full of potholes

And flying red dust

A sad replica

Of the years gone by

Then

At the far end of avenue

Stood my old school

Lycee de Vientiane[6]

Painted in an awkward blue

An unusual academic color indeed

I did remember

It was this school

I pinned my hope on

For the bright future

That never came

Like a thorn stuck deep in my flesh

Nobody knew

How much it hurt

But myself

Smile I may be

Laugh I may do

Stuffs I may accumulate

Nothing fills the void inside

Riding along

Letting the breeze brush my cheeks

Stopping the liquid in my eyes

That were about to form

For when I left Muang Lao

The big part in me had died with it

Will I ever get it back?

Will I ever be the same?

Only Heaven knows

7.31.03

[1] Chao Anou was the Lao heroic king in the early 19th century. He fought to throw off Siamese (Thailand)

yoke but was crushed and tortured to death.

[2] LaoNai was referred to the Lao people inside Laos.

[3] Savannakhet is the second biggest city in Laos.

[4] ThatLuang is the most revered stupa in Laos. Every year on November,

a big festival is held to celebrate the stupa reputedly to hold the sacred hair

of the Buddha. People from all over the country will come to participate in

this event usually lasted for the whole week.

[5] LanXang Avenue is still the largest avenue in Laos. By the way,

LanXang is the former name of Laos when the country not only the

present Laos but the northeastern Thailand as well.

[6] Lycee de Vientiane is the prestigious high school (number one on

the list) in the whole of Laos. Going to this school in the old days

amounted to guaranteeing oneself to the highly coveted government

jobs. I would say that all of Lao leaders graduated from this school

before they went on to study in France. What made this school so

special was its high academic standard - very much like the one used in

The French educational system. Each year, it could accept only a few

hundred students through the highly competitive entrance exam taken

by all 6 graders in the capital. Usually, it takes 8 years to complete it.

In a way, Lycee is both the middle school and high school together.

[1] Pakse is the third largest city in Laos. Situated in the south of the

country, it is rightly called the capital of the south.

[2] the sad monument I am referring to is the monument for the dead.

This one is for those who died fighting for the Communist cause.

[3] Thakek is the fifth largest city in the country. It is located in the

middle between Savannakhet and Pakse.

By the way, Luangprabang is the fourth largest city. After the first

five, no towns could come close to be called a city.

[4] Pho is the Vietnamese noodle highly popular in Laos. In fact, it

becomes accepted as a Lao food consumed all over the country.

By the way, Thakek being a town once heavily populated by the

Vietnamese settling in Laos during the French colonial years was

famous for its delicious Pho.

[5] Kaisone Phomvihanh was the least well-known Lao Communist

leader. When the old regime was overthrown, he became the prime

minister and undisputedly a strong man of Laos. Still, a majority of

Lao people didn't like and trust him that much for he was half Lao.

His father was Vietnamese. Only his mom was Lao. He was a

trusted disciple of Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese Communist leader.

[6] LakMuang is the sacred spot where the city was first built. Lao

people have a strong belief that the city will prosper only when

LakMuang is in the right place.

[7] Tuk-Tuk is the tricycle used mainly as a taxi. It made a loud

noise like Tuk-Tuk. That was why it was called so.

*****

Sabaydii,

Here is the continuation of a series 'Coming Home' entitled 'Pakse - the beauty of the South'.

Hakphaang,

Kongkeo Saycocie

Pakse - the beauty of the south

By the time we reached Pakse

The city I had never been to

Darkness already crept in

Lodging at the hotel by the river

The park in front

At one time housed the monument of Katay[1]

The forgotten Lao Issara[2] intellectual

Grant Evans[3] had so much to praise

Exhausted I was

Traveling all day long

Taking in all the Lao scenery

I missed so much

With my head on the pillow

I fell fast asleep

Our driver

Young and full of life

Took off for a night life

With only at the most

He could take out a girl

And had a time of his life

Only some time before dawn

Did he get back

And still being alert

To do his job as our driver

I myself rose up early

Used any minutes of the time

Exploring the city

The gem of the South

Being that the time I came to Laos

Was in the rainy season

Rain began to pour down

The night I arrived

Once I stepped out of the door

A small puddle already danced in the street

More enticingly

Lao women dressed in the traditional costume

With Sinh[4] and PhaBieng[5]

Carrying a bowl of alms

Filed graciously past me to the temple

With no hesitation whatsoever

I wholeheartedly followed them

And felt what it was like

To be a true Lao again

Buddhism long departed from the country

Had made a comeback to Muang Lao

What a joyous moment to witness

Laying by the temple stairs

An old beggar in ragged clothes

Continuously raised his hands

Praying he did

For a better life next life

I couldn't help

But pulling out a Thai bank note

Left from my stay in Thailand

And dropped it in my tin bowl

Amidst his many words of thanks

I took off from the temple compound

And never to look back again

8.1.03

[1] Katay Don Sasorit was the intellectual and one time prime minister

of Laos. The Communists hated him because he was so vocal against

anything un-Lao.

[2] Lao Issara was the independence movement against the colonial

French. A big part of this movement later became a Royal Lao

government when France gave Laos independence in 1954. A tiny

section of this movement joined the Communist cause.

[3] He is the leading authority on the studies of the modern Laos.

[4] Sinh is the long skirt worn by Lao women. It is the Lao traditional

costume which, today, is still popular among Lao women. In fact,

Lao female wears Sinh to work, to school, etc... and, of course, at home.

[5] PhaBieng is the long piece of decorated cloth worn across the

shoulder by Lao women especially at the Buddhist festival.