The village of Vang Vieng is known for its amazing limestone cliff mountains that surround it and the hidden caves that are inside. It was early morning and i had just rented a bicycle for the day and was headed to one of the bamboo bridges to cross the river and onto the other side to hike up to some caves. There are about a dozen caves inside these huge mountains.
As I was cycling a woman waved to me and said "Olam, Olam" as she pointed to the other direction. It took me a few seconds to recognize who she was and turn my bike around. She led me to her house, with her little baby boy nestled in her arms. I had met her the day before when I was looking for Olam, a friend of a friend who told me to contact him when I got to Vang Vieng.
The day before I had gone to the market in search of the "Bienvenidos" sign that my friend had told me is in front of Olam's stall. But to no success I searched high and low, asking people if anyone knew where Olam was. But NOBODY at the market spoke english, and looked at me like i was some crazed young girl. I think a few of them tried to amuse themselves by pointing to the opposite direction of the market so they could see some hope in my eyes. After about 2 hours of searching I walked back to the town and thought I'd try calling. At the internet cafe I asked if i could make a local phone call and the man told me the phones were not working. So I asked him, just one last try, if he knew who Olam was and where he lived. He told me he knows his Mother-in-laws house and drew me a map. After a few other inquires a young girl walked me to Olam's house but he wasn't there. He lives with his wife, 2 young children and his in-laws. But nobody there understood anything I said except for "Olam". So i decided to write him a note in Spanish and tell him I'd be back later.
I was very happy to have finally found him. Most of all, i was happy to find a local who i could have a REAL conversation with! Olam studied in Cuba from 1980-85, during the time when it was considered a priveledge to study at the "mother-ship of communism." He spoke spanish with a funny Cuban accent.
At first he was like a typical reserved, unaffectionate Lao man, but later
on when we spent the entire day together he ended up being very charismatic and told me all about his life in Cuba. Just his journey there was amazing! He had to fly from Lao-Vietnam, Vietnam-India, India-Afghanistan, Afghanistan-Ukraine, Ukraine-Moscow. In Moscow they told them that they only had 3 seats on the plane, that the 8 of them had to decide who would go and who would stay until there were more seats available on the next plane. Olam was one of the 3 who boarded a plane to Portugal, and then the final destination....HAVANA, CUBA! There are many stories that I can fill up pages with...but i'll spare you for another time.
After a day of hiking up into the most beautiful caves i have ever seen in my life we had dinner at Olam's house. His father-in-law even invited me to sleep over.
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