Laos / Vietnam

In the spring of 2005 I traveled for 7 weeks to Laos and Vietnam. On this trip I led a total of ten interviews with people I encountered or I visited. Among others, with a head of a street children project, a Buddhist novice, the director of Unicef Laos, an employee of SNV from the Netherlands. But also with employees or heads of the archive for traditional music, the National Music School or the Childrens Cultural Center.
From Vientiane my way went the Mekong river up in the mountains and later I traveled the south of the country to the Cambodian border. In addition to the impressive nature and the rich cultures, it impressed me in Laos, above all, the extent of the hidden war, which was led against Laos at the time of the Vietnam War. An destruction that is mostly not present in our attention.
Finally, I drove to Vietnam to tour the north – after I had been south on my first visit in 1998.
In Hanoi, I met a US veteran who supported a clinic for damage through agent orange for newborns and children. Surely one of the most impressive visits.
The last days – and especially nights – I spent with the workers on the central market, where trucks from all over the country arrived with products at all times.