A country on fire
On the road, I continue to meet people, but everywhere I see mostly smoke. And as we know, there is no smoke without fire ...
I already told you, people are smiling in Laos, especially children. And I keep seeing images that I would never have been able to see if I had kept going around in circles at home on my bike.
Kids holding chickens in their hands like a puppy, young girls laboriously weaving baskets for the house, and everywhere, everywhere, mountains of melons for sale.
I get caught once buying one ... that I will eat pretty quickly after realizing that it was not transported well by bike!
Fruity break on the side of the road.
Young girl braiding a basket with her sisters.
Having a chicken as a pet is nothing more than normal here ... until you eat it.
Melons someone ?!
The sun is tiring.
A country on fire
But what strikes me especially in the south of Laos, it is the sky often entirely covered with smoke. And it is not difficult to see where it comes from the roadsides are on fire, as are many glades or woods in the distance.
After researching the internets on this subject, I sadly learn more about this technique called slash-and-burn agriculture, or slash and burn in English.
Basically, it's a thousand-year-old technique used in subsistence farming, so when you're growing just enough plants for your family or village. It consists of roughly clearing the forest with an ax, leaving what has just been cut on the ground, and burning everything so as to use the carbon produced by the combustion to enrich the earth a little.
Then, without any plowing or soil preparation, we sow and harvest what grows. But after only 3 to 5 years, the soil is already depleted, and it is left to nature for another 5 to 15 years. The cycle then begins again.
The roadsides scorched by hand-lit fires.
Scientists have calculated, however, that only 1,7% of carbon is transferred to the soil. The rest, you guessed it, goes up in smoke. And since a lot of countries in Southeast Asia still practice this technique despite many national bans, it causes pollution and immense smog throughout this great region. As if we needed this ...
The advantage for the inhabitants is that it is much easier to burn everything down than to work the land with specialized tools, which are often missing. But in addition to harming health, the long list of disadvantages also includes heavy losses to biodiversity. including rare trees and animals in addition to bacteria and fungi necessary for the culture.
It is estimated that another 300 to 500 million people still practice this technique, on a third of the planet. And especially here at this time of year in early summer. By comparison, the last time this was used in North America was in the early 1800s!
This trip periodically brings me the reflection that we are one planet and that we should work more together.
Too often I wonder what the point of cleaning and painting your bedroom is when the living room and kitchen are on fire ...
The 4 islands
Rivers are still common routes here.
In the south of Laos, on the Mekong river, which separates this country from Cambodia, among others, is the region of the 4000 islands.
In fact, this figure is quite exaggerated, even if there are still a few hundred islands in the archipelago. A bit like the name of Trois-Rivières, when there is only one! *
I put my bike on a canoe and soon land on one of the main islands. Two young Germans strolling near the quay come to meet me. One proceeds to brag about the place by telling me that you can smoke pot in all the restaurants in the village without being disturbed.
I am not your target audience my beautiful girl ...
As she talks to me, I look around. There seem to be more tourists than locals here. And the contrast is striking. White people in their early twenties for the most part, often showing enough skin for Laotians to look away.
Is it good when your village is elected as a place of tourism by a whole generation? Of course, it brings a lot of money, but at what cost? That of the holidays every day, that of becoming a foreigner in his own island? I don't have the answer to my question.
As the bike has the advantage of taking me where I want, I leave the main village to go to a quieter part of the island, which looks more like me.
A place where I am the tourist who can learn about life here.
House on an island in the middle of the river.
Another proof, if one is needed, that a bicycle is always photogenic!
* Note - It is the Saint-Maurice river which splits into three branches before arriving at the Saint-Laurent which would have given its name to the city of Trois-Rivières.
