Fantasy of the 'other'.

Luang Prabang (14-May-2012)

You'd easily realize that I hardly ever add a title to my posts. There's this obvious reason: I often find myself having problems sticking to one particular topic. Just as I have problems conforming to the 'proper' (in the minds of my peers & parents) lifestyle, I do frequently digress from a suggested 'title', even if it was one that I'd imposed upon myself.  

These were shots taken on the walk into Luang Prabang town from the (northern?) bus station 3km out of town. One might call it a grueling walk, but it was so scenic I almost forgot that I had a weight of nearly 20kg on my back & a DSLR dangling off my neck.

 Precisely, if it weren't for something so refreshing as this, I wouldn't have called the puny city-state in which I'm residing a charmless old bore. All I could possibly enjoy back home is to pay money to catch a glimpse of a fake garden (a new little gimmick for topping up their private coffers), not to mention the hoards of people with whom I must jostle elbow-to-elbow, in order to burrow my way through the 'garden'. I would hardly call it so, for the overly embellished setup seems a too-good-to-be-true to me, & thus appears more artificial than the already 'artificial' garden.

By which, I name one reason for my desire to fantasize for the 'other', though I must specify the context: Intra- Southeast Asia.It's important in so specifying, because, much as many dear people crave the West, I do not, & am content to make a 'fair' comparison using one Southeast Asian nation with another. 

Besides, placing two culturally similar contender side-by-sde, I guess it highlights how I'm not intentionally biased against one, & to the other. Indeed, I might've liked this little city-state, if people didn't have to complain about the slightest bit of animal disturbances, & resorting to culling, or if they didn't try (& I mean TRY) so hard to place themselves at the top of the efficiency & affluence scale at the expense of individuals' happiness. (As far as my common sense dictates, the dollar isn't the only constituent of the 'happiness concoction')

 Look at these food, they are what I might've possibly eaten back home. Yet I'd anytime prefer to savor this anywhere in Southeast Asia, save for the tiny city-state where I stay. Although it might be almost entirely untrue that as a student, I'm grossly oppressed, but in presenting this city as a whole, it does appear very oppressive to an individual who craves freewill. I'm not sure if freewill really exists anywhere on Earth (or at least in what you'd call a 'civilized society'), but this is definitely not a place where you'd find any freewill.

Talking to people around made me realize how the bulk of them see a fixed way of life as obligatory, & that any other means cannot be (or at best, grudgingly) tolerated.

"What do you want to work as when you graduate?" 

"I wish I had the courage to backpack on my own."

"Backpacking? Is it safe? How're the toilets overseas?" (By which they explicitly refer to the 3rd world Southeast Asian nations, which I inadvertently find very condescending)

Fashion blog shops, Macdonald's offer coupons (Facebook recently started showering me with comical 'Claim Offer' prompts), branded items sales, the dogmatic Christians who shove their (often offensive & narrow-minded) opinions around & upon others, the people who make trivial & superficial little remarks, announcing on Facebook any nook or cranny in town at which they might currently be, the camwhores who photograph themselves excessively, frequently (also often heavily caked in cosmetic products), as if they might make a 'Days of MY Life' documentary at the end of their insignificant lives (& as it has been said, we are just "an insubstantial speck in the universe").  

There could be so much more to name without me even trying.

If I could, I'd really like to ask if they had any specific conviction in their lives which they'd hold on to no matter the circumstance, just as Christopher McCandless had so deeply held onto his, or Timothy Treadwell who died 'protecting' the bears, or even the cliche example of Martin Luther King who died for his 'dream'.

I'd really want to ask if they were truly enjoying what they were doing, or if they were just going through the motion of day-to-day.

 "A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind."

I've questioned about people so much. But often, inevitably, I questioned my choice of the journeys that I make, or if I might MAKE something out of all these. These travels, are they not day-to-day toils just as what many are doing? Are we not equally passing the time no matter the nature of activity we might be engaging in? I'm thus unsure.

Wat Pah Duak. (Above & below)

I am indeed unsure of what direction I ought to head in, in terms of the obligatory/responsibility (ultimately, the piety)  aspect, but I'm sure that if there wasn't an 'ought to' direction, these photographs are what I like to be shooting for the rest of my time on Earth, all the time mindful that I'm that tiny speck of near-nothingness, & that this is the only time that I'm given.

Wat Pah Duak is smacked right in the middle of Luang Prabang, at the foot of Wat Phou Si. A spartan single-cell structure, the old murals are impressive, but the extent of deterioration is quite apparent in many parts. There's this table where the guestbook sits, with souvenirs of Buddhism laden out, & a donation box. Any amount is welcomed & there's no one manning the table, so don't be a cheapskate!   

 Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham (below). In short, Wat Mai.

I've always disapproved of admission fee into religious sites. It makes me question the authenticity of a religion. I've especially high hopes for Buddhism as a good religion, and get especially disappointed when admission fees into temples are too exorbitant. Wat Mai's admission fee was.. I forgot. At the point I didn't mind paying, since it wasn't particularly expensive. I recognize that the temples need upkeep & the monks need food, but subsequently (& I hope I'll get to that soon), there were temples that literally practiced "pimp for Buddha". Yes, I mean it, Buddha as a profiteering tool. 

 

 How awesome the designs are. Intricate & overwhelming, in fact. I wonder how many people it took to design this temple, or even, to execute the design itself. How long did they take to complete the task? Ramayana & Vesantara epic on these reliefs.

 

 "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
- Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad

 I am not sure if I might appreciate Buddhism thus if I'd cooped myself up in my tiny microcosm, revolving around home, school, this tiny island, & a few other tiny islands around (Sentosa? Ubin?). I'm not sure if I might look upon the other Southeast Asian countries as 'inferior' (like many around me who do). I'm not sure if I might not be judgmental against any who were a tad less rich than me, in the monetary sense. I'm also not sure if I might not be cautious about any inconsequential discomfort that I might need to endure while away from my comfy little cove that I call home, or school.

I'm thankful that I traveled, or that I have made traveling within my capacity. On the other hand, it is wholly beyond my capacity to put up with the close-minded. People who'd say, "But that is not the fashion now."

Pardon me, but F**K YOU, do you not have a bloody head of your own to figure out what the heck you yourself want? Do you then want a hoop through your unworthy columella for someone else to lead you around by your nose, while you plod along with your ignorant sense of contentment?

 The 'other' is a reminder that there is an alternative life, & keeps at bay the undesirable life of a drone, where at the end of which, might or might not have triggered a certain pang of regret. If the latter is the case, I tend to believe that it is simply out of the unwillingness to repent, or of plain ignorance of a life wasted, despite having been given a choice of lifestyle to lead.

 Nazim @ Luang Prabang. As previously mentioned, the Vang Vieng outlet was slightly better in terms of food, but the service was awesome as ever. Still recommend this option because they serve up great shakes as well! Conducive place to hang out, especially if you preferred a cosy, quiet place.

 Looking at these food you'd hardly call it the fantasy of the 'other'. Nothing very 'other' about these, huh! I'd hardly like to call it so too. If I did I'd have fallen to a very degenerate level. I believe in traveling as a means to broaden the scope of experiences, not as an extension to all the debauchery that one might engage in while at home.

The 'other' is a new insight for me, and will continue to be regardless of what others might say. A lecturer mentioned the idea of being a leftist, & I believe that the new generation requires more leftists than ever. There are innumerable 'others' that I might list, like the tolerance of homosexuality, pro-abortionist, such & such & such... These are just the extreme examples.

 Importantly, traveling imbues the ability to see beyond one's restricted, straight-laced viewpoint of how the world should be governed. I cannot emphasize more regarding the benefits of experiencing the 'other'. Yet, how many are ready to put down their prejudice & guard to embrace that which had not been safely passed down from the older generation, or that which had been so firmly instilled in them by the institutions that make them the economically-driven pawns?