weather

Most Horrible Motorbike Ride Ever

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I took the most horrendous motorbike ride ever this morning on my way into work. I left the house around my usual time on a Saturday, about 7 a.m., and I saw on the Thailand Meteorological Department (TMD) radar on my phone that a pretty bad storm was heading our way and was, in fact, almost upon us. I threw on my rain gear, put on my sandals, put my shoes and socks into a bag, rolled up my pants, and headed to Vientiane on my ‘bike.

It wasn’t too bad on my way to Salakham village, a couple of kilometers away, where I stopped to get gas. After I left the station, the storm really hit and continued all the way, another 14 km, into Vientiane. ALL THE WAY! There was heavy, heavy rain, fierce winds that threatened to knock me over and kept blowing me around on the road, and much thunder and lightning that flashed and roared around me. With the heavy rain came flooded roads, some about a few feet deep and lapping at my engine, most of the way into the city. In addition, I had to take off my glasses, which left my vision severely impaired. Almost the entire ride was full of danger, and I rode accordingly–very, very slowly. I could barely see out of my side mirrors, so any traffic coming up from behind was almost impossible to notice.

I managed to make it safely to the school, but I was, even with my rain gear on, very wet. Luckily, one of the other teachers, Rebecca, had an extra Vientiane College shirt at her desk and loaned it to me while I taught my classes. The classes were successful, though I was still shell-shocked from the ride in.

The storm finished passing through about 8 o’clock, but, again, it was the worst ride I’ve ever taken on my motorbike and the most dangerous, including rides at night through terrible storms. Never again, hopefully!

Today in Laos–Flash Flood in the North

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It’s raining lightly in Vientiane at the moment, and we haven’t had an overwhelming amount recently, but in the north, it’s a different story. This is from the Vientiane Times:

Floodwaters surge around Laos-China border crossing as Luang Namtha declares disaster zone.

Luang Namtha province in northern Laos was declared a disaster zone on Saturday after flash floods surged around the Laos-China border crossing in Boten, inundating buildings, a special economic zone, farmland and critical infrastructure across more than 30 villages.

Of course, this is nothing like the recent Nepal flash flood, but I’m sure the people in Luang Namtha are feeling stricken.

Too Much Rain

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Finally . . . FINALLY . . . after 2 weeks, I was able to walk through my front yard to go out to the main road to do some walking without getting my shoes completely water logged. It’s been that long since I’ve been able to do any jogging or power walking at all. Tomorrow, barring any rain overnight, I’ll be able to get back to my morning routine.

There’s a restaurant owner a few minutes down the road who’s had the same problem–3 to 4 inches of water, above the ankles, at least, for the past couple of weeks. I’ve been walking through the yard in my sandals, so I ordered some fried rice and shrimp from the place yesterday and that’s when I talked to him.

The same problem occurred last year, though not for so long a time, and I posted about it, with a YouTube video, here.

I sure hope this dry spell lasts a while, a week or so at least, though that’s doubtful. I plan on going to Nongkhai next week for several days. Fingers crossed.

Rainy Season in Laos

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Speaking of the rainy season in Laos, which I mentioned in my previous post, it rained quite heavily a few nights ago. The two ponds on either side of my house filled up and overflowed into my yard, a somewhat usual occurrence this time of year. In the past I’ve foregone the pleasure of taking my morning jog because it was impossible to walk out to the main road without getting my running shoes completely drenched. Normally, it takes a few days without rain and with lots of sunshine to reduce the amount of water in my yard.

But now I have a backup for that. My place of employment, Vientiane College, installed a small gym, complete with a few treadmills, for teachers and staff to use on the top floor of the building. So, before my normal class periods begin in the evening, I have time in the afternoon to do either some jogging or some power walking. Hooray, no more down time

I still have to take my shoes off and put them in a plastic bag while I wear my old sandals coming and going to the main road through my yard. It’s impossible, for me at least, to ride through the yard without putting my feet down to balance my motorbike through all the water, which right now is about three to four inches deep in a few places. When I get to the school, about 16 kilometers away, I can remove the sandals, let my feet dry, and put on some nice, dry socks and shoes. So, I can do cardio exercising without skipping many days.

The next time I get the opportunity, I’ll take a photo of our wonderful new, albeit small, gym.

Aquarium in Vientiane?

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The Laotian Times reported that the first-ever aquarium is proposed for Vientiane. Wow, that’ll be so awesome if it’s done. The Times says that

Once completed, the facility will serve as a major education and tourism hub. It will provide learning opportunities for students, support research activities, and contribute to the conservation of endangered aquatic species. The project will mark the first aquarium of its kind in Laos.

You can read the entire article here.

Right now, the first day of the Laos New Year holiday (I’ll post about that later.), with maximum temperatures being at or near 39-40 C. (102-104 F) for the last couple of weeks, an aquarium evokes feelings of calm and coolness in me, but I think it will be quite awhile before it is realized. So, along with everyone else, I’ll just have to wait patiently.

Still Kicking

/ montanaron

Yeah, it’s been a long time between posts. Sorry about that. I’ve been thinking about shutting the blog down after doing it for over 22 years, but I’ll keep on posting and trying to do it more regularly. So here goes.

It’s that time of the year in Laos and, I suppose, most of Southeast Asia–hot, hot, hot! The forecast is for highs of 40C or more for the next week, at least. That’s about 104F. We’re not into the monsoon season yet, so it’ll probably remain hot for quite awhile. I’m certainly not looking forward to it, but what’ll you do except crank up the air conditioner. Luckily, my workplace, Vientiane College, has building-wide air conditioning and I’ve got a small a.c. in my house which keeps us cool. Still, it’s not a pleasant time of year

Laos New Year (Pi Mai Lao) is in a couple of weeks, and one of its features is water play, where folks get out and toss water around at others or fire off super-powered squirt guns. It’s all in fun and the cool water feels nice, but it still doesn’t relieve the heat. Oh, well, gotta put up with it.

OK, a short post, but at least it’s a start. More later.

Typhoon Wipha

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Typhoon Wipha, now a tropical storm and soon to be a depression, is tracking north of us and is supposed to bring heavy rain to our area, maybe on the order of three inches or so. Yuk, just when my front yard was beginning to dry out from previous heavy rain. But, good luck to others who will probably be more heavily impacted than I. Here’s a full report from the Mekong River Commission, whose headquarters is in Vientiane.

As of 7 AM today, Tropical Storm WIPHA was centered around 21.3°N, 109.9°E—just off the northern coast of China’s Leizhou Peninsula, about 220 km east of Quang Ninh–Hai Phong (Viet Nam). The storm is bringing strong winds of 75–88 km/h and is moving west-southwest at 15–20 km/h.
🔜 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟮𝟰 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀: The storm is expected to strengthen as it moves west-southwest into the Northern Gulf of Tonkin, picking up speed to 20–25 km/h.
🔜 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟰𝟴 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀: It may weaken into a Tropical Depression over land in Thanh Hoa–Nghe An (Viet Nam), moving west-southwest at 10–15 km/h.
🔜 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟳𝟮 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀: The system will likely continue weakening into a Low Pressure Area as it moves over northern Lao PDR.
📅 𝟮𝟮–𝟮𝟰 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗠𝗕:
Widespread heavy rain is expected in the upper parts of Lao PDR and Thailand, with daily rainfall of 80–150 mm, and locally exceeding 200 mm. On 23 July, some areas in northern Lao PDR could see very heavy rainfall, ranging from 140–200 mm and possibly over 250 mm in some spots.
📍 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲:
🇱🇦 Northern Lao PDR: Bokeo, Luang Namtha, Oudomxay, Sayabouly, Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Xieng Khouang, Bolikhamsai, Khammouane
🇹🇭 Northern Thailand: Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai
🇰🇭 Cambodia: Southwestern areas and the 3S Basin (Sekong, Sesan, Srepok)
⚠️ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁: Heavy to very heavy rain may trigger flash floods, river overflows, and flooding, especially between 23–24 July. Please follow updates and local authority instructions.

Rainy Season Full Blast in Laos

/ montanaron

Yes, rainy season has arrived in force in Laos. Many villages and towns have been inundated and flooded, if they’re near a river. I haven’t heard of any deaths, but there may have been a few, although nothing catastrophic. It seems, though, that the entire country has been hit quite hard by recent rainfall.

As for me, I’ve been unable to leave my house to go jogging in the mornings without getting my shoes soaked. For a week now, my yard has been under water, more or less, but today the water receded enough for me to get out and get some running in. It had started to recede earlier in the week, but when it did, we’d get hit with another torrential, overnight storm. Not much fun.

And this is just the start. Rainy season will usually run from now until the middle of October, so I suppose I can look forward to other periods of jogging being postponed due to a flooded yard. Sheesh. Here’s a view of the yard before the water went down. Of course, I shouldn’t complain too much. Compared to folks whose villages have flooded and whose houses are underwater, I guess I’m not too bad off. More later.

Island Life in Vientiane?

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Actually, no, I’m not living on an island in the middle of the Mekong River near Vientiane. But, right now my house is surrounded by water on all sides so it feels like I’m on an island. Due to lengthy and moderately heavy rainfall lately, the small ponds on either side of the house, the back area, and the front yard are flooded this morning. Even if it stops raining for a few days, it will make trying to walk or to go jogging in the morning impossible without getting my shoes completely soaked. One solution I have is to wrap plastic bags around my feet, holding the bags on with rubber bands, and walking the short distance to ground that’s a bit higher up, then taking the bags off, going jogging or speed walking, and putting the bags back on when I return to the house. I’ll probably need to give this a try tomorrow morning, if it’s not raining.

The yard usually floods most years in late July and August, but this is about the earliest that it’s been underwater since I’ve lived here. Is that a foreshadowing of a heavier-than-usual rainy season later on? I’ll see, I suppose. I’ll keep posting as the rains increase (or decrease). More later from the island.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

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It’s monsoon season in Laos, when the rainy weather is prevalent from May to the end of September, so wet days are to be expected. However, if I recall correctly, last year I only had to ride my motorbike in the rain for just a few times during the entire season. This year, though, has seen me put on my rain poncho more times than I can count, and it seems that it’s been raining whenever I go to work in the early afternoon and when I ride home around 8:30 at night. During the last four days, including last Saturday, that has been the case, and the rainfall has been very steady all day and night, though only heavy for just a few periods; it’s mostly been moderate or light. Luckily, the front yard hasn’t flooded (yet) like it has in the past. This photo is from August of 2018.

flooded front yard in 2018

The view from our front porch is quite different now. The house in front of us was torn down, and this past January and February a large, warehouse-sized building was constructed, though it hasn’t been rented out yet. Here’s what the view is now.

view from the front porch

Yikes, looks like the grass needs to be cut; I’ll pay the neighbor to do it when it’s a bit drier.

[Edited on Aug. 9] Here’s a shot of the grass that the neighbor cut today.

the grass in my yard has been cut

Then, lo and behold, the sun came out!!! It’s been quite awhile since we’ve had any sunshine. This is looking at the neighbors’ pond to the side of my house. Notice the blue sky.

sunny pond with duck

[End edit]

The rain has stopped for now, but more is forecast for later. This is the last day of the second term this year at Vientiane College so now we get a month-long vacation, and guess what? I won’t be riding my motorbike in the rain for awhile!

Of course, it hasn’t been only Vientiane that has had a lot of rain, and many areas are much worse off than us. Landslides and floods are prevalent throughout Laos, as reported in these Laotian Times articles: Provinces hit, Vietnamese Nationals Stranded and Landslides. Unfortunately, there’s still a ways to go in August, and September is also quite wet. Hopefully, the fatalities, and landslides and floods will stop.