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Table of Contents

Monks and Motorcycles:
From Laos to London by the Seat of my Pants,
1956–1958

 

 

Contents

 
   
 
  PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xix
 
  Part I     IN THE LAND OF A MILLION ELEPHANTS
 
 

Chapter 1   Leaving Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
       San Francisco, February 19, 1956, 10:00 pm        Retrospective
       Bridgewater College
       International Voluntary Services
       Brethren Volunteer Service
       Starting out in the Snow
       Across the U.S. in a New Chevy
       Marking Tim in Modesto
       Haolis in Honolulu
       Twenty-four Hours in Tokyo
       Happy in Hong Kong

3

 




 
 

Chapter 2   Bangkok: "City of the Angels". . . . . . . . . .
       Bangkok, February 23, 1956
       The Atlanta Mansion
       New Road
       The Dubious Doctor
       The Commissary
       Chinatown
       The Temple of the Emerald Buddha
       The Temple of the Reclining Buddha
       Bangkok Belly
       The U.S. Aid Community

16








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Chapter 3   Into the Kingdom of the
                        Three-Headed Elephant
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
       Vientiane, Laos, February 28, 1956
       The Five-Minute History of Laos
       Day One in Laos

32
32
 
 

Chapter 4   Ascent to "Paradise Hill". . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
       The Beechcraft
       The Plain of Jars
       Phon Savanh
       Living in the Post Office

38
 

 

Chapter 5   Learning to Live in Laos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
       The Hill Station
       Surveying the Site
       Meeting the Local Population
       The Five-Day Market
       The Wedding
       The Hungry Rat Incident

45




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Chapter 6   Winning Hearts and Minds. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
       The Missionaries       
       The King of Méo
       Xieng Khouang Town
       English Classes
       At the Movies
       The Library

53

 

 

Chapter 7   Willy Haas and the Opium Smugglers. . . .
       The Redoubtable Willy Haas
       Willy's Women
       Restless Cheese
       The French Bungalow
       The Opium Trade
       Flying French

60

 

 

Chapter 8   Country Roads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
       Getting the New Jeep
       The Road to Vientiane
       Up the Friendship Highway
       My First Beer
       Vientiane to Phon Savanh by Road
       Adventures with Betel Juice
       The Road to Luang Prabang
       The Winter Festival

68






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Chapter 9   One Big Happy Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
       New Arrivals
       Economic Development: Different Strokes
       Clyde's Affairs
       The Piano
       The Royal Visit

81

 

 

Chapter 10   "Unto the Least of These". . . . . . . . . . . . .
       The Baby Clinics
       The French Doctor
       The Trip from Hell
       Operation Brotherhood
       Dr. Tom Dooley

88

 

 

Chapter 11   Coming of Age in Bangkok. . . . . . . . . . . .
       The Fires of Youth
       The Pam Pam
       Vientiane by Night
       The Initiation
       Moral Temporizing
       The Floating Market
       Getting it Right

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Chapter 12   Singapore: "City of the Lions". . . . . . . . .
       Rest and Recuperation
       The Oriental Hotel
       Down the Malay Peninsula
       Seductive Singapore
       President Lee Kuan Yew
       Kuala Lumpur
       Playing in Panang

106

 

 

Chapter 13   Among the Hill Tribes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
       Good Intentions
       The Bulls
       The Méo (Hmong) and Opium
       The Bull Fights
       The Black Thai Refugees
       Lessons in Ethnolinguistics
       Asian Religions
       Sipping (Rice) Cider through a Straw

116

 

 

Chapter 14   Southeast Asia on $10 a Day. . . . . . . . . . .
       Hong Kong, November 4-9, 1957
       The Floating Restaurant
       The Dinner Date
       Hong Kong to Manila by Sea
       The Philippines, November 11-16, 1957
       Baguio in the Rain
       The Chicken or the Egg?
       South Vietnam, November 16-21, 1957
       Buon Ma Thuot
       Cambodia, November 21-24,1957
       Unpronounceable Phnom Penh
       The Mercurial Prince
       Penh's Mountain
       North to Siem Reap
       Awesome Angkor Wat
       The Mysterious Faces of the Bayon
       Angkor Demystified
       Back to Home Base, November 24-27, 1957       

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Chapter 15   Buddhist Robes and Pagan Rockets. . . .
       Becoming a Monk
       Buddhist Rules
       Comparative Religion
       The Cremation
       The Rocket Festival
       PHOTOS

154

 

 

Part II    FROM LAOS TO LONDON
              BY THE SEAT OF MY PANTS

      

 

 

 

Chapter 16   Leaving Laos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      Schemes of Adventure      
      Job Hunting
      The Foreign Service Exam
      The Farewell "Baci"
      Acquiring the Motorcycle
      Final Decision
      False Starts
      D(eparture)-Day

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Chapter 17   Bangkok Interlude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      Chinese Burlesque      
      "Ubon Tobacco"
      Crashing the RBSC
      The Australian Tutor
      The Constipated Elephant
      Begging for a Burmese Visa
      The Hazardous Haircut

192

 

 

Chapter 18   Bound for Burma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      Victory at Victoria Point
      Bucolic Burma
      Metteng the "Matang"
      Up the Tenasserim Coast
      Kipling Country
      Elephant Feat
      Impounded in Rangoon
      The Shwedagon Pagoda
      Red Tape in Rangoon
      My British Benefactor

201

 

 

Chapter 19   On the Road to Mandalay. . . . . . . . . . . . .
      Ordination of the Novices      
      Mystical Mandalay
      The Royal Palace
      Mandalay Hill
      Armed Train to Monywa
      Man Overboard
      Up the Chindwin by River Boat
      Hot Yarns in Kalewa

215






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Chapter 20   India: From the Himalayas
                          to the Ganges
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      Manipur State
      A Lincoln Fan in Imphal
      Into the Himalayas
      The Kaziranga Game Preserve
      Elephant Safari
      The Itinerant Austrian
      Up to Darjeeling
      Mt. Herman School
      The "Dak" Bungalows
      Benares (Varanasi) on the Ganges

227
227

 

 

Chapter 21   The Taj Mahal and Mr. Banarse. . . . . . . . .
      The Challenge of Indian Roads
      Agra and the Taj Mahal
      The Singh Brothers
      The Case of the Cantankerous Cow
      The Reluctant Sale
      Delhi Old and New
      The Diversity of Delhi
      Giving Up my Wheels
      John Williams and Mr. Banarse's Bus
      In a Sikh Temple
      Dawdling in Delhi
      The Social Disease
      The Iron Man of India

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Chapter 22   Mutiny on the Bus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      Departure from Delhi
      The Bus Trip from Hell
      Chandigarh
      The Mutiny
      The Traveling Circus
      Across the Pakistani Border
      Swapping Radiators
      Salvation in a Chevrolet
      Entering Iran
      Abandoning the Bus

255

 

 

Chapter 23   Teheran to Istanbul via Mount Ararat. . . .
      A Treacherous Truck Trip
      Quaker Hospitality
      Touring Teheran
      Teheran to Tabriz
      The Shrunken Bus
      Mount Ararat
      The Iranian-Turkish Border
      The Train from Erzurum
      Istanbul on the Bosporus

267

 

 

Chapter 24   The Great Orient Express. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      A Glimpse of Greece
      Yugoslavia — Mixed Reacions
      Visiting Venice
      Florence the Beautiful
      The Leaning Tower
      Rome in a Nutshell

280




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Chapter 25   From the Eternal City to the
                          City of Light
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      Cosmopolitan Geneva
      What's a Porsche?
      The Brethren Abroad
      My Introduction to Paris
      The Subtle Charms of Paris
      Goodbye John and Hello Bill
      G.I.s in Europe
      An Idea is Born
      On my Own in Paris
      Cross-Cultural Mis-Communication

288
288

 

 

Chapter 26   Around Europe by Simca and
                          C-Rations
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      The Fruit of the Vine
      Bunkers in Biarritz
      Sneaking into Spain
      In Search of Flamenco
      The Bullfight
      Roving the Riviera
      Illegal Entry into Italy
      The Unintended Hospitality of the U.S. Military
      Barhopping through Germany
      The Porsche Factory
      Entranced by a Triumph
      Peeking through the Iron Curtain
      Dutch Maidens
      The Brussels Fair
      The 24 Hours of Le Mans
      Triumph of the TR-3

302
302

 

 

Chapter 27   London to New York on the
                          Ile-de-France
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      The Mother Country
      On the Loose in London
      Cultural Self-Improvement
      The London Embassy
      Crossing the Atlantic
      Return of the Prodigal
      Conclusions
      

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