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Marcelo's Diary

The Mekong River Skydive Boggie 2007!

Marcelo Garcia is an expert skydiver and specializes in parachute rigging (packing). He lives and works in USA and recently traveled with North by North East to apply his skills at the 1st Mekong River Boogie in April 2007, Vientiane Laos. The following is an edited version of his experience.

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I arrived in Vientiane’s tiny Wattay airport as part of the 1st ever Mekong River Boogie Skydiving event to be held in Vientiane Laos. Despite being jet lagged, when the aircraft door opened, I caught scents of a SE Asia I had long-forgotten. As a Boogie Staff, I was met by officials who whisked me through the visa process and a few minutes later we were out on the street. Only moments later (OK, 10 min?) we were at the hotel. I looked around and concluded that Vientiane might be the world’s smallest capital city.

The view from my hotel room was amazing: the Mekong River and Thailand just on the other side. I got a spa treatment and traditional massage (think: ‘shiatsu’) for 10 bucks, maybe it was less. I washed my dinner of chicken coconut curry down with a cold Beer Lao, and later that night as I dropped off to sleep I thought that event preparations were coming together nicely.

The timing of the Boogie was also very auspicious as it was during the Lao New Year. Traditionally this is the time when local people “send out the old and bring in the new” with ritual washings and cleansings, not just for the people, but also for Buddha statues. Every afternoon during the New Year celebration, locals and visitors alike start going a bit crazy splashing water at each other, and enjoying the parties on every street. WARNING FOR ANYONE GOING TO LAO NEW YEARS: YOU WILL GET SOAKING WET! Regardless of what one is doing, wearing, or going, folks throwing water about are merciless: keep cameras, cell phones, etc. sealed in plastic if you want them to survive.

My main task was overseeing Drop Zone safety issues and ensuring that jumpers and local functionaries were ‘on the same page’ so to speak. With airport personnel, the base commander, helicopter pilots, admin people, and so on we ran through a number of “what if scenarios” to make our agendas, and established our safety parameters & specifics.

One unexpected high point during the preparations was meeting the Lao National Skydive Team - most were 20-25 years old and had 300 to 3000 jumps. The founder, a craggy tough-looking Air Force man with a pencil-thin mustache (the ‘Boston Blackie’ kind) related to me stories of ‘the early days’ in starting the Lao military parachute squad. My jaw kept dropping as he recounted stories from ‘the old days’ and pointed out the team’s ancient but well maintained Soviet equipment. I was dumbfounded that they didn’t have helmets, gloves, jump suits, goggles, or altimeters. Jumpers throughout the world consider these pieces of equipment to be mandatory and take their use for granted. A Lao language speaker confirmed I understood correctly: the Soviets gave them equipment, but no instructors. They simply read the manuals, and without any formal training, began jumping! I thought back to my own highly regimented static-line training with a laugh.

The next day guests begun to arrive and this event was on; months of hard work and planning had come to this. Early after breakfast we all piled on the busses and drove 10 minutes to the airport. A the military air base side of the International Airport stood tents set up for packing, the VIP’s and for emergency medical personnel and security police.

After welcome festivities and short speeches from local dignitaries concluded, finally 35 anxious & excited skydivers from a dozen countries clambered aboard open-ended MI-17 Helicopters. The crescendo of its turbine grew into a deafening clatter, and it began lumbering skyward. The first load was off…My heart was pounding with excitement and joy as I reflected on being in one of my favorites parts of the world, doing what I like best: skydiving with new friends.

A few minutes later parachutes of every color blossomed in the blue sky above Wattay Airport like tropical flowers. It was wonderful to listen to the local people commenting. I do not speak Lao, but I did not need to! People were amazed and amused. They were especially proud when they saw their own national flag flying, which one of the Lao team brought up to display while descending.

Skydiving is unusual here. The response from local people was enthusiastic and immediate. It literally stopped traffic in Vientiane. Local people stood shading their eyes and looking skyward. Sometimes kids would notice me carrying some piece of equipment and excitedly point me out to the parents. I am not used to so much attention, but they welcomed us in a big way. The warmth of our hosts came across clearly eliminating language barriers. Charming Lao people occasionally asked in English “You are gonna do what? JUMP from a perfectly good airplane?”

Skydivers from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the UK and USA …and of course from Laos, came swooping in and landing their parachutes to the ‘oohs & ahhs’ of local spectators.

Overall, the event was a success, although there were problems. The biggest resulted from a question brought up by a neighboring country who thought perhaps parachutes might be blown across the Mekong and out of Laos, thereby sparking a potential diplomatic incident. The required logistical changes challenged organizers to innovate with helicopter sightseeing while others explored the town, shopped or relaxed pool-side.

This ‘Boogie’ made me feel like I did when I made my first jump nearly 25 years ago. I met many new friends and felt the goodwill & camaraderie between local and visiting jumpers, the Lao officials and helicopter pilots who worked so hard to make the event happen. Everyone was happy to be there, a part of something unique and special. Local people often welcomed me personally to Laos. This feeling went straight to my heart, and on a personal level I remembered things that are easy to forget. It is all about the people; the other skydivers, and the locals. Sure the ‘Adventure of Skydiving’ still sings to me after all these years, but as in anything it is the wonderful people I met that make me want to return again to Lao and the next Mekong River Boogie.