Jamie (James) Joseph - 14th July 2005

We would like this site to be place where fellow travelers can leave stories and memories about a fallen traveler / friend - James Joseph. When traveling, it can be most difficult to express your feelings as you may not be near other people whom you can talk too. We hope this site will allow people to greave, to laugh at stories about James (as he was a very funny guy) and to remember James, no matter where you are in the world.

I personally only met James a few times, in Vang Vien and in Don Det. Those of you that knew James knew a tall, dark, funny and very full of life Canadian. For those of you that do not know what happened to James i would like to put it in my own words.

I went out the day of the 14th to see some waterfalls a little drive away from the island of Don Det (where we were all staying). When we arrived back we heard the news that a "Westerner" had been killed at the rapids on the neighboring island. We very quickly found out that is was James that had met this tragic end. From the people who were there when James died we were told that he attempted to cross the rapids on a rope but on his way back lost his grip and fell into the water where the rapids were too much for anyone to take.

An hour or so later Evan came past and told us that he and Graham were going to head out to were James was and stay with him as there were not able to move him that night. The six of us around the dinner table very quickly decided to join the two of them out at the rapids to give James, Graham and Evan and ourselves the support that was needed. We collected some possessions (something to sit on, some water, a rain coat) and took the 1.5 hour walk in the dark, out to the rapids.

On arrival we found that the local people had setup a generator and two lights, one looking over James (Though out this posting i would not like to use the phrase "James's body", i will just refer to him as James) and the other for the people who were to spend the night. The locals had placed James in some blankets and covered him with a plastic sheet to ensure that the rain did not get on him. They had also made a makeshift stretcher and placed it about one foot above the ground.

To my surprise, there were about 15 Laos people there (who stayed there the entire night), playing cards, laughing and drinking. For us i think it was a little strange to see this given the situation however we found out later that it is a Laos tradition when someone passes to continue on with life, around the body of the person, so that their spirit can pass easily into the next world as his environment (of friends and good times) remains.

After we had put our belongings down we all walked over to where James was (about 10 meters away) and paid our respects. We then lit 6 candles, two at his head, one on either side and two at his feet. Throughout the night there was always one person awake (many thanks to Pascal for being there most of the night) to keep the candles burning till the morning light broke. Although there was nothing actually said, I think we all found it important to have these candles burning which for me was like a sign that his friends were all around him.

We all tried to get some sleep that night but most of us just lay there with out eyes closed and listened to the Laos people having their card game. Later in the night we got some inscense from the locals, lit them and placed them around James, those too were also kept burning for the entire night and into the next day. It is tradition for the Laos people to place inscence at the head of the body as a sign of respect so for us, it was important to keep this going.

I was awake when dawn broke and for me there was a very moving moment. As i could see the light rising in the sky I noticed that there was a lot of low cloud. Then as i looked up there was a small hole in the low cloud directly above us that made way for a view of some clouds high in the sky. Within a few minutes the suns first rays hit the cloud high in the sky and formed a beautiful golden ray of light. At that same moment the very slight winds that had been blowing the smoke from the inscences over James and towards the rapids that had taken his life stopped and the smoke flowed directly up, as if reaching for the suns first light and into the heavens above.

Around 10:00am the police arrived to take some pictures of the scene and to take some pictures of James. This was the hardest moment for us all i believe. The police did not want to take the covers off James for the photos so Evan stood up straight away and took charge. Once the covers were removed and we all saw James's face, it was the real moment of realisation for us all that he was gone. I personally want to thank all the people there (see posting below) for their support during this time. We all hugged and cried but there was an amazing support between us all to get through this most difficult time.

The authorities told us that it would be a few hours before they were able to move James to the main town. We decided to make a small monument for James near where we was lying. We all went out and collected stones for a small pile, some wood for a cross which we carved his name into, some flowers, and a wooden Buddha which we inscribed "James R.I.P 14-07-2005". Once we erected the monument we all took it in turns to light some inscence and place it in and around the moment.

When the last of the westerners had placed the inscence around we stood back in silence. This for me was another very moving moment. Just as we stood there, a butterfly (which were not very prevalent around this area) flew down, just above the head of the Buddha, across the moment, around the group of people, back over the moment and into the sky......During the next few hours many of the locals also came up to the moment and paid respect by placing food and offerings to Buddha.

Around 14:00 the locals came back and informed us that they were to move James now to the boat. They took a long bamboo poll, made some rope out of bamboo strands and attached the stretcher to it. Then about 10 of the Locals (four at a time carrying James) took us on the 20-30 minute walk through bush, rice fields and small paths to the beach where James was to be loaded onto the boat. After a short time he was loaded into the boat where he and Evan (who wanted to travel with James, see the posting below) disappeared off to the waiting ambulance.

I would like to send my deepest sympathies to James's family and friends and hope that his story will be some small support in knowing that James was always surrounded by his friends and the local people of Laos who we now call our friends.

Rest in Peace James.