So as to not pile on the pounds while travelling, Pete and I packed running kit and trainers. I managed a couple of hill repeats in Thailand but was concentrating on daily yoga more while Pete was getting over his cold which he also seemed to pack in the IOM.
So in Luang Prabang we ran/walked 3 miles around the peninsula in very humid conditions. The locals stared in amusement at our two white bodies huffing and puffing while sweating profusely. In Vientiane we managed to base our run on the more discrete unlit running track around the Laos National Stadium (no records were set on our 10 laps) but it was incredibly hot and the evening fires had just started so the smoke wasn’t helping the huffing and puffing. On the way back locals seemed quite bemused at our efforts (or perhaps how red our faces were). I’d also found a lovely 25m pool so swam 3 times in two days – oh how I have missed swimming. I noted that most of the customers were expats – just a few Laos families and the school swimming lessons on the Monday were all for international schools.
But the next night at sunset we headed down to the river and saw locals exercising! There were people running and cycling and also a couple of dance fitness classes. It took all my reserve (and inappropriate flip flops) for me not to join in (like the Chinese tourists who were down the steps joining in for free).
So Asians do need to exercise, or at least the Asians living in the city with sedentary work and more access to Western food – like the little fat kid I saw at the pool who wouldn’t get in for a swim because he was too busy going back to the cafe for more crisps and fizzy drinks.
My extensive research has led me to the conclusion that there isn’t a genetic difference in Westerners and Asians with their need to exercise, it is more the lifestyle we lead, work we do and what we consume. I’m sure the locals working the paddy fields and living in little bamboo huts don’t need an exercise class at the end of their long working days when they have only eaten little, simple and unprocessed foods ! And if they find some happiness in Pete and I dragging our fat behinds around in a pair of trainers, then the can only be a good thing, right?
