A Foldscopes Travelogue in S. E. Asia
by Richard Dorsett, Tacoma, USA
Fold and Unfold, Foldscopes Go to Laos
JANUARY 11, 2018
A heavy rain seemed to come down my first night in Vientiane. Sounded just like the needs-to-be-repaired dripping gutter outside my window in Tacoma. About midnight, big thunder hit. I was deep in dreamland. There are no windows in my hostel room, the sound of rainfall was created by the whirring fan, and the thunder was fireworks announcing 2018. Let others have hangovers, I’m up early, looking for coffee.
Ten feet from where I write is a storm drain and I watched a man park a scooter over it and pour its oil directly into the drain.
Hoo boy, there is no getting to Asia without a long plane ride. With security lines, customs, immigration, and a few hours on the floor at Kunming Airport, a full 24 hours was needed to arrive. There are less direct and longer flights, but no need for them.
After a couple of days, the tuk-tuk drivers on the block have begun to ignore me; so too the long-legged hooker who works our corner. Vendors here are easygoing, so I can wave off a hammock for sale or a manicure. Legit massage parlors are everywhere, so too the others. (“You want massage with boom boom?”) A manicure might be a good idea, even a massage, but no boom boom.
Foldscopes were invented by Stanford University’s Manu Prakash and his team and is an origami-based microscope.
To reframe a phrase from Norman McLean, I am enchanted by waters. It is dry season and the Mekong is low, about a quarter mile walk from the quay to its shore; a nice place to sit and watch it flow. Back in the bad old days, some who needed to get away would swim across. These days it’s easier to cross to Thailand on the Friendship Bridge.
The Mekong hosts more than 800 species of fish. Logging, dams, development, and all sorts of other environmental harms make the river less friendly to wildlife. Like everywhere, the fish caught have become smaller, and some use illegal dynamite and electrocution devices to catch them. Ten feet from where I write is a storm drain and I watched a man park a scooter over it and pour its oil directly into the drain. Watershed protection efforts are underway, but theirs is a big watershed, from the Tibetan Plateau to the Mekong Delta, nearly 5,000 kilometers through six countries.
The school is a private, bilingual academy that prepares students for Oxford exams. The group assembled for a Foldscopes lesson
were high school physics and chemistry students. Perfect.If you don’t know, I brought in my backpack one hundred Foldscope kits. Foldscopes were invented by Stanford University’s Manu Prakash and his team and is an origami-based microscope. The Rotary Club of Tacoma #8 contributed funds to buy the kits and I am looking for students and others with whom I can share the magic.
I bombed on my first couple of calls to pitch Foldscopes. You might think that a sciences university or the Institute for National Sciences Education would be welcoming, but no luck. A teacher and the Principal at the Vientiane Pattana School were excited and welcoming. I had connected with the school before leaving Tacoma and it’s walking distance from my hostel. The school is a private, bilingual academy that prepares students for Oxford exams. The group assembled for a Foldscopes lesson were high school physics and chemistry students. Perfect.
As simple as I may make them sound, Foldscopes need a bit of patience to assemble and some practice to get the specimens lined up just right. I learned that a classroom with twenty students is just too many. Better, I think, is half a dozen around a work table so each can see and watch how to fold their scopes. And a bit more than an hour is needed. Small group assembly needs about fifty minutes, but to look at specimens and to show how to take photos needs another half hour. So, I’m going to aim for two hours the next time. For now though, nothing yet in the pipeline. I remain forced to be patient.
The wonderful Valeria from Kyrgyzstan has left the building. French, Dutch, Russian, Indian, and lots of other nationalities rotate in and out.
I stayed an extra couple of days in Vientiane so that I could meet with students, but it’s time to move along. I have a ticket to Luang Prabang and an extra day to lollygag. Two days ago I finished my murder mystery set here in Vientiane and have been reading deprived since – no bookstores! But down a nearby alley I found one today with a well worn copy of Steinbeck’s East of Eden. No harm in rereading that. Besides, my Microbiology for Dummies should be a “Microbiology for Dumber Dummies.” If you don’t know, microbiology is hard!
I seem to thrive on not knowing. Sure, I have a ticket to Luang Prabang and a bed for a few nights. But from there, I’ll have to wait to see. Original idea was to head south to Cambodia, but I don’t know about roads going that way. Much easier is to point west to Thailand and put down in Chang Mai for a few days. Either way, travel awaits.
For now, the wonderful Valeria from Kyrgyzstan has left the building. French, Dutch, Russian, Indian, and lots of other nationalities rotate in and out. Had a good political conversation with young Matt from Canada; he tried to convince me of the value of third and fourth parties. A week is a long time for me to be still. Bob, an American living in India, will travel by bus with me to Luang Prabang.
Vientiane almost whispers its welcome. It’s low key, walkable, and has enough byways to get a little lost.
It meets my needs. Remnants of colonial architecture linger, Buddhist temples are frequent.Vientiane almost whispers its welcome and turned out not far from what I imagined. It’s low key, walkable, and has enough byways to get a little lost. It meets my needs. Remnants of colonial architecture linger, Buddhist temples are frequent, and they seem to enjoy strong coffee here. I rarely linger anywhere for a week. Yet this is just the sort of place to get over jet lag and to let your internal clock slip back a few decades.
A little history: between 1964 and 1973 the U.S. dropped 2 million tons of bombs on this small country. Eighty million bombs failed to explode, and to this day about 50 Laotians die or are maimed each year from leftover ordinance. Per capita, it is said to be the most heavily bombed country in history.
My Backpackers Hostel is just off the corner of Rues Setthathirath and Nokèokoummane across from the Mixay Temple.
There are coffee shops on two of the corners, but this is my favorite.My Backpackers Hostel is just off the corner of Rues Setthathirath and Nokèokoummane across from the Mixay Temple. There are coffee shops on two of the corners, one that I favor but both good for watching people coming down the rue. It’s sort of a throughfare, a couple of one-way lanes, and picks up pace about 7 a.m. Mornings, late afternoon, and evenings are my favorite times. Middays get a little warm (today will reach ninety), but it is mostly just about perfect.
I leave soon to Luang Prabang, looking for more Foldscope students.
Richard Dorsett
Vientiane, Laos
Foldscopes: Going Up The Country – Luang Prabang
JANUARY 14, 2018
This is the second article featuring Richard Dorsett’s trip to Asia to distribute Foldscopes, the fully functional microscope, which users construct by origami principles. The Rotary Club of Tacoma #8 funded the Foldscopes for adventurer and hiking and biking enthusiast Richard Dorsett:
When your bus ride of barely two hundred miles will take more than ten hours, you have to know rough roads and mountains await.
When your bus ride of barely two hundred miles will take more than ten hours, you have to know rough roads and mountains await. Tacoma, Washington, might well swoon with envy over the massive potholes on the highway leading out of Vientiane. For twenty or more miles, dirty light industrial businesses and the like lined the road. Washboard ruts and big, deep, potholes, slowed us often to a crawl. Eventually, the way became beautiful; craggy mountains, valleys, and vistas, made even a grueling ride worthwhile. I wanted to see the country, so took the eight a.m. day bus. Still, we didn’t arrive till after dark, and I know now for certain there are worse potholes than those in Tacoma.
New friend Alex rode his rented bicycle to the outskirts of town and saw a young elephant playing in a field. I am inspired.
I left my bicycle at home for this trip, but am pleased by the number of touring cyclists I have seen. One in Vientiane, but a couple dozen on the road to Luang Prabang. Some were in supported tour groups, but couples and solo pedalers are frequent. Alex, a new friend from Los Angles has toured solo in China. Two solo bicyclists rolled into the hostel. Each had been on the road for eight months. New friend Alex rode his rented bicycle to the outskirts of town and saw a young elephant playing in a field. I am inspired.
When I travel by bicycle I typically move along each day; the bicycle will not pedal itself. Now, traveling by bus and looking for Foldscope students, I have days to hang about, walk, read, write, and explore. I’m not out doing the day tours, but getting a feel for place. I enjoyed Vientiane, but like Luang Prabang even more. The Mekong River is a block away and much closer to the town. It runs faster here and I enjoy watching the long, skinny boats that ply the river. Even though this is the dry season, the river is substantial. Farmers plant vegetables along the banks, new soil is deposited when the river rises, and the cycle repeats. I walked across a bamboo bridge that crosses a tributary to the Mekong River.
I walked across a bamboo bridge that crosses a tributary to the Mekong River.
Even after a few days, a hostel begins to feel like home and small routines develop. The circuits I walk and the onion omelette I have each morning repeat themselves. A cool thing with a gig, any gig, is that it breaks routine. I walk to places I would not otherwise go. I drop into super low gear and stroll so slowly as to become invisible.
With each Foldscope presentation I become more skilled at how to assemble them. Even more useful, I get better at instructing others how to make the folds. Through word of mouth I connected with Jason, the Kiettisack International School principal. He and science teacher Robert welcomed me and my scopes enthusiastically. The group of eight students was perfect. Robert had shown them Manu Prakash’s TED talk before I arrived, so they had a sense of what was coming. We worked around a table, which lets everyone help one another as we assemble the Foldscopes.
We worked around a table, which lets everyone help one another as we assemble the Foldscopes.
I enjoy talking about Foldscopes with anyone interested. The first two schools I visited are private academies for relatively well-heeled students. I helped traveling partner Bob assemble his Foldscope on his seventieth birthday. Some students seem more intuitive than others with the scopes. One in this latest group was setting up a tripod to steady his camera to take photos of specimens while others were still folding. I get off on the overall enthusiasm for Foldscopes.
One in this latest group was setting up a tripod to steady his camera to take photos of specimens while others were still folding.
Luang Prabang is perfect for my interests. There is a daily market outside the hostel door (grilled chicken feet/grilled frogs on a stick). Tuk tuks are everywhere, but I prefer walking. Temples and monks seem everywhere. The beer at the hostel is cheap and cold. Mostly I hang out, walk about, lie about when it gets hot, then get out again for afternoon and evening walking. There are plenty of westerners here, and most are well-worn travelers and interesting to talk with. As I leave town, clouds have come and everyone seems to shiver a bit from the relative cold. My decision to bring a sweater was a good one. Partner Bob wraps up in a wool blanket he brought from India.
Sometimes it’s a crap shoot booking a hostel, but I have been lucky. Here at the Downtown Backpackers it’s a little overwhelming in the morning when I like quiet, lots of young travelers coming and going, but it empties for most of the day. Now I have a bed in Chiang Mai at SpicyThai hostel, which comes from word of mouth.
Mostly I hang out, walk about, lie about when it gets hot, then get out again for afternoon and evening walking.
A hundred thousand Lao kip is about eight bucks. It’s a small success, but I managed my way to the airport with less than ten thousand kip in my pocket. Sleeper bed or not, after the ten-plus hours on the bus from Vientiane, I’ll skip the 24-hour ride to Chiang Mai. The flight takes about an hour.
Richard Dorsett
Luang Prabang, Laos
Foldscopes: Every Picture Tells a Story
JANUARY 22, 2018
This is the third article featuring Richard Dorsett’s trip to Asia to distribute Foldscopes, the fully functional microscope, which users construct by origami principles. The Rotary Club of Tacoma #8 funded the Foldscopes for adventurer and hiking and biking enthusiast Richard Dorsett:
An hour-long flight from Luang Prabang, Laos, saved me a 24-hour bus ride, and my hostel is minutes walking to the ‘old’ quarter.
Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that which is remembered.
– Marcus Aurelius
The first time I saw Chiang Mai on a map I likely thought of it as a northern Thai village. When it was founded in 1296 it was the capital of the Lanna kingdom; already an important place. It seems the nearer I got to being here, the clearer sense I gained that this was no village. These days the metro area is just under a million people, much more than a village, but not overly big. An hour-long flight from Luang Prabang, Laos, saved me a 24-hour bus ride, and my hostel is minutes walking to the ‘old’ quarter.
My peregrinations of the old quarter have run their course; from exploring, to familiar, to finding ever new streets.
The old quarter is a moat-bound, two kilometer square section in the center of town. Stretches of the wall that used to encircle the city remain. There are 38 temples in the old quarter, some museums, and hundreds of tour operators. Packaged adventure could make me crabby, but usually don’t; it’s just not for me. A bike tour or a trek, that’s one thing. Zip lines or a visit to a village with long neck women are quite another. A better use of time would be a class in cooking, massage, or language. But when culture is turned into a commodity, well, yes, maybe I do get a little crabby. My peregrinations of the old quarter have run their course; from exploring, to familiar, to finding ever new streets.
And there is this: why, oh why, do some people come all the way to Chiang Mai to eat lunch at Burger King?
Right out the hostel gate, there is food everywhere. Restaurants and street stalls, my favorites, are there to temp. My first snack was an order of what I thought was small, fried fish. Turned out to be deep fried chicken skin. First night here my hostel prepared a dozen northern Thai dishes with fresh ingredients. Thai food, I suspect they just call it food, is an adventure. There are fruits and vegetables I don’t recognize and some I would not know how to eat. Grilled fish maws, pork belly, broiled crickets (protein!), coconut fruit with a straw to drink the milk, all sorts of satays, noodles and curry, and, of course, Phad Thai. Truth is, the Phad Thai tastes pretty much the way it does everywhere, but there is a simple satisfaction enjoying food in Thailand. And there is this: why, oh why, do some people come all the way to Chiang Mai to eat lunch at Burger King?
With Foldscopes, one person leads to another. Joyce, a good friend in Seattle, connected me with her friend Cheron, in Chiang Mai. Jason, Cheron’s Thai ‘go to’ guy, connected with Maewin Samakee School, about an hour south of Chiang Mai. It’s a boarding school sponsored by the abbot of a local wat. Karen, Akak, Hmong, and Chan hill tribe students assembled Foldscopes with as much enthusiasm as any. The students to my eye seemed about twelve years old, but were in fact seventeen and eighteen. The students smiled a lot; not so their teacher. Maybe it’s because he was so entranced with his Foldscope. His photos were some of the best Foldscope images to date.
The students smiled a lot; not so their teacher. Maybe it’s because he was so entranced with his Foldscope.
His photos were some of the best Foldscope images to date.I know that when I arrive with Foldscopes, they may be an interruption to a teacher’s well-laid lesson plans. It is easier when the teacher has seen Foldscope inventor Manu Prakash’s TED talk (Manu Prakash: A 50-cent microscope that folds like origami). Best was when a teacher had shown the students his talk in advance of my arrival. For some, it may be a classroom diversion, but the scope itself breaks down any skeptics, the enthusiasm is a pleasure to see.
To arrive here in Mae Chan, I walked out my hostel gate in Chiang Mai just after 5 a.m. Everything flowed perfectly; a bus to Chiang Rai, and a small connector bus dropped me right in front of the small resort motel where I was to meet Carol. Resort. Sounds a fortune after my days of six dollar hostel beds, but two nights cost about 35 bucks. A private room feels like a luxury after three weeks in hostel rooms. Hot water, even, for the shower.
I always put together one scope myself so they can watch the instructions. It almost amazes me sometimes that this all works, but it does.
Janjawa School (full name: Janjawawittayakhom) is government run, for Thai students. There were ten, with a teacher. Seems they had less prep for what was coming, but once again, they were so excited by the time we were looking at specimens. Carol grabbed me a few tablespoons of soil and we looked at crystals with our Foldscopes. I always put together one scope myself so they can watch the instructions. It almost amazes me sometimes that this all works, but it does.
A Rotarian pulled out her iPad and the large screen image is so much better.
The final Foldscope group was at the Suksasongkraw School in Mae Chan. It is sponsored by the Thai royal family and is a welfare school for poor students, orphans, those with parents in prison, or other disadvantages. I was scheduled to have five students, but by the time we sat around a table to fold scopes, there were twenty of us: students, teachers, and Rotarians. It was all perfect. We’ve been using cell phones to take photos of specimens with the Foldscopes. A Rotarian pulled out her iPad and the large screen image is so much better.
It seems each group of students is my favorite. I glom onto the shy ones and when we are done they laugh and smile. Just a little help with the assembly and they are with the program.
That’s about it for now. Five schools; five groups of students, and I have given eighty Foldscopes away in Laos and Thailand.
Feeling pleased with how it has gone, especially these last days with three schools in three days. I’ve got a few more moves to make; a flight to Bangkok, finding my hostel there, then a four a.m. marathon flight through Hong Kong and Vancouver to reach home. That’s about it for now. Five schools; five groups of students, and I have given eighty Foldscopes away in Laos and Thailand.
Mae Chan, Thailand
January 20, 2018
Foldscopes Redux – Beginning Microbiology at Age 65
JANUARY 26, 2018
This is the fourth and final article featuring Richard Dorsett’s trip to Asia to distribute Foldscopes, the fully functional microscope, which users construct by origami principles. The Rotary Club of Tacoma #8 funded the Foldscopes for adventurer and hiking and biking enthusiast Richard Dorsett:
Some years ago, I bought two microscopes from the Washington surplus warehouse (seen here with a Foldscope in comparison).
Some years ago, I bought two microscopes from the Washington surplus warehouse. They are tip-top, one a compound scope, the other a dissection scope. I paid fifty bucks each and keep them handy for when I want to look at something. One time, I took the scopes to a friend’s birthday party and watched young children put all sort of things under the lenses (bugs, chicken poop, etc.). I thought then that a microscope would be a nice household appliance and that they should be available outside the lab.
Then I saw Stanford University’s Manu Prakash’s TED talk about the Foldscope he and his team had invented. The Foldscope is a paper, origami-based microscope that initially cost about fifty cents each to make. That, I thought to myself, is something I’d really like to take along on my travels. Even more, if I had a supply of Foldscopes, some of my touring could be developed with schools and Foldscope students as a goal. Alas, I was too late to get in on the initial Foldscope beta test, but the idea stayed with me.
My hundred scopes were funded by Tacoma Rotary #8 and arrived just before Christmas (a good thing, my flight to Laos was December 28).
As my trip to Asia began to take shape, I figured it was time to get in touch with Prakash and state my interest. He’s a busy university professor and I figured a traveling Johnny Appleseed of Microbiology might just be a perfect way to plant the seeds of Foldscopes around the world. Sure, I know Johnny Appleseed sounds corny, but with the idea to plant seeds of science in the minds of students
. . . well, it’s apt until someone offers a better tag.
As luck would have it, by October the initial production of Foldscope kits was just arriving in the U.S. Eighty-five hundred Kickstart contributors had raised over $400,000. The wrinkle for me was Foldscope had an obligation to deliver scopes to its funders before others would receive orders. But luck came my way again, and I got in on the tail end of the contribution list. My hundred scopes were funded by the Rotary Club of Tacoma #8 and arrived just before Christmas (a good thing, my flight to Laos was December 28).
Two students experimenting with their Foldscopes at Vientiane Pattana School, a private academy.
My plan was to visit five schools, and to instruct and leave behind up to twenty Foldscopes in each school. I thought two in Laos, two in Cambodia, and one on Thailand was a good goal. I also thought I might have some to spare if other opportunities arose. Of course, I had no schools booked, just a belief that Foldscopes are the coolest instrument, they would be welcome, and I needed to get hopping. Hoping wasn’t going to get it done.
I wrote an inquiry letter to several schools in Vientiane, Laos, including a link to Prakash’s TED talk. An enthusiastic welcome came from a teacher and principal at the Vientiane Pattana School, a private academy about a mile from my hostel. Students had not yet returned from vacation, but I lingered a few days for the chance to meet my first group of Foldscopers, a word I may have invented. Patience, no doubt, is part of this project.
The teacher had shown the students the TED talk, so they had a good idea of what was coming.
The presentation at Pattana School went as good as I could have hoped. Then, the principal in Vientiane connected with a colleague in Luang Prabang who put me in touch with the principal of Kiettisack International School there. A few more days of cooling my heals, then wow, another enthusiastic welcome. Here, the teacher had shown the students the TED talk, so they had a good idea of what was coming.
There are days when I have no idea what’s coming next. I knew when I arrived in Luang Prabang I didn’t have anything booked in Cambodia and Chiang Mai, Thailand, was looking like a better prospect, so there I went. My friend Joyce in Seattle connected me with her friend Cheron in Chiang Mai. This led me to Maewin Samakee School, where I showed students from various hill tribes how to assemble and use Foldscopes; a pretty amazing experience.
At Maewin Samakee School students from various hill tribes were shown how to assemble and use Foldscopes; a pretty amazing experience.
Well, when the going is good, this is how it goes: Cheron connected with Bill in Seattle, who put me in touch with Carol in Mae Chan (just north of Chiang Rai). Even with short notice, Carol booked me for Foldscope workshops at the Janjawa School, a Thai government school, and Suksasongkraw School, a welfare school for hill tribe students who are poor, orphans, have parents in prison, or other disadvantages. Three schools in three days, this has been a satisfying finish to my idea to distribute Foldscopes in Asia.
Sometimes I bemuse myself with ideas that seem reasonable late at night. They often vanish come the light of day. But other times I grab hold and that is how some of my adventures take shape. So it has been with Foldscopes. Just an idea, not much of a plan, but a pretty good idea and a belief it will happen. So it has.
Even with short notice, Carol (on the left) booked me at the Janjawa School, a Thai government school, and Suksasongkraw School,
a welfare school for hill tribe students who are poor, orphans, have parents in prison, or other disadvantages.After presenting Foldscopes to five groups of students I am getting adept at assembly and instruction. I can quickly correct mistakes, theirs or mine, and can make sure their scopes will work. If one tears a focus ramp, no problem, a piece of tape makes it good. Sample stage folded wrong? It’s an easy fix. I used grains of soils for one group to prepare specimens, but think now sugar grains are perfect for first timers. They reflect light well and ensure the students have immediate successes. I learned with the last group that an iPad is best for capturing images through the lens. Bigger than a camera screen and impressive to those trying to catch an image through their scopes.
I learned that an iPad is best for capturing images through the lens. They are impressive to those trying to catch an image through their scopes.
Already, I want to go back on the road with Foldscopes. I have enough left over to give a couple of workshops back home in the Greater Tacoma area. That’d be a nice wrap-up for these first hundred scopes. There may be opportunities in the states and Carol already has nine-plus schools in mind where she thinks the scopes will be welcome. One Tacoman wants a hundred to take to India. As when I was cooling my heals in Luang Prabang, I don’t know what’s next, but I believe new doors will open.
For a project like this, doors do not open without the help and encouragement of so many. Thank you Don Doman (Tacoma), who believed in the idea before he ever saw a Foldscope. And thank you Rotary Club of Tacoma #8, for providing funds for these first hundred scopes. To Dennis Flannigan and Sondra Purcell, who support my efforts, whatever they may be. To teachers whose names I don’t know; Peter Crosthwaite and Peter Werdenberg (Vientiane), Jason and Robert at Kiettisack International School (Luang Prabang), Cheron, Jim, and Jason (Chiang Mai), Bill (Seattle), and Carol (Mae Chan). Thank you Artis and to all who have read, commented on, and shared my posts. And thank you Ben Sclair and the Suburban Times for publishing my stories as I traveled along; I enjoy having new readers. Thanks too, to all the travelers who listened patiently when I explained Foldscopes to them. And to Honomi, my contact at Foldscopes who helped me acquire my first hundred scopes. Thank you Manu Prakash, who with his team invented this fantastic device. And to wife Liz, who has more patience than I can imagine (I got lucky with that).
For a project like this, doors do not open without the help and encouragement of so many.
My muse Amanda Palmer has her own TED talk (and best selling book) called The Art of Asking. She says if you learn to ask for what you need, the world will find a way to help you. So it has been with Foldscopes. Now, as I move forward, I’ll have to work on making more asks; for Foldscope sponsors, for help finding schools, for encouraging words. Not to worry, it’ll all come.
Richard Dorsett
Bangkok, Thailand
Comments to the author welcomed. Email: dorsett DOT richard AT gmail DOT com
Editor's note: Thank you to Richard for sharing this series of articles which are also hosted on Don Doman's pages on The Suburban Times website.
A background article by Don Doman to Richard's project - Sharing an Interest in Science with a Pocket Microscope.
Published in the May 2018 issue of Micscape magazine.
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