Miscellaneous Lao Items

We are now in a town called Vang Vieng.  Beautiful but strange.  The town caters to the party scene, and thus attracts a slew of kids looking for a safe place to drink and dabble with drugs.  They serve "Happy Shakes" here (no need to say more).  There are bars with beds and tvs looping "Friends" and "The Family Guy" episodes all night long.  We leave tomorrow for Venetiene, the capitol of Laos.

Some miscellaneous bits:

1.  Monk Parade:  Every morning in Luang Prabang the monks wake at 5:30 am.  The drums at each of the dozens of monasteries in town begin to beat at 6:00 am, at which time the tangerine-robed monks come out of the monasteries in single file, hundreds of them.  The townfolk are already up, kneeling on mats on the streets with food (mainly sticky rice) to offer to the monks.  The monks carry a gold jar around their necks and as they walk through the town the people put food in their jars.  If the monks have too much food they give back to people who are need (who also kneel on the streets with empty containers).  It was quite moving.

2.  Trip to Nong Khiaw.  We, along with a Dane and French couple we met in Luang Prabang (Anis and Laila) took a small long-boat up a small tributary of the Mekong to village called Nong Khiaw.  The boat ride was long but worth it.  The tributary winds through quite villages and towering karsts that resemble Marge Simpson's hairdo.  The mountains in Laos are quite stunning -- they'd be the perfect backdrop for the next King Kong movie.

3.  Cave outside of Nong Khiaw.  We went to cave outside Nong Khiaw where the Lao and Vietnamese villagers hid during American bombing raids between 1965 and 1974.  A Lao teenager told us many Lao people in his village died from the bombing.  Erin said "sorry" then said "we're Canadian."  Very sad.  It's hard to believe anyone would want to kill a Lao.  They are some unbelievably friendly, quick to smile, quick to say "Sabidee" ("hello" in Lao), and are so gentle.  Love the Lao.

4.  River Life.  Northern Laos is laced with rivers, big and small.  They are the life-blood of the Lao people.  It is where they fish, bath, wash their clothes, brush their teeth, pan for gold, harvest seaweed, move goods to market, move themselves around, swim etc. etc.

5. Paul in Lao means "papa."

6.  Roadside Oral Surgery.  On the bus ride between Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng I saw a young Lao child lying on a dentist chair on the side of the road, his mouth obediently open, while two western dentists in scrubs performed oral surgery and virtually the entire village stood around the chair watching, agog.

7.  Orange Motor Scooter.  Erin and I rented a motor scooter today and drove over dirt roads through villages and beautiful karst scenery.  Went to another limestone cave -- they are everywhere -- with ceilings at least two hundred feet high and stalagmites and tites growing from the floor and ceiling like crystal brain coral.  There was a reclining gold Buddha in the main room awash with sunlight radiating through the cave mouth.

8.  Slow.  This entire country is in slow motion.  I don't think I've been on, or seen, a vehicle with two wheels go faster than 40 mph, and I have yet to see a Lao person in a hurry to do anything.  A very nice change of pace.

9.  Anis and Laila.  A lovely couple residing in Copenhagen.  In the words of Anis, we had a number of "cozy" nights together on the banks of the Mekong, the Nam Ou, and the Nam Khan.  We hope to see them again someday.

10.  We are still really enjoying Laos.  I don't look forward to leaving it.