one of the most memorable journeys of my life

We crossed into Laos in Huay Xai. Here we met Greg who saw the Winter Harbor address on Jessica's luggage tag and noted that his father had been stationed at the Navy base there briefly. It sparked a conversation that led to his asking us to join him in travelling to a remote village on the Mekong.

The next day we started on a two day boat journey south along the Mekong. The first night we stopped in Pak Beng, a mandatory rest for all boats on their way to Luang Prabang. The next day, about 2 hours shy of the city we hopped off the boat in the middle of nowhere. We trekked up the steep, sandy beach and entered the village through a canopy of trees. Children started to surround us and followed us through the maze of bamboo houses. We were led to the house we would be sleeping in (Peng's Ma and Pa) and the children stood at the window, watching us move our belongings around. It is hard to say how many people lived in the house. Ma and Pa (proud grandparents) slept upstairs and their son and daughter-in-law lived downstairs with their infant daughter. There may have also been several more children who lived there as children seemed to come and go at will. As the sun began to set we wandered down to the beach, followed by close to a hundred children who ran around us, posing for the camera or just watching us with curious eyes.

On our second day we went across the river to work in Peng's rice fields. What an experience! I had no idea what was involved and it was so interesting to see the process. We planted rice alongside the women of the village while they asked persistently about our husbands, children and lives.

The second night we slept at Peng's house. It was easy to bond with Peng right away. She speaks no English, except for one or two basic sentences. But even when she is speaking to you in Lao at rocket speed you can hear the intention in her voice, the kindness. She laughs often. She says she is 38 but in Lao it is hard to tell exactly how old anyone is. Her documents says she is 35. Right now she is living in a stilted bamboo hut as a single mother. Her husband has run away to live in isolation on the other side of the Mekong. When we talk about him she says only that he is "baw dii" (not good). The night before we left her home the whole family had a baci ceremony for us, tying spirit strings around our wrists for protection on our journey.

(above: Me, Greg, Peng's Aunt, Peng, one of her daughters and Jessica at the baci)

She decided to join us on the boat trip to Luang Prabang. Once in the city she and Greg decided to stay the night so we joined them at her family's home on the Xieng Maen side of the river. The next day we were all getting a little teary at the thought of not seeing her again for who knows how long, so we asked her to come travel with us. And to our surprise she said yes! She and Greg went back to the village that night and returned the next day to plan our travels. We had another baci ceremony with more family in Luang Prabang and then left for Vang Vieng. Here, in the shadow of towering limestone mountains we went tubing down the Nam Song river. We also walked the 6km to the Phu Kham cave and swam in its pristine blue lagoon.



From here we travelled to Vientianne. Peng was amazed at the city, the sights, the people. She had never been further south than Luang Prabang and Vientianne is mammoth compared with Luang Prabang. She rode on an escalator and elavator for the first time. It was surreal to see the wonder in her eyes at every turn. Seeing her off we were all an emotional mess. Greg tried to take a photo of the three of us, Jessica and I with tears streaming down our faces and Peng looking at the ground.

(right: out the window of our hotel in Vientiane)

This post will never be able to do justice to that journey. I am still processing it myself. I know that I made a lifelong friend, even if we never are able to meet again. I hope that is not the case. Until I am on that boat again, gliding down the Mekong I know I will be dreaming of that village.

Menu Items

Eggs with Another Thing's Inside
Prawn Dance
Tiger Cry
Crap Soup
Scrabble Eggs
Mixed vegetables with Oyster Sauce (though still "okay for vegetarian")
Furry Whiskey
(Birdie)

There were lots of reasons to cry while we were in Laos, but I'd prefer to remember all the menu items that made us laugh. Now a brief game of catch-up:

Luang Prabang was a gorgeous city tucked into the surrounding mountains and cut into a peninsula by the rivers that formed its border. The food was good, the people were lovely; we did not realize how good we had it.

Ahead to our exit from Luang Prabang: Vinyl deathtrap-rocket. Sitting in a mobile sauna. Blasting off on the road from Luang Prabang to Vientiene. Spewing bolts and spraying dust. We skidded along the edge of the cliffs, dodging motorbikes and honking enthusiastically at anything with movement.

Vientiene=nightmare. Walked around dreading a night in our stuffy cubicle. Tried to find some restaurants with more to offer our vegetarian than "mixed vegetables with oyster sauce". Found a bar offering "eggs with another thing's inside". Decided against that bewildering option and finally ate Indian for the third night in a row. It was Ross' birthday so I gave him the bone carving necklace I made in Rangitukia, New Zealand. Tears and sad speeches ensued. Next morning Kip and I rose before dawn to venture out to Pha That Luang, a large temple at which a yearly festival is held. 200,000+ monks waiting for alms from about twice as many people. Something to behold. We waited about an hour and a half for the chants and praying to begin then we started to leave as the alms-giving commenced as it was obviously going to become chaotic. I tried to snap some photos, but nothing could possibly capture the scale on which this celebration took place.

As we walked back to our guesthouse I started feeling nauseas which I read as hungry. I rented two double rooms in a posh guesthouse as a present to Ross and an escape for Kip and I from the miseries of the grey, lifeless city. After settling in, we grabbed some lunch at a harmless looking cafe. I felt sick immediately. I spent the whole remainder of the day in bed, sending Ross and Yoko to buy bus tickets to Pakse for 7am the next day. Unfortunately that night, well 4am actually, I passed out in the bathroom. I woke up under the sink, which greatly disturbed me. My lip was bleeding, my nose sore and my head aching. I started to cry loudly. I think it was more to assure myself that I was still alive than to get attention. I tried to sit up and fell backwards blacking out again though still wailing. Kip came in and I managed to sit up and ask her to get Ross. We would have to postpone the departure.

It took another day to recover. We set out for the bus with low expectations. They were not met or exceeded. It was an uncomfortable 11 hour ride, with about 10000000000000 stops for food. It seemed that we would barely pull away from a road side vendor when the brakes would screech us to a halt and we'd be waiting for the masses to purchase more sticky rice, birds-on-sticks, frogs-on-sticks, furry whiskey, egg with chicken fetus inside, on and on. The food stops extended the trip a good 2-3 hours. No exaggeration.

After a night in Pakse we headed off on a bus to Don Khong, the largest island in an archipelago in the Mekong, Southern Laos. It was a quaint, friendly area and we felt great relief to be in a hospitable place. We rented bikes for a leisurely ride one day and took a boat trip to spot the irrawaddy dolphins another. Kip and I managed to see five dolphins dipping in and out of the water. It was a poorly executed boat trip in a vessel loud enough to deafen the earless, but just to see them was exciting. There are only around 100 left in this river because of "explosive fishing" in Cambodia (basically a charge is detonated underwater which kills everything within range) so it felt special to see five. It was Ross' turn to feel ill that day, so he missed that part of the trip unfortunately. Hopefully we will go back there one day when we can see Laos in a more relaxed and optimistic way. Overall I believe the country has a lot to offer, we just happened upon some unfortunate people and occasions. I do want to see more of the north and perhaps return to 4,000 islands for more exploration.

It was so good to cross the border back into Thailand. We were embarrassed, but overjoyed to see a 7-11. Just the thought of all that "safe" food made us giddy. We took an overnight train from Ubon Ratchathani but they only had 3rd class seats which meant sitting up the entire 11 hour journey. Agony! But we survived. Ross went straight to an ATM when we arrived into Bangkok's Hualumphong station and figured out that he had more money than he originally thought, but less than he really needed. He and Yoko opted to stay in Thailand and spend some time in the islands.

Kip and I wasted no time getting to the bus station and hopping on bus for Aranyaprathet. From there we crossed the border into Poipet, Cambodia. This border just gives me the creeps. You feel like something bad could happen at any second. There are massive casinos that loom above you with dangerous distraction, children begging and, if you let them, pocket-pinching, men trying to shout at you, touts trying to bargain with you, dogs trying to infect you. Lonely Planet says simply "it's a hole". I think it's worse than that, but that's a good way to sum up. We rented a Toyota Camry and driver to take us the 3.5 hours to Siem Reap. We are here now, well-fed and grinning. It is lovely to be here. It's a blessing to be healthy. I adore Cambodia and can't wait to tell you all about Angkor Take Two!

`It was the best butter,' the March Hare meekly replied.

This is a time when keeping a food journal would prove most useful. I have become violently ill, most likely due to something I ate. I won't go into the gross details, but last night whilst in the bathroom I fainted and fell under the sink, bloodying my lip and knocking my head. When I awoke I started to wail and passed out again, this time falling backwards into the shower. I asked Kip to go upstairs and get Ross. It was four in the morning and we were meant to be leaving in a few hours to catch a 13 hour bus to Pakse. I told him there was no way I would be able to get on a bus and survive that kind of journey. So we're in Vientiene for another night. There is a lot to catch up on, I just can't do it right now.

Love, the world
Suddenly turns, turns color.

we crossed into laos without incident. after weighing our options (a slow boat that takes two days to luang prabang or a fast boat that only takes six hours but has a fatal accident several times a month) we decided to skip both and take a flight. no planes flying from huay xai to luang prabang today, but we bought seats leaving tomorrow morning. lao aviation has a brilliant safety record, but i'm not sure if that's because they are actually safe or because they have so few flights. anyway, the guidebook says not to be alarmed if there are missing seat belts and broken seats on the plane. oh, i'm sure we won't be... kip will be taking valium and i'll just be laughing.

we can see chiang khong, thailand across the river but already things are different. laos' currency is the kip. their highest note is a 5000 note which amounts to less than $US.50. things are inexpensive here, but they could do with a 10000 or 20000 note. i changed the equivalant to $US50 and have a serious stack of bills (over 500,000 kip). bling bling.

the children constantly smile here and are all anxious to shout "sabadee" (hello) and play waving games. gorgeous people and we are only at the border. i have a feeling this country will be easily adored.