Just to be clear: his part of the trip is not fun. What I mean is that the Southeast Asia we’ve visited is no roller coaster ride at Disneyland, riding horses along gently rolling hills, sipping frozen pina coladas on a beach.*  We have had some remarkable and memorable moments, but I can’t recommend traveling around these parts for weeks of pleasure. Our travels around Cambodia, Northern Thailand and Northern Laos have taken lots of patience, a willingness to make compromises, an ability to pick our battles, and most of all, great stomach bacteria.  In other words, come here for life lessons, not for decompressing.

*Full disclosure: we did not visit any beaches in Thailand, Cambodia or Laos – but we hear lots of people do go to those spots to relax.

For the record, my bacteria is winning between the two of us.  We ended up staying in Luang Prabang for a week.  On day four, we were packing up our bags to catch an early morning bus and something awful hit Rob in the gut.  It took him out for three days.

Later we found out that he got sick from draft beer or maybe an unclean pitcher at one of the bars in LP.  A friend who shared the pitcher with him had suffered the same fate.  That’s so evil – of all things, beer should not make Rob sick.

LP is a small town and after staying there a few days I started to run into the same people.  No one’s in a hurry, so you stop and talk for a bit before you continue walking. It’s a comforting feeling that I haven’t had since going to college in a small town.  But, then you stay here long enough though, and your friends have moved on and you start to feel that you should too… that it’s not the same place it was a few days ago.

Hanging on for dear life…

While we were there, we met a wonderful couple from Luxembourg. We visited the Kuang Si Waterfalls together, about an hour drive outside town.  The main falls are quite tall and then cascade into a series of pools where people go swimming or chill their beers for nearby picnics.

The falls are nestled in thick jungle.  With the rainy season starting it was luscious and wet. We were hiking along the water for ten minutes when Rob felt a thud on his sandal.  He looked down and tried to shake off what he thought was a slug, but the little guy just wouldn’t let go.  A few minutes of trying to pry him off the shoe with a branch and it clicked – it was a leech.  Rob lifted up his pants leg and another one was crawling up to take hold, but brushed him off in time.

We continued walking towards the falls.  Rob put his feet in the water and I was sitting next to our bags on a rock watching the might of the water hit the pool, when he suggested that I recheck my legs.  Sure enough there was a leech clasped to my ankle!  It was much bigger now than the others, its body pulsating.  I screamed and the leech went flying.  They use a numbing agent when they bite, so I hadn’t felt a thing. They also give you an anti-coagulant so the little hole didn’t close for hours.  My first leech.  I hate them.

That evening our friends invited us to a dinner that they had heard about the night before at the market.  A couple of Americans were volunteering with a local Laotian who was starting LP’s first “public” library.  (Public meant public access, not publicly funded.)  Anyhow, the Americans were organizing a dinner to raise some funds for books.

We had a great time.  It was the best traditional food we have had here – Mekong “seaweed” fried with garlic and sesame and served with a chili paste, spicy eggplant puree, sautéed veggies in sweet lemongrass and soy, sticky rice, buffalo laab, and for dessert – fresh coconut rice in a banana leaf.

Even better was getting the chance to talk with locals about their work and culture.  One friend who showed up worked with the government on a new program to encourage villages to set up their own credit unions.  With the local unions, they are able to lend money to villagers at affordable rates, gather the interest on the money and reinvest it into the community.  Pretty great stuff… it was a good evening.

Once Rob came back to life, we skipped Vang Vieng and headed straight for Vientiane, the capital city.  Vang Vieng is a bit of an anomaly in Laos.  By day, drunk 20-30 year olds float a truly scenic section of the Mekong River in inner tubes. By night, they drink more.  Lao lao whiskey is only a $1 a liter and it doesn’t take much to make you forget your name.  People either love VV or hate it.

The bus ride to Vientiane was a long 12 hours, but then we settled into our favorite guesthouse in Asia.  It’s been a good respite during the hot weather.  Yes, it’s Cambodia hot out there again – 115 F heat index and humid.

I have lost my dignity…

I am carrying around an umbrella for shade.  That’s right, it’s not raining.  But none of you are allowed to make fun until you’ve walked for three hours in this heat.

Many Lao people do it, but few Westerners, so I admit it – I do feel a little self conscious when passing the touristy areas… until this morning, when I looked up and there was a Western guy walking toward me with the same periwinkle umbrella.  He smiled sheepishly.

Rob tried the umbrella once, but thinks it keeps the heat closer to his head.  That’s good, there’s only one umbrella.

Next up

…is China.  We’re heading out early Monday morning.  A couple of notes –

1) Our camera was lost at the night market in Luang Prabang.  A nice Polish woman picked it up and then left for Cambodia the next morning.  We may not be able to take photos for a while, so I’ll try and link in other people’s shots from the internet.

2) I’ve heard that it’s really tough to blog and access Facebook from China, so I’ll keep writing, but you may not be able to read the posts us until we reach Mongolia at the beginning of June.  We’ll have to wait and see…

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