After crossing the border into Laos I jumped on a boat going down the Mekong river. It was a two day trip with a stopover in a little hillside village for one night. The boat we took down the river is called a "slow boat", these things are hilarious looking! It seems like a miracle that they even float without tipping over. They crammed like a hundred people on this boat that is probably 8 ft at the widest and over 75 ft long...I'll throw in a picture you'll see what I'm talking about!
But the trip downriver was great; if not a bit uncomfortable from the tiny wooden benches. The villages we were passing seemed much more primitive than anything I've seen in Thailand. Pretty frequently we'd see groups of people sitting on the riverbank casting nets or collecting shellfish. The best part was these little naked kids swimming around in the river, when they saw our boat coming they would hurry out of the water, climb up onto the rocks and do a cannonball into the river as we passed. Then they would come up with a big smile and wave...everyone got a good laugh out of it
After two long days on that boat I was definitely ready to be on solid ground for a while. We arrived in Luang Prabang three days ago just in time for the Lunar New Year celebrations. The celebrations occur all over Laos and Thailand, it goes for about a week. There is something symbolic about water during the New Year (not sure why) and people go all over town dumping water on each other. It's pretty much impossible to go anywhere without getting drenched! I've been told that Luang Prabang is the place to be for the New Year celebrations and its supposed to get even busier here as the week goes on.
Luang Prabang is a really nice place, its been easy to just stick around and check out the town. Everything looks pretty European around here; I think Laos became a French colony during the 19th(?) century. The hotels and store fronts don't really look like something you'd expect to see in SE Asia. Anyway, I'll be taking off tomorrow and wish I had more time to stay around here for a while longer.
I should be in Laos for another five days or so, then move on to Cambodia. Starting to feel like I may not make to Vietnam this time around. With the time I have left it might be to much to finish Laos and then do two other countries...
I'm not sure if US News is covering the crazy stuff going on in Bangkok right now. They've been having these riots for a while and I overheard some people saying that the airport may get shut down. I'm sure it will all blow over in the next several weeks and be fine, worst case I have to stay over here for a little longer which actually sounds pretty good right now.
Alright that's enough for now, hopefully I can send an update from Vang Vieng in a couple days...
Jon! The UPS man just arrived with a monkey! Ruthie and Jazzy are not pleased, so he'll have to live in the guest room for now. Maybe dad would like to have him! :() Hahaa! The story about naked kids crackds me up...reminds me of something you might have done! That is so awesome you get to be there over the New Year! We are praying for safe travels and good pictures! : )
ReplyDeleteJonny,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I am really glad that you are having such a good time. From the pictures it looks like you have been to some pretty sweet places so far. Well travel safe and enjoy Cambodia!
Still living in your room. I got kicked out when Kyle came in unexpectedly one day. He ask me what I was doing in there and why I was eating his hoho's and watching the TV that had been missing for a couple weeks. I just merely turn it around and asked him what he was doing in your room. None the less I had to leave, but I cracked the window open and climb up later that night. Take care Jon.