Laos

It was a short and smooth border hop into the country of Laos. Laos is currently a communist country, but was reigned by the French on and off as recently as 1949. It has very heavy French influence in it's architecture and it's culture. We had heard a lot about it and changed our original plans so we could stop to check it out.

We arrived in Vientiane, it's capital city, just as the sun was starting to set.  We didn't know exactly what to expect, but loved the feel of it immediately.  In the day time it is hot, dry, dusty and did I mention hot. At night though, it was small little alleys that were dimly lit and the busy day gives way to a calm and cooler night.  It was a little piece of Europe in Southeast Asia.  It even had French wine! We were so excited to see wine for the first time in months! And it was cheap, both the food and the wine so we were all smiles.

We wandered the streets, waterfront, and Buddist Wats in the day and when we got tired or too hot we'd stop into one of the many massage places and get a traditional Laos massage for $5 an hour.  It is a bit like Thai massage and a bit painful at times, but still enjoyable.

We saw some of the  famous sights and took in the local market...

The local markets are always a good place to mingle with local people, but you also get to see and smell some pretty disgusting stuff. The veggies and meats are all fresh, but fresh also means no ice, lots of flies and mix in the heat and you have strong smells. The smells along with the visuals of chicken feet, fish, ducks, chicken all with their heads on almost made you sick. Our stomaches couldn't handle too much and you know you are eating all that same stuff at dinner, but you really don't want to see it.
 

After a few days we packed up our belongings and took a 10 hour bus ride into the mountains north of Laos. It was a very pretty drive with beautiful steep limestone mountains, but some of it was best experienced with your eyes shut.  Their driving here is utter chaos and you almost run a motorbike, a cow, or a small kid off the road every few minutes.  Apparently honking really loud means to get out of the way I am passing you.  It is all makes sense to them because they do it every day, but to foreigners you gasp and white knuckle any trip you have to make.

We arrived in Luang Prabang covered in a cloud of haze. It made LA's marine layer look healthy. It is their dry season and they slash and burn their crops during this time to get them ready for the wet growing season.  By the looks of it, they must all do it at once because the air was grey and the sun was fire red through the haze. 

We arrived at a guesthouse and we were at once in love with this town.  It has a beautiful mountain background, small dimly lit streets, lots of Laos silk, silver and art work, and lots of Buddhist monks!  It has one of the largest populations of Wats in Laos and has over 400 monks.  Our guest house faced one of those Wats and we could watch the orange dressed monks and hear their nightly chanting. We also found out we could hear the gongs calling them to worship every morning at 4am too.

Each morning at 6am the monks perform a ritual called alms in which locals give offerings of food to the monks as they walk down the street. It was so cool to witness.  The first day we just watched as over 400 monks line the street and make the rounds.  Later in the week Angie bought some sticky rice and bananas and put it in the canisters as they walked by.  It was really a unique experience.

We wandered around the town and took in all the little shops and nightmarkets.

Kelly bought a bird to let go in front of a Buddhist temple. It is supposed to bring you good luck. Of course it was a tourist trap, but for 50 cents it was worth the pictures.

We went one day by longboat to Pak Oux caves and took in all the Buddha statues and the whiskey village.  They make their own rice whiskey called lao lao and that stuff is lethal, we could hardly stand it in a mixed drink. 

...and yes that is a snake in the whiskey. If that's not enough to put hair on your chest then you can chase it with a bottle containing a scorpion the size of your hand.

 We hiked up to a waterfall to escape the heat one day!

We continued enjoying the monks, the markets, the cheap massages and the good wine until it was time to head off to Cambodia.  I hope it's a little cooler there! (I know no complaining since you guys are freezing at home!)