Guys! Guys! I know it has been a while since I have not written and believe me I have so much to tell you that I don't think I can do it in one go! (Dad internet cafes have sprung up like chicks throughout Laos but you will be gald to hear that I have not seen one Mac Donalds yet :).
So instead of starting from the begining like expected I shall start from the end, ie the most exciting bit! Yesterday I attended a Baby shower party in a small village outside of Luang Prabang (Former capital of Laos situated in the North). It was an amazing experience and I just have to share it with you.
I left Chiang Mai (Thailand) and entered Laos through the northern border at a place called Chiang Khong in Thailand. Then I took a slow boat down the Mekong river to Luang Prabang. The journey was 2 days long and the scenery was amazing. It was the perfect trip to enter into the lovely laid back athmosphere that prevails throughout the country. I met Alan and Daniel on the way to the border. We traveled together and met Sit on the boat. Sit is from Laos and was going back to his wife's village to see his new born baby. We got on really well and when we got to Luang Prabang he invited us to go and visit him the next day, which obviously we did!
More I travel more I come to realize that hospitality is a word that we know too little about back in Europe. The highlight of my trips have always been meeting incredibly kind and welcoming people, who have twice as less than we have but give twice as much...
Sit and his family are one of these people. We whent to visit the baby, spent a lovely day with them and got invited to a delicious meal (aaaaaah the food makes me go crazy here! it is sooooooooo good). Then just like that he invited us to go to the party he was giving for the baby, the following monday. And what a party! It is a big celebration where the baby gets blessed by all the family who perform some rites to wish him a good life. After the ceremony the party begins and you basically eat, drink (a lot)and dance from 10 am until dusk or even late in the night. We all had a wonderful time! I will never forget any of it and I can t wait to tell you in details when I get back.
I am still in Luang Prabang which is a beautiful town that has been given the world heritage label by Unesco. French architecture mingles amid beautiful temples and a very relaxed village feel (Lao only has 6 million inhabitants so i was told so even the major cities feel like villages). It is a great place to relax and there is also plenty of voluntary work opportunities (teaching english or spanish for example at schools or temples etc) for travelers who are interested. Tomorrow I am going to give some classes to children.
Laos had been labled by a french writer as a refuge to the last dreamers... a place where western influence did not disturb the peaceful pace of the lao people (well aside from the bombs that were dropped by them during the war and the french domination period..). While Lao is still an amazing place to relax, the tourist industry has boomed over the last years and I am afraid that the last dreamers have to venture a bit further out as time passes by. 5 star hotels, resorts and guest houses spring up every day, so do the internet cafes (there is a monk sitting on the computer next to me) and I am sure carefour is on its way. Laos though is still a gem of a place where it takes an 8 hour bus journey to get to the next town... 200 km down the road! And where life adjusts itself to the tranquil pace of the Mekong river... I am loving it!
Well I guess i will have to tell you about the beginning in my next post...
