The last days in Laos were amazing. Taking a 2 hour van ride to a small village was quite the roller coaster. The roads or lack there of kept us jostled to alertness lest you catch some air under your rump and grapple for anything to hold into so that you don't obtain a concussion. Once we arrived we were on the river where the beauty was well worth the lack of shocks on the vans.
Next morning I decided to be brave and go for a jog since we had been eating nonstop and I hadn't done anything worth being called exercise. The fog was just rolling off the water and I was blessed to get some endorphins going with a view. After I felt that I had gotten a decent workout in I headed back down and got ready for a day of boat break downs and attempting to steal a little girl.
Our morning agenda was to take a boat down the river and visit a local weaving village. As we all clambered into two boats we settled in for a calm boat ride. To start it was so cold and none of us was prepared for the very chilly breeze so we used the life jackets as wind shields and wrapped them around ourselves. As we made progress down the river, suddenly we hear a clunk. As we all look to the side of the boat we realize we are in very shallow water and our propeller has dropped. Our driver being as prepared that he was had a spare and thinking we were in the clear, we propelled on. Only to find that our boat was filling with water at a steady rate. The guys got out and started trying to drag the boat to a little isle in the middle and we all jumped ship. After an hour of the boat driver bailing out water, we fixed the hole and away we went (with high trepidations). Finally we reached the other boat at the village and made our way up to meet the locals.
As we walked the village I saw a little girl playing in one of the huts. She drew my attention because she was full of curiouaity and mischief. She and I automatically became friends and she was leading me by the hand around the village. As she held my hand she and I walked to the head of the village, I attempted to turn her around and lead her back to her mother. But with a strong determination she turned me around and tried to walk down the steps. One of the other little girls came running after and grabbed the little girl ignoring her cries and flailing arms. She gave me a look of pure suspicion and swooped her away as if I was trying to take the little girl. Who knows, I probably would have. As I walked down the steps alone I could hear the cries of the little girl and felt my heart strings tug thinking about the life that awaited her.
