Sylvia Plath eat yer heart out!

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After all that, we finally arrived in Phonsavan (of Plains of Jars fame) with frayed nerves and a lovely Aussie gent in tow. Let's call him dodgy Uncle Steve (note: *contrary to his nickname, Steve is a very accomplished fellow who speaks half a dozen languages (including Vietnamese better than I can) and is currently working for an NGO in Cambodia that deals with such hot topics as landmine removal, aids education and water conservation). I can't really say that the Plains or the Jars contained within were all that spectacular. Historically, they're interesting enough. Jar experts speculate that they were used for ancient cremation rituals. Being the irreverent, godless person I am I naturally took the opportunity to jump into one of them. I instantly felt quite melancholy and jaded about being a young woman trapped in a patriarchal society. In other words, I discovered my very own Bell Jar scenario. In the jungles of Laos, no less. Aside from briefly channeling the spirit of Sylvia Plath, the other highlight of our tour was engaging our Laos guide in a discussion about homosexuality. I am proud to say that Alexis, Steve and I were responsible for corrupting the poor fellow by introducing him to the existence of gay marriage, adoption by gay couples and surrogate motherhood (one of his biggest issue with homosexuality seemed to be the inability of such partnerships to produce offspring). A middle-age woman from Switzerland (or was it Belgium?) kept trying to steer the conversation away from such a controversial topic by saying that our guide could not possibly understand or accept homosexuality when some of us in the Western world found the whole thing equally bizarre and condemnable. Ah well, us young, educated, Western liberals tried our best. The guide seemed especially concerned that I should marry a man and not a woman when I returned home to Canada - that land of hippies and homosexuals. Funny cuz it wasn't me he should have been worried about. But I'm not going to out anyone here on my blog...actually, I think I already did in my last entry.

The other highlight of my brief stay in Phonsavan was our night out at the Karaoke bar. We were the only non-Laos people present; furthermore, Alexis and I doubled the estrogen quotient when we arrived. Suffice it to say, we three garner quite a bit of attention and free glasses of Lao Beer. We were very eager to participate and sing a round but the DJ wouldn't play the song we requested. In hindsight it was a good thing cuz it was "Toxic" by Britney Spears. So we danced our little hearts out instead to everything from Eminem to classic Lao tunes. The night ended on a high note with Steve and I doing an interpretive dance of our time in Phonsavan. I wonder why no one invited us to an after party? After such an auspicious beginning we decided it was best if we all left the next morning before the town came after us with pitch forks and torches. Alexis and I headed to Vang Vieng and Steve to Laung Prabang. Happy trails Steve-o.

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