Luang Prabang

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As you can see we have arrived here. But before I write about our beginning time here I want to write abit about being in Vientiene.

The Wats of Vientiene
The wats here are not clean and shiny like the ones in Thailand, nor do they sparkle with gold or have freshly washed tile floors . Nor do you buy beautifully deconstructed and rearranged tiny flower leis which are left as an offering in the trays by the 20 foot gold leaf Buddhas. The wats in Vientiene, Laos are often surround by French Colonial buildings which are faded and white. There are pieces missing from the buildings and the statues. They are like a favourite silk scarf which has been washed many times and is faded and very thin. Monks are eveywhere, sitting and giving blessing or reading to the devout. Animals abound, mostly dogs and cats. Often the cats are missing a tail or their tail is kinked in half. The dogs all have short legs. I somehow image an errant corgi, many years ago was set loose in this city and now we see his progeney in the temples. The one bird we saw was old, it's beak cracked and it's head wrinkled. There is dust everywhere. Concrete snakes rise aove the heads of buddhas and there is little money to maintain these places of worship. In some place the tree roots are consumming the buddhas who smile as they are slowly enveloped.

We have eaten the most delicious food here and keep returning the same restaurant (Sticky Fingers). Last night at 8 p.m. we decided to treat ourselves to a romantic French restaurant dinner. Initially we couldn't get a tuk tuk to take us into town, then one stopped, with some young Lao passengers in it. They insisted in getting out and waiting while their driver took us to the restaurant, 10 minutes away. The restaurant was rather odd, they served French "cuisine", but also Italian pizza, Lao and Chinese food. The most unsettling part of the evening was having to listen to western Christian taped music. We heard many references to God and "home on the the range" and "will the circle be unbroken". The eating and listening experience was very unsettling.

Our flight here has been seamless. After arriving at the Luang airport, we caught a ride in a tuk tuk with three French Canadians, one of whom was Lao. He suggested we could stay at the same guest house as he and his friends. We have a lovely little clean room in a very tidy little guest house overlooking the Mekong River ($18 per night). It turns out one of the men owns a restaurant in Quebec and the Loatian man is his chef. We are charmed by this city, it is beyond what I have imagined. I may be able to take a weaving course, David and I plan to take a cooking course in several days. I imagine we will be here for at least 4 or 5 days. I may even get a monkey to groom me like I saw happening as we arrived. We had our feet massaged for an hour for $4 each. I will write more tomorrow or the next day. Love Carol

P.S. Kevin, we will send you an e-mail at hartworl tomorrow to let you know where we are staying in Luang P. We really want to connect with you. We plan to typically be at the JoMa Bakery every morning at 9 a.m., see you there, hopefully. We really want to see you.

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