Before the trip: "Are you going alone?" And my standard answer, "There are a couple billion people over there..." But what is it really like? Well, Philip, the Dutch fellow I went trekking with a few days ago said, "Americans here are not like the Americans in Costa Rica. There, they were the ones you hear about, the loud, overweight ones. Americans here are different." Philip hit it right on. I call it the 'sieve effect' combined with the 'gumption factor', the result is that the farther a-field the finer grained the fallout. And not just Americans, lots of interesting folks [View Full Entry]

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Luang Prabang has been very relaxing. Few touts. Great places to sit by the river. Good cafes. Good weather, hot during the day, cool at night. No bugs. Cheap food, if you look for it. A couple of places to get books. Rooms from $3 to $15 or big bucks if you want to pay it. Great night market. More tourists than I expected, but cool tourists. And lots of interesting sights out of town. Worth at least 2 nights, I've been here... hummm, about 10 days I guess. A little reluctant to leave. Off to Nong Khiau tomorrow via slow [View Full Entry]

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Sheets of sesame seeded 'seaweed' are sold in Luang Prabang markets and restaurants. It is made from filamentous algae (green or blue-green, not sure) which grows attached to the river bottom in the clear-water rivers that flow into the Mekong. Some internet sites refers to this product as being made from a moss - it is not made from moss! Lao gather this algae by wading out and reaching down, submerging there heads if necessary. Some folks have dive masks and dive for it. I did not see anyone with a snorkel. When they come out of the water with a [View Full Entry]

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My turn. "I live in Alaska, I do computer work and once or twice a year I cook. All my friends will be amazed I'm in a cooking class." And Matt, a British fellow who looks like a poster ‘boy’ for a winning rugby team says "My mates will be gobsmacked!" "Gobsmacked?!? What is that?" "Completely suprised, astounded" comes from the other Brits sitting around the table. "Well that's a new one to me, could be the only thing I take away from the class today and worth every kip." I had been wondering about Matt. He looked rather uncomfortably out [View Full Entry]

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In the morning we walked around the village, Ban Sopchep. There were looms in the lower area or just next to most houses. [View Full Entry]

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I had booked a three day hike but when I showed up in the morning the hike was cancelled do to sick folks. So... the company had a bicycle-kayaking combo with an overnight in a small village that was about to leave, so I did that. It was very good. First day biking. Bikes were newish, nice mountain bikes. We rode a dirt road, infrequent cars. Stopped at a few villages. Hot. Dusty. Some ups some downs. Support van stayed more or less with us the whole day. Some folks dropped out. I thought it was just enough of a workout [View Full Entry]

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Wating in the morning. [View Full Entry]

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The monks walk in single file. The people give food. Later, along the Mekong via river boat to a cave. Afternoon to a waterfall. [View Full Entry]

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The King’s birthday. Paper predicted over a million people in the park next to the Grand Palace in the evening. I only went during the day, 9 out of 10 in yellow... yellow is the color of Monday, the King’s birthday was on a Monday. So I was not there when the predicted million were there, only 100,000 or so but to me it was enough to call it an experience and run. [View Full Entry]

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May or may not be gold. There are a lot of little mirrors here, like millions. But there is also a lot of genuine gold. [View Full Entry]

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