Ok in Laos

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This is an excerpt of an email I sent to my parents. Will elaborate with photos & more details soon, but figured you all deserved some update 😊

just wanted to let you know that kate & i arrived in laos successfully
and are having a blast. it's shaping up to be my favorite country
(before malaysia & singapore!). you've never seen anything like it -
the average person lives in an elevated bamboo hut with thatched roof
of leaves; no electricity; 20-30 families in a village that's maybe 2
acres large (plus outlying fields for rice, rubber trees, corn, and
more); and 20-30 families each of ducks, pigs, buffalo, chicken, dogs,
cats which run around freely. To get anywhere you take dirt roads if
you're lucky; if you're unlucky they're paved with potholes, boulders,
or constant gravel. It will literally take you 12 hours to go less
than 300km. The country is incredibly mountainous and almost
completely undeveloped. We had a marvelous 3-day hike to a couple of
incredibly remote, absolutely gorgeous hill tribe villages, and I
think I've decided to invest in the tourist industry there, running a
retreat for those on verge of nervous breakdown 😊 The banks here are
only open from 8-3pm, mostly b/c everyone is so poor that there is
almost no business for banks. Getting cash was a problem for a while
- although they're just installing ATMs in the major towns. If we're
lucky they'll get international transaction capabilities soon too.
This whole country seems stuck in a amnesiac, timeless age, and hasn't
quite realized that in theory it's the 21st century now. If you want
to experience something really different, come out to Laos now before
it gets overrun and overtaken by foreigners' money. It's not going to
be like this in five years' time; this is the only place we've been
where we've had any problems communicating b/c English speaking
Laotians are so rare.

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Comments

[DoreenO]

Becky arrives at the End of the World!
ah, it appears that you have found one thing you were searching for! enjoy the farthest reaches of human society. I forecast McDonalds and Starbuck's in 5 years!, love Mom