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Hard to believe another 2 weeks have raced by! We are really settling into a rhythm and are thoroughly enjoying every minute. We have spent 6 very enriching weeks together with so much to talk about and explore! The first weeks were spent getting used to being together all the time. Hold that thought! The kids have arrived and would like to give you their impressions!
From Yohan:
Dear all,
I am in Laos. I am having a great time doing lots of fun things. In Laos there are lots of international foods. You see a lot of cafes, bakeries and pizzerias. I like eating lots of the international food because I miss eating pizzas, croissants and fries.
Soccer is a popular sport in Laos. Lots of people wear soccer jerseys. When I was in Vang Vieng I played soccer at a junior high school. It was a lot of fun playing with other kids. All the kids were wearing flip flops when they were playing soccer. I saw many different natural places like waterfalls, caves, rivers, mountains, trees, butterflies, and dragonflies. It is a big change from Myanmar! There are lots of people with SUVs, motorcycles and
electricity. I love hearing what you guys have to say. For my class, I hope that the WASL went well!
I will be writing to you again.
Your little voyager,
Yohan
From Tatiana:
Dear Friends and family,
Being here makes me think a lot about home because there is a lot of foods from America like pizzas. Here we can see a lot of temples. They are very beautiful. Sometimes in the temples there are monks praying. In the temples there are a lot of Buddhas.
In the nature there are a lot of butterflies and beautiful flowers. Some of the butterflies have two wings on each side like one time my mom saw a butterfly with four wings! There are a lot more butterflies over here than in America. I saw kids swim in the Mekong. The Mekong is a long river but it is very dirty! YOu can see people make paper next to the Mekong. Also next to the Mekong you can see people that make Lao Lao (a type of whisky). I tried the Lao Lao and it was good! In some of the Lao Lao they put centipedes, snakes and scorpions!
It is
very hot but sometimes there is rain here. I am in the tropical rainforest region. I went to a waterfall and there was a tiger in a cage next to the waterfall. And also there were moon bears. Moon bears can walk on their two feet. I also saw a spider bigger than my hand! I was digusted when I saw the spider. I also saw a big snail as big as my hand, it was very amazing! I miss you all !
Love,
Tatiana
The kids had a lot to say today so I will be a bit more brief! As I was saying, we are all kind of getting used to each other and realizing what everyone's limits are with sightseeing, homesickness, eating, sleeping everything! This is such a bonding experience for a family to have together! I highly recommend it!
Our two weeks in Laos have been so different than I had ever imagined they would be. My preconceptions of the country were mostly proved wrong. From the books I was reading and information I was gathering from internet, I was ready for Laos to be very third world with hard travel conditions. Our
first stop was Vientiane where most of this was proved to be incorrect! There are about 500,000 people in the city and it is anything but undeveloped! It will host the 2008 Asian Olympics so all of the main roads are being redone. The French passed this way before WWII and there are many remnants from that period. The Colonial syle homes and buildings reminded me a lot of Vietnam and Cambodia. Passing through the streets one might think they were in Seattle with all of the charming coffee shops where croissants, pain au chocolate and baguette are common fare. Several French restaurants serve some saucy delights and I can tell you that Emmanuel and the kids were thrilled to partake in these European feasts! I think that weeks of eating rice has led to a desire to sink their teeth into something known! Besides the European influence, I was impressed with the markets which are colorful and lively! Basins of frogs and eels splashed at us as we wound our way through the market stands. Smells of Durian fruit and warm meat still linger in my mind ( I haven't eaten meat for many weeks now!)
Of course we
did our share of sightseeing and experienced the Wats of Laos which are very different from Myanmar and Thailand. We tried to mix these visits with other activities to keep the kids interested. Along the Mekong we always found lots of activity and a great place to drink a BeerLao at the end of the day!
We traveled north to Vang Vieng which was a quiet little town thriving on ecotourism which is becoming a huge thing in Loas. Here we discovered that all of the backpackers pass this way as they make their way from Vietnam and Cambodia over to Thailand. Since it sits between these countries they come here for some relaxation and such activities as trekking, kayaking, caving, tubing, mountain biking and climbing. It was interesting for the kids to meet all kinds of people from around the world. They were amazed that we kept meeting up with the same people from town to town. This was something that happened to Emmanuel and I often when we traveled in Vietnam and Cambodia. I'm sure that we will cross some of these people again in another country! Still haven't come across other families traveling with kids!
Anyway, we
did some caving, trekking and swimming in a blue lagoon. We walked through clouds of butterflies and visited Hmong villages. Although conditions were rudimentary, there was always a satellite dish and pool table for the village! Some say that in the not so far future, Laos will become developed like Thailand and will lose a lot of it's charm. I recommend Laos as a great getaway to a very exotic place, easy to be here with kids and very inexpensive!
After Vang Vieng, we took a 7 hour bus ride north to Luang Prabang which has been named a world heritage site by UNESCO. The tropical mountain roads wound us up and over to this little gem. The town is a pennisula and is surrounded by the Mekong and Nam Kane Rivers. Small enough to do everything by foot, we spent 5 very relaxing days. We spent a whole day at a waterfall, visited Hmong villages and took a boat up the Mekong where we visited caves and stopped to watch local artisans weave, make paper and Lao Lao.
The wats were small but very beautiful and charming. We are very pleased with our stay and really feel like this
was a discovery in South East Asia. Today we flew from Luang Prabang to Vientiane where we are preparing for our departure to Nepal on Saturday. We are looking forward to a change in climate, food, and scenery. Hope this finds all of you well and looking forward to hearing from you!
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Henri
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Yoyo
Je suis tres content de voir que tu t'amuses beaucoup et que tu nous montres toutes ces belles photos. Ca me donne envie d'y aller aussi. Tu me manques beaucoup et j'ai hate de te revoir en 5th grade. Gros bisous a toute la famille. A tres bientot.