Just a stones throw from the land of smiles.

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Februrary 20th


Today, after several relaxing days in Luang Prabang, we're departing for the border. Our bus leaves at 7 pm and we arrive in Huay xai at 7 am tomorrow. Promises to be a long uncomfortable ride.
I'm a little bummed. I've been downloading and listening to the Howard stern show on the long journeys, but due to the lack of speedy interwebs here in laos, I haven't been able to get any new ones. I might have to (gasp) read a book.

I've really enjoyed laos, the pace is slow and the people are friendly, pretty much the exact opposite of cambodia. The food here is delicious too, though a little expensive here in luang prabang compared to vientiane or vang vieng. This morning breakfast cost 175 000 kip, or about 20 dollars, which is about the most expensive meal we've had so far. But I do have to say, it was really tasty, and accompanied by some tasty locally grown coffee.

Some interesting tidbits about Laos:

-Until about 15 years ago, the country was under communist rule and closed to foriegners (from here on reffered to as falang), which makes the fact that just about everyone speaks english even more remarkable.

-It is illegal for falang to have sex with the locals.

-Lao lao, the local rice whiskey moonshine, is technically illegal, but on pretty much every menu.

-There are no coins here. Thus far, the smallest denomination I've seen is a 500 kip bill, or about 5 cents. It features sewage workers on the back.

-The lao word for "thank you", "korpjai"(or something) is completely unpronounceable by falang.

-In many places, beer is cheaper than water.

.... thats all i've got for now.

Its currently 2pm and we need to kill 3 more hours, but are running out of things to do. I'm pretty sure the staff at the cafe we're at wants us to leave. But i paid good money for this pineapple shake (1 dollar) and will nurse it for an hour if i like....


....Feb 21st

Well that was awful... The bus ride took 15 hours through the shittiest roads imaginable, it was oversold, with people sitting on stools in the aisle (and eventually laying in my lap), the condensation from the Ac was steadily dripping on my head and it was overall just really unpleasant. My back is killing me and until 20 minutes ago i was starving.
But were here now in huay xai, we found a decent room and tomorrow we cross the mekong back into thailand.

I have about 500 000 kip i need to spend before we leave this country, it can't be exchanged outside of the country and apparently they wont exchange it in this city. I need to find something nice to buy for all my friends.

I've been pretty sick on and off for about a week now, today being peticularily bad. All I can do is be glad it didnt hit hard on the bus. I of course made the mistake of ordering some pasta with bacon when we got here. For those not in the know, bacon never gets fully cooked here, or even close, its always still very much uncooked. Which is usually acceptable, but not when you're already on the brink of sick.

Back to thailand in the morning.

Missing you all.

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Comments

[Shirley]

Great learning experience
First time reading all about your holiday. Hope you have some meds for the illness. I can just picture you on that bus and the ac dripping on you. The road reminds me of our back roads out here dusty, rough and full of potholes. Keep that chin up enjoy and I will go back at the end of the week to check out what exciting things you and Jenn are up to. Take care and enjoy! Shirley from Manitoba