Oh the places we have been

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We appologize that we haven't had the time to blog over the last week, we have been spending the majority of our time laying on the beach and swimming in the large pool. Here is a summary of the things that we have done since we last blogged.

Mom and I took a Lao cooking class, in which we honed our mad spring-roll making skills. We met some interesting travellers from the UK, all but one of which were new doctors and we enjoyed hearing their stories. While Mom and I cooked, Dad and Curtis rented mountain bikes and toured the town. They should have bought their bikes for the price that they paid as we have paid less to stay in some of the guesthouses here.

We toured many of the Buddist temples around Laos. The most beautiful of them all was one that was up on the top of a hill and we climbed all 328 steps to reach it; the view was stunning and was worth all of the hard work.

We travelled from Lao to Thailand where we were real tourists. The resort that we are staying at is trying its best to get us used to the lifestyles of the rich and famous; however I think that we will always be small town at heart, and it has been difficult to forget some of the poverty that we have seen. They asked us one night if they could come in and turn down our beds... to which Curtis politely turned them away saying "I just wanted to give them a hug and say no, don't worry about it."

We took a private tour to Coral island where we snorkled with the tropical fish in the coral reefs. The coral was not as colorful as I had imagined it would be, but the fish well made up for it. Our one hour excursion to the beach at our resort left us far too sunburned to expose ourselves to the sun for very long. We had to seek the shelter from the sun in the shade of the tropical trees. After snorkling they took us for a brief speed-boat tour around some of the islands where we saw a sea turtle just beneath the surface of the water. Unfortunately, the sea turtles can hold their breath much longer than we could afford to wait.

Last night we walked along the beach to watch the sun setting. It was too bad that we didn't have the cameras with us, as it was quite beautiful. We were unable to swim on this beach because of the powerful currents. It was unfortunate that we didn't have our swim suits on as it was the first time last night that the currents had appeared to have died down.

This morning mom and I said goodbye to the baby elephants at the Sheraton and they gave us hugs and kisses. The larger of the two was the most entertaining as he played the harmonica and danced to his own tunes.

I think that we are looking forward to the comforts of home (even though we have to leave the elephants behind). Our experiences have left us wanting more and I think that this won't be our last visit to Asia.

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Photos

Spring Rolls
Learning to make spring rolls in Laos

Luang Prabang
The night market in Laos. Dad couldn't get mom and I to stop buying.

Temple View
328 steps later, this was only one of a few different views.

Coral Island
The water was so clear and green.

Elephants
they loved us...

Comments

[Karen Epp]

Read it all
Wow Fells, I have read it all. Sounds like you had a great time. Are you home now? Thanks for persevering with sending a few of the pictures they are great to see. talk to you soon I hope Karen