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Sabai dee!!!
I think Tom left you when we'd just booked flights etc....just as we were leaving the travel agents the guy who had been helping us asked us what we were upto the following day and asked if we wanted to go to his friends wedding party!? After we established we hadn't misheard and that it was ok just to rock up uninvited obviously we said yes. The next morning we were back at 7am (they LOVE getting up early here!) to hire a moped to get to the boat to take us to a remote Lao village which is so small its not on the map! We were the only white people who had been to the village in about 10 years so when we arrived all eyes were instantly on us. We felt a bit self conscious as we'd just crashed this couples wedding but were assured it was ok. All the children swarmed around us with wide eyes and smiling faces....a few of the braver ones came up and said 'sabai dee!!' (hello in Laos in case you hadnt guessed) and we were invited to go and meet the groom. On our way we passed the brides' house where she and her family were waiting to be joined by the groom and his. The grooms' father shook our hands and Nom (our travel agent guy) said we were joining the procession of the grooms family as they walked to the brides house! The groom himself was dressed in the full wedding regalia with definate signs of make up. We followed the procession through the main square and back to the brides house. The ceremony was conducted with just the two families present meaning the rest of the guests started the party without them - brilliant!! We sat on the balcony of the brides house overlooking the main square - or dancefloor area as it turned out to be - with most of the guests sat at the tables eating and drinking (it was 10 am...they start early with the drinking too!) The beer was flowing in the Lao style - which is there is one person with a bottle of beer, a bowl of ice and a small cup (i'll call him the pourer). The cup is filled about a quarter with beer and ice and the pourer drinks it in about 2 or 3 mouthfuls. He then fills the cup again and passes it to the left. Its passed back, he fills it up etc....so this means you're drinking constantly but in very small amounts and its diluted with the ice. (We know that this goes against all medical advice...ice, sharing glasses with random people etc etc but hey) What is definately not diluted at all is the Lao Lao - rice whisky made from sticky rice...people were wandering around with beer lao bottle full of it and pouring shots for everyone. It was ridiculously strong and it was hard to strike the balance between not being rude and also not having the desire to get drunk in the day as im very bad at it, and also Tom couldnt drink very much as he had to drive the moped back home! When we werent being given alcohol, we were being persuaded to dance...Lao dancing doesnt require a great amount of exertion as its just too hot to jump around (especially under a tarpaulin) its mainly swaying from one foot to the other, shuffling a bit and moving your hands in delicate (hopefully Joey) ways and otherwise drawing inspiration from Swiftys dancing (Tom). You dance with a partner but we werent allowed to dance together as everyone wanted to dance with us....we danced as much as we could but in the end had to go in search of water (very difficult to get hold of!). At about 4 ish we headed back to the boat completely exhausted but feeling very lucky to have been invited to experience it!
Anothe highlight of Luang Prabang was visiting the Kuang Si waterfall.....its amazing how blue the water pools are and how high the waterfall is. We climbed up halfway and passed the 'do not pass' sign to reach the pool halfway through the waterfall's drop. After a quick dip (the water was freezing) we continued our climb to the top which was completely not worth it as we couldnt work out how to reach the top of the waterfall and climbed down the other side. Near the bottom in one of the swimming areas was a rope swing where Tom launched himself into the water a few times before jumping off the top of the waterfall....and although it looked fun i couldnt trust my horrendous sense of balance to get me there without falling over! On the way up to the waterfall is a bear rescue place where about 9 (i think they were Asian sun bears) had been rescued from illegal trading....they were pretty happy just wandering around, eating bamboo and chilling in hammocks! Back at our minibus there was a fight for seats...on the way there i'd had to sit on Toms lap - very uncomfortable for me and definately more so for him. There was a precocious little boy who was about 7 or 8 who could've sat on his Dad's lap on the way there but didnt and while we were waiting for the last man to arrive just wouldnt stop talking. We'd happily have left the brat behind in the bear pit so everyone had a seat but in the end (after prompting from the other passengers) the Dad put him on his lap. Grrr.
In between we've mainly chilled....hired bikes today for a little explore but its a pretty small place so not much to see! Had a Lao bbq for dinner the other night which was cool...the centre of our table was taken away and in its place a bucket of burning coals covered with a metal dish with a raised centre. We cooked our own meat on the raised centre while the moat around was filled with liquid for us to cook the noodles and veg - yummy!!
Anyway, we're having an early one tonight as we're getting up at 5am to see the monks receiving their alms and Tom's up 2-3.30am to watch Utd!! Bus is at 8am to phonsavan where we're seeing the plain of jars - its an 8 hour journey so hopefully we can catch up on some sleep!!
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lynn burke
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no change there then!!
After weeks of telling you not to take ice in drinks.dont accept drinks from strangers, what do you do!!! well i hope you do not accept any bags from strangers when embarking on the next leg of the journey Hey!!!!!! Apart from mum having a rant how are you both? I am so envious I am seriously thinking of having my 'gap year' any time now.It all sounds terribly exciting - what did the bride and groom wear for the wedding??when you say full wedding regalia -do you mean morning suit??Any photo's.Keep in touch missing you lots of love mum and dad xxx