Luang Prabang, Laos

Again - excuse my punctuation - the keyboards here have keys in different places.

I love this place! But who wouldn't. After spending a few days in crazy and hectic hanoi, the laid back life of laos is just what i needed. From the window of the plane i could only see 1 dirt road and a lush, green and hilly landscape. Luang Prabang has one landing strip, and a tiny building for their airport. I got my visa, took out some local currency and fully expected to walk out to mobs of taxi drivers trying to get your attention like you'd find in so many other 3rd world countries. Instead i walked out and nothing. a couple taxi drivers but there was actually a system! you pay at the taxi booth and the driver will take you to town - no hassle. i shared a ride with a couple french canadians so it cost me a couple bucks to go about 5-10 minutes into town.

After about 30 minutes of walking around, getting a fruit shake for $0.60, and asking other tourists their recommendations i found a little guesthouse with aircon and a bathroom for $10 a night. That afternoon i wandered everywhere - this would totally be a typical laid back beach town if it had a beach. But instead it has interesting views of the Mekong River, many buddist temples and those saffron-robed monks this place is popular for. There is a curfew at about 11 or midnight, and everything is pretty quiet. Perfect after spending a few days in crazy Hanoi.

Laos isn't known for the happy ending massage but i was a little concerned after my hanoi massage. i figured a foot massage couldn't go wrong. For less than $7, i got the best foot massage in my entire life! And i'm kind of a massage snob! I have been getting foot massages everyday since then and i will continue for as long as i'm here. after the massage i had a nice dinner and dance show of typical lao tribe dances. I tried hibiscus rice wine and some more delicious food. It was just a couple japanese women and I in the restaurant so i talked to them a little bit.

Yesterday I figured I'd try my hand at a Lao cooking class. There were 2 other people signed up - a guy and girl living in London but the girl, Ana, was from Poland and the guy, Marcel, was from Czech Rep. The class was great - we went to the market to learn about lao ingredients and then got to cooking. For about 4 hours we cooked and ate delicious food. Scott says he's going to grade me when i get home. ha! I hung out with Ana and Marcel a bit and they were nice and interesting to talk to but they were obviously at their breaking point with each other. They argued a lot and were disagreeing on what and how to do things. This is one good thing about traveling on your own - you may get lonely, but you're never bored enough to fully realize much loneliness. I can go where ever I want when ever i want. There are enough tourists here to chat with for a while and even locals are friendly and will talk to you. But it would be nice to share the experience with someone. I'm really excited for Scott to meet me in Cambodia. By then maybe the loneliness will hit. Oh, I met an American girl in teh Hanoi airport. She was born in Laos but totally western so we hung out for a while in the airport and she taught me some basic words in Laos. She is volunteering in the capital of Vientiane for 2 weeks -could be interesting to learn more about.

My days here will continue to consist of massages, many fruit shakes, shopping, and getting lost. I figure that after spoiling rich people at the Ritz for over a year, I can spoil myself! Saturday I fly to southern Laos so I got a couple more days here...