Luang Prabang, an enchanting song

Luang Prabang is so very nice. Every day is both relaxing and exciting. We were surprised by how very different Laos is from Thailand (still tons of temples to visit by day and unavoidable sprawling street markets at night). While Thailand received a lot of help from Japan, the U.S. and Europe in terms of technological and infrastructural development, Laos had sanctions against it by the U.S. and others for being a communist state, which just added insult to injury after the awful firebombings from the Vietnam War, after the U.S. found out that Laos was helping the Viet Kong. So outside of the cities Laos villages are quite rustic.

We arrived via the slow-boat down the mighty Mekong River, the lifeforce of Lao, with maybe 40 other intrepid adventurers; for a slow-boat it sure went by fast. We spent the two day trip mingling with fellow tourists ("farang") from the world over and having a jolly good time jamming and singing with a Frenchman named Rich, who brought a ukulele in tow.

Making our way back up the Mekong for an afternoon, we visited a cave absolutely filled with Buddha statues of varying size and design (over 4,000, I'm told). The temples here are incredible. Two days ago we ascended the hundreds of stairs to the top of Mount Phusi, where we looked out over the beautiful river valley of Luang Prabang at sunset. It was from this spectacular vista that we saw Wat Nam Pow, a beautiful golden temple reaching towards the sky on the far side of the city. We decided yesterday to rent bicycles (truly awful machines but undoubtedly fun nonetheless) and bike to this temple, where a bouncing old nun, shaved head and crooked teeth, tittered and muttered quite welcomingly and gave us bright orange bracelets, to match the monk's explosive Day-Glo orange attire.

Also, the waterfalls are incredible. We went to Kuang Si Waterfall today...and I cannot possibly describe to you just how incredibly blue it was. Not a mere clear but a radiant turquoise brilliant kind-eyed glowing blue, I tell you! We climbed a little waterfall and enjoyed a private little wading pool in the cool waters. Then, ascending the hill, we reached a spectacular site: a waterfall 15 meters tall absolutely crAwling with farang ("tourists"). But they were all fun people, by my estimation, and we all had jolly good kicks taking turns flinging ourselves wildly over the water on the rope swing or simply jumping off the cascading torrent itself into the deep waters below (screaming, "Woooooooooooo!" all the way down, you understand). Then climbed up to the top of a far bigger waterfall and explored the jungle paths through the beautiful thick foliage, accompanied by some fine fun folks we met in the great city of Luang Prabang.

On the way back from the waterfalls we stopped in a tourist trap of a village, where all the little girls would plead in the exact same moaning intonation, "You buy one from me five thousaaaaand..." but I wandered off the path and ended up helping some villagers hoe the hard soil of their fields. They were laughing at me as I inexpertly swung the hoe, hitting rocks and all manner of impediment, dreads swinging in my face. But we had a good time. I felt it was a really authentic experience in a place where it's easy to walk the beaten path. But this is a very popular tourist destination and in Laos there are many places where the electric grid does not reach and printed books are a rare commodity, so Sarah bought a Laos book to help a child learn to read.

From here we're headed up to Luang Nam Tha, a nearly unheard of little city up north, where there is much beautiful trekking to be had and eco-tourism is all the rage. Language is hard but still we connect with people and are learning and growing and having so much fun. Thank you all for being part of our lives. Let's keep it up!