Posts filed under 'Luang Prabang'
It’s hard to believe actually, but I’ve been away from home for ONE YEAR today!
One year ago today I was in JFK airport with my parents, saying thank you and goodbye and then leaving them to drive home while I waited in the nearly deserted airport for my flight. Could that really have been a whole year ago?
It’s been an amazing journey so far and I hope there is much more to come for the next year ahead. It seems to get better and better every day.
What do I miss? My cat. My down comforter and clean sheets. Making my own coffee. Howard Stern in the morning. Driving a acr. Choice of music. Weekends with friends. Family. Bagels. Mexican food. Flea markets. Going to concerts. Variety of clothes and shoes and jewelery. Ease of making a phone call. My cat. The smell of autumn. American humor. Pretzels with mustard.
What do I gain? Being able to watch the sunset every day. Having a daily challenge or adventure. Meeting new people from all over the world. Developing a new sense of appreciation for home. Being able to wake up every day and do exactly what I want with the day. Learning so much about people, places, history, and culture. And not having any feelings of regret, not for even one second, for how I am choosing to live my life.
It’s funny actually when I’ve mentioned to people in the last few days that I’m coming up on one year of travelling (not because I’m bragging or anything, but usually the first things that people ask you when you meet are where are you from and how long have you been out), and they say wow, one year, where did you start? (expecting Brazil or South Africa or something very far away). And I say Bangkok. Bangkok??? And it took you a whole year just to get here??? That’s like saying in Boston that you’ve travelled for a whole year and only started in NYC. It’s just coincidence that I’m so close to Bangkok now; in reality I’ve been all over SE Asia in the last year.
Here’s to one incredible year in SE Asia - it has fascinated me, challenged me, humbled me, hated me, loved me, and will stay with me forever.
‘You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.’
-Alan Alda
Lucky Buddhas
for
another safe and happy year of travelling
October 15th, 2002
Second day in the ancient capital of Laos.
Got up early today, had an excellent French croissant and coffee at the Scandinavian Bakery, and then set out for a 3km walk out of town to a temple called Wat Pa Phon Phao. Nice walk in the early morning; it was cloudy (not hot). I passed a lot of temples, lots of monks, and many locals. Once outside of town I had a hard time finding the wat (the what??), so I stopped to ask 2 local girls Their English wasn’t very good but I was able to understand that they were willing to walk with me to make sure that I found my way. The wat was about a 10-minute walk away and on the way I found out that both girls were 18 years old and going to school to be English teachers. They were so sweet, watching out for where I walked and asking me if I was tired or hot from the walk.
When we got to the temple I wasn’t sure if they were going to turn around and go or not but they seemed interested to go in so the three of us went in together. There were 5 floors to the temple, the fifth having a good view of Luang Prabang and the Mekong River.
When we finally left it was 9:30am and the girls told me they had to go to school so we walked back to the turnoff together and then they went their way and I headed back to town. Wow, you just can’t get a more down-home true local experience than that. Lovely girls.
Back in town I checked out a few stores and temples and then popped in an internet place for an email session. Finally got some real news on the Bali bombings and I spent the better part of an hour scanning sites for info. I was shocked with the news of course and the realization that I was just in Bali myself 5 months ago and I was staying only blocks from the site where the bombing occured. English newspapers are really impossible to get in Lao and if you do get one (which you would have to find in a restaurant because they are illegal to sell), it’s at least a week behind. So internet is the only way to get real news.
I went back to the guesthouse and relayed the news to Peggy and Ron, the American couple, who, incidentally, had been planning to go to Bali as part of their trip. They were as shocked as I was to hear of so many killed. Not much desire to do any sightseeing after that; spent a few hours back at the guesthousejust hanging out, trying to read a bit. I still had plans to meet our new novice monk friend at 4pm, so Winston and I headed over to his temple, Watz Up (Wat Sop) to meet him.
I’m so glad we went. Spent about 1.5 hours at the temple, sitting with him, speaking English, asking questions, and going through his book on America and English vocabulary together. I think he was so grateful that we took the time to meet him and help him with his English, and we were equally happy to do it and have a chance to really interact with a real Lao person. Many of the young Lao boys from the villages becom novice monks at any early age so they have a chance to live in a temple in one of the cities and go to school, because more than often there are no schools in their villages. Novice Anousack (the monk) has been in the temple in Luang Prabang for 3 years already and only goes home to see his family once a year. After we learned about his family (his father grows rice and chillies in the fields), he asked about our families. Then he showed us around the temple, pointing out the classrooms, eating area, and main temple. We asked him if he would like us to come back tomorrow and he said Yes! very enthusiastically, so I think we will do it again. Personally I’m looking forward to it.
Two very nice future English teachers of Lao
Scenes from Luang Prabang
Novice Anousack
October 14th, 2002
Well it’s true, I left Vang Vieng today! It was hard to make the break from the view, the balcony, and the chilled-out atmosphere, but I do want to see more of Laos so it was time to move on. There was a local bus leaving Vang Vieng for $4 per person and I was headed out to catch it, but on the way I was approached by a woman organizing a private aircon minibus for $10 per person and she had some extra last minute seats going for $5, so I said hell, for an extra dollar I’ll take the aircon. It was a good decision, especially for a 5-hour ride. Very relaxing, easy ride with 6 people in a 9-person van. The scenery was spectacular for the entire ride. As my cycling partner through Cambodia Peter (from Sweden) described it, it could arguably be the most beautiful stretch of raod in SE Asia. Mountains, rice fields, and vistas everywhere.
Arrived here in the afternoon, found a good guesthouse, and spent the rest of the day walking around town and familiarizing a bit. Met an American couple while walking around, Peggy and Ron, from Boston, newly arrived with backpacks and looking for a place to stay. Wound up walking them back to my place to show them how to get there and then left them there to shower and rest.
Set out again this time to the top of Phousy Hill for sunset (don’t ask how that is pronounced), with a small temple on the top of the hill in the center of town. It has great views of the Mekong River, Luang Prabang and the surrounding hills. Met a monk up there (long after the tourists had taken their sunset photos and left and I was only one of three people still up there soaking it in). The monk’s name was Novice Anousack; he’s 14 years old and has been living in one of the monasteries in Luang Prabang, Wat Sop (yep, like whatz up), for 3 years. He was very polite and asking questions trying to practice his English. I asked if he wanted me to visit him after school one day to practice English and he said Yes! So I am going to try to meet him tomorrow at 4pm.
Spent the evening having dinner across from the guesthouse with the Americans. Found out from them about a bombing at the American Embassy in Bali? Need to get online today and check that out. Good day overall. Nice to be heading north.
Center City Luang Prabang
The Grand Royal Palace, or something like that
Theres that Mekong River again!
October 13th, 2002
