Vagabonding : 2006 March |

You will get wet on this ride.

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A passing fast boat in Laos

I remember when I was a kid and going to 6 flags amusement parks about half way into the crazy 1KM long lines for water rides there would be signs that read “You will get wet on this ride”. There was no sign like that for the fast boat from Luang Prabang to Thailand or it would have read:

“You will get wet, uncomfortable, deaf, vibrated, and possibly killed on this ride.”

It sounds like Im complaining, but I shouldnt. We arrived a few hours late, but I still had 2 arms, 2 legs, and my head wasnt bouncing around on a broken neck like a pez-dispenser - so I am a happy man. Leaving Laos was probably my worst travel experience to date here, mixed up tickets, rip-offs, late boat, closed border crossing (where I had to bribe the guy to stamp my visa). But I arrived, and am currently sitting in Chiang Mai, the 2nd largest city in Thailand, which I love so far.

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I am rich in Laos!

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Luang Prabang, Laos

I have news to report…I am now officially a millionaire!! Well, in Laos anyways. Before anyone comes rushing to be my new best friend, I went to the currency exchange today and got US $100 worth of Kip, which totalled 1,0296,500 KIP. That means I actually have over a million of some countries currency. Now if I could get some obscene fluctuation in the world currency market tomorrow…I would have something…otherwise, I have a bunch of dirty paper with an ugly man’s picture that isnt worth much outside of Laos.

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Posted in Laos | Tags: kip, lagoon, Laos, luang prabang, waterfall

Luang Prabang - day 1

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birds!

I spent all day vagabonding around Luang Prabang on foot. It was only $1 to hire a hideous looking rusty French bicycle but I decided the town wasnt really THAT big and I needed some exercise.

I hit a couple wats then ran into Monique on the street and we grabbed some lunch. I splurged and ate at a nice French bakery - $3 for my lunch. It was so delicous though. I left her and started my wandering. I ended up hiking up steps on a big hill here that overlooks the city. There is a wat on top and at the bottom some old women were selling 2 tiny caged birds in thin bamboo cages. The Buddhist believe that it is good luck to release them up at the temple. I haggled them down to $2 and bought a couple birds that I wanted to set free. They were hopping around nervously and squeaking inside the cage as I climbed the 210 stone steps, sweatting to the top of this hill. On the way I passed a guy that chastised me for buying the birds. He said that by giving the money I was supporting the future effort to capture more birds. Here, I thought I was on my way to becomming a local bird hero for setting my 2 friends free and after passing one tree-hugger now I felt like the evil tourist. I weighed my options - 1) take the birds in the cage back to my room and smuggle rice to them for days. 2) Take them to a noodle kitchen and flop down some Kip to see what Pad Wren with noodles tasted like. 3) Hurl them over the cliff in the cage at the tree hugger. or 4) release them anyway. The birds caught me on a soft day so when I reached the temple, I ripped open the cage and off they went with a “thank you” squeak. I didnt feel so lucky standing there $2 more broke with Wren crap on my hands from the cage, but maybe Buddha works in mysterious ways.

Some more wandering landed me into a park with a nice pond to sit beside. I bought a big chunk of watermellon and was sitting there with juice running down my chin and elbows when 3 young Laos girls approached and sat on my bench. They were all smiles and wanted to practice English.

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Posted in Laos | Tags: Laos, luang prabang, temple