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Hi guys - lack of updates: have been travelling through rural southern villages where electricity, water and telephones are a luxury, let alone internet. For now, feast on this:

"Sawadee". "Sawadee". We responded to the huge friendly smile characteristic of this region. It turns out that he is Laotian, and an epitomy of everything that is rumoured about Laotian people. Warm, friendly, highly-loveable and so laid back he'd almost fall over. Traversing and experiencing such beautiful people, one is a far cry from the familiarity of fear and unrest of the West, that it is difficult to believe the world is in certain parts, in turmoil. Ironically, the Democratic Republic of Laos is considered to be one of those countries. And for sure, it has its share of political instability, under-development and economic struggles, but, a certain flame of happiness dances in the eyes of the locals with whom I have interacted - a flame whose light is often missed in the West.

In Laos. In Love.

Asha Patel
2006-08-23 10:48:48

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farm cafe, and my sole motivation for going. Spoke to Mr Thi, who welcomed my enthusiasm and encouraged us to look around the farm. As I walked around seeing the locals farming the land, labouring over the construction of mud huts and organic teas I gre increasingly excited. We ate crispy fried mulberry leaves and fruit shakes before heading to the river. Time for tubing. What on earth possesed me to disobey my intuition and take part in this popular activity I don't know but as soon as I sunk into my tube, I spent the following two hours complaining about all manner of things from being wet (Jesus Christ Ash, you're in a river)! to being uncomfortable, bored, and tired. When a passing Irish dude overheard this, he amusingly threatened to chuck downtownhis flip flops at me as I was obviously delusional, I mean, how could I possibly not be enjoying this? Meandering down the Mekhong, laying back in my tube, watching the world go by. Whatever. By 5pm, I could take no more. I pulled myself in to the bank of the river and that;s where my fun began. I asked a local for a lift back to Vang Vieng and she pulled out a motorbike. I was soaking wet, in my swimwear, carrying one humungous tube and other valuables. "no problem" she said. Well, okay. So I balanced myself on the back of the bike, huge tube in one hand, and valuables in other. I had a great time amusing the onlookers as we sped through town. The evening was a good dose of Friends' episodes as we lay on the cushions in one of the many restaurants realising the fantastic marketing ploy of having back to back Friends episodes all evening - for Western tourists will sit there, glued to the screens for many hours whilst ordering food and drink...

...Thursday over breakfast a girl turned around, recognising my London accent. Turns out her and boyfriend are also room with a viewplanning to volunteer at the farm. She joined us that afternoon for a motorbike ride and ...drama. It was an eventful ...