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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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that she'd purchased at the stop-over in Paris. Only by this time, the several layers of carefully packed chocolates were now one big heap of melted hot chocolate fondue. Four spoons. One open box of oral pleasure. Dig in girls! The world was good and wonderful again!! Dinner was at Delta's with the power out, it was candlelit. Then, we walked the dark unlit streets to the local temple to watch young buddhist novices light candles in the courtyard. Feeling contemplative, I sat a while in the dark, pensive.... Stopped for ice cream and then back to Delta's a third time for cake and a candle and a birthday song. At home, we packed..to music! Praise the lord for the wonders of the i-pod! I hadn't brought my own mp3 player on travels and was grateful for Umisha's musical contribution. Midnight and lights were out. Surely after two sleepless nights in a row, I'd sleep tonight. It was not to be. Light, broken spells of unsconsciousness was all my body would allow. An early morning dream of freeing tigers from their cages woke me vividly as we rushed out just in time for the bus...

-- Pakse to Tad Lo --

...We boarded what looked like a tin box, with wheels and several broken windows, known in Laos as a bus. Any hopes of sleep catch-up were immediately disregarded. Instead I made it through several more chapters of Grisham. In the book, Nate O'Reily was stuck deep in the heart of the Brazilian jungles, encountering local communities, their straw huts and daily rural life. Looking out the window, I almost felt like a character in the story. There was a backdrop of cloud topped mountains, and the surrounding land showed bushland and rainforest. The only signs of life were the interspersed straw huts set on deep red earth. It was at one of these small communities that we descended: Tad Lo; a small sleepy village with a few guesthouses
and local inhabitants. We rented two basic straw huts for the equivalent ...