Phnom Penh

All that we had heard of Phnom Penh was that it was a dodgy/depressing city where you want to spend as little time as possible. After a long and cramped minivan journey, we arrived to the city after dark and were tired, hungry and with little patience. So when we were immediately swarmed by tuk tuk drivers touting their different guest houses, we felt a bit overwhelmed and missed Laos even more. While our first night did not leave the most favorable impression, our time in this city over the next 3 days was actually quite memorable and enjoyable.

Mariah's Birthday

Our first full day in Phnom Penh (Oct 16) was Mariah's 26th birthday, so I knew we had to make it special. It was a whirlwind day filled with trips to the National Museum, the Grand Palace, and a famous temple. In between sight seeing, the girls (Mariah, Stacey, and Fauzia) got pedicures, manicures and massages. While the girls were being groomed and pampered, Cory and I took in the local bars and quickly realized that you can get anything and everything in Phnom Penh. While enjoying an Angkor beer, we were approached with offers of sex, drugs, and weapons (guns/rockets/tanks - and your own cow to use them on). I don't think I would have believed the guys selling these trips, but I had already seen something similar on YouTube...pretty crazy. Needless to say, we declined the offers.

The day's finale was a gourmet dinner at one of Phnom Penh's finest Italian restaurants where we enjoyed a multi-course meal and fine wine (compliments of a bit of birthday money from Mariah's mom, Joni -thanks again! ;) I had also managed to arrange a birthday berry cheesecake from the local bakery that we enjoyed with chopsticks back at our hotel after dinner. Mariah's birthday was a success. Even though we didn't spend it on a tropical island (as she would have liked), we did find our own slice of paradise in the bustling capital of Cambodia.

Pol Pot, S-21 Prison and the Killing Fields

As travellers, our goal is to better understand the country we are visiting and its people. To do this, we must enjoy the good and take the opportunity to understand the bad. After Mariah's B-Day, we changed gears and immersed ourselves in the history of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

We started by visiting the Tuol Sleng Museum, also known as Security Prison 21 (S-21) . S-21 was formerly Tuol Svay Prey High School until 1975 when it became the largest detention center used by the Khmer Rouge to store and torture their victims. The museum is housed at the old prison and many of the same torture devices are still left in the rooms with pictures that display the atrocities that occurred within its walls. It's hard to imagine the magnitude of the extermination and torture that went on within this building, but the harder reality is that Pol Pot was not only directly and indirectly supported by major world powers like China, the UK, the US, and many other countries, but once he was discovered as being a ruthless dictator, nothing was done by the international community. In fact, countries like China took advantage of the situation to purchase food cheaply in exchange for weapons to fuel the Khmer Rouge.

Directly tied to S-21 are the killing fields of Choeung Ek where between 1975 and 1978 about 17,000 men, women, children, and infants were exterminated. Most of the victims of Choeung Ek were formerly inmates of S-21. It is an eerie experience seeing the mausoleum with over 9,000 of the uncovered skulls and walking on the dirt paths which are littered with clothes from the victims buried below. Due to the large amounts of rain in this region, the remnants of those still buried keep rising to the surface of the field. The guides of Choeung Ek are constantly finding new bones and teeth after each rain and leave the clothes on the path for people to see just how real the people buried below are.

Similar to visiting the atrocities of the Holocaust in Europe, a visit to the killing fields brings home the horrid reality that so many innocent victims have been killed in the name of power and hatred - and worse, that this is still happening in places in the world today. In Cambodia, the killing was taken to another level - all victims were brutally tortured and then killed, not by a quick shot to the head or gassed, but by being bludgeoned to death so as not to waste precious bullets. The country as a whole has been rocked by the awful experience of Pol Pot's reign and is still building back the infrastructure destroyed by this ruthless leader and the Khmer Rouge. While strides have been made in recent years with the country's fledgling democracy, it will still take years to gain back the trust of the people and to erase the deep seeded fear and pain that are part of the human implications of such a horrible regime.

The Center for Children's Happiness, CCH:

Now this is what traveling is all about - spending time with the local children. Thanks to Fauzia, who had learned about an orphanage called the Center for Children's Happiness (CCH) from a fellow traveler, we were able to spend some quality time with some of the kids of Phnom Penh. CCH is a home where kids (some without family and some with family, but too poor to support them) can live and receive food, clothing, and an education that will enable them to have a better life. The center is currently home to about 50 boys and girls ages 5 - 18. We learned that many of the local orphanages will go to the local garbage dump in search of children working and living as garbage pickers. Some of the kids still lived with their parents, but were so poor they were working night and day scrounging for things to sell to support their family. Other children had parents that had passed away from Aids, land mines or other diseases. The orphanage takes the children in (asking those with parents for their permission first) and begins to give them back their childhood.

In preparation for our visit to the orphanage, we had gone to a local market to pick up some toys and games for the kids. Not knowing what to expect, we bought: balls, a plastic bowling set, building blocks, and nail polish. All our choices turned out to be big hits with the kids, especially the small ones. Many of the teens were more interested in talking with us and practising their English while they gave us tours and told us about themselves - their dreams, goals and interests.

We arrived at lunch time when most of the kids had a break from school and came back to the center to eat. We had the opportunity to spend time with all different ages of kids and enjoyed learning how they are cared for and the opportunities they are given by living there: education, food, clothes, shelter, and potential for university scholarships. One boy we spoke with was beginning the International Baccalaureate (IB) program to prep for university and was told if he did well, he'd be able to receive scholarships to US schools. Some of the other kids were anticipating an upcoming sponsored trip to Japan (where many of the center's donors live) to perform their traditional Khmer dances.

After the older kids left for school, the younger group had an art lesson taught by a volunteer from Southern California. The volunteer (I can't remember her name) had come to Cambodia three years earlier while traveling and decided to return to work for a year as an art teacher in the many orphanages across Phnom Penh. Hearing her stories and the conditions of other orphanages was very encouraging; however, there are a few that are in poor condition due to under-funding, some that abuse their funding, and even a very few that take advantage of the kids. There was one orphanage that she had learned was dealing in the sex trade, and believe it or not, it is actually funded by Save the Children Norway (now, thank goodness, it's finally under investigation). It is a good reminder that when giving money to a good cause, it's important to know where your money is going. And in many ways, giving your time and love can be a most precious gift.

And since we are on the topic of giving, I would like to take this opportunity to let you all know that the children of CCH are working on building their library collection (both Khmer and English books) to help them with their education. If you would like to donate to the cause and send along a few books in English, they are looking for: young children's books (the kinds with lots of pictures and basic story lines/sentences), books at the adolescent reading level (e.g., Harry Potter-type novels, short stories, historical fiction/non-fiction), English grammar books, or any others you think might be beneficial. You can mail the books (fast or slow mail) to:

The Center for Children's Happiness, CCH

Director: Mech Sokha

#413, St. 371, Sk. Steung Meanchey Khan Meancheym

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

email: mechsokha@hotmail.com

(And they of course also accept financial donations if you prefer to send money to buy clothes, school supplies, food, toiletries, etc.)

Finally, after spending our last day in Phnom Penh, we had to say goodbye to our friend Fauzia, who was our travel companion off and on from our slow boat journey, throughout Laos, and into Cambodia. She was heading to Malaysia and we wish her the best! For us, it was time to travel to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor and meet up again with Cory and Stacey (who had departed a day earlier).

Crossing into Cambodia

After our three weeks in Laos, it was time to say goodbye to what has been our favorite country so far to continue our journey south into Cambodia. It is both the blessing and the curse to be able to move on to new experiences, leaving behind cherished places that we will likely never see again.

Traveling in a large group of fellow traveler friends, we bought tickets for a water taxi to the main land and a minibus to take us to the Cambodian boarder. This southern border crossing is a new route that has only been open for less than a year - and they are clearly still working out the kinks. Once off the islands and back on the mainland, we quickly found out that our tickets were sold to us by an enterprising businessman who was intending on pocketing the money. He purposefully sent us two hours after the bus for the boarder had departed. We met up with the guys from the company in charge of the boarder run and explained our plight. They were frustrated at the situation and inconvenience of arranging another bus, but agreed to help us anyhow. After a bit of investigation, it turned out the scam was contrived by one of their brother-in-laws. Why someone would try to cheat us on such a small island where they can easily be found out is beyond us - there was no way he would get away with it. Needless to say, our scammer's brother-in-law would handle the punishment once he got us over the boarder and returned home.

And then there were 5: Cory, Stacey, Fauzia, and us traveling onwards in Cambodia...
From the boarder, our group of 13 split into two - those wanting to visit a volcano to the East and those of us wanting to head South to Phnom Penh. So we set off with the Canadian couple we'd befriended (Stacey and Cory) and our British friend (Fauzia) and headed onwards to the town of Kratie, en-route to the capital.

Kratie is a small city that's not really worth visiting except for the fact that it is home to the rare and endangered species of Irrawaddy fresh water dolphins. To see the dolphins, we rented a motorbike and headed up along the Mekong to find the quieter waters where the dolphins are frequently seen. For those who know us well, you will know that for Mariah to give up control and let me take her life in my hands by driving the motorbike is a big deal. But she did a great job relaxing and holding on to me while I dodged the traffic (cars, bikes, kids, dogs, cows, etc...), especially since the first few minutes were a little shaky as I got accustomed to the gears and gadgets. We rented a boat to take us onto the river and spent a couple hours watching the dolphins "frolic." Sadly, we have about 1,000 photos of nothing but a dorsal fin here, or a nose there...nothing worth showing off really, but you can view the photos if you want at the link to the right. After our dolphin excursion, we negotiated a shared minivan ride to Phnom Penh.

The trip from Kratie to Phnom Penh should not have been eventful, however, about halfway to the city our driver got out and asked us to vacate the vehicle, pointed to an over-crowded minivan for us to board, and asked for full payment for the trip. This was not part of the deal we made 2 hours earlier at the taxi station and we knew this was a scam. But with the support of the group, I stood in the middle of a crowd of yelling Cambodians trying to get us to move into the new minivan (without enough seats). The negotiations persisted for about 20 minutes until a local English-speaking student and I were able to negotiate our compliance in return for a reduced price. So, we finally all squeezed into the last minivan of the day heading to Phnom Penh for a cramped 3-hour journey.

Four Thousand Islands - Don Det

After our cave adventure, Mariah and I packed our bags and headed south to the 4,000 Islands in Southern Laos where the Mekong stretches up to 14km and creates little island groups perfect for watching the world float by.

On our way to the islands, we met up with a Canadian couple who soon became our travel companions through Laos and Cambodia. Cory and Stacey just rapped up 3 years of travel - 1.5 years in Korea teaching English and 1.5 years in Africa (Zambia and Angola) working with the NGO People to People.

In Don Det, the popular backpacker island on the boarder with Laos and Cambodia, we also ran into our Lao companions from the "slow boat" to Luang Prabang: Fauzia, Dean, Dave, Danny and Nicolai. Time in Don Det seemed to stand still as we took afternoon bike trips to surrounding islands, beaches and waterfalls (more like extreme rapids than waterfalls). We also frequented the local bakery - a rarity on an island with no electricity and only accessible by boat. The bakery was run by an Australian guy who came to Don Det for a week and ended up staying for three years. His specialties were pumpkin burgers on fresh foccacia and carrot walnut muffins. The bakery was a great place for me to set up our backgammon board and give out lessons while Mariah soaked up the chat time.

Aside from our bakery socializing, the majority of our 3 days on these islands was spent sitting in hammocks watching the river flow by wishing that our time in Laos didn't have to end. It is during our travels in this wonderful country that Mariah and I truly felt separated from our lives back at home - we were able to fully embrace the travel lifestyle and spent lots of time reflecting, philosophizing and relaxing.

More so for me, it has been hard to just live in the moment when I know there is so much going on in the world with family, friends and business. And in my desire to not miss anything, I have sometimes felt like I have not fully given into the lifestyle of a year abroad. The struggle to stay in the moment and not think too much about what we are missing at home continues to be a challenge, but I (and we) are getting better at it. In the words of our friend Ruth back at home, it is taking in the memorable snapshots of life and travel that will be so beneficial when we are back at home/work and need to take a quick mental vacation. :)

Transportation in South East Asia

One of our greatest adventures (and also the most time consuming) during our South East Asian travel has been getting from A to B. In two short months, we have taken about every mode of transport you could imagine. We thought it might be fun to do a bit of transport "show and tell"...

Planes
Compared to any other airline we've traveled on, the ones we've flown in Asia have been the best in quality and service. We took Thai Airways from Hong Kong to Bangkok and actually had the most delicious Thai curry on board. We also took 2 flights on Bangkok Airlines in the region and even on the short one-hour flights, you get a meal-like snack, beverages and excellent service. Not to mention the warm little towels they bring you to wash your hands before your meals. We highly recommend these airlines if you find yourself coming to SE Asia!

Trains
We had one looonnnggg 20-hour train journey on two trains from the South of Thailand to the North. The Thai sleeper trains have very comfy beds and a little curtain for privacy (a nice touch). Eric also enjoyed the attention of a particularly cute "Lady-Boy" attendant on our night train. :)

The day trains actually serve you food and beverage just like you'd get on an airline. Once again, we weren't disappointed with the Thai curry and cookie snacks we got on board from the attendant driving her trolley up and down the aisles.

Buses
We took a whole variety of these, from aircon comfort buses to barely-held-together local buses prone to flat tires. On the nicer buses, we were often entertained (or slightly annoyed) by the blaring SE Asian music videos or variety shows (all VERY cheesy) that they showed on the TV at the front or played over the loud speaker. Features of most bus journeys also included:

• Cargo transport - buses transport motorbikes (sometimes in the bus aisle), live animals (mostly chickens and fish), large empty water bottles, vegetables, and pretty much anything else you can imagine either on top of the bus or somewhere inside - and maybe right next to you.
  
• Vendor stop - this is when local vendors race aboard to sell you BBQ fish or bird (I say bird b/c I'm really not sure it was chicken), rice, bread and other goodies we could not decipher. It's a mad dash where the bus is filled with loud voices bargaining and touting. The vendors put stuff on your lap to try and get you to buy. And then, before you know it, they all rush off and you are on your way again.


• Random stops in the middle of nowhere to drop people off or pick people up - it was not uncommon that the driver would halt to a stop and the "assistant" would get on the mobile to call so-and-so down the little dirt road to come out of their house and get on the bus. There are no rules or real bus stops and time schedules are "flexible." It's most enjoyable when you just sit back, relax and let it be part of the fun. Being in a hurry is not an option.
  
• Bathroom breaks - sometimes you had the benefit of stopping at an actual place with a toilet. Other times, it was boys on one side and girls squatting on the other - usually with no tree cover, which is okay with a skirt, but shorts are a little risque

Motorbikes
By far the most popular form of transport for the locals. Motorbikes are more affordable than a car/truck and can actually serve as the family minivan - in case you weren't aware. We saw entire families piled onto one motorbike (dad, mom and 2-3 kids). And these handy little vehicles are also good for transporting farm animals, bicycles, wood, and even bedroom sets (yes, we really did see that happen). The Asian concept of what is possible by motorbike and what is not (and what is safe and what is not) is entirely different from the Western perspective. Riding a motorbike is actually was quite a freeing experience - you feel very much in the mix of the local lifestyle and happenings.

Warning: many tourists wind up with a SE Asian "tattoo" due to the no-holds-barred form of traffic and the ever changing road conditions

Boat
We took many of these...and a whole variety - ferry boats, wooden canoes, fast boats, long-tail boats, slow boats, large tourist boats. There are so many rivers to cross and travel (not to mention sea travel in the islands) that we got quite comfortable with being on the water. And like motorbikes, the locals can transport just about anything on a small motorized wooden canoe including: motorbikes, sacks of food, livestock, etc... and sometimes way too many people than should safely be in the boat. But hey, it's all part of the local experience - we figured at least we knew how to swim if we had to abandon ship.

Minibus
When a local bus wasn't available, we often took a minibus. Sometimes these were specifically for tourists and they'd pack you in like sardines. And sometimes you shared these with the locals, where they also packed you in like sardines (could be intersting when a monk was on board because they are not allowed to touch women). But it was always an enjoyable ride if we could open the window and let the breeze blow on our faces as we listened to our ipods and watched the incredibly beautiful scenery pass by. And did I mention - minibuses are ALSO used for all sorts of random cargo transport...but if you've read this far, I think you catch my drift.

Bicycle
On a couple of occasions, we explored our surrounds by bike and get a little exercise in the process. We pedaled around the islands of Don Det and Don Kon in Laos and also explored the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia by bike. Both times, we had the enjoyable company of our Canadian friends Stacey and Cory.


Tuk Tuk
These little vehicles are a symbol of SE Asia and the drivers are notorious for scamming tourists. However, they are quite fun and if you are good at bargaining you can get a good deal. We found a nice little tuk tuk driver in Phnom Penh who became our personal driver over the three days we stayed there. He then referred us to his friend in Siem Reap who we were surprised to find waiting for us at the bus station with a sign! But that's how business works here and we didn't mind giving his friend a bit of business as well.

Sawngthaew
We have spoken about these trucks in several of our previous blog entries. This was probably our favorite mode of transport and a great way to mix with the locals. Most trucks have a route they tend to drive and if you are going the same direction, you jump in at an agreed fare. Along the way, the driver stops to pick up others who flag him down and drops people off where they tell him - sometimes at their front door. Like most other transport, the locals use the trucks to transport all sorts of cargo either on top of the roof, or smushed right in beside you. In Cambodia, if they ran out of room inside the truck, then people would start piling on top of the roof (we chose to stay inside).

Walking/Trekking
Yes, we did sometimes go by foot! We went on a few nice jungle treks and also explored some of the cities and towns on our own two feet!


Elephant
Ok, so maybe not the most practical form of transport, but we have to include it here because we so enjoyed our elephant experiences trekking through the jungle.



Other Transport We Didn't Take, But Thought Was Cool...
-Tractors (aka: "jumbos") used for transporting people and cargo on the flatbed trailer attached





-Pony and Ox carts: "same, same" (as they say here) as above, but pulled by animal rather than by little tractor.

Into the Darkness - Tham Lot Kong Lo Cave

After spending a few days in Vang Vieng - a backpackers haven along the Nam Song river with tubing and plethora of riverside bars with awesome rope swings - we began heading south once more, in route to a 7km cave we had read about in the Lonely Planet.

We bought a public bus ticket to go first from Vang Vieng to the capital of Vientiane. When I saw the bus, I had some initial concerns. It was basically a rusting box of tin from the 1960's that barely held together. We seriously debated upgrading to the "V.I.P" bus, but Eric convinced me that we should have the local experience. I agreed, having seen a few other foreign backpackers getting on board and knowing that at least the road was not as steep or windy as the one from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng (we took a tourist minivan on that route - though not a whole lot better).

After an hour or so of driving, we stopped at a small village and saw that the right-front tire was leaking. Unfortunately, the shop at the village didn't have the necessary tools to fix the tire...so what did they do?...fill it up with air and keep driving. About 25 mins later, we stopped in front of what kinda/maybe looked like an auto shop, where they did have the correct tools. They pulled the spare tire from the roof of the bus - it was old and almost completely stripped... oh great! Because they didn't quite know how to take off the bolts in the correct order, it took a while to change the tire. Meanwhile, I stood by the side of the road hoping the V.I.P bus would appear so I could flag them down and get on. However, trial and error prevailed and they fixed the tire before I had the luck of seeing the other bus. In the end, we made it safe and sound without any further mishaps...only frequent stops to let locals off/on, load on/off local cargo, pick up someone at their house, stop for a pee break (men standing on one side, women squatting on the other - I held it), or let local vendors on board to sell sticks of BBQed birds and "God knows what." It was actually quite amusing and, I must admit, fun once I stopped worrying and just trusted in the sturdiness of the old bus :).

We stayed in Vientiane only one night at Joe's Guest House, which had the nicest bed we'd slept in for months. The next day, we were off again to the village of Ban Na Hin which would be our jumping off point for the cave excursion. The public bus on the second day was much nicer and more comfortable. The only slightly annoying, but culturally immersing, aspect was the TV at the front of the bus that loudly blasted cheesy Thai/Lao music videos (love songs only) the entire 5-hour journey. Eric loved it as you can imagine! The bus dropped us at the junction of route 13 and route 8. The driver and a few others got out to show us where to catch a sawngthaew (truck) to continue 50km east on route 8 to get to Na Hin...the people in Laos are extremely helpful in this way. We were lucky that there was a truck departing shortly and we jumped in the back with our bags. A German couple - Manuela and Friedore - were also on the truck and planning the same route, so we agreed to travel together to share expenses and good company.

When we arrived at the village of Na Hin, we checked into a simple guest house and ventured into the small town to find some food. It had been raining off and on the last few days, so the dirt roads were quite muddy and full of puddles, but after some maneuvering, we saw a small sign for Tho's Restaurant. When we walked in, we were greeted by the very friendly, English-speaking Tho - an 11 year old boy. He seated us, took our orders and then pulled up a chair while his mother cooked our meals and asked us to sign his address book in which he'd been collecting tourists' email and home addresses for the past year. The book was filled with names from all over the world and he was quite proud of it. He also showed us a number of gifts he'd received in the mail from foreign friends he'd made and offered his young guide services to go see the waterfall the next morning - on a donation basis only. He was very adorable.

We rose early the next morning, hoping to take in the waterfall in the morning and then head by boat to the village near the cave in the afternoon. We picked up Tho, who brought along his snorkel mask he'd received from a French tourist, and then headed into the jungle on a well-marked path. The first part of the hike was easy...it was a nice forest path surrounded by towering white trees with spotted bark. We waded through a few small streams, but nothing too major. Then, we arrived to the main river and To began leading us upstream towards the waterfall.

Initially, we thought we were still following some sort of path, but after about 20 minutes of scrambling over huge rocks, crossing the river in precarious places and a few near misses of slipping and getting soaked, we realized that maybe this wasn't the traditional "tourist" path. We asked Tho, but he insisted this was a better way than the normal path where you had to climb up a mountainside...he wanted to save us the effort. However, after about an hour of slow progress we came to a dead-end where it just wasn't very possible to keep picking our way over rocks with the increasingly strong current. When Tho tried to cross the river at one point and got sucked down by the current, pin-balling off a few rocks, before emerging thankfully unscathed, we decided it was time to turn around and go the long way back to the actual path to the waterfall.

Long story short - we made it back to the path and climbed the small mountain to get to the waterfall. The path was a bit "iffy" in places, but certainly passable with a bit of care. The waterfall was beautiful and the jungle trekking of the day was worth the effort. We gave To a small donation after lunching back at his family's restaurant and he was delighted...his mother gave him that look of parental pride and it was quite cute. He will certainly be a great guide one day - but might just need to stick to the tourist path. The only problem was that our morning hike took much longer than anticipated, so in the end, we had to stay another night in Na Hin and make our way to the cave the following day.

At 7AM the next day, the local sawngthaew arrived to take us to the river to catch the boat to the cave. In addition to us and the German couple, there were two other pairs of travelers, which benefited all of us in bargaining and sharing the boat trip. The ride took 3 hours in a small, wooden, motorized canoe. The boats seem a bit tipsy at first, but when you see the locals loading in motorbikes and assortments of other goods, it's easier to feel more confident about your own bags not sinking to the bottom of the river. The scenery on this trip was truly gorgeous - limestone cliffs, rice fields and many riverside villages with children waving from the banks when you pass.

Once we arrived to the village near the cave, we were taken (along with the German couple) to our home stay family and served a lunch of Ramen noodles, fried egg, sticky rice, and a strange greenish rice dish. Everything was quite edible, though the sticky rice did have a few small ants crawling around, so we only took a small bit. After lunch, we were off again on another motorized canoe to visit the cave.

Tham Lot Kong Lo cave is notorious because you can only pass through its 7km distance by boat. The entrance to the cave has some rapids, so we actually had to go into the mouth of the cave and the drivers had to transfer our motor to a different wooden canoe already inside. One boatman sat at the front of the boat with two lights to help navigate and the driver sits at the back, also with a light. We also brought a flash light. Once inside, it is complete darkness other than the artificial lighting. The caverns within are expansive rooms with vaulted ceilings and some sizeable underground waterfalls that soak you as you pass under. There are large rock formations, stalagmites and even some rocky beaches that you can see when illuminated by flash light. It was a bit eerie knowing that you are under a mountain, on a river, in a small wooden boat, with flashlights. I think we were both contemplating what we would do if for some reason we tipped. Luckily, the German couple were in a boat not too far behind and our boatmen do this on a daily basis, so everything went smoothly. All in all, through and back, the journey took an hour. In Eric's words, "One of the coolest things I've ever done!"

When we arrived back to the village, we spent the evening observing village life. We taught the local children to play the card game "war," and took part in some domestic activities like grinding the green rice stuff. I got invited into another household where the mother of the house was so delighted to sit and try to communicate with myself and Friedore. For dinner, we had the same meal as lunch with the addition of fried little fish (literally the whole fish) which we politely picked at, but we could not manage to eat the head. The furniture in most Lao village homes is the floor and some mats and pillows, which is where they prefer to sit, eat, sleep, etc. We slept on mats on the floor near the house grandma (who had an obsession with beattle nuts - a sedative that turns your whole mouth red) and the young son.

At 4:30AM, we were awoken by roosters crowing, ducks quacking as they waddled through the village, puppies whining and people beginning to get up and ready for the day. We managed to stay in bed until 5:30ish and then were served breakfast - again same as lunch and dinner, but with much bigger portions...we couldn't come close to finishing and both of us were glad it was only one day/night of the food. Before we ate, our house mother and grandmother sat us down to take part in a BACI ceremony where they bless you and the food, tie six pieces of yarn around your wrists as they chant things in Lao, and give a food offering to Buddha (we presume). Then they sat and watched us eat every bite of food, trying to show us the right way to do it and laughing all along. While they watched us at every meal, we didn't have the opportunity to observe their family meals, which they had privately (we assume this is the polite thing to do with guests).

Before we left on our boat, we snuck away to have a last wander through the village to observe the morning activities and greeted the kids as they got ready to leave for school, watched an old man weaving a basket, a woman hard at work at the loom weaving lovely cloth and a woman with a basket at her back and a shovel in her hand as she walked out to the rice field. It was such an honor to be in the midst of village life and observe first hand how they live - and how content they are with the simplicity of daily tasks and community socializing. It became very apparent that here, the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" is practiced fully...the children roam so frequently from house to house, and from hip to hip, that you don't know which one belongs to who. It is wonderful.

After the boat ride back, we said our goodbyes to Maneula and Friedore and hopped on board a sawngthaew to continue our journey south. Now, we are on our way to a region near the Cambodian border called the 4,000 Islands on the Mekong where we plan to chill out for a few more days before heading to Cambodia. Laos has a way of sucking you in - the people and places are so wonderful and welcoming and we've truly enjoyed our experiences in this country and would highly recommend it to anyone coming to SE Asia. We'll write again soon...

Mariah