Wonderful Laos
It has been strange to leave Namsom and its comforts and friends behind and head off into the unknown again.
On Friday I was invited to the Mother's Day ceremony. All the mums had been invited and we sat out in a huge hall barn thing. I had to say a few words to say goodbye and everyone clapped wholeheartedly though only a few teachers must have understood what I was saying.
Then some parents and teachers were awarded prizes for something. Children from all classes then performed Isan dances, pop songs, plays and other delights. My bottom started hurting after about two hours.
But then each class came forward to bless their mothers.
The women came to the front of the hall and sat on a row of plastic chairs infront of the stage. Their sons and daughters came up to them offered a flower and then bowed down at their feet before nuzzling into their mothers laps and then cuddling them.
Many were crying, mothers had tears in their eyes. And it was all I could do to stop the tears from flowing too. It was such a wonderful display of love and devotion and recognition. Not sure about the bowing at their mother's feet - but I'm sure my own mother will think it is something all respecting children should do...
My teacher, Pi Nang, gave me a necklace with a pendant of a treble clef and two notes embelished with some shiny stones, and bought me an ice cream. She presented me with a letter (I had given her and the students one to thank them for their love and care) which told me to keep in touch and that I was a nice lady who deserved nice things. Bless her.
I rushed back to the dorm before being picked up by Mooy for a lift to Udon and then the bus to Nong Khai.
The trip across the Friendship Bridge, where you sign out of Thailand and into Laos, was realtively uneventful but long and tiring getting off and on buses.
On the Laos side, I got a tuk tuk straight to a hostel in the Lonely Planet and had to spend $8 on a room because I was too tired to go anywhere else. Luckily it was clean, had a large comfortable bed, balcony and clean shared bathroom.
I wandered around Vientiane that afternoon, along by the Mekong where there were tables and street vendors, past huge Wats (temples) and many internet cafes and restaurants.
I went back to change and then went to Full Moon cafe for chicken and tzatziki wraps with big fat chips - not particuarly Laos! I met Jenny there, a Parisian woman with a filthly laugh and great sense of humour before Marty, a volunteer from Nong Khai, stumbled upon us and joined us for drinks.
He had just whacked a Laos masseuse in the face with his knee and was unsure whether this meant their 'date' at the bowling alley was on or off.
It turned out to be off because her parents wouldn't let her go out, so we went to a rooftop bar by the Mekong and drank white wine spritzers and cocktails.
The next day I walked to the city's version of the Arc de Triomphe. It was baking hot at 9am and I was feeling nauseous from the malaria tablets and couldn't face a walk to the top.
After grabbing a cold drink I braved Talat Sala - the market - and bought a few souveniors and a things there.
I then headed back for lunch, my bags and went to the bus station to go to Vang Vieng.
The local bus I got on was packed and I was wedged between a Korean girl and a Laos boy with my legs at a very odd angle. After three hours someone moved and I was able to get more comfortable. Except that people here like to stare and I had a different Thai or Laos boy staring at me or the Korean girl the whole way there. Marty turned out to be on the bus too.
Vang Vieng was fun at first. It was strange to see Friends being played out of most restaurants night and day. The scenery was stunning around but the town itself had little real atmosphere. The traveller centre consisted of people getting pissed or stoned or watching Friends all night.
On Monday I went tubing - one of the attractions of the place. I arrived at about 11.30am and started chatting to two British guys who I thought were friends, then lovers and later it turned out they were brothers.
We three,another English couple and a French couple boarded a tuk tuk in our swimming gear, laden down with dry bags containing our valuables and life jackets, and a load of inner tubes of tractor tyres atop the vehicle.
We drove upstream and were dropped off to take the trip downsteam. I was a little apprehensive because during the rainy season it is reported to be very fast and two weeks ago a girl died tubing.
No need to worry. The river swung gently around mountains and past villages for several kilomteres while enterprising Laotians had set up bars with swings into the river, plenty of drinks and snacks and seats in the sun and shade.
But because we had set off early it was pretty quiet in the bars. We got back about 3pm and I went to shower, had to get it fixed (again) and then, instead of hiring a bike again, watched a thunder storm unfolding around the mountains and drank coffee and had a fantastic cinammon bun.
Later, I met James and John (from rafting) and we went for some food in a more Laotian place than most (and no Friends!) before heading to play pool on a wonky table and drinking Laos whiskey and red bull. After a few more whiskeys and some card cames in a few other bars we were invited to a party.
Places in Laos should close at 11.30pm to discourage a party culture but there are always places to go. We went to the bar at the end of the tubing route and sat around a fire getting steadly drunk until at about 3am we realised we had buses to catch early in the morning.
At 7.50am I awoke with a headache to realise I had slept through my alarm and had about 20 minutes to get to the bus.
I made it in time, even having a moment to buy a sandwich and water before being packed onto the minibus for a 5.5hr trip.
In Luang Prabang, the minibus crew clubbed together to get a tuk tuk to town and i wandered the guesthouses with them to settle on a nice one for $4 a night.
I really like it here. It is very chilled out and beautiful, Next to the Mekong River and with a nightmarket lit up by soft ropes of lights. It is very hot during the day but tomorrow I will go to some waterfalls for a swim and then make my way to border of Thailand on a two-day boat trip which is apparently hell for 10 hours a day. Hoepfully then I can make it to Pai on Sunday ready to teach on Monday...but it is a long long way....
On Friday I was invited to the Mother's Day ceremony. All the mums had been invited and we sat out in a huge hall barn thing. I had to say a few words to say goodbye and everyone clapped wholeheartedly though only a few teachers must have understood what I was saying.
Then some parents and teachers were awarded prizes for something. Children from all classes then performed Isan dances, pop songs, plays and other delights. My bottom started hurting after about two hours.
But then each class came forward to bless their mothers.
The women came to the front of the hall and sat on a row of plastic chairs infront of the stage. Their sons and daughters came up to them offered a flower and then bowed down at their feet before nuzzling into their mothers laps and then cuddling them.
Many were crying, mothers had tears in their eyes. And it was all I could do to stop the tears from flowing too. It was such a wonderful display of love and devotion and recognition. Not sure about the bowing at their mother's feet - but I'm sure my own mother will think it is something all respecting children should do...
My teacher, Pi Nang, gave me a necklace with a pendant of a treble clef and two notes embelished with some shiny stones, and bought me an ice cream. She presented me with a letter (I had given her and the students one to thank them for their love and care) which told me to keep in touch and that I was a nice lady who deserved nice things. Bless her.
I rushed back to the dorm before being picked up by Mooy for a lift to Udon and then the bus to Nong Khai.
The trip across the Friendship Bridge, where you sign out of Thailand and into Laos, was realtively uneventful but long and tiring getting off and on buses.
On the Laos side, I got a tuk tuk straight to a hostel in the Lonely Planet and had to spend $8 on a room because I was too tired to go anywhere else. Luckily it was clean, had a large comfortable bed, balcony and clean shared bathroom.
I wandered around Vientiane that afternoon, along by the Mekong where there were tables and street vendors, past huge Wats (temples) and many internet cafes and restaurants.
I went back to change and then went to Full Moon cafe for chicken and tzatziki wraps with big fat chips - not particuarly Laos! I met Jenny there, a Parisian woman with a filthly laugh and great sense of humour before Marty, a volunteer from Nong Khai, stumbled upon us and joined us for drinks.
He had just whacked a Laos masseuse in the face with his knee and was unsure whether this meant their 'date' at the bowling alley was on or off.
It turned out to be off because her parents wouldn't let her go out, so we went to a rooftop bar by the Mekong and drank white wine spritzers and cocktails.
The next day I walked to the city's version of the Arc de Triomphe. It was baking hot at 9am and I was feeling nauseous from the malaria tablets and couldn't face a walk to the top.
After grabbing a cold drink I braved Talat Sala - the market - and bought a few souveniors and a things there.
I then headed back for lunch, my bags and went to the bus station to go to Vang Vieng.
The local bus I got on was packed and I was wedged between a Korean girl and a Laos boy with my legs at a very odd angle. After three hours someone moved and I was able to get more comfortable. Except that people here like to stare and I had a different Thai or Laos boy staring at me or the Korean girl the whole way there. Marty turned out to be on the bus too.
Vang Vieng was fun at first. It was strange to see Friends being played out of most restaurants night and day. The scenery was stunning around but the town itself had little real atmosphere. The traveller centre consisted of people getting pissed or stoned or watching Friends all night.
On Monday I went tubing - one of the attractions of the place. I arrived at about 11.30am and started chatting to two British guys who I thought were friends, then lovers and later it turned out they were brothers.
We three,another English couple and a French couple boarded a tuk tuk in our swimming gear, laden down with dry bags containing our valuables and life jackets, and a load of inner tubes of tractor tyres atop the vehicle.
We drove upstream and were dropped off to take the trip downsteam. I was a little apprehensive because during the rainy season it is reported to be very fast and two weeks ago a girl died tubing.
No need to worry. The river swung gently around mountains and past villages for several kilomteres while enterprising Laotians had set up bars with swings into the river, plenty of drinks and snacks and seats in the sun and shade.
But because we had set off early it was pretty quiet in the bars. We got back about 3pm and I went to shower, had to get it fixed (again) and then, instead of hiring a bike again, watched a thunder storm unfolding around the mountains and drank coffee and had a fantastic cinammon bun.
Later, I met James and John (from rafting) and we went for some food in a more Laotian place than most (and no Friends!) before heading to play pool on a wonky table and drinking Laos whiskey and red bull. After a few more whiskeys and some card cames in a few other bars we were invited to a party.
Places in Laos should close at 11.30pm to discourage a party culture but there are always places to go. We went to the bar at the end of the tubing route and sat around a fire getting steadly drunk until at about 3am we realised we had buses to catch early in the morning.
At 7.50am I awoke with a headache to realise I had slept through my alarm and had about 20 minutes to get to the bus.
I made it in time, even having a moment to buy a sandwich and water before being packed onto the minibus for a 5.5hr trip.
In Luang Prabang, the minibus crew clubbed together to get a tuk tuk to town and i wandered the guesthouses with them to settle on a nice one for $4 a night.
I really like it here. It is very chilled out and beautiful, Next to the Mekong River and with a nightmarket lit up by soft ropes of lights. It is very hot during the day but tomorrow I will go to some waterfalls for a swim and then make my way to border of Thailand on a two-day boat trip which is apparently hell for 10 hours a day. Hoepfully then I can make it to Pai on Sunday ready to teach on Monday...but it is a long long way....
posted by charlie at 3:19 pm
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