Laos

Via the ”slow boat” to Luang Prabang is the ancient capital city of the Lan Xang Kingdom. This is an eponymous capital, one of the most atmospheric and popular destinations in Laos.

The long trek into to Laos began with a 6 hour van ride from Chiang Mai, up through Northern Thailand, close to the “Golden Triangle;” where the borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos all meet. We stop for an overnight stay in the Wild-Wild-Asia/*Steam Punk* port town of Pak Beng. The border of Laos gleams with early morning color from where I’ve slept, across the Mekong River. We first ferry across the river arrive at the beginning of Laos Immigration. Officially entering this country is a head dizzying experience. Fill this out, give your passport to this official and then that one and then another. A game of guess where to go and who has my passport, went on for a good 2-3 hours. At one point, I was stopped with little explanation. While reviewing my written form, the officer closed my passports and slammed it down on his wood desk, “You stay!” I stand, I wait, my legs are numb. (sorry no pictures of that wonderful moment ;) Eventually, another informs me that I have overstayed my 30-day visa (phrewww) by 6 days, 3,000 Baht, oo-ouch!

By now I have a great new group of friends; Charley (Charlene) & Arthur from London and Olivia & Mark from Switzerland. We form a great group, each decoding different areas of confusion and extra eyes to catch all the blurry information being thrown at us and loads of laughs to take the edge off. This head sweltering heat maze only seems to make sense in that, it is one way to employ the entire town in the immigration process. It’s now noon, we finally board the long wood boat with 100+ others fellow back packers. Funny, no where mentions the difficulty we just went through. The next two days down the Mekong must wipe all that from memory, it does.

The Mekong River is one of the world's 10th rivers in its river length. The source of the Mekong River is in Tibet mountains and is called Dza Chu River (River of Rock). There can be few more enchanting places on earth than the ancient Lao capital of Luang Prabang, sitting at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, surrounded by glittering temples , a profusion of tropical palms. Its charms are as soothing as the temple bells that echo along its narrow lanes at dawn.

Our group stays together through our stay in Luang Prabang. Our stumblings into local life are likely to be some of my favorite moments on this whole adventure; sitting and watching a guy climb and pick coconuts, then buying one and meeting his sister. She spent 19 years in Tennessee. Lao/Southern accent, built for laughs. Then just blocks down, we are invited to join in on a celebration that has meeting the family and stumbling into a welcome home celebration where, three of the guys had just come back to Lao after living in San Diego for the past 29 years. That’s a story I’ll have to tell off the record. The emblem attached is there old flag.

One super dizzy bus ride from Luang Prabang to the bustling capital of Laos, Vientian. I skipped tubing in Vang Vieng to get back over the boarder (much easier) to Thailand to meet DyAnn in Bangkok. Actaully, I'm sitting in our fancy (airport) hotel room feeling a bit at odds after living a third-world lifestyle for the past 7 weeks. First thing I did was jump in the pool, whoo-hoo! but, wait until she sees my laudry hanging all over our bathroom, Hehee, can't take the girl out... Sothern Thailand, here we come! Phuket to Krabi to Koi Somui ~ beaches, pristine oceans, fantasy islands!