Update

Well, I've made it to Thailand and have a bus ticket to Bangkok with a departure time of 3:30 PM, so I've got a couple hours to kill. All seems to be going to plan (famous last words).

So to get everybody up to date. Sansuny's baci ceremony was really awesome. A true Lao experience. I rode up on the back of Kee's moto (Kee is also one of the girls from My Library, and Sansuny's best friend). It was raining - in the dry season! So I was holding the umbrella, she was driving, and the two of us were getting pretty wet. But we arrived in one piece just in time for the ceremony. I got in and immediately was swarmed by a crowd of her relatives (mostly elderly ladies) who tied white strings to my wrists. For those who don't know what a baci ceremony is, it's a call to the protective spirits to watch over the person who is embarking on a new phase of life. It could be travel, a new baby, a marriage, a new job, or in Sansuny's case an international move to Bangkok and the start of university. Since I am a traveler, I got to get in on the good vibes. The strings tie the spirit to you, and you're supposed to wear them until they fall off so that they will protect you as long as possible.

At any rate, once I had that wonderfully warm welcome, the cermony went on, complete with a few minutes of prayerful chanting, and then it was party time. We adjourned to the lawn, which had tents set up and karaoke/keyboard setup, and tons of awesome Lao food. So we chowed down and got straight to dancing. I was there with an Australian girl who works at the center and had just gotten back from a vacation in Thailand, so I had another foreigner to hang with who could walk me through what was going on. We did the line dancing, we did the Lao walk-in-a-circle-dance, and as the night wore on, we just danced like crazy people. It was really fun times. The Australian girl and I ended up dancing with her two older brothers, which everybody thought was hilarious. And in the end, everybody got soaking wet and had a great time. It was an awesome way to end my Luang Prabang experience, and a great "real Laos" moment. I'm so grateful to have had the chance to go.

The slow boat trip was great as well. Long, and with butt-breaking hard, uncomfortable benches (sorry Dr. S, but this has done my back in - my upper back is dying to crack back into place!). But what a view. I got a lot of great shots of life along the Mekong. It was really beautiful to go along and see these isolated little villages along the way. I saw a group of women panning for gold in a sandbar, a lot of kids running around, people doing laundry, people fishing, and above all, the beautiful river and mountains. We also saw the "fast boat," of which I've posted a photo, and let me just say I'm really, really glad that I didn't take it. They have to wear helmets!!! Madness!! I've taken tons of photos and there's no way to get them all up right now, but I tried to put a few on here for you to get an idea.

The first night we spent in Pak Beng, which is basically just a ferry stopping point. Not much there. I stayed in a place at the top of the hill (cheap because everyone else gives up before they get there) and by hiking up the hill a bit more I got a great view of the sunset over the wat, and in the morning I saw the sunrise as well. Very cool. I also went to the morning market before the boat left, and that was really cool. All the produce vendors were just putting their stuff out but the butchers were already well underway - let me tell you, that section of the market was not for the animal lover or the faint-hearted, but I suppose if I'm going to eat meat, it's good to remind myself from time to time that it doesn't grow as a steak in a shrink-wrapped grocery store container.

Last night we got in too late to make the border crossing, but I ended up hanging out with these two Dutch guys and this couple from Canada that's been teaching English in Korea for several years. The female half of the couple happens to be a fellow dancer, which was awesome. We talked dance and teaching abroad and just hung out until it got late and was time to crash and we headed our separate ways. But now just by chance I was walking through town killing time and I've run into my Canadian friends again, and it turns out they'll be on the same bus today, so it looks like we haven't seen the last of each other. Fun times!