Onward

Laos continues to be awesome. Yesterday we looked at all the temples in town, and today we went to one of the most picturesque waterfalls I've ever seen. The water is greenish, and it cascades over these limestone (?) pools through a jungle that's many shades of brilliant green. It's very hard to describe, and I wish I could put a photo up to show you, but Lao connections are slow enough that uploading one pic could take hours... The waterfall has elephants that live/work nearby, and we bumped into them and their mahouts on the way up to the entrance. They're huge up close, and even with their lumbering hugeness, there's a kind of grace about them. It's certainly strengthened my resolve to do the cheesy "be a mahout for a weekend" camp where you spend a day shadowing a mahout (elephant driver/caretaker), helping him care for his elephant and learning how to ride it. It's a total tourist trap but it looks way too cool to resist.
We've just spent the evening wandering around the night market, which has been really cool. It's got some of the tastiest street food I've run into so far in my travels. One word: meat on a stick. Chris got a whole fish, but I stuck to chicken, which was delicious. And for a buck and change, you can't go wrong. Then we did a little shopping, but I'm starting to feel guilty about the 20+ kilos of stuff I'm sending Josh home with, so I've got to curb my enthusiasm a bit.
Tomorrow we're going to Vang Vien (I'm sure I'm misspelling that). We'll take a bus in the morning and hopefully arrive in the heat of the day. What passes for a cold front has been hovering over Luang Prabang for the past couple days, so it's been just a bit too cool for swimming, but I'm hoping for a scorcher because the main attraction of Vang Vien is riding down the Mekong in an inner tube. Sounds like a very relaxing way to spend an afternoon, so fingers crossed for fair weather (I know, I know, you New Englanders hate me right now...)

Luang Prabang

Alas, all good things must come to an end. We've left the islands for Luang Prabang, a town in northern Laos that has way more tourist infrastructure than the islands (read: electricity around the clock and hot water). We flew because with Josh only being here two weeks, we didn't want to spend tons of time sitting on busses. So we got up this morning, chartered a minibus to take us to Pakse airport a few hours away, and along the way we crossed the Mekong on a ferry to have a look at an old Khmer temple complex called Wat Phu, which I think is Khmer for "Lots of Stairs to a Spectacular View." It was straight up a hill through frangipani trees (smelled heavenly; I'm on a search for frangipani perfume before I leave here), and when we reached the top there wasn't so much in the way of ruins left, but what a view over the Mekong valley. Pretty spectacular. Then it was off to the airport. These guys certainly travel in style...private bus, planes...a far cry from my packed night trains in India, that's for sure.
Luang Prabang promises to be pretty awesome. There's a fantastic little market that is, as Josh says, "catnip for westerners." I'll be doing some serious shopping there, that's for sure. Our guesthouse is right across from Big Brother Mouse, which is a literacy center where volunteers can read stories to kids who are learning English, so I plan on spending some time there while we're here. I've also stumbled upon a book full of environmentally and culturally responsible tours and stores, so I'll be looking into what I can do with that, too. I think I'm definitely going to stay a couple extra weeks, maybe even until New Years. As much as I've been having a great time with Chris and Josh, I totally abdicated my role as planner to them on this leg of my trip so I'm finding there's stuff we skipped that I would have liked to do and stuff I would have done differently if I'd been on my own. Luckily I have those two weeks of cushion time built into my schedule so I can go back and do it all! The benefit of their company and good taste in food and accommodations for the first go 'round, and the benefit of complete independence on the second! Perfect!

Laos is paradise

Oh my god, guys. I'm staying in Don Khon, an island in southern Laos that's smack in the middle of the Mekong. There is a waterfall a kilometer away. The village surrounding us has all these rice paddies full of water buffalo and happy children at play. And cute puppies come running up to greet you and give you kisses on the road (cutest experience ever). The restaurant attached to our guesthouse is unbelievable, with this unbelievably flavorful Lao food, and we've got a bungalow that's on stilts up over the river that has hammocks on the balcony and faces the sunset. I never want to leave. It's so peaceful and restful. Not a tout in sight, and the people are amazingly friendly and laid back. It's fantastic here. Everybody should come to Laos. Well, not everybody because then it wouldn't be so peaceful and wonderful.
The downside to peaceful and wonderful is that it's a 45 minute walk to get to a net cafe, so you won't be hearing from me that much for a while. Don't panic. All is well. All is very well, I'm just off the grid. As soon as I get someplace with a faster connection I'll post all the amazing photos I've been taking of Lao and Cambodia. I love Southeast Asia, and when the guys leave, I'm seriously contemplating using my 2 weeks of cushion time to find someplace to volunteer in a school here. I'll let you know what I decide, but in the meantime I'm off to enjoy one of the most amazingly unspoiled places I've ever seen.