Still in Laos

It's been a while since I've posted. I don't quite have a good set-up here in Laos to be blogging from, not enough time or the ability to upload photos.

We have been in Laos for a while now - 2 weeks I think and we are headed back to Bangkok on the 8th of October. Once back in Bangkok I will have a lot of photos to upload and will talk a bit more about our time here in Laos in the context of those images - so, be ready for an information overload.

I've taken somewhere around 500 photos on this trip so far.

Since we arrived in Laos we have been doing a lot of chilling out - Laos is an incredibly relaxed country one can't help to partake.

We've been going to this wellness center a decent amount that contains two wonderful things at a low price - traditional Laos sauna ans traditional Laos massage. For 10,000 kip, around $1.30 you get the chance at the dark, rustic, and authentic herbal steam room. While breathing the steam that hints with lemon grass deeply into your chest you often find yourself emulating the locals with fast movement of cupped hands directing steam into your face or chest. The faster you move your appendages the hotter the steam feels....and the healthier you become. We even stand on the benches to get our lungs a taste of the thickest and most intense steam lingering just under the ceiling. Once leaving the dark and steamy room you sit in the main room, a door letting in fresh air beside you, and poor yourself some tea or water. I like to take my tea on the patio, watching the wonderfully soft and vibrant sunset that accents the real beauty of the simplistic stilted, wooden houses commonly found in Laos. Outside you hear the sounds of life in Laos, chickens, motorbikes, people talking and preparing food or washing clothes, and children playing around any corner. Back in the Sauna...back out...dump a few buckets of cold water over your head, down your body in the shower...back in the sauna...tea...cool down..

The massage is great as well. We all get massages in the same air conditioned room. They work at body with their elbows, knees, and hands to rejuvenate and renew the muscles to which the years have taken their toll, expressed in knots tightly bound.

We traveled south to Wat Phou - a ancient temple which predates the Angkor civilization of Cambodia. This was great to visit but obviously much less life giving than the sauna, alive with people, community, and cleansing. Many pictures to come from this place.

We've played a lot of cards, had some beer Lao, and smoked our pipes like gentlemen while the Mekong river slowly drifts by. The Mekong is a fascinating river - it runs through and brings life to Burma, China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia..and I think Vietnam.

For two days we rented motorbikes and headed to the fertile Bolaven Plateau. The Plateau produces lots of high grade coffee & tea, among other agricultural goods. The French brought coffee to Laos. On our trip we had a great time riding motorbikes, but found not a single one of the sites that we were looking for. We were trying to find a place, shown in our guidebook, that does coffee cuppings - nowhere to be found. We also tried to find a coffee co-op, no such luck. All in all we had a great time riding motorbikes through incredibly muddy roads, a downpour of rain, and finally a sun so intense that we all were burn to a crisp on our faces, arms, and hands.

There is boat racing tomorrow here in Pakse that we will go to see. The boats are powered by the synchronized paddles of Lao men.

Hope this give you a bit of an update, I will post pictures soon enough.

Jonathan.

p.s. The keyboards are bad here, so if I misspell words, extend a little grace. Oh, I also have finished two books: The grapes of Wrath and A Tale of Two Cities.