My favorite words we've learned so far (as well as 'yo' which is vietnamese for 'cheers').
Khawp chai lai lai is Lao for thank you very much
Sabbai sabbai is Lao for Take it easy
I just feel so sad I won't be able to say it anymore...(at least, for now)
Here's how we spent the rest of our time in Laos
Oh my Buddha
After saying our goodbyes to our new friends in Don Det, we made our way to the capital - Vientiane. A big city it ain't but defnitely one worth a visit! We only had a couple of days so we spent it doing a bit of shopping, a visit to Buddha Park (where we got chatting to some local guys who were just pleased to be able to practice their english and teach us a little Lao), some BBQ hunting in the evening and a beer lao by the river (where you can see Thailand!). We also managed to fit in a herbal sauna and massage by a temple - Wat Sok Pa Luang. And, oh my Buddha, it was good! Guys walking around in short sarongs (seriously, David Beckham just got the length wrong!) and monks coming in for the sauna later. Relaxing as the masseur did his stuff - you know, minding my own business, I spotted a monk come out of the sauna only to lift up his sarong and answer mine and Carly's question of whether they wear their orange scotsman style. I'm sure it was an accident, but how many hail marys and holy buddhas do you reckon I'll have to say for that??
A kid's world
Recommendations from Gimmi and Oscar inspired a trip to Mung Ngoi to find mama's place...she makes good egg sandwiches! On the boat ride (over the Mekong river again - how amazing is this river?!), we saw kids fishing, kids selling fish, kids driving boats and the odd water buffalo lazing in the sun. Arriving at Mung Ngoi we were greeted by 3 kids all offering to take us to their guesthouse so we looked at each one and ended up at the last one - right at the end, like it's very own little village. Somehow, along the way, we managed to acquire 5 more kids following us to the bungalow. Settling in involved us all sat on our balcony floor eating oranges, mocha cakes and the rest of our ritz biscuits. I love how you don't really wake up with any other expectations other than you're going to a new place because that morning I'd never have guessed that later that night I'd be dancing with five 12 yr old girls to thai pop and the Buena Vista Social Club...dancing that ended up in karate poses and monkey mayhem.
Carly & Luna's village and rats with minty fresh breath
After a heavy night with the local kids, we spent the second day starting out on a little walk and ended up on a 2 hr trek. More kids found us taking a rest by the river and we all had a little attempt at fishing - hands only and searching under the rocks. I was shite. So we decided to give them our goggles and we went back to their village for a late lunch and a beer lao. In the evening, we had dinner with Che who wants to be a tour guide when he grows up and very helpfully answered our questions about village life while making his own watermelon shake. Back at our village (decided to call it ours seeing as out of the 6 bungalows around, ours was the only one occupied and grandfather and grandmother (of the kid that showed us the place) tended to be elsewhere, we looked forward to a good night's sleep. The rats thought different. They scratched and chewed throughout the night keeping us awake and scared shitless (such sissies - I don't want to shine the torch, what if I see one?!). In the morning we found our toothpaste and face wash half eaten. Not quite sure what kind of rats like this stuff but they do now have minty fresh breath and, I guess, very clean faces. The next night we were prepared - we emptied the bungalow of anything plastic and waited. At about 11pm, we heard them and by 11.30pm, they were gone. Carly swears she heard a swish of their heads, a little sniff and a sigh as they realised there would be no minty fresh breath that night. Why not, sounds good to me - they were gone ;o)
We spent our last full day watching footie with the locals, Mung Ngoi vs their neighbour - Nong Kiew. Kinda hard to watch when you can't figure out who's your side but we had a little boy called Sai with us who would get very excitable whenever the blues had the ball, so we cheered along with him. After the footie, me, Carly and Lin (our new friend) headed for the river to swim but more like a bathe as the spot we'd chosen was so shallow. All the locals seem to bathe in the river, women in their sarongs and guys in their pants. SO gonna miss having half naked men wandering around. The morning we left, Lin woke us up with breakfast - sticky rice and seaweed. She doesn't speak much english but really is one of the sweetest little girls I've met - just oozes goodness! She blessed us and wished us good luck with some white string and the grandfather paid us a visit and did the same.
More monk spotting
We spent out last day in Laos in Luang Prabang - a beautiful town surrounded by mountains and the Mekong river. A small town with fantastic shopping (just check out the night market), a great cafe culture (could easily have spent days in cafes reading and drinking coffee lao) and just a little walk away and you could be out of the town enjoying the beauty of the countryside. On our last morning, I decided to take a final stroll around the town, visit Wat Xieng Thong and to hand over my malaria tablets to the Red Cross (I take them so randomly and inconsistently I figure they'd do a world of good to someone else). Wat Xieng Thong is really spectacular - it's decorated with coloured glass mosaic portraying different stories about the Lao people and sparkles in the sun. On the way back, did lots more of mine and Carly's fave new hobby - monk spotting (can you tell?).
I'm in love with Laos and can't wait to get back. 2 weeks just ain't enough time!! Khawp chai lai lai to all the lovely people we met - some of the most smiley and generous I know. They could so teach us a thing or two about taking it easy. Sabbai sabbai ;o)
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