Feeling Lao-sy

Laos - D23
We woke up at dawn to the incessent crowing of no less than 16 roosters (which we discovered was soon to be a trend!) No worries, move from the bed to the hammock and let the rising sun and gentle wind slowly lure you back to sleep...when we felt that we had enough energy to move, Graham, Jess & I rented bicycles to ride across to the neighboring island of Don Khong where they boasted 2 waterfalls, one the biggest in South East Asia. Sarah, the fearsome woman that she is, set out to make the trek on foot due to the unfortunate oversight that she never learned to ride a bike! And surprisingly she did not believe me to be an adequate teacher ;o)
***The islands of Don Det and Don Khong are two of the 4,000 islands in the Laos' Mekong River. The islands ranged from about 20 km around, to patches of bushes that appear and hide with the whim of the water levels. Only Don Det and Don Khong are connected by bridge (a half-hearted attempt by the French at a railroad line), the rest are accessible only by boat or a rigorous swim***
We biked to the first waterfall and admired the view, then headed to the beach area for a swim. For some reason we were scared out of the water by the following sing "Danger! People have died here! Don't go past the rope" and the undeniable fact that there was no rope to be seen. We resolved to bike to the next waterfall, but misleading maps only led us further into the island and through what I percieved to be a nudist monastery. So we headed back to Don Det for indian food and a night of spades where the Jessicas brilliantly conquered!

Laos - D24
The R&R was proving too much for Sarah and Graham's adventurous spirits, so they left that morning to head north. But after weeks of traveling, Jess & I were not ready to give up our hammocks and island life. There were probably only about 40 foreigners on the island on any given day, and nothing but a strip of restuarants and bungalows to keep us inside. So we spent the afternoon lounging by the water in the company of a water buffalo we promptly named Cebu.

Laos - D25
After a day of lounging, our muscles were aching to move again, so we signed up for a day of kayaking up the mekong, including visiting the waterfalls again (both big and small), some rapids, and swimming with the freshwater dolphins that populate the area. Jess ws smart enough to snag the kayak with our "attentive" guide, while I put my trust in the "highly skilled hands" of the German Ewan McGregor (think his name was Derek, but must call him Ewan) who had been kayaking for 15 years or so. It became readily apparent that he must have been speaking hypothetically, because all I gleaned from his 15 years of experience were sore muscles from steering from the front of the kayak (lest we crash into the rocks and die) and a sprained wrist (which I got from saving us when we almost crashed into the rocks and died). Yes...Ewan McGregor sprained my wrist, and he managed to do all this in the tiniest speedo I have ever seen. Amazing.
But The scenery was beautiful! We could see the dolphins from our viewpoint, but sadly they were in Cambodian waters, which our guide said we could not cross without a reentry visa :o/ Here is where Ewan came up with the grand plan to strip down again to his glorious speedo, dive into the water, and persist to DO the dolphin (he informed me that we Americans refer to this as the butterfly) in order to lure the dolphins to us. So to add to my sore muscles, sprained wrist, and rapidly enflamed skin from over exposure, I nearly added a hernia to my ailments from uncontrollable laughter! (Mostly at, rarely with)
Good time had by all

Laos - D26
Spent the day tubing back and forth on the river (backside up, so to even out the horrendous mishap of the day before...8 hours in the sun, on the water, sans protections is never a good idea). It was wonderfully relaxing and only slightly painful...
That night Jess and I had two on one time with the King, singing our hearts out in the hammock, breaking indian naan, and remembering the sacrifice with a laos wine cooler. We found it to be one of the best, most refreshing and certainly authentic services yet!

Laos - D27
By this time we were feeling extremely Lao-sy (Laos it or leave it, Peace and Laos, the puns are endless) and felt that if we didn't leave soon, we may never. So we booked our bus tickets out of Don Det for the next day, and had an afternoon of bittersweet goodbyes: the hammocks, Cebu, Jasmin's Indian Restuarant, the bicycle's built for two....and the churkeys! Have I mentioned the churkeys? Things you should know:
A) I hate all birds...they have beady eyes, attack unexpectedly without mercy, make nests in your hair, and are the general spawn of Satan
B) I am a vegetarian, but have no qualms about others eating chickens. The only good bird is a dead bird
C) Laos is the land of chickens.
D) These are not normal chickens...they are churkeys. Half bald, game hen sized, braver than the average fowl, and extra beady
E) The churkeys were a happy goodbye (or so we thought)

Laos - D28
We left Don Det that morning and headed to the small village of Tadlo northeast of Pakse. Sadly, due to time constraints and our lounging in Don Det it was to be our only other stop in Laos. It promised more laidbackness, waterfalls, and bungalows. Right up our Lao-sy alley.
When we arrived, we were dropped off at a shopping post and told to walk about 2 km north to actually arrive in Tadlo, so we began our hike. The only indication that we had reached it was a lone sign that said Tadlo Lodge -->. So we crossed a bridge over a trickling stream and found a resort! Feeling we had earned our own beds and a hot shower, we treated ourselves to a $7 bungalow (a steep expenditure, I assure you) and enjoyed a night listening to the distant waterfall. Lovely

Laos - D29
Assured we had had enough pampering, we left the resort for an equally pleasant $2 bungalow in someone's backyard, and hiked up the river to the 2nd waterfall ***Tadlo is basically a river with 3 waterfalls: Big, smaller and small. Between these lie various pools for swimming, sun bathing, and the spalshes of dozens of naked Laos children. Because if you are not naked, you're not Laos!*** Spent the morning reading there, and answering the never ending mimed questions of various children that "No, you can not keep my Ipod", "Yes, that is Michael Jackson you are listening to", "No, I will not give you money", "No, I will not give you money", "No, I will not give you money", "Yes, you can keep my pen".
Finally, Jess and I got brave a dived into the COLD, but pristine waterfall pools. Rocks and untold dangers will not stop us, we have become fearless women of the Amazon! Or those stupid women you are always telling on the movies..."Don't go there, don't do that, these writers are ridiculous because no intelligent person would ever be so careless"...
Spent the night swapping traveling horror stories with a Canadian and eating incredible Pad Thai!

Laos - D30
We had heard that the 3rd waterfall was sans water due to the dry season and therefore just a giant rock face. Well, we thought we had better see for ourselves! So we set out on the hike to the big waterfall. We were quickly met by some young Laos boys who graciously offered to lead us through their village to the "water. fall. big" and put our trust in 9 year old Kai. He, another boy and 2 girls became our traveling buddies as we jumped boulder to boulder up the rock river. It was a beautiful scene, massive rocks and surfaces warn by years of water rushing over its tops, it felt like walking on the moon! The kids were great fun, we traded names, laos/english words, and jokes. They kept trying to convince me to jump off this ledge into what appeared to be about 3 feet of stale water, but were eased when I told them I was just not as strong as they were!
The sweetness soon came to an end though, as they started to demand the inevitable payment for the pleasure of their company. They finally agreed to be paid in oreos, but that didn't stop the refrain of "Saibady! Money! Pepsi!" all the way back to the village. After 15 minutes we were fed up and told them to go away. Our frustration was only added to when Jess fell in the middle of their village and sprained her ankle. There were people sitting all around, smoking weed, watching and laughing, and doing nothing! We were livid, I had never wanted to yell so badly for just the mere satisfaction that I would be making myself heard! Their understanding ws of little consequance....this was when we decided the culture shock must finally be setting in and perhaps we were getting ready to go back to China. We locked ourselves in our bungalow for the rest of the night with some good English books, but for some reason were unable to focus. May have been teh death ritual of chanting and drum beating that went on from 10 pm to 6 am next door...hard to say...

Laos/Thailand - D31
Despite the day before, we were sad to leave Tadlo. The little village was home to some of the most delightful and sweet people we had met in Laos. We had breakfast and waited for our bus at Mama Phap's; an adorable woman whose two page menu was hand crafted with love. She tied bracelets on our wrists and told us "good luck" then kept us company with stories of her poorly producing pig and flandering husband. She about killed us when about 30 minutes after ordering, she proudly marches out of the kitchen with the biggest (and probably most disgusting) crepe we had ever seen and shouted through her smile, "PANCAKE!". We concluded that had Jess fallen in front of Mama Phap, she would have come running out of her restuarant with a giant pancake and ace bandage. We definitely recommend her giant cup of coffee and warm company for fellow travelers.
We arrived in Pakse where we intended to spend the night, but the Big Guy was pushing our culture shock buttons and telling us to move fast, so we grabbed the afternoon bus to Bangkok and hit the road! 14 hours on a bus seat...no problem... Saibady!!!

Thoughts on Laos
*Everyone thinks its pronounced with a silent "s"... but Laos was a french colony and all the the french people we meet pronounce the "s"...good indication of the correct way
*"Saibady!" is the refrain of Laos people. We probably uttered this phras no less than 88 times a day. It encompasses a myraid of meanings: Hello, Where are you going, How are you, Pay me now, What's your name, Do you find me attractive, Goodbye. Fun to say, fun to interpret ;o)
*Everyone we met in Laos thought I was English; turns out its because I (direct quote) "don't talk like I have a potato in my mouth like other Americans". Thought this was excellent news and plan to use this on my students!
*Laos is a place where life seems to slow down. At first the pace was frustrating to me...if you know me at all you know I am usually set on wharp speed. But I quickly fell into the rhythm here; up with the sun, spend the day with people, not things, sleep when the stars awak. Its really lovely, and infectious. The perfect place to find peace
*I found something else in Laos; with all of the relaxation comes meditation, and I have been constantly kept pondering the mysteries of our Father. Its amazing what has been revealed to me here, and the questions that are circling around in my head. I can't wait to be back in China, diving into the meat of the gospels with my friends.