Southeast Asia:
Laos
Bryant and I flew into Luang Probang, Laos on a propeller plane late one afternoon. Here's my weak attempt at photographing our airplane:
This is Na Na...a half Belgian half Laotian 2 year old girl and the daughter of the owners of our guest house. Na Na was running around in the middle of the guest houses quaint little street when she saw our shuttle bus coming. She ran right up to the passenger side door, grabbing the handle to climb herself in. The bus driver knew her by name, opened the door for her and helped her into the van. It was then that I snapped her picture.
Na Na couldn't keep her hands off of Juliet. She greeted us every morning and she cried every time we walked away.
The Dining Room/Hang Out of our guest house.
We met some REALLY cool travelers at this breakfast table, mostly late middle aged couples from Europe and Australia traveling for 6 months to 2 years at a time. I was struck by the generosity and open mindedness of all the travelers we met. Their smiles were so deep (and that's probably because they were on vacation;)I wished I could have traveled with them for the remainder of their 2 year trip! Europeans know how to live, man!!
A typical street in Luang Probang
Another more narrow back street
Local ladies, swapping beer and rice
Barefeet...90% of people here don't wear shoes
This well dressed kid was just one in a group of several boys playing a game in the street with their flip flops. They were throwing their shoes at a rock. Without toys, TV, video games or even balls really the kids get creative with what they do with their time. These boys are probably some of the more privileged kids in town because most kids as young as 4-5 years old spend their day working.
One of the many (many) temples in this fairly small town
Luang Probang sits right on the MeKong River and across the river the way people live looks totally different...shacks on stilts, no electricity, no running water etc. One morning Juliet and I woke up early to see the goings on of the locals. We saw this boat crossing the river from the poorer side...on their way to work.
Tuk Tuk
The Morning Market
This is where the locals do their grocery shopping.
I'm not quite sure what these are..?? But they were everywhere. It looks kind of like flattened dried fish but I'm not so sure.
Fresh, yummy organic vegetables
Honeycomb with "maggotty" baby bees
These were AMAZING little tiny pancakes that we only saw at the morning market in Luang Probang.
They are made from rice flour and coconut milk. I found a doable recipe that does not require the special pan here and a more authentic recipe here.
Best bananas I've ever had....YUMMY!!
and I'm not a HUGE banana lover. I ate three for lunch one day. They're not like plantains although their texture is somewhat similar to a plantain....they're slightly more pasty/less slimy than the bananas that are common here and the flavor, in my opinion is to DIE for!!
mmmm..nothing like a good horse hoof in your soup!! Notice the recycled water bottles used to sell food, spices and salad dressings in. How do you think the FDA would react to that??
The next day this woman was selling these poor toads roasted on skewers....
Na Na...naked on the street:)
A country side farm
A little girl from the Hmong village.
This Hmong girl was probably only 6 or 7, selling bracelets that she had made AND
caring for her very young brother. She was feeling pretty care free at the moment
I met her as he was asleep strapped to her back.
Once again, someone loving Juliet!
Hmong Village
That's right...no diapers
Future boyfriend...
Asiatic Black Bear on a reserve up in the mountains
A Gorgeous waterfall hike
it kept on going and going and going as we hiked higher and higher.
The water was this strange creamy turquoise color. Absolutely beautiful.
I've never seen anything like it before.
I swam in it...hoping it was the fountain of youth
Kiz...a young girl (13 actually) that we met across the river.
Sivone, a 15 year old monk that Bryant and I chatted with for a while. We got his email and address so that we can send him a package or two.
I ♥ Laos
