... Hello, Laos!

Well, I finally arrived in Laos. The two day boat trip down the Mekong was quite incredible. I was on a boat with about 10 other people (the boat could have held about 25, so we had some room), all of whom were really interesting and easy to get along with, so it was sort of like a houseboat party for a couple of days. There were three couples from the UK, one from France and another from Santa Monica. There were two guides on the boat - when I was waiting to get my visa in Laos, one of them started speaking to me in French, and immediately fell in love with me (I later learned that the more people on his French tour, the better his tip would be ...). Everywhere we went he made sure I had the best seat, the best view and got me the nicest room at the lodge where we stayed. The downside was that I was on his tour wherever we went, so I had to trust my very rusty college French to get me through. The French couple on the tour was quite confused about why the American with crappy French was with them instead of with the native English speakers, but they tried to be good sports.

The trip down the river was pretty uneventful ... just hours and hours of lush, ever-changing landscape. Everything was really green, but the further we got into Laos the higher and more jagged the mountains became. We saw lots of lone fishermen in hand carved pontoon boats, peanut farmers planting peanuts on the shores of the river, and small villages with cows and other animals in the water, many times unattended. Often I would be deep in conversation with one of the fascinating people on the boat only to look up and be reminded of where I was, and was awe-struck all over again. I could have spent the entire 16+ hours on the boat just looking at the scenery in amazement, but it was also really nice to meet so many people from varied backgrounds.

Yesterday during the day we stopped in a small village on the hill to see local living, which was quite basic and a little strange as I almost felt like we were looking at people the way you would look at animals in the zoo. It was not my favorite part of the trip. We arrived at the lodge early evening - the lodge was comprised of individual bungalows on stilts with a bed under mosquito netting and amazing views of the river. We all ate dinner together and went to bed relatively early. It was a full moon so it was really light outside ... you forget in NYC that there are stars in the sky, but it was quite a sight and really peaceful (although I was on high alert for critters as I was alone in my bungalow, so it wasn't the greatest night's sleep, but still worth it for sure).

This morning I met up with Terry and Jacky, the couple from California, and we walked to the neighboring village of Pakbeng at around 6:15 AM to see the morning market. There was a lot of freshly slaughtered meat (mostly pigs and cows, but we also heard there was squirrel there) and a lot of vegetables. Made the idea of the farmer's market in Union Square seem sort of funny ... now this was a farmer's market! Then back to the boat after breakfast for another day on the river, where we stopped at another village to see how rice whiskey is made and then at a Buddhist temple in a cave on the banks of the river.

So not your average couple of days.

Probably the most interesting part of it all was meeting one of the couples from the UK, who are in their mid-50s but retired at age 40 from being a lawyer and an accountant so that they could travel. They moved to the Channel Islands and spend about 4 months each year traveling to remote corners of the world. They just finished a one month trek in Nepal (where they have been several times), and are now in Southeast Asia until around March. They were a great reminder that there are a lot of amazing ways to spend your life ... definitely an inspiration. I was disappointed but not entirely surprised to hear that while they have been to the US several times, it is not high on their list as a place to return to, as they find Americans too unfriendly and too closed minded to find being there really enjoyable. It's always good to get out of the US to do a reality check on how we are perceived other places ... clearly we have a lot of work to do there, but both the Brits and French were excited about Obama and hopeful that his leadership will make a difference.

Am now in Luang Prabang, which is the second largest city in Laos. While I saw very few westerners in Thailand, LP seems packed with them, and while I could tell from my walk through the downtown in the dark tonight that it is going to be a nice place to spend a few days, I also think I will have less of a truly local experience, as the city seems more focused than other places I have been so far on tourism. But excited to see it nonetheless.

I had a very hard time signing on to the internet tonight so am not sure how often I will be able to check in, but wanted you to know that I have arrived safely in Laos and am doing well. Not really excited about my hotel (www.villa-maly.c0m) which was promised to be really luxurious, so in touch with my travel agent to see if I can switch to a nicer spot, so will see how that goes. Either way, it's sure to be a nice trip, and am happy to be in one place for 4 days so I can settle in a bit.

Hope you are also having a great time!