The kids here are all so cute - in fact everyopne is - it's a nation of beautiful people
Monks receiving their daily alms
We went on a three day kayaking trip visiting villages in Laos along the way. This was daily lunch by the river.
24th Feb 05, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Back to what this journal is supposed to be for. We are six months into the trip. We leave for India the day after tomorrow. Since I last wrote we have covered Laos and some of northern Thailand. Meanwhile back home Rachel is slowly becoming famous. She’s appeared in Zoo Magazine looking really gorgeous and was partying with Bono the other week. Jim and Van are married. So is Katy K. And both Lynn and Shiff are talking rather too much about gardening for my peace of mind.
Laos was wonderful. I'll stick to the European spelling of the country although it should be spelt without the 's'. They have the best coffee, great croissants, the lushest mountain scenery, the worst roads and transport, the friendliest manner and they are all drop dead gorgeous. Regardless of whether they are two months old or a hundred and thirty two (as some of the old ladies seem to be). I've seen some of the most fantastic faces. Huge almond eyes with skin that is at once lush and smooth and covered in a million wrinkles. Toothless, black stubbed smiles that light up faces and beam friendliness. I wish I had more courage to ask to take photos. I’m even more reluctant to ask since I found out that some of the older people still believe that if you take their photo you steal their souls!
Laos is very much a land of opposites. Wooden shacks on stilts with thatched roofs sit in the shadows of huge French colonial style houses. In Viantiene and Luang Prabang locals sip their Lao coffee and eat croissants, the boom of Lao state radio feeding out propaganda in the distance. Nobody bares it any attention.
A few kilometers away in the hills and lush valleys of this beautiful land, locals sit in a circle on a dusty floor sharing sticky rice and Lao Lao whiskey. Ten year old girls with faces of angels but the expression of grandmothers tend to the children, wash, clean, fetch water and wood and help to prepare food. In the bigger villages they have schools and maybe even a hospital. The kids can all speak a little English and love to try to practice when they meet you.
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