Hello Laos!

Hey all. I think it is safe to say that we are both finally settling in, and finding more of a rhythm here. We are finding it much easier to get around, communicate, and navigate. Well, ok, its not easy to do all those things, but we are handling it much better than before. We are both sitting in a internet cafe in Huayxai, in the Bokeo province of Laos. (try to find that on a map!) The currency here is the Kip--currently the Kip is about 8.5 Kip to the dollar. Our breakfast total cost us 32,000 Kip. Sounds like a lot, until you calculate that it cost us less than two dollars each to each breakfast (i had rice and vegetables, Wes had sukiyaki).

Huayxai is very small, only a few roads in town, the main mode of transportation is either motocycle or truck/landrover. Getting the feeling that the roads are a little trying at times. Huayxai is SO different from Chiang Mai. Small. Fewer tourists, although there are some.....but unbelieveably QUIET. There aren't thousands of tuk-tuks or motorbikes buzzing and honking and zipping. The people here are much more relaxed too.

Yesterday was our last day in Chiang Mai, so to go out with a bang, we went and did the most touristy thing we could think of--taking a songtao up to the major wat up on top of this medium sized mountain, with all the other tourists who visit Chiang Mai. We rode with two "blokes" from Nottingham. I didn't know where in England that was...but he said, "you know, Robin Hood and all that." I bet they get a lot of bad jokes about the Merry Men and the like. Doi Suthep was this Buddhist temple up on top of the mountain, with amazing views of all of the city. It was the pretty standard wat--gold, monks, lots of bells. People bought flowers to lay at the altars, which were promptly removed by the workers and returned to the flower stands to be re-sold to the next person looking to lay flowers.

We then walked around town and wandered into a weaver's market. Wesa bought a few things, but not before it began to rain. For the first time, I think we understood what it mean to be here during the "monsoon season." All of a sudden, the sky opened up. The busy streets cleared in seconds. Tourists, walking around without umbrellas or ponchos, were treed to the small overhangs of the businesses. The market was covered with umbrellas, but as soon as it began to rain, the sellers scrambled frantically to cover their wares, throw up more tarps between the umbrellas, and poke at the burgeoning water pockets with bamboo poles....all the while continuing to try and bargain with us over some goods! The rain was absolutely amazing. The streets, gutters, even the ground at the market was flooded with rainwater in minutes, up and over the ankles, at times. The local people also rushed to put out containers to catch the fresh water running off the tarps, quickly filling to capacity well before any others could be located. We had bought ponchos, and donned them to run around in the ankle deep water.

We also saw elephants in town....not running through town like wild beasts in the movies--a guy was walking one down the street, trying to get tourists to buy the elephant some food, and to pay to take a picture with it. Sort of like the guys in Hawaii with the parrots. I had never been so close to one before (it was a juvenile, but still much taller than me, and surprisingly hairy), but we did not pay to play with it.

But, anyway, the Thailand to Laos journey in summary--We took an overnight minibus to the border, crashed at a standard guesthouse for about a dollar and 50 cents, and then caught a boat across the Mekong River this morning. (it was long and skinny, reminding me of the peki-peki that O'Neil and I rode in while in the Amazon Basin. Speaking of the Amazon--so much of this area reminds me of that trip--the humidity, the clouds, the brown rivers, the tropical foliage, and sun that bakes when it comes through the clouds.

I think we will rest today, explore some, get ready for tomorrow's adventure.

Cheers.