A quick run through Bangkok craziness and on to Lao chillness

Well, the Ma'am has moved on to slightly greener pastures, but not without a sweet farewell. Will post ridiculous pictures of my last day at work (stunted by a power outrage...hence, leading us to goof around) and a scramble to my two flights up to Manila and on to Thailand.

After a tiring trip to Bangkok, it took almost an hour and a half to get through customs and to the guest house, right in the thick of Khao San Ro, the "backpackers" district. Arriving at the inn around 3 am, I was surprised when I, armed with my bulky "backpackers" backpack (total trademark), had to push my way through crowds of drunk and stumbling people still out in the streets. I had a good sleep at the inn, despite the total tourist chaos right outside the hotel.

Khao San Ro: Foreigners abound!

CHEAP and popular noodles and fried spring rolls on the street

The next day, I met my friend Matt around 1 pm. We had lunch at a delicious Thai restaurant and sat chatting and catching up. It's been about two years since I've seen him. An Irishman and Harry Potter look-alike, he was one of my best "mates" from when I taught English in South Korea. We talked a lot about his work and my work and different topics of cultural interests, especially given our comparisons of the Philippines to Thailand. Matt has been living in Thailand almost two years and has been working for an NGO in Mae Sot, running Education Training programs for the Quran (sp?), a traditional tribe group of Burmese refugees. He spends a lot of his time in the camps, and his program focuses on training refugees to be teachers in addition to other program management positions. To my surprise, the U.S. government gives Quran refugees automatic citizenship and even stipends for living for their first 6 months. After that, many of them get jobs as factory workers, or dependent on their skills and abilities to adapt to Western culture, other more highly skilled jobs. I was curious about their success rate and if his NGO does any measurement or evaluation of the outcomes of their programs. Matt said they have not done that yet, although he is touch with a few of the refugees for follow up. Possible need for someone with those kinds of skills (ahem! me!) came up in conversation as well; however, as his two year contract is coming to an end, Matt might be looking into other job options or going back for a Masters.

Since Julian's flight was not supposed to arrive until 2:45 pm, and given the exorbitant time it takes to go through customs and move through Bangkok traffic, Matt and I relocated to a street side bar for a few Tigers to chat and pass the time. Around 5 pm, I headed back to the hotel, but still no sign of Julian. He arrived around 6 pm, since his flight was delayed almost an hour. In the evening, we met back up with Matt and headed to an area downtown to nowhere else but an Irish pub. We met up with a few of his friends, a French girl who's been living in Bangkok for 5 years! and met Matt through Burma Issues (the NGO he worked for previously, which does more media advocacy work), and another guy who is half Italian and half Thai. We relocated to Soi 4 to a small, underground club with good music.

Party central: Soi 4 at night

Old friends reunited: Matt and I

New friends made...(Julian: what is this drunken Irishman spitting about?!)

Still lost in translation..."Harry Potter" (a.k.a. Macca) looking a bit pinkish

Since Julian and I had skipped dinner, we headed out to the street for some of the best pad thai I had ever had while Julian resorted to the meats on sticks. The street food in Thailand looks and smells incredible, so we couldn't resist.

mmmmm...streetside pad thai

grrrr...chix on stix...grrrr

5 sticks of meat later...(ughhhh)

The next morning, we caught out flight to Luang Prabang (or should I say BARELY caught our flight). If you thought I was slow and always late, using my half-Indian standard time as a constant excuse, Julian is quite the match for me, if not worse. Flying into Luang Prabang, the scenery was gorgeous. Lush green hills, with the wide, brown, muddy-looking Mekong twisting and winding through. I was amazed at how rural and undeveloped Laos looked from the air. I could spot occasional hut houses in the middle of the hillside with only a tiny trail leading to it. I wondered where those trails lead, as there were no towns or cities in sight.

We got into Luang Prabang around 1 pm. It's a quiet, little town with only a couple major streets of guest houses, massage spas, restaurants, and shops. We immediately could feel the chill, laid back atmosphere that Laos claims to fame. Especially given that our guest house keeper immediately showed us to our room and did not expect any formal payment or check-in. Just a "whenever" sufficed. $10 for a large room with air con, hot water, and satellite TV! Tough to beat. We relaxed in the afternoon as I have been exhausted from all the heavy traveling I have been doing in the last week. In the evening, we had a nice dinner and walked around the town.
Found a hangout/bar and sat, drinking Beer Lao and Lao Lao. Lao lao is the local alcohol here, 50% alcoholic by volume, and is made from sticky rice.

"2 for 1" means too many drinks: Lao Lao cocktails, BeerLao BIG bottle, and bright green complimentary shot of lao lao (too repulsive to drink)

The monsoon is here, so after sleeping in this morning and having a light breakfast, I decided to indulge in a massage and pedicure. The massage was traditional Lao, and reminded me slightly of a Korean massage, but less painful. The little Lao girl climbed all over me, digging her knees into my back, and using her hands to hit all of acupressure points, cracking my toes and wrists, and even applying deep pressure to my cheeks and eyebrows. It was very revitalizing and I could feel the toxins and kinks of stress immediately released.

We are planning to stay here a couple of days as we are tired of packing and moving...and we have only just picked up a guide book to plan our next moves. There are seemingly day trips to caves and waterfalls, including a supposedly amazing, beautiful boat ride up the Mekong. A must-do. Most likely our next destination will be north and/or east.
So far so good and more to come!
As Laos moves at a snail's pace, it seems like the perfect place for me.

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