I'll Be Back

I wake early yet again, shower and head off for breakfast. I see Jess along the way with her backpack, she is leaving for the boat ride to Thailand today, she is going to Chaig Mai to work. I sit for my usual fruit salad with muesli and yogurt and Gregory walks past, I tell him I am ninety nine percent certain I will go up the river with him tomorrow to spend a day or two in the jungle village. He reminds me I will need a torch, toys, tobacco for the men and healthy treats for the kids (ie: chocolate milk instead of candy).  

A lady in her fifties comes to the café and sits opposite, we say hello and have a general chit chat. She is on a twelve month trip around the world. We introduce ourselves, she is a teacher from Luxembourg and her name is Simone! I say I am Australian and she is excited to ask some questions, her next stop after Vietnam is Australia so I offer her some advice for her ten days down under (The Great Ocean Road of course, I say this to any travellers). We make a date at the same time and place tomorrow so she can pick my brain about Vietnam.

After talking to my folks on the laptop back in my room (I Skype my mother for her birthday) I head up to the lookout where some of the monks spend their free time between lessons where I have been meeting them. I should clear up what I learnt today, they are not monks they are called “novice” for the four years they spend studying, monks are the older ones who remain with the order. 

Pot and Me.

Today I meet “Pot” (yes yes, I will not have trouble remembering his name). We spend a couple of hours talking and teaching each other until he must go back to his temple and I must go to a restaurant. We mention we are both hungry and I offer to buy him lunch but I learn that if he went to a restaurant, the restaurant would call the police and they would take him to his temple and he would be exiled. I head back down to the main street and have lunch at a restaurant then return to my room for a movie to retreat from the midday heat and start preparing for my journey up river tomorrow. 

About four I head down to a hardware store to buy torches for the village trip (there will be no power) then head down to the waters edge for my usual sunset beer, yes Miss Sam I’m not getting hammered but I am drinking at least one Beer Lao for you everyday. 

There were too many good shots to choose from, I narrowed it down to these four.

A European decides to go to the waters edge and play some solo trumpet tonight, the fishermen are not impressed, he has the whole Mekong river but chooses to stand right next to them. 

I head up to the main street to find Gregory and confirm I will be coming to the village with him, I bump into one of the german ladies who is on her way to meet him. We all meet up and have dinner down the night market food stalls and I over do it on the pork and chicken again, it is so awesome! 

Pang, Nadia, Gregory, Emmanulla and Me.

We retreat to a coffee shop where I have an ice mint lemon drink mainly for the acid to help digest the pork then retire for an early night of bloated bliss.

Monkboy

I wake at four. Outside my window is the water tank unit that supplies the hotel and it has a pump that for some reason starts and stops every twenty seconds or so, it is mostly unnoticeable except when I wake in the early hours, then I can’t hear anything else. I turn the air-conditioning on and that usually covers the noise and I can return to sleep. 

A great old bug on the way to the cafe.

 

This morning I am too excited about my meeting with the monks today so after watching some news on the TV for a while I shower and head off to my café for breakfast. I head up to the temple where I met the monks yesterday. They originally suggested we meet at eight, I more cautiously suggested nine but arrive at eight anyway. This gives me time to explore some parts I had not seen yesterday, a cave tucked in one of the shrines and a reclining Buddha a little way up the hill (I have to pay an entrance fee for the hill for the third time this week to go the twenty steps up to see it!) if I had just climbed the hill from this side in the first place I would have seen everything the first time but as Tao would say – everything for a reason. 

I wander along a path away from the temple out of respect to have a cigarette and return to find a couple of young monks smoking in the viewing area, D’oh! It is still a half an hour until I am to meet Sai and Darkel so I sit where I met them and start reading my book. I am approached by a couple of other monks, they are all around seventeen or twenty, and are curious about me and sit down to ask questions. They all carry around their books that they practice writing in and one shows me the word “announce” and asks how to say it – the teaching has begun. After a while he has to go to school and I start talking to another one called Sien who has many questions in a shy, reserved way.  

Me, Darkel and Sien.

Sai and Darkel haven’t shown so it seems Sien is my student today. We spend an hour talking and teaching each other about our countries, philosophy and life in general. Have you ever wondered why they become monks? I hadn’t but it turns out it’s just like kids being sent to catholic school, they do it for the education (but presumably in a more noble way without the buggery and abuse of the old priests) Darkel turns up after a while, he is a mischievous, cheeky, smart alec, kind of like one of the three stooges. 

After a while I suggest I need coffee and offer to buy them one so we head down to the temple (there are three within a stones throw on this part of the hill) we go to the temple “tuck shop” and get the coffees. On the way we walk past some class rooms where I see many students being taught maths, chemistry, history etc. after this Darkel leaves us and Sien gives me a small tour of the temple including a beautiful old prayer hall. 

Sien and Buddha.

I ask for a toilet and when I come out he asks if I can teach him how to use a computer, they have a small room with several machines that are not too old. We start with the basic shut down – start up, I forgot how funny it is watching someone trying to coordinate a mouse for the first time. I show him how to open internet explorer, type his home town into Google and click on a link, a huge smile comes to his face. Unfortunately the man over seeing the room says it is time to close the machines down and close the room but I did manage to give Sien a brief lesson on computer use. 

After this he has to go to his temple for lunch and prayer so we part ways. I am hungry and go to a café to finally sample Laos pizza – and it is good! I am tired now so I go back to my room for a Nana nap. 

Nothing like a bit of hula hoop at sunset.

I wake at four and head to the massage place, I run into Gregory who has returned from the village, I am thinking of going back with him on Friday. He invites me to dinner with two German girls.

I finally got the star in this picture that has been there every night, it is just at the mouth of the "Dragon cloud"

After my massage I have my usual beer by the Mekong for sunset, alone this time, Ingrid has gone home. I stop by my room to freshen up then go to meet Gregory and the girls for dinner, he failed to mention they are in their fifties!

During dinner I notice a cute girl sitting by herself so after eating I ask if I can join her. Her name is Stella, a twenty nine year old American who is leaving tomorrow. We chat for a while over a couple of drinks then I accompany her through the night markets for her last day present shopping, we part ways at the end and I wander back to my room with an ice cream, tonight it is coffee.

Oh My Buddha

Wide awake at four thirty I decide it is a good time to see the dawn procession of monks walking through the town to receive alms from people. A beautiful tradition of old but of course entirely destroyed by tourists putting cameras in the monks faces and women selling half rate rice to tourists to hand out to the monks.  

I step out into the street and am immediately pressured by women trying to sell me rice and bananas to give to the monks, not very dignified at all. I brush them off and find a coffee then buy some bananas from a lady who helped me find the coffee at this time of morning. I was then lucky enough to find an American who agreed to take a photo from across the street in an unobtrusive and more respectful manner, away from the throng of tourists.  

After that I decided to climb the hill to Wat Si again and catch the sunrise (and get some exercise) I pass two young Japanese girls who are huffing and puffing, I don’t know why but for a forty year old smoker I seem to be in very good health and fitness, I think it has something to do with my “Peter Pan” youthful mind. I sit at the top for an hour and watch the sun eventually break through the cloud.  

I have not planned anything for my time in Laos except to work my way from the north to the south, apart from that there are just three main things I want to see and one of them is here somewhere but I can not find it. I head to my usual café for breakfast and consult Google – at last – it is on the other side of the hill so after breakfast I cut my way through town to the other side of the hill, more steps up to two temples and here it is at last I found my first objective. 

The footprint of Buddha when he touched down after achieving enlightenment! Don’t roll your eyes at me, it’s more believable than the virgin birth or the resurrection! 

But the beauty of Buddism is that we all know it is purely symbolic, unlike those crazy Christians and Muslims who take everything little word of the texts, as the literal word of an omnipotent being.

On my way back down I stop to chat to some young monks, Sai and Darkel, long story short we have a date at nine tomorrow morning for me to help them with some English but more intriguing to me is what they will teach me, I am very excited as I have also wanted to spend some time with monks while I am here, Laos is much more Buddhist than other south East Asian countries. 

The other two things I want to see are the thousand islands right down the south of Laos (A land locked country) but that will not be until the end of my time here so for now my next focus will be on the Plain of Jars.  

On my way back through town I stop by a tour operator who has several options for the three day tour and make some enquiries. The tour can end up in Vang Vieng, the next main stop south from here and would be a good way to see the Plain of Jars and travel south at the same time. I am in no hurry to leave this area, especially now I have some monk friends so I suggest next week or the week after and the very helpful tour operator will keep me informed if someone else wants to do the trip which will make it cheaper.  

On the way back to my room for a rest I stop at the big main temple in the centre of town and enter the prayer room, it certainly is my day! The room and altar are stunning and I have it all to myself so I spend quite some time alone with “O beautiful one” thanking him and meditating. It is quite warm by now and each time I say thank you in a dharma to him a cool breeze comes in through the door onto my back and cools me down. I know how I sound to you, my friends, living in your western existence but you have to be here to fully understand, Buddha is my teacher, Buddha is all things. 

I go back to my room but realise I am hungry so I go to a stall down by the river and have the fresh BBQ chicken with rice then up to the main street for a bagel, it is two pm, now I am ready to sleep.

After a couple of hours sleep I head down to the river for my last sunset with Ingrid. We make dinner plans but she goes for a shower and I wait for her at my hotel and we get separated through some mix up. I head down the street and halfway through my hamburger she turns up. We wander back down to the river for one last beer on the waters edge and say our goodbyes, she is leaving at six and I am meeting the monks at nine.

Chasing Waterfalls

I woke to the most horrendous nightmare this morning, I dreamt I had to get up and go to work, I’m not joking it was truly awful. After a shower I headed off to my café for their great fruit salad, I need it after all the meat I eat in the food market stalls at night. 

After breakfast and catching up with my WWF I wandered past some tour operators and was looking at a sign when one asked what I wanted to do. There are two waterfalls to visit and I was thinking of seeing one today. Long story short I splurged on a mini van and guide to see them both today so I had to rush back to my room, pack for the day and be back in half an hour, though we are in Laos, there is no rushing! Spontaneity is so exciting. 

Along the way I needed an ATM and being Monday morning they are all being topped up, I managed to sneak this shot of the armed guard with the machine gun overseeing the operation. 

Bag packing checklist – towel, camera, zantac, panadol, floss, MP3, tissues, handcleaner, cash, I think I’m ready. I meet Dak and off we go in the brand new air-conditioned van with leather seats, I ain’t no cheap backpacking kid anymore. The panadol and floss are for a sore tooth I have (yes Zoe, six weeks in Saigon and I get a sore tooth now!) it is healing today though. We don’t use the air con in the van, I am more of a windows down kind of guy. 

An hour drive, a quick thank you to "O beautiful one" at a local temple then a five minute boat ride across the river to the first (small) waterfall and a beautiful fresh swim in my underwear, I couldn’t be bothered with swimmers. I swim under the falling water for a “natural” shoulder massage then laugh at the tough guys that are younger than me, showing off to their girlfriends trying to swim against the current to get where I was and failing, yeah it takes more than tattoos to make you cool man! 

I have ridden an elephant before but for twenty dollars I figure it is worth supporting them rather than having them neglected so I go for a twenty minute ride. Mines name was Soomnee, and she was beautiful, truly majestic creatures.

Instilling confidence with the constant bailing of water.

Another hour and we arrive at the second (big) waterfall. There is a Bear sanctuary here, a great thing for them, sad to see them in an enclosure but with out it they are hunted or kept in two metre square cages and taken to China to “perform” for tourists. A nice feeling to know they are safe but sad to think of how horrible we humans can be. 

The waterfall is spectacular, I ran into Jess and had a short chat. Back in the water in my undies and again I swim against the current and sit under the falling water only to watch the young guys unable to make it to where I am yet again, I love emasculating them in front of their girlfriends, and I’m a freaking smoker dudes!! 

I thought there were some really nice curves on this tree.

There is a part of the waterfall where you can jump into the swimming pool and a rope swing as well, those of you who know my love of showing off and risk taking from heights would be proud of me, I did not attempt either one. 

She Jane.

Back down to the car park, Dak and I have lunch, charcoal roasted chicken and rice with a nice cold beer.

We drive back to Laung Prabang and part ways, Dak buys me some bananas and a coffee and I give him a tip. After a shower I head down to the waterfront for a beer with Ingrid at sunset, she is leaving the day after tomorrow. 

 

After sunset she heads off with her friends and I wander up to the main street for some dinner, tonight will be western food. I settle on Carbonara Pasta and it was great, entirely worn out I head back to my room with ice cream and a donut for A movie and sleep.