I cannot believe that it has been over a month since we left Ottawa as in most ways it seems much longer. B.C., Japan and Thailand were an absolute frenzied whirlwind with a new and exotic experience everyday. I do not believe we were prepared for the extreme heat however. We knew it would be hot in South East Asia, that was just a certitude but it was also unexpectedly hot in Japan and heat exhaustion especially for Elizabeth, remains a real concern.
The children have been real troopers keeping us on our toes and in most cases stitches. From the start they embraced the adventure and assisted with the planning.
John brings his type of crazy to everything he does. His ups and downs for the most part are related to hunger so keeping his belly full and his blood sugar levels up are a constant challenge. For John it is about video games, animals and all things modern. He is a big city guy and was sad to learn that there are no large shopping malls in Laos. He left his iPad in Tokyo on the limousine bus to the airport and only figured this out during the first 10 minutes of an 8 hour flight to Bangkok. He cried all the way. Anyhow I was able to get a hold of the limousine service and they sent the iPad to Laos. We are still waiting for delivery to our hotel in Luang Prabang - fingers crossed. We have tracked it to Vientiane but no idea if it will make it to Luang Prabang prior to our departure next week.
Elizabeth has exceeded my expectations especially in the food department. I was concerned that her aversion to all fish and sea food as well spicy food would make dinners a challenge but it has not been a problem at all. She was a great sport accompanying us to the Tsujuki Fish market in Tokyo and besides having a sour look in most of the photos she was generally interested in the fish and sea creatures. The heat is her big challenge so we make certain to get in air conditioning or in a pool during the heat of the day.
They both are gaga for animals. Dogs, cats, elephants, frogs, chickens, roosters, fish, geckos, crabs, I have so many stories of the children and their new found friends. It has been hard on them especially in Thailand and the poor state of some of the cats and dogs. Most cats that we encountered in Bangkok had either a severed half tail or no tail at all due to scooter or accidents with cars. Thais were taking pictures of my children petting the cats as they found this strange. At the Fishermans' night market John and I heard the loud cries of a small kitten, we could not walk away We found it under a bag in the flatbed of a truck belonging to one of the night market food vendors. The poor kitten was about three weeks old with no mother. John was upset at the state of this kitten. We purchased cat chow and brought a make shift water bowl, return to the truck a few hours later and fed the kitten. We fed another clutch of kittens around the corner from our Air B&B. There are not as many dogs in Laos and almost no cats.
Many people we encountered felt that 10 days in Luang Prabang was way too much time but I see this leg as a time to slow down, take it easy and a time for reflection.
Luang Prabang is very unique. French colonialism permeates through the architecture and food, you will notice smatterings of French signs on all the official government buildings and banks. The Laotians that we have met are gentle and quiet. Less used to tourists, I feel, than the Thais. They are most happy when I tell them that we are visiting their beautiful country for three weeks as I guess most people do a relatively quick fly by on the way to or from Thailand.
We are staying in this lovely converted French Villa walking distance to the old town. The large room is all done in mahogany including polished wood floors. The place is immaculate and as is the culture in the Far East you have to remove your shoes prior to walking in the hotel. We have two rooms adjacent to each other and on the second floor balcony in front of our door are two small breakfast tables well appointed with fresh cut flowers. The large breakfast of fresh cut fruit, banana pancakes, eggs or omelette and French baguettes are something that we look forward to every morning. All this for $28.00 a night per room.
There is a ton of activities and sights to take in with over 33 gilded Wats, museums and colonial architecture. The Mekong itself is a marvel, it looks serpentine from the sky, the colour of chocolate milk. It is the 12th longest river in the world and a major transportation route in South East Asia.
Sunset boat rides and dinner cruises abound but for now we will take it easy.
