Lao

So, I am not so good at blogging. I figure that I have my journal and that is probably most important. Plus, I have to pay to use the internet. One dollar an hour is just too much...

Lao was beyond beautiful and so much fun. We met a million travelers in the capital and hung out with them, rode bikes, watched the sunset, ate delicious food, stepped in the most disgusting sewage drain on the planet, met the senior service couples, and stayed in the nastiest guesthouse on the planet. On the way to Luang Prabang, via the VIP bus that was the grossest bus ever and had a bathroom that was so small I couldn't even step inside, we met three Israeli boys. We spent the next week with them and they definitely managed to keep me entertained. Lots of cards, laziness, bike riding, eating sandwiches on giant baguettes for one dollar, waterfalls, horribly steep hiking routes, and temples on every corner. After LP, the boys, Kami and me went to a small village in Northern Lao via a pick up truck for 3 1/2 hours (where I might have been sitting on a tiny, wooden chair in the middle that would regularly fall over causing me to hit people). No electricity, no internet, freezzzzzing cold showers, and a wonderful hammock. The village is right next to lots of hill tribe villages so we hiked to some of them while passing tons of cows and water buffalo. We hung out with a lot of the villagers and somehow we ended up going to pick vegetables with them. Really, we watched them pick these weeds from the rice fields that they apparently eat. I could have stayed in the village forever, but that would not have been responsible so we left those adorable Israeli boys and traveled 2 days and 500 hours back to Thailand.

Here is one of the little girls who went to pick vegetables. She could not stop smiling when I threw her on my back.

So many little babies are completely naked and I think it is hilarious and somewhat adorable (not in a creepy way!)

Sunset over the mighty Mekong. It is amazing to see how necessary this river is to the survival of the communities that surround it.

I know I look awesome.

Here is Kami and I if you couldn't figure it out. That scenery in the background is not photoshopped if you can believe it.

Here are my favorite Israeli boys.

This guy was ridiculous. We got to the waterfall and he was making this big scene taking off his shirt. He was so happy. When I went to get my picture taken he would not move and I spent 5 minutes trying to coax him off the rocks.

Here is a lovely scene from our bike ride in the capital city. Worak here somehow managed to break the chain off the bicycle. We spent an hour trying to fix it and it never worked. When I say we, I mean 4 Laotian boys who ended up making the chain worse.