Meandering Mekong

Trip Start Dec 21, 2003
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Trip End Dec 27, 2003


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Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep  ,
Sunday, December 21, 2003

Made it safely to Laos. I'm chillin at an internet cafe in the town center of Vientiene. Small town, laid back feel, especially when you sit at one of riverside cafe's overlooking the Mekong - what a beautiful river, didn't realize it stretched so far and provided so much life to so many people. All I've known of the Mekong has been from it's influence on southern Vietnam, the lush, nutrient rich delta that is the life line to most in the south. It was only a month ago that I read about a 10-foot catfish being caught in Cambodia (cnn.com), but I still didn't make the connection to how important this river is to so many. I have a feeling that I'm going to get to know this wide meandering river well, for my journey north will parallels many stretches of it, eventually taking me for a 2-day journey across the border into Thailand.

Things started out a little shaky today Cafe overlooking Mekong River
Cafe overlooking Mekong River
 . At 5:30am this morning, as my pre-paid Noi Bai airport taxi was about to leave without me, I scrambled to check out of my dorm room and pay off the greedy guards so they wouldn't give me the shaft next semester. After hopping the gate (because the lazy ass guard wouldn't get up and walk 10 feet to unlock the gate for me) and apologizing profusely to the cab driver using my elementary school vietnamese vocabulary, I began my journey. It's gone much smoother since then. I found a dirt cheap dorm room for $1.50, met a lecturer of meditation on the plane, and shared a taxi with some great aussies, and my stinking cold is going away!! The people here are great because they don't hassle you at all, except for maybe the occassional Tuk-tuk driver. The writing is nuts too, all these squiggly lines going all over the place. Though I don't understand a darn thing here, and hate being a tourist after just beginning to feel like a local back in Hanoi, I'm getting to like some aspects of not being able to speak the language... like being able to get away with saying that I'm Vietnamese, vs American, though I don't know if being american here carries the same burden or negative connotations as in Vietnam. It's nice because if they think I'm a student from Vietnam, they don't seem to try to gouge me as much on prices. Hmm, probably just in my head. Anyway, thinking of going north to Luang Prabang tomorrow, I hear it's much more scenic up there, hopefully a good place to spend Christmas! Take it easy ya'll.
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