Life as we know it

Trip Start Jan 03, 2008
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Trip End May 30, 2008


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Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep  ,
Sunday, March 2, 2008

In the end, everything is exactly how it should be and you are always exactly where you should be which brings me to this exact moment.  Slowly floating peacefully down the Mekong River.  As if the rest of the world does not exist.  Because thousands of mountain ranges separates here from the rest of the world, with nothing but endless mountains covered with forest trees and the random fishermans' scattered throughout the river leaving one to ponder the thought of where they came from and how they arrived.  And how amazing and unbelievable of a sight where there's no sign of civilization that does not look harmonious with nature.  Watching all the little kids run around naked and all the fisherman's wearing nothing more than a speedo, i realized how beautiful the human skin is and how well it blends with nature.  For the first time in a long time, I feel alive.  I'm not just another social security number or another voice behind the telephone, I'm not just another place in the endless lines or another random face in the crowd.  But a living, breathing human being.  A tiny but essential part of this world.  I feel...like I'm breathing fresh air for the first time in my life.  And...At this moment, every atom in my body is telling me that I'm exactly where I should be. 

Wow, what an incredible world we live in!  I feel so lost in it, i feel completely immersed in this world. 

So first, the bad news...I lost my camera.  I lost it without backing any of the pictures.  So TWO thousand pictures.  Four Countries...and endless memories are all gone.  Only the pictures from this travel blog remains.  But thats life and we will not dwell on the past or what we can not change.  We will now move on to my adventure in Lao...

The way from Thailand to Lao is first on a bus which stops right on the edge of the Mekong River and then the other side is Lao.  We crossed over on a Ferry and took care of all our visa information and then hoped on a slow boat to sail down the Mekong River.  The boat fits about 50 people, everyone sits on VERY uncomfortable wooden benches, and it is a two day ride (with a stop in the middle to spend the night in a hostel) to Luang Prabang.  Things to do on the boat...sleep (which is very hard since it is so uncomfortable), talk and meet people, drink Lao beer, and smoke weed.  We did plenty of all four.  We met this one guy who was born in Lao but escaped as a refugee 26 years ago and was visiting Lao for the first time since.  He didn't even contact his family to tell them that he was coming back, he is just going to show up and surprise them.  Sitting next to him, you can feel his excitement, regret, doubt, happiness...everything combined.  I also met two professors from Singapore, one of which is working on a thesis about international development work.  What we concluded after our two day long conversation?  INTERNATION DEVELOPMENT DOES NOT WORK!!!  anyways, we arrived in Luang Prabang two days later and it is a beautiful city, one of the UNESCO's world heritage sites.  Temples...museams...and all the other touristy activities filled our day.  The next day, I had to hop on the speed boat back to Thailand.  But like all things in life, the speed boat was 2 hrs late.  So I sat and had breakfast and  the owner of the little shop, an old Lao man, sat down and started talking to me.  We took two shots of Lao whiskey at 7 o'clock in the morning and talked about life.  He told me about his family and how he use to be a school teacher, I told him about my adventures in Asia.  At the end of the conversation, he looked at me in the eyes and said, when you come back to Lao, you will have family to visit."  Pointed to his wife and his house and said, "and you will stay with us."    

I am now back in Thailand in Pai with the couchsurfing collective.  it was Casie (the founder of couchsurfing)'s birthday this week so we had a great big birthday celebration for him this weekend. 

Take care everyone and I'm going to leave you with a couple of my favorite quotes from this trip.

"don't rob me of my misery."
"the race is long and in the end, its only with yourself." 
"your choices are half chances."
"keep old love letters, throw away bank statements."


Miss you and Love you.  Take care of yourselves and take care of each other, we're all we've got.

Love,
alice
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