Writer. Fighter. Lover. Dreamer. The doctor's say she's generally functional.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Laid-back Lao

So it's true what Mervyn told me about the people of Lao.

Extremely laid back and it's hard to get service in restaurants and things like that. But they are also really nice people. The island of Don Det is a wonderful place - no banks, atms, post office, the lights go off early and you're stuck in pitch-blackness if you don't have a flashlight after about 7. At 11 the generators go out and you're in the wild.

Yesterday we went to see South East Asia's largest (by volume, not height) waterfall and it was spectacular. Swam in the Mekong with a few water buffaloes. It was filthy but worth it for the experience.

At night Toby was talking about what he'll do when he eventually goes back to Aus and I was feeling a little bummed out so to distract myself I went to change the song on my ipod, we were having dinner at the restaurant of our guest house.

When I returned my feet randomly brought me past our table to stand by the edge of the restaurant for a bit and look out at the river. Not sure why I did, and was contemplating and feeling down about how temporary things can be, and then I was prompted to look up into the sky - after getting into a bit of a diffucult position (the roof's in the way), and still wondering what I was doing, I saw the most spectacular thing. The sky was perfectly clear and there were more stars that I've ever seen in my life. More than in Melbourne, more than in Perth, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I could see the Milky Way and what Toby thought was Orion's Belt. Lots of constellations too.

And I was overwhelmed by the vastness of life and its possibilies.
Okay, big guy in the sky, I get your message loud and clear. =)

The biggest waterfall in SEA, Liphi Falls:




Even the cows in Lao are laid back:



Lao kids presenting us with flowers! =) too sweet


Travel friends from phnom penh to Lao


Happy swimming with water buffaloes!



1 comment:

  1. Isnt it amazing how it is that only when we are in the dark that we can actually see
    and appreciate, the light(the lighted sky).
    Everyday and every night, those stars are there,we just cant see them. I wonder what other beautiful things there might be around us that we just do not see.

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