quickly (so forgive the typos, internet here is EXPENSIVE):
Our two weeks in Laos is officially over. Although it is the Southeast Asian country I spent the least amount of time in, it is without a doubt the one that will remain in my memory the longest. The reason I haven't had time to write is that I have been busy experiencing the country from the perspective of some amazingly wonderful non-English-speaking local people. Many of the places we stayed were without indoor plumbing, much less internet.
Through a dizzyingly random series of events that began with someone having lived in Winter Harbor (population: 250) and reading this on my pack, we made our way off the map & back onto it in the company of new best friend Peng.
After our few days' visit to her village (spent mostly planting rice in the fields- during planting season, everyone works) she decided that, never having been further south than Luang Prabong, she would come traveling with us. A Baci ceremony was held that last night- much chanting & string-tying. We were forced to eat chicken. The family attempted to marry me off to an eligible bachelor for the hundredth time.
It was a very, very big deal for Peng to come traveling with us, for more reasons than I can list. Most of these stem from the fact that the government does not encourage its citizens to travel, even domestically. Despite this, travel with Peng was perfect in every way. I will never forget the look on her face when she saw her first escalator...
It is a strange thing in this day & age to realize that there is a person out there that I desperately want to stay in touch with, and cannot. She lives in a village that has no access to email, telephone, or even regular post. Even if I could manage to send her mail via friends in a larger town, she can't read English, and I can't write in Laos. I can, however, now speak a little, and by my next visit to Laos I hope to be able to tell Peng that the way that she welcomed me into her family changed my life.
An uneventful flight from Vientiane landed me smack back in the middle of civilization: Kuala Lumpur. I've wanted to visit this city every since seeing the Petronas Towers on the big screen in Entrapment. It's an interesting mix of glossy high-rises and rundown tenements. Only a few days here & then we'll make our way to Indonesia.