Waterfalls and Monks

George took a hike yesterday across the bamboo bridge to acquire a much coveted teak elephant. We also bought more elephant keepsakes at the night market. I giggled when I read a post of a fellow traveler who got caught up in the elephant frenzy, too, and said he went home to ponder why he ever thought he was an elephant-pants-wearer kind of guy. That will be us. Poor grandchildren. I imagine they will smile, say thank you and put all of their elephant designs in the Goodwill box. While George was on the elephant mission, I returned to Big Brother for a third time. These students proved to be the most interesting yet. Their stories are heart-breaking yet full of hope. Their stories of the family rice farming businesses are harsh and cruel. They all hope for different careers. Interestingly, too, they wanted to engage me in conversation about American government but didn’t, or wouldn’t, talk about theirs. When asked what they’d do if they had all the money in the world, each answered that they would want to help fellow Laos people, train them in better farming practices, and improve life for the masses.Those aren’t the answers I expected. Sadly, they couldn’t tell me much about what they do for leisure time. There are no parks, theaters, teen clubs, or places to congregate. I think it is mostly work and little play.

Our afternoon activity was a visit to the beautiful Kuang Si waterfall. They were as pretty as the pictures suggested and we took a quick dip in the water. George’s call that it was warm and I’d enjoy it wasn’t exactly true but I’m glad I took the plunge. Not many people did. The trip to/from the falls was as memorable as the falls themselves. We, the only Americans, as is the usual case here, traveled in a van with an awesome Indian couple from the UK, a young German couple, and two teenagers from South Korea. The driver was a loser – terrible driver and the one and only Lao person that has been anything less than accommodating. He pulled off the side of the road, went to the toilet, and then came back and demanded 20,000 kip from us for the park entrance. That’s only $2.40 but I guess no on wants to get ripped off so the young Germans refused to pay. The driver then, arrived 20 minutes late to return us to the city. In the meantime, we all made great friends and shared so much. The young Korean boys gave us a list of what to do when we visit Busan later. We, of course, had to discuss, North Korea, but they seemed totally at ease with the situation. It’s there way of life, they said

At 5:30 am we ventured outside to watch the daily ritual of the monks’ walk to the temples. For $3.00 US, we purchased a basket of food to dispense to the monks as they passed by. It was quite a scene. We were provided with a little stool and it was quite a somber procession. We were warned to dress conservatively for the occasion.

The rest of the day was spent with mundane tasks in preparation of an early departure to Singapore. We look forward to s final scrumptious Lao meal tonight! See ya in Singapore.