On Christmas Eve I crossed the border into Laos. I found a place to stay in the capital city of Vientiane and then went to a restaurant that overlooked the river as I watched the sunset. I thought it would be fun to try some typical Laotian food for my Christmas Eve dinner so I pointed to something unrecognizable on the menu. This is what I got:
It looked alright except for the little sticks and leaves here and there but when I took a bite my mouth exploded and then I noticed all the chili peppers. I politely asked for a box and paid and then handed the box to a beggar man and his daughter and gave him a hearty "Merry Christmas!" He didn't understand me but gave me a big smile and they gobbled the meal down together (I guess they didn't mind the spicyness). Santa must have known what I wanted for Christmas because the next morning under my Christmas TV I found a Christmas miracle of familiar food!
Ok, so I found the gourmet import store. It was wonderful. Then I got to talk to a lot of the family as they celebrated Christmas eve and it was so much fun to see and hear everybody. I was also happy I finally figured out how to use Skype. That day I rented a bicycle and went to pick up my passport with my new 60-day visa for Thailand and saw some sights. This is the presidential palace. When I walked in to take a picture one guard came wandering over and just smiled when he saw I only wanted to take a picture. Apparently they don't need as much security here as our president.
The next day I was off to a beautiful town further up north called Vang Vieng. A lot of travelers come here to see the caves and go tubing down the river. I crossed the bamboo foot bridge and found a cheap bungalow on the other side. 
I spent the first day just wandering around looking at the mountains. It's been a while since I've seen mountains and they were incredible!
I liked crossing all the bamboo footbridges.
I decided not to go in the caves because I didn't want to pay an entrance fee just to feel clausterphobic so I found an abandoned shack in the rice paddy and enjoyed the view.
The next day I decided to go tubing down the river. For a small fee they gave me a tube and drove me to an entry spot upriver. All along the river are makeshift bars with rope swings and slides and locals shouting at you to come drink their cheap beer. I didn't stop but just enjoyed the view.
Floating back to town took about two hours and I made it just before the sun went down.
The next day I took a minibus further up north to Luang Prabang. The road just got more and more mountainous and I had no idea Laos was like this. I kept trying to get good pictures but I had to stop when I started to get car sick. Even in this picture you can kind of see my reflection. The views were stunning, though.
After about 7 hours we made it to Luang Prabang which was the ancient capital. It sits on the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers and it was fun to think that this was the same river we saw exiting into the ocean in Vietnam.
Luang Prabang has the highest concentration of Buddhist monks in Laos and you can see them wandering all over the city (there were even a few in this internet cafe a few minutes ago).
It also has an awesome night market where the villagers come to sell their goods. It was hard not to want to buy some of everything.
The king kept his palace here even when the French were running the show. He finally left when the communists took over and the palace was turned into a national museum. (You can see half of it on the left.)
In the middle of the town there is a big hill with a temple on top so I climbed up the the stairs to see it.
Another temple had a brilliant mosaic of the tree of life.
I loved just wandering around the town looking at the various temples and french architecture. In fact, if it weren't for the people and temples I could easily think I was wandering around a town in Europe.
Later that afternoon I had booked a tour to go see some waterfalls. They gave us a couple hours to swim so I made sure I packed my swimsuit. The water was cold but very refreshing and the falls were pretty.
For New Year's eve I was invited to go out to the bars with some fellow travelers but I decided to just watch the fireworks and lanterns going up near my hotel.
Tomorrow I take the slow boat to Thailand. It's a two day journey on a boat like this and then another day in a bus. 
Then I'll have a few days in Chiang Mai before my certificate course begins. It's been a fun trip but I think I'm definitely getting ready to sit still and stop traveling for a while.
Happy New Year to everyone!
Another temple had a brilliant mosaic of the tree of life.
I loved just wandering around the town looking at the various temples and french architecture. In fact, if it weren't for the people and temples I could easily think I was wandering around a town in Europe.
Later that afternoon I had booked a tour to go see some waterfalls. They gave us a couple hours to swim so I made sure I packed my swimsuit. The water was cold but very refreshing and the falls were pretty.
For New Year's eve I was invited to go out to the bars with some fellow travelers but I decided to just watch the fireworks and lanterns going up near my hotel.
Tomorrow I take the slow boat to Thailand. It's a two day journey on a boat like this and then another day in a bus. 
Then I'll have a few days in Chiang Mai before my certificate course begins. It's been a fun trip but I think I'm definitely getting ready to sit still and stop traveling for a while.Happy New Year to everyone!
I thought the map room was interesting and I could imagine the military leaders planning strategy here during the war.
Then we walked over to the War Remnants Museum. I realize that it was probably a biased viewpoint, but by the end of the museum I felt ashamed of the things America had put this country through. The displays on the effects of Agent Orange and napalm were especially disturbing. Towards the end there was a whole room dedicated to those who opposed the war - including American protesters. It was an interesting museum and made me think hard about the reasons a country should or should not go to war and to what extent a country should go in trying to win.
The next day we took a tour out to the Cu Chi tunnels - a section of land outside the city where tons of tunnels had been dug to fight the French. They were also used during the American war to hide and set up booby traps to capture American troops. They were extremely smart in camouflaging their tunnel entrances.
Here is Sally Schoolgirl and her friend talking about how many Americans they have killed (they were just wax figures but the film we watched did seem a little boastful). 
As Americans, we felt a little bit self-conscious but it was too interesting to care. The next day we booked a tour to the Mekong river delta. The Mekong river is the largest in Southeast Asia and the delta region covers a lot of land in southern Vietnam. It is also where many natural resources and industry come from. It was a fun tour and we got to see them make coconut candy and honey. (We got to eat it, too.) Aren't we touristy . . . . .
Most of the rooms were like this with just a bed and a picture of the types of things that the room was used for.
What affected me the most were the pictures of the people who died here. This board was all pictures of children.
The difficulty didn't end there, though. For those who didn't die in the prison were put in trucks and taken out to Choeung Ek - one of the killing fields sites where mass grave sites were found after the Khmer Rouge retreated. None of us could stomach seeing both of these in one day so we came here the next day. This picture shows how close the mass graves were to each other. It is estimated that around 20,000 bodies were found here. So far they have excavated and buried around 9,000. 
What affected me at this site was that there are still remnants of clothing sticking out of the dirt. They are not old, either. This genocide was recent.
Notice the bones and clothing next to the tree.
While I was staring at a pile of clothing I actually found part of a person. It was extremely disturbing.
Something I also found heartbreaking about Cambodia was the overall friendliness of the people and happy smiles of the children. It amazed me that a people with such a dark history could be so warm and welcoming. Little children would approach us and try to sell us things and then decide it would be more fun to start a game of hide-and-seek. After the two days of seeing these places we were in need of some spiritual nourishment. We found the church and they even had an international branch in English. It was refreshing to be in church again.
We kept moving up the road to Siem Riep where the huge temples of Angkor Wat are. On the way Clay decided to help the local economy and bought a fried tarantula. 
Ooh Yummy . . .
In the end he couldn't eat it and we were relieved we didn't have to watch him eat it. We got to Siem Riep and found a place to stay and a tuk-tuk driver that would take us to the ruins each day. We bought the three day ticket because the last time I was here in 2005 I didn't feel like I had enough time in one day. The ruins were just as beautiful as I remember them. 
They were also just as big as I remember them.
We saw some temples that had extremely intricate carvings:
But my favorite were the ones that were overgrown by the surrounding jungle.
playing with the kids,
and I tried looking for some nice young men with high standards.
We loved Angkor Wat and I think it is one of those places that everyone should try to see in their lifetime. Time is running short for Clay and Trista and I'm fighting off the feeling of separation anxiety that is starting to come on. Clay and Trista fly home in a couple days and I will stay and complete my teaching certification in January. But for now we are back in Thailand and we decided to spend the last few days of the trip on an island not too far from Bangkok. See you next time!