Okeefereport: Love, Alice

Hi family! I already sent what's in this blog to most of you via email but I think it was difficult for some of you to read due to strange text and symbols that inserted themselves into what I wrote. Hope blogging works today - I won't write anymore now because internet is slow here and it has taken me so long just achieve this much. Love, Alice xx


email typed 3/1/07

Happy New Year!

I'm writing from Luang Prabang in Laos, on the third day of our South-East Asian tour.

Jack and I spent New Year's Eve on a plane, flying to Bangkok. No big midnight celebrations - I felt like I was the only passenger awake when the clock struck midnight Aussie time. The lights were all off and Jack was sleeping heavily on my lap.

On the way from Bangkok airport to The Atlanta Hotel we turned on Jack's mobile and received frantic messages from his parents urging us to call and inform that we were safe. Jack's dad Bob sleeps with news radio on all night and heard that eight bombs had just exploded in Bangkok, killing two people and injuring more. We rang them and they wanted us to go straight back to the airport and get on a plane to head to our next destination, Laos, three days earlier than planned. We told them we needed a bit of sleep, that we'd be safe at the hotel and that we'd book an flight to leave when the sun came up. So that's what we did. I wasn't concerned about our safety, the attacks were probably all over, but I think Bob would have had a heart attack if we'd stayed in Bangokok any longer.

We had three hours sleep and Jack took me on a half-hour tour of the hotel's surrounds before we headed back to the airport to board a flight here to Luang Prabang. When we arrived we were glad things worked out this way - Luang Prabang is the most beautiful and charming place I've ever been. It's Jack's first time too and he loves it, so we're happy to spend extra days here.

We're staying in a clean and comfy guesthouse on the Mekong River. It's protected from mozzies Alcatraz-style, though we haven't seen one mozzie or fly here yet. We're not taking any chances though - we're protected against Dengue fever by lashings of Rid. We've come at the right time - winter/dry season - so the weather's perfect. A heavy mist hangs over the river during the morning and then the sun comes out so that it's about 25 degrees during the middle of the day.

Our guesthouse is run by a cheerful family with three kids under the age of three. The mum, dad & children all sleep behind the reception desk on a matress on the floor - an area of about 2 square metres. The little kids here are so gorgeous and tiny, I taught the little boy from our hotel how to gimme five, and thumbs up. They all run around so independently, looking after each other. They play with the dogs that run wild - dogs that look just like pets. They're of all breeds, colours and sizes and luckily for them, the Laotians don't eat dog.

The level of the river is currently low so the dramatic slopes heading down to the water are covered in lush green crops. The river bank above is lined with great outdoor restaurants with massive menus serving Asian and European meals, fruit drinks and alcohol for ridiculously cheap prices. We can usually both have a meal and a few Beer Laos each for about $4 in total. There are also lots of hip bars playing funky music where you can meet lots of travellers - mostly French, Dutch and German couples and families.

The first evening we set out and found a restaurant/bar with tables and chairs set on a cliff overhanging the river. It was like an island, seperated from the mainland by about 50 metres, so we had to walk across a bridge made from bamboo weaved together. It seemed fairly dodgy in the middle where it was bouncier and the gaps between the bamboo were wider. After eating there, we paid the nice young waiter boy and told him to keep the extra US$1 because he'd taught us some Laotian words. He came back to us with a big smile and 3,000 kip (about 25 cents), saying "And here's a tip for you."

After checking out a great bar called Hive and meeting some tourists, we started to head back to our guesthouse, though things looked a bit different in the dark. We took a wrong turn and became genuinely lost. We're not entirely dumb though - we'd both taken a card from the guesthouse before we left so we knew it was called Namsok Guesthouse and asked a young tuk-tuk driver to take us there. He did his job, he stopped at Namsok Guesthouse - it definitely said that on the sign - but we knew it wasn't the right one. The address on the card was written in English, which he couldn't read, and I couldn't pronounce it properly. But he had a brainwave and took us to another Namsok Guesthouse - the wrong one again! This time I noticed a '2' after the hotel title and that our card said '3'. We tried to explain to our driver where our guesthouse was, and he eventually got us close enough that we could walk the rest of the way. Jack was so relieved. He thinks it's the first time he truly hasn't had any idea which way to turn and that for spiritual reasons we must find out what Namsok means.

Yesterday we explored to get our bearings so that wouldn't happen again. We went to the central food market, the night markets, various restaurants and bars, and had a 1-hour full-body massage for only US$5. Jack has gone to get another one right now but I definitely won't be going back - it was my idea of torture and I'm still in pain.

I really love it here. I don't know what I expected but it's more primitive than I imagined, yet caters to tourist trade better than I imagined. The people are so laidback and friendly but I can't help feel as though they should resent us a bit for coming here and flashing our wads of US dollars, and haggling over a few cents - not even in their language but in English. Of course they appreciate the tourist trade, but for the first time in my life I feel bourgeois. I look at their lifestyle and can't help but romanticise it - amazing scenery, kids running around safely, everyone looking out for everyone else, food on the table and rooves over their heads because it's a communist country. They seem happy and carefree. But if one thing goes wrong - if it doesn't rain enough, if someone is infected with Dengue fever by a mozzie, if their baby gets sick - they're stuffed. They can't just get first-class hospital treatment or move to another country. They'd probably do anything to have the opportunities we have in Australia.

Anyway, it really is charming. As I sit here in 'Super High Speed Internet store', there are four young monks in full orange garb sitting next to me, also typing emails. Today we'll do some temple exploring. Jack would have liked to book a day or overnight tour into the wilderness but I'm a woos and too scared of encountering tigers, leopard's and bears. They have them here! I feel safe on this populated side of the river but I don't want to cross it to enter the jungle on the other side. So I think we're going to settle for a short trip to a local waterfall and a stay at Van Veng, a small tourist town on our way to the Laos capital, Vientiane.

I hope you've had a happy start to the new year.

Lots of love,
Alice