Laos - Part Two - The Longest Day

After breakfast and before we know it, we are on a long tailed boat on the Mekong river. We travel up river on a gorgeous January day and I feel like I must be dreaming. But I'm just getting started with this luscious dream....

The boat pulls up near a village and we walk up a steep path and along a narrower one at the top and arrive in a neat clean village where we first watch a man at work making woven baskets. We saunder along for some time, stopping to chat with people along the way and watching children ride by on bicycles. It is new years day and people seem to be enjoying a day of no work and there is a lightness in the air and many smiles we encounter.

After about an hour we come to another path near a temple that leads back down to the river where the boats are waiting for us. Sanjay is very popular with the children as they watch him make colorful balloon animals for them. What beautiful smiles on their faces. Such joy to have a simple piece of rubber. Something we would certainly take foregranted.

We board the boat and head back towards Luang Prabang and disembark at the city's main temple. Very ornate and beautiful with many buildings to explore. Some of us decide to sit in the shade and rest with a cold drink. It's been an incredible day already.

We head back to the boat once again and visit another small village where we have lunch with the village chief and his wife. A simple meal of rice, morning glory (similar to spinach), omelet and chicken. They are very kind people and seem so happy to have us share a meal with them. On the way out of the village, many children surround us as we take our leave. They all smile and play games with each other using stones and sticks.

There is one girl who seems very shy and stays back from the crowd. After some coaxing, she comes toward Urmi and they share a hug. She has one eye that is mishapen and it occurs to me that this could by why she is shy. She gets a lot of attention from our group and we are all thinking about her as the boat pulls away...

Back on the boat, we are all lulled by the soft sound of the motor and the silky waves lapping the sides. Eyes grow heavy and bellies are full. The lush green trees and tall mountains surrounding us are pure beauty and peace. I love this time on the Mekong river and feel very grateful that I am experiencing it.

After 30 minutes we pull up to another village entrance. All entrances are an uphill climb and I'm feeling the burn by this time. We climb up and are greeted by the village priest and his family who invite us into their simple home. We are told that they will be performing a Bacci ceremony with us today. A ceremony to give us blessings for a happy journey and to bring in good luck with the new year. 

There are five men and four women in the room. They invite us to sit in a circle with them and in the center there are food offerings of fruit, rice crackers, sweets, a boiled chicken, incense burning and sticks holding many white cords. The men are all very happy and boisterous as they begin to chant and sing. This day just got even more dream like....

As they all chant, each person moves around the room tying a white cord on our wrist, looking us in the eye and giving us good blessings and lots of love. By the time we were finished we all had at least 10 thick white cords on each wrist, the ends hanging down in a tribal like bracelet. After the blessings and prayers, the now blessed food is passed around for everyone to share along with a little bit of homemade whiskey. That's the way they roll in Laos. No wonder everyone was so boisterous and happy! It is a beautiful and touching time with this family. I feel love and good will from every person there, even though we don't speak the same language. It doesn't matter. Words are just that. Actions and emotions are how we truly communicate. We all speak the same language of the heart.

We chat with a few more people in the village as we make our way back to the boat, now heated up and happy from the "whiskey Lao" as they call it there.

Down to the boat yet again and back towards town. We jump into our vans and head back to the resort, where we have time to rest for a short while before getting ready for dinner at a restaurant in town, The Blue Lagoon. We have a lovely meal of rice, fish, curries and local specialties along with some nice wine that Chef Richard chooses.

It was about the most action packed, special and heart warming new years day I've had in many years. Not to mention getting lots of good exercise up and down the village paths. I loved it.

When we finally get back to our beautiful room at the Luang Prabong View Resort, it's time to pack and get some shut eye after this 18 hour day of adventure. Tomorrow we travel by van four hours up to the Nong Khiaw River where will spend a few days exploring around this mountain village on the Pak Ou River.

And on to Laos - part one

On the morning of December 31, I take a cab to the airport to meet up with the group that I will be traveling with for the next 10 days. Dick Grace and his beautiful wife Ann, both 78 years young, will be our leading us. I have had the incredible gift of traveling with them many times in the past, but the rest of the group (excluding Sanjay) have never traveled with them and none have been to Laos or Cambodia before.

I meet 30 something Caitlin, a sassy tattooed korean bar tender, Meredith who teaches art and photography to mentally handicapped adults, Chef Richard, Jennifer and Nino, a couple who are in the wine business, and high school senior Carlo - all from the Napa Valley area and my friend Urmi from India who I haven't seen in over 7 years since I visited her there. And our wonderful tour guide is Sanjay who I have met and worked with in past. He has organized countless trips for Dick and Ann, and this one is sure to be special.  We all introduce ourselves and tell each other how we came to be on this trip and what our connection is to Dick and Ann and the amazing work they do.

We board our flight together and are landing in Luang Prabang, Laos in about an hour. We are met at the airport by our local guide, Pong and his helpers in two vans. We are taken to the beautiful Luang Prabang View Resort where we have just enough time to check into our rooms and change for New Year's Eve dinner at the hotel.

The dinner is a lovely affair, a giant buffet of every imaginable food served on the large patio surrounding the pool. Red wine is flowing and many guests are there with Lao singers and dancers to entertain. A bit cheesy but very fun. Until the rain started to come down. We are ushered inside until the rain subsided and then back out to the pool area. By this time the magic spell had been broken and Urmi and I decide to turn in. Especially since we have a 4 am wakeup call.

After a good sleep, we bundle up for the chilly morning and meet in the lobby. We are driven to the center of Luang Prabang so that we can take part in a wonderful, years old tradition of giving offerings to the monks from a nearby monastery. We sit on little plastic stools and purchase big bowls of rice and packaged snacks. Soon they coming down the lane in a silent, bright orange line. They are mostly younger, heads shaven, orange robes flowing and each with a begging bowl in hand. We put little balls of rice and a snack in each bowl. I try and make eye contact with each but some keep their eyes toward the ground. One young monk surprised me with the sound of his voice as he says "good morning" with a big smile. It reminded me of handing out halloween candy but with a much more calm, beautiful spirit.

Such a special way to begin the new year.

By this time it is light outside and we walk to the morning market where my eyes and senses are dazzled by every fruit and vegetable of every color of the rainbow. There are birds and mice and bats for sale - not sure if they will become a meal for someone....there are baskets and bags, spices and crackers, deep fried goodies, incense, dresses, rice and drinks. A feast for the eyes.












We all end up at a tea stall where we have hot chai and goodies bought from the market. A sweet time as we get to know each other better on this first day of the new year and first day of what is sure to be an incredible adventure together.

Traveling to Thailand 2016

When I am out in the world I feel most alive. Most happy. Most abundant and clear. 
All of my senses firing constantly. Everything is new. New sights in my eyes, new smells in my nose, new people, new languages and new spices on my tongue. Always aware but relaxing into the experience. I have rarely feel afraid when I travel. Always supported by the universe when I let go.

I leave in the early morning of December 28 and board my flight which takes me to San Francisco, then on to Seoul, Korea and then another leg to arrive in Bangkok some thirty hours later. By the time I get to my hotel at 1 am, I am dizzy, exhausted and hungry.

Sunrise in San Francisco

I have a quick shower and collapse into my bed.  After a fitful sleep (my body still wants to awaken in the wee hours - still on Utah time), I get dressed and go down for breakfast. I like this hotel, I've stayed her a few times before. Breakfast is good. Fresh omelet and toast, hot coffee, spicy rice and fresh fruit. I walk outside and the smell of Thailand fills my nose. No place else smells like this. I have the whole day to explore. We'll see how my energy holds out. 

I walk down to the boat dock where tourist boats go up and down Chao Phraya river. I want to go up a few stops to the amulet market to get little buddha tiles and spices. When I see the overloaded boat and how hot it is in Bangkok, I change my mind. Still feeling like my spirit has not caught up with my body, I can't imagine being smashed in this boat with so many other sweaty bodies. It is a few days before New Year's eve and there are many tourists visiting. 

I walk back in the direction I came and a Thai man talks to me and asks where I'm going and if I want a tour of the city. I tell him no thanks and he says "how about massage? There is good spa down the street. I take you." It is a busy street with many people around, and I trust him, so I numbly follow along, chatting as we go, my brain feeling like it's still back at the boat dock. We stop in front of a very nice looking place and takes me inside. He tells me to enjoy and leaves me there. It is a lovely place and the people are nice. I end up requesting a 2.5 hour massage, which includes, head, feet, face and body massage. There are little signs around that explain that this is a NO SEX spa. Massage only. Perfect.

I am taken up an elevator by a sweet woman and into a nice room. She tells me to undress and shower, which I do and then proceeds to give me the most amazing 2.5 hours ever. My body is very sore from the long hours sitting upright in a tight airplane seat, ankles swollen from downward blood flow. She is wonderful and kind and the time seems to go by quickly. Feeling extremely relaxed and drowsy, I float out of the spa and down the street. I stop for a cup of tea and a delicious cookie before heading back to my room for a small nap. 

Bangkok street art

After a couple of hours, I venture out again. Just up the street is a mall that I wander through, looking at all the different things for sale and the people shopping. But the lights are so damn bright. It's hurting my brain. I go outside and down a side street where a little market is happening. I buy some fruit and snacks and walk around feeling so lucky to be here, looking at beautiful faces and smelling fabulous smells. The market stalls seem to go on forever. The street looks like a movie set. Old shuttered windows on top of small cubbyhole houses where I can see people eating dinner or  watching tv. 

reclining buddha

After a few hours of walking, I'm suddenly very tired. I make my way back to my room and relax with a hot bath and then organize my things for the flight to Laos the next day.