In Laos

All of the awful things you may have heard about Laos are completely unfounded...
Well, lets just say I like the place so far. The women are more beautiful then Thais, the western food is better (Bread!), the people speak English everywhere, and they tend to be friendlier... So far. Another thing, that I think would drive most of my friends nuts but is wonderful to me is the curfew. I don't know how it works exactly but at midnight you can stand on the street and hear... Quiet.


The feeling of Laos and Thailand are so distinctive that I have become very interested in the history of the area, much more so then from just experiencing Thailand. I went to a museum and as I walked through I read everything! Fascinating, to think how much I have missed by just browsing museums in the past. As I am not at all accustomed to standing and reading and looking, and walking and standing and... I got terribly tired by then end of 2 hours. Luckily as my interest was waning the hostess informed me they were closing for lunch.
So I didn't...

This just in! The woman sitting next to me just had a freak out!!! She was looking at some beautiful nature picture when all of a sudden the local picture folder opened only to be full of pornography... She was murmuring to herself so I looked over to see and was slightly amused, and looking intently... trying to figure out what was going on, of course. My first guess was that she was a professional photographer, then I looked at her... No. The Conservative dress and horrid look on her face quickly dispelled that idea! Just then she frantically started explaining, absolving herself of any responsibility for the images. I wonder if I was to nonchalant about the matter? Maybe I should have played along? I simply agreed with her guess that it was on the hard drive, at least I didn't make some allusion about hard drives... Anyway...

Yeah, Laos is nice. The shops here are a bit expensive, but the wood carvings and hill tribe art are some of the nicest I have ever seen. I was so close to buying one for Aunt Dee Dee, but it looked delicate, and the present I already got won't be broken upon return. I think I would like to go into the import/export business? I could get used to a life surrounded by the best "things" the world has to offer. A life mostly made of sitting around a shop talking with interesting people, interspersed occasionaly with traveling the world to find those things...
A little while ago I was with a friend wondering why she liked me. Sure, I am handsome and funny and intelligent and talented and... But so are so many other people, and some people much more then I, in some, or all of those areas. Then I remembered a poem. It's about a man who has nothing to offer, and sleeps to dream, and in his dream he became the most beloved consort. And the queen came to him, to love him for his dreams...

Dreaming for dreamers is like water for walkers,
A mirage suddenly appears,
when thirsty we are all asleep.
Like food at dinner
Sweet, sour, and bitter
dreams
we eat
and need them all.