The Charlotte Times (at least for now): and we are off to Laos!

So Laos is completely different than anywhere we have been. Luang Prabang is about 2 miles long, not kidding. Its surrounded by 2 rivers and when I went on a very slow run around the entire thing I think it was barely 3 miles and I went out of the city! So there are several wats (aka temples) which you can visit when the monks are not praying. There are also tons of stores selling handmade goods (quilts, scarfs, clothes, etc.) there is a night market, a night food market, and lots of Laos and French food, although less people speak French than I expected. The town has a curfew of 11pm which is very strict, you can be arrested!!! Burr and I made lots of different friends going to the waterfall (see pics, very pretty) and taking cooking class. My fav couple was from Chile and they own a yoga retreat center there – awesome! So we spent 4 nights and 3 days and we did waterfall, cooking class, and spa day!

Now – I let Burr write this bit about the monks

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Monks, monks everywhere ...

Luang Prabang is best known is a UNESCO World Heritage site for all of the Buddhist temples that dot the city. Each morning, these temples release their youngsters to go collect food (and toilet paper supposedly) from the villagers and tourists. A river of monks, dressed in their saffron (but really U. of Tennessee florescent) orange robes, stream out of the gates of each temple with a basket. Rice, bananas, etc are placed into these baskets.

Now, every tourist has to see this .... once. Unfortunately, this parade starts at 5:30 AM and ends by 6. It's a rite of passage among the non-Loatians to be done once and then brag to the others that you've seen it. There are a sprinkling of people who watch one day and then participate the next, but not us. Here are the basic rules for those planning a weekend getaway to what I have begun to think of as "the country that communism forgot it had"

1. women can't touch monks,

2. kneel the whole time,

3. cover elbows and knees,

4. no flash photography

5. don't buy the cheap rice from the morning street vendors (it's old and the monks don't like it)

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Anne continues…..

We took another cooking class in Laos, this time more Laos cuisine of course. What is Laos cuisine you ask (question*) well its basically lots of chilies, lemongrass, coriander garlic and basil all mixed together…oh and lots and lots of MSG! Yes, laos people love MSG they put it in everything, just like its salt. Crazy! We tried to make our recipes without it, but Burr got a little mixed up and used it instead of salt at first…tasted great!

*note – this keyboard’s question mark doesn’t work!

We started with a market tour which was a little interesting to say the least. People eat pork fat and congealed blood (really – you can actually buy it!). burr and I liked the ‘laos cracker’ which is just flour, sugar, and butter and tastes like caramel popcorn! Hahaha. So we made 5 dishes….the one we will make the most of is the tomato sauce, they eat it with sticky rice but we thought it was terrific salsa! I will not be bringing home the smokey eggplant dip – ick! The main courses were fish steamed in a banana leaf (and tying a banana leaf is way harder than you think!), chicken mashed up inside lemongrass and fried (its hard to explain), and laos soup. Burr liked the soup the best but I thought it was too spicy (totally his fault) and I liked the steam fish. I also loved the dessert – sticky purple rice with coconut milk and fruit – delicious!

So spa day was today! Burr got a 90 min. traditional Laos massage for $11 and I got a 2.5 hour body scrub and aromatherapy massage for about $35! Bargain if you ask me! The body scrub you would awesome would be lovely, and it is….when is OVER! Owww does that lady really scrub hard! It was a great day though, sleep in , workout (anne = yoga, burr = run), lovely breakfast at hotel….they make you fresh squeezed juice of any kind! The pineapple and watermelon is yummy! Then spa for a few hours and early dinner. We actually crossed the river to go to this bbq restaurant for dinner..which is basically a poor Melting Pot. They put hot charcoals in the middle of your table, bring raw chicken and broth and say cook…it was still good though! Then Burr and I tried out the bar in town everyone was talking about, Utopia…all I wanted was some good drinks and fun music, instead I got backpackers haven with spa type music and a sand volleyball court….needless to say we didn’t stay long…where are Britney and Justin when you need ‘em (question)

So far Burr’s ranking is

1. South Africa

2. Laos

3. Thailand

4. Cambodia

I am still on the fence between 2, 3, and 4, but nothing will beat the safari…I’m dying to go back and still slightly sad its over.

Tomorrow its onto VIETNAM! Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An, and Phu Quoc here we come!!!! Sunshine please come out….I cannot go back to the US this pale, even spray tan cannot help this British white I inherited!