pictures..because right now words are too hard.

I'm totally tired and am going to veg, work is killing me. So for your entertainment, I picked some fairly random pics from the archives and posted them. Enjoy please.

Me on a pedestal at Schloss Charlottenburg in Berlin. That is my favorite skirt currently, but it's too cold for me to wear it now.

A view of the rooftops around Trafalgar Square, London. Taken from the fabulous restaurant at the top of the National Portrait Gallery. It's a tad expensive, but the food is great and the views of London are unique.


Er...I think this is a little street cart in Luang Prabang, Laos.
My eyeballs.

Pak Ou caves, Laos

I've been meaning to write about this, but got sidetracked many times. I'm finally getting around to it. One of the best things we did in Laos back in March (Oh my God is that already three months?) was a boat trip down the Mekong. I had no idea what to expect. What I got was amazement, wonder and awe. (Awww...)

Colleen rented us our very own long boat with driver and they picked us up at our hotel that was just on the outskirts of Luang Prabang. I knew NOTHING about the Mekong river. Colleen was very excited about the trip. It had long been a dream of hers to see it. During the Vietnam War, the Mekong played a pivotal role and she had heard and read so much about it, she wanted to see it for herself. It was very beautiful, peaceful, wide and calm. It wended its way through hills and farms amd forests and every mile or so we'd see a wat. Fisherman were out in force, fishing as they had for thousands of years. After about 2 hours of floating, we came upon this:

The entrance to Pak Ou cave. To say I was startled was an understatement. I mean...WOW?! It was immense and awe inspiring and craggy and daunting all at once. For hundreds of years it has been a holy place where Buddhas are retired. A damaged Buddha is considered bad luck, but obviously throwing it away is pretty bad, so they get "retired" to places like this. It's a very holy place, but unfortunately it's getting plundered at a pretty alarming rate. I climbed up the stairs to the entrance and paid my 50 cents to get in. I also bought incense for offerings.

Inside the cave. To the left is the river Mekong. The altar is in the middle.

Me in the cave. I was a bit overwhelmed, it was just so amazing. I honestly felt teary eyed for quite a while afterwards. It felt as holy as any place I have ever been.

Some of the Buddhas. The place was intense. I collect religious images and artifacts (I'm not religious, but am fascinated with iconography) and am amassing a fairly good range of Marys, Buddhas and icons. This place was a Buddha collectors dream. I was enthralled. I have a couple Buddhas that are very similar to these and are at least 50 years old. One is over 500. There were conservatively 10,000 in that cave, and thinking that many have been stolen and sold on the black market....that's alot of Buddhas.


Buddhapolooza. It was gorgeous. The place smelled of mud and river and dust and old wood and incense. I'll never forget the smell.


Side view of the altar in the cave, looking toward the river. Laos Buddhas differ from Thai, as do Burmese. Each country has a different style. (The wats are different architecture as well.) Once you know the differences it's not hard to see them. Kind of like the difference between a Greek icon and a Russian one.


Some monks. This was toward the back of the Upper Cave at Pak Ou. There are two caves, actually, the lower one that you see from the river, (and all the pictures above this one) and then a higher one a very steep climb up many steps. Most people don't venture up there once they see that staircase, but intrepid me went for it. (Though I did have to take a break once I got to the top because that was ALOT of stairs.) It was very dark inside the Upper Cave but luckily there was a guy at the entrance who handed me a flashlight. Once my eyes acclimated, however, I didn't really need it. This upper cave was not as elaborate as the lower one, nor filled with as many statues, but if felt very dark, cave-y and spooky. It echoed at the slightest move and there was a space in the middle that was roped off, for what looked like rituals and ceremonies. It gave me the willies. I don't know why.
I got the picture of the monks out of pitch black, I set the camera on "night" and pointed it at them, hoping for something good, and I was rather pleased at this. Their robes glow in the available light. Their presence helped me not feel so freaked out.

On the way back down the stairs I had to pee real bad. I hadn't gone in like, 6 hours. Here's why I held it for so long:


A SE Asian toilet. You put your feet on either side of the bowl on the right, and sort of squat. I could never figure out which way you faced, forwards or backwards? so I just stepped right up facing it, afraid of stepping on to it backwards for fear of falling in. To the left is a trough of water with a handled bucket. After you do your duty (or dooty, which, sorry, I just COULD NOT do in those circumstances, ever) you dump a bucket full of water into the bowl and it flushes right down. Clever system in that it works just like a normal toilet. (And yes, they do use toilet paper (thank GOD) but it gets thrown away, not flushed, which made for some nasty bathroom smells from the open trashcans in every bathroom.) This also explains why I frequenly saw footprints on the seats of traditional "sit" toilets in SE Asia. Folks are just used to standing, not sitting.

And for the record, this was a VERY clean toilet by local standards. I rarely saw any that were just too disgusting for use. I was usually favorably impressed by the toilets wherever I went. Or, at least, not horribly grossed out.

Food. Pink Drinks. Big Beer. Life is good.

I've gotten a request for pictures of food we ate while on our recent trip to SE Asia. I did take a few pictures, so here we go. Being me, and hello, EVIL, of course I also took pictures of drinks as well.

We had an amazing meal at Le Normandie at the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok. (Pictures of that in the next post.) First, of course were the drinks. I've always followed the "when in Rome' theory of drink, so when in Thailand drink...Mai Thais! Mm.....Yummy Mai Thais. I had them in many posh places......

Here's the Mai Thai I had at the Four Seasons in Chiang Mai. Nothing so refreshing after a long ride on an elephant as a fruity rum drink!

Not being a snob, and once again practicing 'when in Rome', in Luang Prabang I drank Beer Lao. Beer Lao comes in big bottles. Beer Lao cost a buck. I drank alot of Beer Lao.

This was an appetizer we got at the River Ping Palace in Chiang Mai. We just told Esther, the owner, to set us up with whatever she wanted. This was part of the amazing meal that followed. There were fried mushrooms (interesting ones, not just white ones), chicken with lemongrass, calamari, prawns and some other stuff. It came with really spicy, not so spicy and sweet sauces. We ate it so fast I didn't really get a chance to keep track of it all.

Ok, so I kind of suck. The meal that came after the appetizer was so awe inspiring that I never got a chance to take a 'before" picture. There was a whole fried fish, Tom Yum soup, a curry, a prawn dish, fried rice and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was all so good and amazing, even had I had the forethought (and could get my jaw off the table) to take the picture, I don't think the others at the table would have had the patience to wait for me to take it!

There were many memorable meals that I did not get pictures of as well. One that sticks in my mind was the Thai style bbq we had in Mae Hong Son. I blogged about that one already, so won't bore you with it again, but for $8. including drinks, it just can't be beat as one of the best cheap meals I have ever had.

More scenes from Luang Prabang

I took something like 1000 pictures on this trip. If y'all are getting bored with them, well, you might wanna just skip my blog for a while!

Besides, I don't really have much to write about for day to day stuff. It has been cloudy and cool here in my little part of Norway the past week, I've started working out again and the job is still on hold. We are trying to figure out the next batch of travel, but first i sorta have to pay for some of my previous travel...it might be a few weeks before i have something interesting planned. So, in the meantime, more pictures of exotic destinations past.

Rear view of monks walking away after the alms ceremony. I have tons of monk pictures, that flash of orange is just so picturesque. Look how tiny they are! Just boys!

A woman sitting on a side street in Luang Prabang, sorting rice and feeding chickens. Chickens (and puppies) were EVERYWHERE. No worries about avian flu here, apparently. Isn't that a beautiful cock? (huh huh..)
Luang Prabang is slowly but surely being touristified, but you can find side streets like this where life goes on as it has for hundreds of years. They were just building the nice brick streets during our visit, they have been dirt up til now.

Phousi massage? No, really, thank YOU!

I had to have a picture of this. This was our bathroom in Luang Prabang. Notice the plug right next to the shower head? It was for the bathroom outlet. To plug it in you had to stand on a wet tile floor! I called it the Shower of Death.....zzzzaapp!

People setting out their wares for the night market. The night market in Luang Prabang ROCKED. It was small enough to be intimate, large enough to keep you occupied every night for at least an hour or two. First night you went to get familiar with what was on offer, 2nd night to see what the best stuff was for the price, third to start bargaining. It took over the main road in town for about half a kilometer, right in front of the 'palace'. Unfortunately, the folks on motorcycles were not blocked out and so you had to be careful not to get run over or burned by the tailpipes of stupid kids on motorbikes riding not 6 inches from the items on offer. Between them and dogs, chickens, people and kids running around, it was a crazy scene.

Giving Alms to the Monks in Luang Prabang

This is me in Luang Prabang Laos, waiting to feed the monks. It was 6 am, so yes, I have no makeup on. Note the scarf wrapped around me, my shoes to the side and the way I am sitting, with my feet under me. A woman must always sit lower than the monks and your feet (always bare) should never ever be pointed at anyone. It's considered a grave insult.
About 20 feet away to my left was a line of about 200 monks waiting for the ceremony to begin. About 50 yards away the other direction were more groups of men and women lining the street, waiting to give their offerings. I, lucky thing, was first and had no one from whom to learn by example.

A wat in Luang Prabang. There are something like 33 of them in that one small town. By small, I mean SMALL. About the size of UT's 40 Acres, for you Austin folks.

Men giving alms to the monks. Notice that they get to stand. Why does religion always always penalize women? That really bugs me. That monk in the picture, he was the head guy and he was a bit of a grump.

Me and the line of monks. The rice I gave them was very sticky and very hot. I just reached in the basket and grabbed a gob of it and put it in their bowls. I wondered about the hygienity of it all. I mean, they walk all around town and are given food by about 200+ people. I hope everyone washed their hands.

Local women giving alms.

I really hope that by joining in the ceremony, I wasn't regarded as just a tourist interfering in the local tradition. I fear I was looked at that way, but I really wanted it to mean something and was VERY concerned, even nervous, before hand for fear of fucking up somewhere. I really wanted to feel apart of this beautiful ritual. I just wish I knew a little more about it beforehand, and I doubly wish I had totally told those pushy women who forced extra food and a mat on me to go fly a kite. Apparently, from my research on it afterwards, letting them "help me" (and then make me give them money for their "help") is a common tourist faux pas. and the monks don't appreciate it. Damn.

The vast majority of the monks were very sweet young boys who just wanted to practice speaking english with me and would stop me wherever I went to do so. (They could not talk to me, look at me or touch me during the alms giving ceremony.) Luang Prabang is considered a holy city in Laos. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and is incredibly beautiful.

tithes, tits and phousi

Good news: Internet here costs 1.5 cents a minute, so about 90 cents and hour.
bad news: It's SLLLOOOOWWWW.........

Last night in Luang Prabang. Sigh. Just had a foot massage...aaahhh.....

Got up at 6am to feed the monks. I was a bit nervous about it as I didn't want to do anything insulting or wrong, ettiquette wise, but it seemed fairly simple. The hotel provided us sticky rice and so we went down to the street with our baskets of sticky rice and waited for the monks. WE were accosted by the "alms vendors", these women who sell the stuff to give the monks to falang like us. There was no way we could say no. AT first I thought they were just being nice, showing us where to sit, etc., but then they gave us extra food...and I knew they snared us. If you have ever been in a country with touts and street people, you know the feeling...they have you before you know what's what. Anyhow, they gave us extra bananas and some wierd candy to give the monks as well, since we already had rice. And gave us a mat to sit on. (I found out later that the monks don't appreciate this food, as it is considered taking the easy way out, but how the hell would I know that? And we did bring our own rice! Really! It's just we got accosted by those touts and they took over!)

WE waited for the monks to arrive, and boy did they...they lined up over 100 of them. They started walking by and we would grab little gobs of very HOT sticky rice and put it in their food bowls. It was kind of hard work because they were going FAST and the monks are not allowed to talk to us, so it also felt a little rushed and thankless. Here we are giving them their daily food and they can't acknowledge us at all? What was strange was before all this, there were some monks waiting to get going, young boys of about 16, and they talked and laughed with us, but the minute the food thing started, it was all serious faces and no talky. Almost dirty looks even. The old monks were not nice at all.....but I am wondering if they saw the stuff provided by the touts and dismissed us as taking the easy way out. WE promise we didn't.

Tourists were massed up and taking pictures. I feel a bit sorry for them, they wanted local culture and instead got a bunch of white women interfering in their quaint local ceremony. I guess I will be in Gunter's photo album. Wish i had worn makeup.

Anyhow , we finished our rice (we gave bigger gobs than the local women, cuz seriously, who wants to sit on their knees for an hour giving three grains of rice at a time?) and managed to get some pics ourselves.

AFter the feeding, we crashed for a bit, then went to the waterfall outside of town. We hired a driver to take us there. It was gorgeous, turquoise pools of water, rocks, swimming ponds, cool cool water. Colleen has bad knees and so is not much of a hiker, but I wandered around some in the woods and took some pics of the different pools and the large white people floating around in them. Boobs boobs everywhere. White people just look so large and squishy compared to the lithe, lean people here.

AFter the falls we checked out a Hmong village. Well, our driver sort of dragged us there. It has unfortunately become a sordid tourist trap, with dirty children being trained to make the foreigners feel as guilty as possible if they don't buy the bracelets the kids offer up in their grubby little hands. Kids no older than two or three, shouting prices at us, "Buy Buy! 10000kip! Ok,ok 5000!"! The parents should not do that to their kids. If felt very calculated and very uncomfortable. I think they all had much nicer houses at the very back of the village and saved the huts for the front. Sorry to sound cynical, but we met up with some other folks and we all felt the same.

Anyhow, back to town after that, and to a small lunch where I tried the BeerLao dark, which was actually quite good. Crisp, dark amber ale, a bit malty, yummy. Not bad for 75cents. I like it better than the lager.

I had a giggle when I learned how to pronounce "Phousi". There is a Phousi Hotel, a Phousi Restaurant, a Phousy Market and....Phousi Massage. Go ahead, you know how it's pronounced, don't you? Leave out the "h".

Yeah. Good town for Phousi. I could use a Phousi massage about now. Luckily Rich comes to Bangkok tomorrow.....

Sabaidee!

Sabaidee means hello in Lao. If you ever come here you will learn it very quickly, because everyone who comes near you, walks by or catches sight of you will say it. Sabaidee!

Now about money.

1usd = 10,000 Lao kip
1usd = 40 Thai Baht.
1 Thai Baht = 25 kip.

You can pay for things in baht, kip or dollars, whatever you got. Almost NO ONE takes visa, and there are NO and I do mean NO ATMS in the COUNTRY. So you gotta get here with dollars and baht galore, and then they try to give you change in kip, which are worthless anywhere else and laughable deflated. So today I bought some bugspray and water that was priced in dollars, paid with 1000 thai baht and was given 186,000 kip in change. My brain stll hurts from the math on that. With the 186000 kip she gave me a rubber band to hold it all together. I felt like one of those mafioso that carries hundreds in rolls, you know? Crazy. They sell wallets here that are actually little baskets with lids, to hold all the money. I am doing my best juggling all the currencies, and am working two wallets.

So yesterday we left the Grand Luang Prabang and moved into a little auberge in the town, looking out over the Mekong. Luang Prabang town itself is absolutley charming. Chickens and chldren play in the streets, there are no busses or traffic lights. Every rides bikes or motorcycles. They just installed a new water system here and are very proud of it. The hotels all advertise "modern amenities...shower, toilet, electric, hot water". (The toilet in our hotel looks like a throne, all ornate with gilding, and it is labeled "Falange" which is also the word for foreigner. I got a good laugh out of that.) It is just getting used to tourists, and doing its best. The people are so freindly, they all want to talk and know where we are from. There is a good selection of restaurants, and there is not one chain of any sort anywhere. This place is free from Western commercialism. There are some pizza joints, and a french bakery. Some "fancy" hgh end restaurants where the main dishes go for 6USD. And a creperie. I had crepes with strawberries and lime for breakfast and it was exquisite.

The town has 33 Wats (temples) almost all stunning. Monks are everywhere as they live on the grounds of the wats, and they are mostly little boys, aged 12 and up. Women should not touch monks, and should be respectful of them and not stand higher than them, but when they are twelve year old boys playing soccer n the yard of the wat and they run up to you to ask you questions so they can practice their English, it's hard to show the proper respect. Or squat low enough so you don't have your head higher than theirs!

Today we lucked out and saw a Buddhist ceremony in one of the wats. All the boys in their orange sarongs, singing and chanting. I took no photos, disrespectful, but I will never forget the calming sound and glowing burning colors in the temple...all gold, orange and red. Spiritually, Buddhism calls to me more than any other religion. Something about it is so peaceful, with its emphasis on wisdom and patience and sharing. Very nice. It's so hippy-dippy in the US, when you see white folks being buddhists, but here it is just such a way of life, it's so natural.

Tomorrow Colleen and I will join in the offering ceremony. The monks are given their food for the day by the women of the town. For the women it is a spiritual offering, a tithe if you will, and for the monks it's a way to eat. This is the only food they get for the day. So all the women line up, on their knees, sitting on their feet, and the monks walk by and you give them a bit of sticky rice in the bowl they hold. We can't touch them (seems every religion has got something against women, ironic that these guys are reliant on the women for food but we are still lower than them). Luang Prabang is famous for its offering ceremonies. We will get up at 5 am to do it.

But tonight and last night we hit the night market, and ladies, let me tell you, it's heaven. Heaven heaven heaven. Row upon row of cheap, lovely gorgeous textiles and bags and carvings and buddhas and jewelry and bed linens, all hand done and gorgeous. I got 10 silk placemats and a silk table runner for 15usd. A purse for 2. A bunch of hand done wallets with little people on them for 1 each. A dolla (Lao for dollar) here is big money. It's crazy. I have no idea how I will get it all back to Bangkok, much less Oslo. And I got a bunch of Beer Lao t shirts, they will be the new Austin Status symbol.....

I've taken about 350 pictures and am almost out of memory on the 2nd card. You'll see some of them when I can get them downloaded.

This is long, so I'll sign off.

Lao = Wow

Greetings from Laos. Though they leave off the s on the end, so it's just Lao.

And...wow.

(fyi, i am on a 36kps dial up, so we'll see what happens here.)

Laos is AMAZING. This is what I thought Asia would be like, and why I felt a little bummed out with Bangkok. Because, honestly, seen one big city, seen 'em all. But get out of the big city and into this fairly undiscovered country, and the game totally changes.

WE took Bangkok Airways (motto: Exclusive transportation to exotic gems" or something like that) in a direct flight. IT was a propeller plane, whcih made me nervous as hell, as the only other prop flight i ever took left me green and sick. But it was very smooth and the service was excellent. Highly recomend Bangkok Airways.

Got to Luang Prabang airport, and it was teeny, and surrounded by craggy point mountian'lets, like you see in Japanese woodcuts or in Thai landscapes. COOL! Wen through the visa purchasing, passport control and customs processes (forms for each, with passport photos and 30USD for the visa) and we were picked up by the hotel, the Grand Luang Prabang.

The hotel is on the Mekong river, and it's lovely. They spent ALOT on building this place, and it is quite stylish, but what i have discovered about Loas is that they do alot of htings they THINK tourists want, but they sort of do it in their own way. It's been funny, to say the least. Dinner last night was ah oot, the waiters don't just hover, they sort of gather and stare at you while you eat. If you ask for ketchup, they also bring Worcestershire, Tabasco, Soy and Fish sauces, just in case. Oh, and chili sauce as well. And they bring each thing individually, as well as each dish, each fork, knife and spoon, and the flowers and then the candles. The waiter literally took about 100 trips to our table during that meal.

Anyhow, early night last night, woke up to a lovely day (though hazy as it is "slash and burn" season here, where they burn the fields to prepare for crops) and got on our very own hired boat for a trip up the Mekong. The Mekong!!! Seriously, what the fuck?

Se we went up the Mekong, past town (we are outside a bit at this hotel, though will move into town tomorrow) and to the most amazing cave I have ever seen. Called the caves at Pak Ou, it is a place where they retire Buddhas, and have done so for many many years. There were thousands of Buddhas all over this cave, and altars and candles and it was amazing. Right by the river. Yes I have about a million pictures but cannot post them now, too slow computer. We lit offerings and soaked up the place. IT was incredible. Some monks came in, in their saffron roabes, it was lovely., There was an additional cave a steep climb up the hill, so I went up there too and got some brilliant shots in the dark with my wonderful camera. Damn it takes great night shots.

After that to the town of Pak Ou, where we had lunch. Two of us ate for five bucks. The town is the caretaker of the caves, they watch out for it, as they have for hundreds of years. Thatched huts, straw cottages, mud streets. Mostly on stilts by the river. I got lots of pics, don't worry. They had a lovely Wat, where the monks (boys aged 13?) played soccer and hammed it up for the cameras.

Thence to a village where they weave silk. Yes I bought a few things. Amazing scarves and table runners and wall hangings. Made right there. We were the only foreigners there.

Anyhow, I know this is short but words cannot describe how great it was. Anyone who gets the chance, and comes to Bangkok., must make the extra trip out here. It's SO worth it.

The mosquitos are eating me up (the computer is in an open pavilion in the garden!). WE have someone coming to our room to give us massages. 10 bucks an hour...it's a stretch, but we will manage somehow.

Oh and I have found the perfect beer t shirts...BeerLao. Too cool.......

and in other late breaking, bored and blogging on a Sunday, news.....

Plans are firming up for the trip to Thailand. (Unlike, I might add, my ass, which has lost none of its Wonder Bread softness and whiteness...)

Plans are made to go to the following places:

Bangkok (home base).
Chaing Mai (I have no idea WHAT to expect)
Krabi Beach (White sands! blue skies! blue water!)
Luang Prabang, Laos (which blows my mind)
and....(drumroll please)

ANGKOR FUCKING WAT.....

Angkor Wat, people! ANGKOR WAT! Only in my top five of places I must visit in my life time. (The other two left...Taj Mahal and Maccu Piccu. I've already taken care of the Nile and Morocco. My list of five is now down to two. Holy crapping crapness.) It's been a dream of mine to go there since I was a kid reading those Time Life books about mysterious places and forgotten cultures. (Amazing, really, how much those books influenced me and my sense of adventure.) One of those places that I thought about the same way I thought about Mars...it exists, but I'll never see it.

And now I will. See it. Angkor Wat.

Holy shit in a sidecar. I might be shedding some tears of excitement, gratitude and just plain holy-shitting-ness right now. In fact, I'm verklempt. Let me give you a topic.....