***Back in the USA***
Wow! What a trip!
and what a let down to be back. Argghhhh, I did not want to leave, they had to drag me back onto the plane for the ride home!
Firstly, thank you all for the well wishes and comments. I did have a good time and took many pictures. I will share them as soon as I download them. I will also have a more detail blog in a few days... but right now, let me just say that my 3 weeks came and went too fast, days felt like minutes and hours felt like seconds... I was so bummed on my last day and did not want to leave.
So to recap... after my last blog about being in Nong Hai, we decided to travel up to Luang Prabang and spent 3 days there. From Luang Prabang, we went back down to Xieng Khouang and Phonsavan to start the Hmong New Year celebrations. After 4 days in Phonsavan, it was back down to KM 52 to enjoy the rest of Hmong New Years on an VIP bus.
Everyone jokes about it and we all have heard the stories about Laos... the good, the bad and the ugly. But let me just say that you must really go and decide for yourself. No matter what I or others may say, you must really experience it yourself... each of us is different and everyone will come away with a different view and a different take on how things are.
For me, Laos was beautiful, relaxing, and so peaceful... I can not wait to go back. Every morning started with an early breakfast for the whole family and every night ended with everyone talking and sharing stories around the family fire. Everything would seem a like struggle, especially for those of us who were born or raised in the US... there were chickens/pigs/ducks to feed, cows to take out to pasture and fetching water from the well. Some families have very little to eat and others still lived in houses with dirt floors. There are no toilets, you squat over a hole in the ground to take a shit and every shower was a cold shower. The beds were hard, your mattress is a thin blamket over a straw mat for those that could afford one. Dirt and dust got on everything, nothing is ever clean. Yet, in spike of all of this, I fell in love with Laos.
I did not mind taking cold showers... after a while, I almost welcome it. There was NO TV and no news of the outside world, yet, life still went on. It was ok that I was not on Facebook and did not make changes to my fantasy football lineup. Life did not end just because I did get that latest stock numbers. After awhile, I did not miss any of the technologies I was so used to. Everyone knows everyone in the village, everyone is a cousin, aunt or uncle regardless of your lastnames. For the first time in my life, I can truly say I understand what my parents meant when they say they miss the "old life" back in Laos.
On my last day and before I step into the security area at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane... tears started to stream down my face. For a country I can barely remember, I did not want to leave. For the new families and friends that I have just met, I did not want to part. And for a way of life I have never had, I wanted more.
A full summary will follow in a few days... Talk to you all soon.
LHG