"OMB"- oh my buddha

March 1, 2011

Now, the problem with "dry season", is that it is not appropriately named. It should be called "your-flip-flop-melted-to-the-pavement-this-afternoon -season", or "you-didn't-pack-enough-underwear-to-sweat-this-much-season". Having drawn a scowling face with detailed sweat drops on the brow in my guidebook beside the portion that describes Februarys weather as 'pleasant', we decided to head north. While I pondered my newfound appreciation for those ridiculous hats that have solar panels and a built-in fans, our new travel companion David, risked life and bare shoulders in the sun to buy our boat tickets. Destination: Nong Khiaw. Even sounds colder, doesn't it? We adopted David the German on the last boat trip, which brought us to Luang Prabang from the Thai border. He is good-humored, well-spoken, and best of all: he has a couple inches on Sander. Imagine my ultimate joy to be traveling with two handsome "giants", whose combined height is so distracting that not a single Asian woman has stopped to giggle at the size if my feet. In fact, watching the two of them chatting and walking, stooping like a couple of lepers to avoid the market tents while women and men alike stand slack-jawed in their wake, makes for its own afternoon activity.

So, north we headed on a 12 person boat, skimming along the emerald water of the Nam Ou river. Well, we 'skimmed' along the water right until we came to a grinding halt in the rocks of the dry-season riverbed. There we were: twelve sun-pink tourists, all wearing stupid hats of one kind or another, simultaneously wondering if we'd eaten too much for lunch. I quickly decided I didn't want to know if it was me, and jumped into the knee-deep water to push. Four other women and one Sander joined me. David took pictures. We guided our boat through the shallows, inch by inch, while I tried to calculate the speed of the boat vs. my ability to pee quickly in the river and catch up unseen. I fear I would regret making a statement like "SE Asia makes me wish I had a penis...", so I will put it in quotations and tell you I returned to the boat soaked from the nipples down.

Eight hours and two changes of clothes later, here we are in Nong Khiaw. A town of vibrant and genuinely friendly Lao people, it is nestled in the river valley and split in two by the glittering green river, only to be joined again by an enormous bridge with arching pillars that reflect the color of the pink evening sky. The limestone mountains are soaring and lush, littered with visible outcroppings and caves .... perfect for a good story about trolls. We mean to be here a day or two, but I feel it may be longer. What a great journey!

Slaughter