Saturday, March 26, 2005
it began in africa (well nobleton actually)
Happy 30th Birthday to the delightful Jennifer E Borgh (note how I got the age correct... instead of adding 1 year, like she did to me on my birthday this year - truly a sign of age).
Thursday, March 24, 2005
laos roll call
1. Not wearing socks once during the entire 3 weeks in the country.
2. Boats: slow ones, fast ones, speed ones, canoe ones, kayak ones.
3. Children fishing in the river with face masks.
4. Rivers.
5. Houses on stilts built with bamboo.
6. Sticky rice and the containers with the lid attached by a piece of string.
7. Monday morning in Vientaine no different to Sunday afternoon.
8. Sabadie and Copchailala.
9. Generators whirring from 6 till 10pm
10. Stepping into and out of boats.
11. Drinking water bottles where the opener always snaps before you've got it open.
12. Watermelon shakes.
13. Places (almost everywhere) where foreigners outnumber locals.
14. French colonial architecture.
15. Uncomfortable concrete tables outside of nearly every building.
16. Monks, monastries, shaved heads and orange robes.
17. Sit up and beg bicycles.
18. Sangeathaws: pick up trucks with a metal cage and too many people inside.
19. Beer Lao. Here, there and everywhere.
20. Madeline Wylie.
21. Leaving when the bus driver feels like it.
22. No ATMs.
23. Other countries being the other side of the river.
24. Juggling 3 currencies at once - kip, dollar and baht - an accountant's delight.
25. Westerners taking 8hr slow boats while all the locals go on new 3hr buses.
26. And waterfalls. Many, many waterfalls.
Over and out.
2. Boats: slow ones, fast ones, speed ones, canoe ones, kayak ones.
3. Children fishing in the river with face masks.
4. Rivers.
5. Houses on stilts built with bamboo.
6. Sticky rice and the containers with the lid attached by a piece of string.
7. Monday morning in Vientaine no different to Sunday afternoon.
8. Sabadie and Copchailala.
9. Generators whirring from 6 till 10pm
10. Stepping into and out of boats.
11. Drinking water bottles where the opener always snaps before you've got it open.
12. Watermelon shakes.
13. Places (almost everywhere) where foreigners outnumber locals.
14. French colonial architecture.
15. Uncomfortable concrete tables outside of nearly every building.
16. Monks, monastries, shaved heads and orange robes.
17. Sit up and beg bicycles.
18. Sangeathaws: pick up trucks with a metal cage and too many people inside.
19. Beer Lao. Here, there and everywhere.
20. Madeline Wylie.
21. Leaving when the bus driver feels like it.
22. No ATMs.
23. Other countries being the other side of the river.
24. Juggling 3 currencies at once - kip, dollar and baht - an accountant's delight.
25. Westerners taking 8hr slow boats while all the locals go on new 3hr buses.
26. And waterfalls. Many, many waterfalls.
Over and out.
photo catchup
Playing catch up with the photos, here are the shots of Vientaine, Savanakhet, Tadfane and the drug fuelled excesses of Don Khone....
