I’ve had a full social calendar. I’ve made no less than six friends who show up randomly at my hotel, seeing if I want to hang out. And yesterday alone, I was introduced to at least a hundred family members and friends. The morning started with getting picked up for a sight seeing tour (gratis of course). I was sandwiched on a moto by two of my good friends. We stopped at one of their houses to parade in front of his mom. “Look mom! No job, but I’m hanging with a white dude and practicing English!” Then next door to a friend’s house. I was upstairs to be struck in the face with the sight of two small boys splayed out near naked on the floor, only covered by a little gauze on their dicks and tshirts. Fresh circumcisions. Nice. The extended family continued to fan the sick looking kids, but really I was the center of attention. If I got circumcised when I was five, I’d be crying. Met the four generations. Ate food, drank tea. Outside in the street were some wildly dressed, wildly dancing Hindus. You know, just a random festival, no big deal.

Finally, on to the excursion for the day. Got on the motos. Drove out of town. Check point! They’re pulling us over for not wearing helmets. Whistles blowing, pointing, cops in the street. Friend on the back says to friend driving “pull a u-turn”! We did, and I proceeded to run from the cops in a country known primarily for police brutality. Oh well. So it was decided we’d take the back way. It turned out to be a LONG detour, up and over a mountain pass, just to avoid the check point. Finally, we arrived at the famous Sleeping Buddha. It’s said to be the largest in the world at about 180 meters. It’s one of those projects that’s not finished and likely never to be finished. Still, quite a quirky and fun place to go though. It was 182 rooms. Kind of the grand project of an architectural nutcase. Some of the rooms a filled with concrete statues depicting the story of Buddha.

Then on to grandmother’s house. Who we woke up. “Look! A white guy!” Then lunch at a ‘famous’, beautiful lake of which the only thing that I learned about was that women are not allowed. Just like in the head of the Sleeping Buddha. For lunch I was again granted special treatment. We ate the food that the restauranteurs had made for themselves. And got free dishes on top of that. After the ride back to town and a nap, I was again picked up for some socializing.

More friends, more family. Hung out at a friend’s bettle nut stand. Bettle nut is a drug that lots of men and women chew. It does nasty work rotting your teeth, and you spit red juice everywhere. I got to try wrapping the leaf bundles and ever chewed one myself. Spent a few hours there. Then walked down to the continuation of the Hindu festival. Oggled at men with metal hooks in their backs pulling strongly while dancing and men with 80+ metal spikes in their bodies that supported elaborate head dresses. I followed the crowd right in to the tiny temple and the heated, manic, sweaty, colored powder covered, culmination of the festival. Finally the day ended after a long dinner where everyone talked about religion. They’re amazed by my atheism. Myanmar is extremely devout and I’ve had multiple conversations about faith so far.

That was just one day.

On other fronts. It’s hot. Burmese food is pretty ok, but not great. I’m going to Hpa-An by boat today (one of the nicest trips in the country). Might not have internet for phone access for a while. Who knows.

As usual, I’ve done a lot.

Spent a great remainder of my time in Laos hosted by Denis Lagarde and family. Then took a night train to here. It was more like napping than actually sleeping. Yesterday, I basically went shopping. Went to the weekend market. Which I had been told was on of the biggest markets in Asia. I wasn’t enthralled but it was good. The most interesting thing about it was that amongst all of the shops selling cheap, fake clothes were shops selling stuff designed by the owners. I also went to the mall and got stuck in the area with luxury good stores, not about to find my way out for a long while.

Then today, more chores. Bought my Nepal ticket. Mailed off my photos. Bought replacements for things that I had lost or broken, etc, etc.

Bangkok is an enjoyable city. I like being about to take the sky train and a boat taxi around. It’s so much wealthier and modern and “western” than everywhere that I’ve been.

My eyes hurt. I killed five butterflies today by smashing in to them while riding my moto. One hit my sunglasses. I lucked out with the moto though. The buddy that I’ve been touring with had three breakdowns in three days. I only had to deal with four scarily loose bolts and one non-existant bolt.

My travels in Laos are coming to an end and they’ve been superb. Especially the last few days. Backtracking… Last night I stayed in a village at the mouth of a famous cave (Kong Lo). It just so happened that it was a party night to celebrate the full moon. So I got to dance my socks off, and gamble, and drink, and laugh, and play carnival games and eat with almost 2000 villagers and two other tourists. The region reminds me of the southwest (Zion in particular), except the rocks are black instead of red, and it’s a jungle. So beautiful.

That was the end of The Loop. Other bits included passing by almost a dozen large trucks ladden with hundreds of dogs in cages headed for consumption in Vietnam. And even more of the same trucks going the other way empty.

We rode by a huge dam site and reservoir. The first quarter or so was basically a tour of a development project like that. Quite interesting how they’ve built a very nice road to a remote area. Relocated the villages. And all of the nice pickup trucks driving about.

Stayed in a small village where the option for food was rice and vegetables. Anything else? No. Fun rats in the walls. Beautiful, hard rain. The reservoir goes right up to the village and the tree are still standing in the water.

My buddy Taylor’s moto broke down three times.

Swam. Saw another cave. Tried new foods. Today’s pick was Double Cheese Pork Burger flavored potatoe chips. mmmmm…. Food in general was pretty meager on the trip. Just not many options beyond noodle soup. The largest town that we stayed in had a restaurant named “The Only One” (but now there is another one).

Oh, and I thought I had worms, but now I don’t think so.

Rented a moto again. This time to leave the dusty Luang Nam Tha for even dustier Muang Sing. The road was a peaceful country journey through ethnic villages and some uncut forest. Luckily in Muang Sing an guy I know told me about a lodge outside of town. What a damn good choice. The place was peaceful, cheap and well located right in the middle of various different ethnic villages. I rode out to the Chinese border (2km away), walked in the hills and villages and relaxed for three days. I even tried my hand for a short while farming with Akha women. I’ve seen my favorite traditional dress now too. Yao women wear turbans and extremely thick, red, carpeted collars. I also ate the best food so far in Laos, and it was chinese.

Time is passing quickly in Laos. And what a great country it is. I came in from Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam which landed me on the Nam Ou river. It’s a scenic and less traveled part of the country. I spent more than a week, traveling up and down the river. I visited the Phongsaly, a northern provincial captial. It’s up in the mountains, a solid days travel from pretty much everything. Definitely felt like a frontier town. Lots of Laos feels small (though there are plenty of tourists). I’ve only taken one bus journey, and it was 10 hours on a ‘major’ road that had hardly no traffic. Imagine one and a half lanes, with a moto going by every five minutes. So far I’ve been to seven towns, none of them feel like they’re over 15,000 people.

I rented a mountain bike today and rode all day around Luang Nam Tha. Just bumpy roads, villages, etc. Good exercise and a great way to get a feel for a place. Tomorrow I’m planning on rented a moto for three or four days and riding around the region. Muang Sing, a village on the way, a jungle,…

Keeping on the small theme. I got to my first ATM, finally.

Oh and I hung out with an enjoyable crew of travelers in Muang Ngoi Neua. It’s a river access only touristy village. Just one of those super chill places. Of course, lots of Lao Lao was consumed.

I’ve also been within a few dozen or less miles of China for much of my time. So there is lots of Chinese influence. The bus stop restaurant yesterday sold liquor with various different animal parts in it. Including a jar with what looked like a red panda paw. Gross!

I’m wanting to go on a “trek”, but I keep getting the impression from people that they are lame-o. I don’t know what I’ll do.

I’m also sorting my onward travel. I’ll probably not spend time in Thailand, besides to use the Bangkok airport to get to Myanmar in three weeks. Then three or so weeks there before flying to Nepal in mid April.