My last night at Bangkok was a late one, didn't get to bed until the very very early hours of the morning. However, this wasn't from partying, this was from some very deep philosophical discussions regarding politics (of the thai government), and religion. The group of guys that I knew from Vang Vieng and Siem Reap had met a local Thai girl the night before, and we caught up with her again at a bar on a side street from Khao San Road. She explained in further detail about what all the protesting is about - its actually peaceful and predominantly about the corruption in the government and the impact between the different levels of society - poor, middle class and upperclass. As a middleclass member of society she was not involved in the protests, but was impacted directly because it caused alot more traffic and made things harder for her to get to work etc.
This conversation led on to topics of ghosts, spirit worship, a detailed description of buddha images and the importance of wearing them, creation, atheism and agnotistism. Very interesting, got quite heated up at a few stages. One of the guys I've been catching up doesn't believe there is a God, another one believes that there is but that anything pretty much goes.
Yesterday after going to bed at 4.30, I caught a mini bus from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi at the early hours of 7am . At least, thats what I was supposed to do. Guess what, I had bus drama's again! Having gotten up at 6.20, I was well and truly checked out and waiting for the bus to come by about 6:50. Went for a quick toilet break and told the lady at reception to tell the bus driver to wait (as they were coming to collect me) in case they came precisely on time. So I was just waiting out the front of the guesthouse at the restaurant with my bags. Waiting, waiting, waiting.. more waiting. A few other people had been waiting for buses to come and majority were all running late. Anyway by 7:40 I thought I'll just check on this.. asked at reception and she made phone calls and turns out that the bus driver had come, had a look around and taken off (without inquiring at the front desk) leaving me behind, and was it okay for me to take the 9am bus instead? That was no drama's, I'd originally wanted the 9am bus but had been told it was full. So after that drama, I got on the 9am bus and made it to Kanchanaburi by about 11.30. Spent the rest of the afternoon meeting other travellers at the backpackers (Jolly Frog - highly recommended), lazing around in hammocks and playing some guitar. Went to dinner at a little restaurant across the road and had the most amazing red curry I've ever had!!
Today I joined up with a tour group to explore the greater surrounding area of kanchanaburi. Four of us were from Jolly Frog and had met up last night, but during our explorations during the day ended up pairing up. I wandered around with a guy from Adelaide, Ben for most of the day. We spent 4 hours at the Erawan waterfalls which has 7 levels. It was pretty but I've seen better waterfalls so that in particular didn't impress me all that much. The funniest thing about the water were the fish!
There is no fishing due to it being a national park and a spiritual place so there are some MASSIVE fish in the waters, but there are also itty bitty tiny ones, the ones that are also known as 'Dr fish' and eat the dead skin off your feet. I tend to go barefoot a significant portion of the time, and even though I had a pedicure the other day in Siem Reap, these fish obviously decided that my feet were in need of a good solid clean. They kept attacking non-stop pretty much the entire time I was in the water, if I was still for about 3 seconds they would come up and have a nibble. For the first half an hour or so of swimming around, any time I'd stand and get attacked I would be jumping up and down as it is the most bizarre feeling. I later let them do their magic and it was so funny to feel them sucking around your toes and heels and the bottom of your feet. We also went on a train railway line that was built by japanese prisoners of war.
Now I'm about to go have dinner at that awesome restaurant, and tomorrow head up towards chiang mai (via bangkok by the sounds of it).
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
A chance meeting
I had an interesting bus trip (again) today. I had booked a ticket through a travel agency in the street where I was staying to catch a 7:15am bus to sihanoukville which meant that I had to get to the agency this morning by 6:45. No problems there. However, when I arrived the shop was shut and no one seemed to know what was going on!! So, I wandered up and down the street a couple of times, being accosted for tuk-tuks and motorbikes frequently (they must have thought I was crazy going back and forth) until I eventually found the guy who owns the shop and he took me to a mini van which would take me to the bus station and told me to wait for "5 minutes"... (this was at 6:45). So I waited, and waited and waited and waited some more. No joke, I waited for 45 minutes!! 7:15 came and went and I was thinking, hmm okay guess I've missed the bus, great. I was sitting there, wondering do I stay? Should I get a tuk tuk myself to the station? What do I do. So I continued to wait until 7:30 when the guy came back. His response to me mentioning that I had missed the bus was that "its okay, same same". We drove a couple of blocks away where he stopped on the edge of one of the main roads where the bus actually came and met us (already full). I was the only western person on the bus which was fine, I just felt a bit bad that they probably all thought I was late when in actual fact I was early to catch the bus!
Oh well.. Anyway so I was sitting next to an older gentleman who was wearing a face mask (not all that uncommon). We didn't really speak during the eary stages of the bus trip, until probably 3/4 way through the journey after a short break. His name was Pensamin (or something along those lines). Interestingly enough, I discovered he was a Christian, currently working for a building company, regularly travels between Phnom Penh and is 56 years old with 4 children and 2 grandchildren. He spoke about the genocide 30 years ago, but didn't mention any specifics about his involvement or what happened to him, only that it was very sad. Before his current job he worked for 3 years for an organisation where he went into the prisons and gave bible lessons to the prisoners there (I was quite pleasantly surprised to meet my first christian local on my travels). He spoke of his love for the Jesus Christ, said he had been a christian for 10 years. His English was quite good, but there were some limitations and occasionally difficult to understand him particularly with the face mask on! I asked if it was difficult being a christian in Cambodia, but he said it wasn't any more. He goes to a church twice on sundays in phnom penh. However, when closing in to sihanoukville we passed by a store which sells "house spirits", or at least the houses for the house spirits. He told me how everyone has them, and upon further questioning he still has one at his house as well. I guess there is still an element of traditional spirit worship still involved as a "back-up" plan for some of these peoople.
Also, something I forgot to mention yesterday was about one of Pol-Pots senior officers that I found quite interesting at the genocide museum. Duch (I can't remember his actual original name) is the one and only officer from that time who while in his trial admitted to having been involved in the whole genocide, taking full responsibility for the situation, as well as admitting regret and asking for forgiveness. I discoved on another poster that he became a christian while in prison, which may have had some influence into why he admitted. All other people involved deny that it happened or that they had any responsibility in it. Interesting.
Oh well.. Anyway so I was sitting next to an older gentleman who was wearing a face mask (not all that uncommon). We didn't really speak during the eary stages of the bus trip, until probably 3/4 way through the journey after a short break. His name was Pensamin (or something along those lines). Interestingly enough, I discovered he was a Christian, currently working for a building company, regularly travels between Phnom Penh and is 56 years old with 4 children and 2 grandchildren. He spoke about the genocide 30 years ago, but didn't mention any specifics about his involvement or what happened to him, only that it was very sad. Before his current job he worked for 3 years for an organisation where he went into the prisons and gave bible lessons to the prisoners there (I was quite pleasantly surprised to meet my first christian local on my travels). He spoke of his love for the Jesus Christ, said he had been a christian for 10 years. His English was quite good, but there were some limitations and occasionally difficult to understand him particularly with the face mask on! I asked if it was difficult being a christian in Cambodia, but he said it wasn't any more. He goes to a church twice on sundays in phnom penh. However, when closing in to sihanoukville we passed by a store which sells "house spirits", or at least the houses for the house spirits. He told me how everyone has them, and upon further questioning he still has one at his house as well. I guess there is still an element of traditional spirit worship still involved as a "back-up" plan for some of these peoople.
Also, something I forgot to mention yesterday was about one of Pol-Pots senior officers that I found quite interesting at the genocide museum. Duch (I can't remember his actual original name) is the one and only officer from that time who while in his trial admitted to having been involved in the whole genocide, taking full responsibility for the situation, as well as admitting regret and asking for forgiveness. I discoved on another poster that he became a christian while in prison, which may have had some influence into why he admitted. All other people involved deny that it happened or that they had any responsibility in it. Interesting.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Buildings and Bombs
Well I am now in Phonsavan. The guide-books weren't joking when they said that there isn't to the town. Good thing there is internet - I've managed to download all the photos from my camera's and then going to burn them to a CD so should be uploading some soon fingers crossed. My main reason for being here though is to visit the Plain of Jars which I'm doing tomorrow, and I guess learn a bit more about the UXO and bombings that occurred here.
Today was a pretty uneventful drive from Luang Prabang to Phonsavan. Stopped halfway through and had lunch at a little place on the side of the road selling only feu (noodle soup). It was pretty good too. I added some jaewbong (a very very very strong chilli paste I learnt to make in my cooking class) for flavour and the bus driver thought I wouldn't be able to handle it - showed him!! Speaking of cooking class, I learnt then that the Lao people believe that food only tastes good if it is shared in company, and that food eaten alone tastes bad.. uh oh!
Driving around in buses during the day is good to view the countryside for sure (not so great for sore legs and cramps though). I'm finding the varied architecture here in Laos quite fascinating. No matter where you are - there is always, ALWAYS a satelite dish attached to the house somewhere. Doesn't matter if your in a little village of 5 buildings on the side of a cliff, or a big town, everyone has satelite tv! Quite amusing from my perspective as someone who never watches it! Back to houses though - there is no consistency between the houses, even within the same village/town. For example, one house might be made of bricks, another of wood and others of woven bamboo mats or sticks. Even the woven bamboo houses are all different. Some have a plain criss-cross pattern, others are ona diamond angle and some are like steps. And the wood houses are pretty cool too - many of them are on stilts with big wide verandahs, similar to a QLD house with elaborate woodwork. I think its interesting anyway.... :)
This whole area has been particularly affected by war over the past 100 years with unexploded ordnance (UXO) in many many areas. I visited the Mines Advisory Group and gave a donation there and to the UXO survivors next door. They are a humanitarian NGO www.maginternational.org Did you know, that US$10 can clear 14m3 of UXO? Looking at the maps that they had on display - there are red dots EVERYWHERE indicating the areas that are yet to be cleared of UXO. The impact on the community is extreme because some of the UXO are too small to be seen. Cluster bombs that didn't detonate can be mistaken to be balls by children who play with them - children are the ones most likely affected. The clearing effort is going to take a lot of time still - that is for sure.
One thing that I am finding a bit confusing however, is that this area uses a combination of Vietnamese and Lao in both speaking and writing. I'm just starting to get my head around the basics in Lao (speaking, it would be impossible for me to learn the symbols to write it) eg sabaidee (hello/goodbye), khawp jai lai lai(thank you very much) etc etc. But here in Phonsavan there are signs all around the place for com (rice), pho (noodle soup), ca phe (coffee). Hmm maybe I'll be able to get my coffee fix after all.
Oh! I almost forgot (and I'd even attached some photos). I got up quite early this morning (5.45) so that I could go and see the Tak Bet - procession of monks receiving alms from their followers who provide them with sticky rice (the staple in Laos) and bananas. The monks themselves rely upon this silent procession for at least their first meal of the day. There were signs all over town explaining how to respectfully watch/participate in the procession, but it was interesting to observe how many tourists got in the way, had no respect at all and just got in the monk's faces to take pictures or videos. I did take pictures, but I stayed at a distance and used a zoom lens, and no flash - trying to maintain respect for their culture and religion.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
If only I had finished that apologetics course...
Like I've mentioned before, many many people here in SEA are on a spiritual journey of sorts. Religion is a topic that comes up pretty much every day. Possibly could be slightly influenced by the millions of temples... I've found that I've been able to speak so much more openly about being a Christian here in Asia than I was at home - however these discussions have all been with other fellow travellers rather than locals.
Last night I caught up with those guys from the band again and ended up having quite a good very late night chat with one of them in particular. They're originally from Arkinsaw (spelling??) in the US, grown up in the church but now "fallen away" as P. put it. They were playing another gig at a bar in town, and when it shut at 11pm due to the curfew here in LP, everyone all headed off to the Bowling alley as for some bizarre reason that is the one place that is open till the early hours of the morning. I'd grabbed my guitar (they play banjo and mandolin) and we'd jammed a little bit. I'd earlier seen P. and had a bit of a chat with him before he'd started his gig, during which he gave me a list of christian books to read (my ever expanding list!).
Anyway, P and I were there sitting outside in the dirt late at night having this full-on chat about faith, beliefs, and proof that the Bible is a reliable document. He was telling me how he was not sure where he stood anymore. He asked me a question about what I thought Jesus meant when He said that we would do greater things than he?!! Asking all these deep questions and I was starting to think "aahhhh I don't have the words to answer this at all". A bit funny really, as I'd been reading Genesis a day or 2 previously and the whole story with Moses and him not being eloquent enough but God using his words regardless. Then we were discussing how we knew the Bible was true and . I felt way out of my depth as he knew way more of the bible than I did. I was there wishing I had finished all the apologetics classes from my early uni christian group days, and perspectives course! I don't think I was particularly all that convincing, but it was good to have such an open discussion in a country that is so closed in.
I've had a few Sara Groves songs stuck in my head over the past few days from her Conversations album - particularly 'Painting pictures of Egypt' and 'Hello Lord'. Good songs.
Anyway, today I'm having a chill-out day. Woke up still full from all that food yesterday and jumped into a slow-boat heading up the Mekong river to the Pak Ou caves. Along the way we passed by many people working along side the river, some of them sifting gravel out the section full of pebbles, others shovelling pebbles, and where the sandy banks are (as it is dry season and river is low at the moment) there are many many people there gold panning! I would never have guessed there was gold in the river here! We had a quick stop at a village to try some lao-lao (rice wine whisky). Always a good thing to have a couple of shots of extremely strong spirit that early in the morning on an empty stomach... Good thing they had some 'take-away' on hand. Banana's roasted on a charcoal fire - instant breakfast. Yum!
The caves were interesting, they have hundreds and thousands of statues of Buddha and other God's as a huge shrine. Sad though. One God is not enough. They have to have thousands of them.
Tomorrow I'm leaving town, heading east to Phonsavan to go and see the Plain of Jars. Its a bit of a mystery as to what these jars are for. They are man-made, weighting between 600kg and a few tonnes each. Theories are that they could have been for cremations, or for preparation of lao-lao. See if i can help unravel the mystery... :)
Last night I caught up with those guys from the band again and ended up having quite a good very late night chat with one of them in particular. They're originally from Arkinsaw (spelling??) in the US, grown up in the church but now "fallen away" as P. put it. They were playing another gig at a bar in town, and when it shut at 11pm due to the curfew here in LP, everyone all headed off to the Bowling alley as for some bizarre reason that is the one place that is open till the early hours of the morning. I'd grabbed my guitar (they play banjo and mandolin) and we'd jammed a little bit. I'd earlier seen P. and had a bit of a chat with him before he'd started his gig, during which he gave me a list of christian books to read (my ever expanding list!).
Anyway, P and I were there sitting outside in the dirt late at night having this full-on chat about faith, beliefs, and proof that the Bible is a reliable document. He was telling me how he was not sure where he stood anymore. He asked me a question about what I thought Jesus meant when He said that we would do greater things than he?!! Asking all these deep questions and I was starting to think "aahhhh I don't have the words to answer this at all". A bit funny really, as I'd been reading Genesis a day or 2 previously and the whole story with Moses and him not being eloquent enough but God using his words regardless. Then we were discussing how we knew the Bible was true and . I felt way out of my depth as he knew way more of the bible than I did. I was there wishing I had finished all the apologetics classes from my early uni christian group days, and perspectives course! I don't think I was particularly all that convincing, but it was good to have such an open discussion in a country that is so closed in.
I've had a few Sara Groves songs stuck in my head over the past few days from her Conversations album - particularly 'Painting pictures of Egypt' and 'Hello Lord'. Good songs.
Anyway, today I'm having a chill-out day. Woke up still full from all that food yesterday and jumped into a slow-boat heading up the Mekong river to the Pak Ou caves. Along the way we passed by many people working along side the river, some of them sifting gravel out the section full of pebbles, others shovelling pebbles, and where the sandy banks are (as it is dry season and river is low at the moment) there are many many people there gold panning! I would never have guessed there was gold in the river here! We had a quick stop at a village to try some lao-lao (rice wine whisky). Always a good thing to have a couple of shots of extremely strong spirit that early in the morning on an empty stomach... Good thing they had some 'take-away' on hand. Banana's roasted on a charcoal fire - instant breakfast. Yum!
The caves were interesting, they have hundreds and thousands of statues of Buddha and other God's as a huge shrine. Sad though. One God is not enough. They have to have thousands of them.
Tomorrow I'm leaving town, heading east to Phonsavan to go and see the Plain of Jars. Its a bit of a mystery as to what these jars are for. They are man-made, weighting between 600kg and a few tonnes each. Theories are that they could have been for cremations, or for preparation of lao-lao. See if i can help unravel the mystery... :)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Random days
I love random days and meeting 'random' people! Being spontaneous and taking life as it comes. I'm learning not to waste my life either! Yesterday was one such day. I woke up at about 6.30 feeling a bit cold so figured there was no point staying in bed awake so got up and began exploring Luang Prabang. It is such a cute little town very chilled out and laid back after Vietnam. But I think I am having significant withdrawal symptoms from vietnamese coffee - missing it very much!
One of the benefits of travelling I find, is that people are often more open minded and willing to discuss issues of greater importance than trivial 'daily life' of back home. I had meant to write about this a few weeks back but forgot or was time-poor (or felt like I had hogged the shared computer for too long already!). For example, discussions of religion, politics and wars feature high on the agenda- things that at home in 'normal' society would go completely unnoticed and unspoken on the whole. The wars and insane killing sprees that have gone on in these countries is so intense, impacting so many lives and only in the last 30-40 years, but barely anyone knows or is aware of it back home. I know that I wasn't aware of it prior to coming here. For example, the mass-murders of all educated people and western influences in Cambodia under the Khmer rule of Pol-Pot. I read a brilliant yet very confronting book called 'First they killed my Father, a daughter of Cambodia Remembers". About a Cambodian lady who at the age of 5 left Pnom Penh I definitely recommend it, I was reading it while at Halong Bay and it was an eye-opener for sure as I previously had little knowledge about the situation.
After I'd had breakfast in LP yesterday, I was out the front of a restaurant checking out their cooking class information when I was approached by a man who had been at the same restaurant I'd eaten breakfast at a bit earlier. He jokingly said I shouldn't be hungry anymore and we started chatting. He turned out to be a retired English Literary Professor and he gave me a the name of a 'life-changing' book that he believes to be one of the best works of literature ever (sorry i can't remember the name of it, its written down on a piece of paper somewhere!). I believe it is religion-based, something from India. I'll have to locate that book at some stage and check it out if I can! There are so many book exchange places here, so its easy to get hold of some really good, solid books which is awesome as I chew through books very very quickly.
As I was exploring through LP, I was walking past one of the many tour agencies when a guy asked me if I'd like to go see the waterfalls, leaving in about 30 minutes. It was nice and hot and he was offering a cheap price, so I thought why not. Bit of sponteneity is always good! So I went and got my swimmers and came back and the 6 of us jumped in the back of the tuk-tuk and were driven out to Kuang-Si waterfalls. The falls were beautiful. I think there must be limestone in the rock in the area, as the water was a beautiful aqua blue colour, and a few swimming holes that were quite deep so I jumped off the waterfall a few times and there was a big tree-swing as well which was a bit of fun! One of the other girls was going how it was so scary - but as I'd jumped off the 3rd story of a boat in Halong Bay, the waterfall was easy peasy in comparison!
On the trip I met a white South African couple that I got along with really well, later on in the day we kept bumping into each other and we ended up having dinner together which was alot of fun. There are night markets here in LP every night, and a big food market where you can buy a plate and then share it, everyone all digs in and has a bit of this and a bit of that. Yum. Lots of bbq foods and other items of dubious origins! Later on we headed down to a restaurant/bar overlooking the Mekong River where a couple of guys I'd met earlier were playing banjo and a mandolin. Good fun, blues and grass roots sort of music. I'm curious as to whether they were christian or not, because there were a few definitively christian songs that they played.
Today I've just come back from an all day cooking lesson at one of the local restaurants here in LP. Cannot recommend it highly enough- Tamnam Lao restaurant. I am so so so full right now, we did not manage to get through even 50% of the food I don't think. The dishes are small but they fill you up so quickly. Totally worth it though, I got morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner all for the bargain price of $30. Plus, as I discovered, this restaurant which is partly owned by an interesting Australian woman who's been living in Laos with her laos family since the 1960s, helps sustain and support an orphanage, particularly in the region of nutrition and health by increasing the protein content of their diet which I think is great! These orphanages are run by the government, who provide between 20 and 40 CENTS PER CHILD to cover all expenses. Its ridiculous, so I'm happy to help out as best I can with people like this.
As part of the day we went to the market. I found this extremely educational, (love love love food markets - except for the meat) as I could find out what all these weird and wacky foods I've been seeing around the place are (and deciding whether I'm game enough to try them or not. For example, there are many many eggs on display, and some of them are tinted, to indicate whether tehy are fresh or 'fertilised' (a delicacy) or off (some people like their eggs to smell apparently).
On a side note, I was introduced to the book 'Don't waste your life' by John Piper while I was in Hanoi. Discovered that you can read it online via a pdf version of the book which is brilliant as i severely doubt my ability to find a copy of it here in Laos! I've only managed to read a bit so far (i'm paying for internet access here in laos) but its definitely worth the read.
One thing that has been challenging me over the last few days in particular, is being culturally appropriate. I've become so aware of how few tourists and travellers actually respect the culture and customs of the local people, particularly when it comes to dress (and women especially). For example, it is inappropriate for women to have their shoulders exposed, and modesty is a big deal in Laos. I am no where near perfect, and not necessarily always the most modest girl in the world at home (probably the opposite, esp at the beach), but I try my best to do so over here, as I want to have the respect of the local people and not put them out. I've been wearing a top that has has my shoulders just covered (everything else is dirty and in the wash thanks to the dust bus) and the last few days I've felt slightly self conscious at times, especially with the hundreds of monks wandering around LP. But so many girls are walking around in itty bitty tops/dresses and shorts without a care in the world, or so it seems. hmmm. not good.
One of the benefits of travelling I find, is that people are often more open minded and willing to discuss issues of greater importance than trivial 'daily life' of back home. I had meant to write about this a few weeks back but forgot or was time-poor (or felt like I had hogged the shared computer for too long already!). For example, discussions of religion, politics and wars feature high on the agenda- things that at home in 'normal' society would go completely unnoticed and unspoken on the whole. The wars and insane killing sprees that have gone on in these countries is so intense, impacting so many lives and only in the last 30-40 years, but barely anyone knows or is aware of it back home. I know that I wasn't aware of it prior to coming here. For example, the mass-murders of all educated people and western influences in Cambodia under the Khmer rule of Pol-Pot. I read a brilliant yet very confronting book called 'First they killed my Father, a daughter of Cambodia Remembers". About a Cambodian lady who at the age of 5 left Pnom Penh I definitely recommend it, I was reading it while at Halong Bay and it was an eye-opener for sure as I previously had little knowledge about the situation.
After I'd had breakfast in LP yesterday, I was out the front of a restaurant checking out their cooking class information when I was approached by a man who had been at the same restaurant I'd eaten breakfast at a bit earlier. He jokingly said I shouldn't be hungry anymore and we started chatting. He turned out to be a retired English Literary Professor and he gave me a the name of a 'life-changing' book that he believes to be one of the best works of literature ever (sorry i can't remember the name of it, its written down on a piece of paper somewhere!). I believe it is religion-based, something from India. I'll have to locate that book at some stage and check it out if I can! There are so many book exchange places here, so its easy to get hold of some really good, solid books which is awesome as I chew through books very very quickly.
As I was exploring through LP, I was walking past one of the many tour agencies when a guy asked me if I'd like to go see the waterfalls, leaving in about 30 minutes. It was nice and hot and he was offering a cheap price, so I thought why not. Bit of sponteneity is always good! So I went and got my swimmers and came back and the 6 of us jumped in the back of the tuk-tuk and were driven out to Kuang-Si waterfalls. The falls were beautiful. I think there must be limestone in the rock in the area, as the water was a beautiful aqua blue colour, and a few swimming holes that were quite deep so I jumped off the waterfall a few times and there was a big tree-swing as well which was a bit of fun! One of the other girls was going how it was so scary - but as I'd jumped off the 3rd story of a boat in Halong Bay, the waterfall was easy peasy in comparison!
On the trip I met a white South African couple that I got along with really well, later on in the day we kept bumping into each other and we ended up having dinner together which was alot of fun. There are night markets here in LP every night, and a big food market where you can buy a plate and then share it, everyone all digs in and has a bit of this and a bit of that. Yum. Lots of bbq foods and other items of dubious origins! Later on we headed down to a restaurant/bar overlooking the Mekong River where a couple of guys I'd met earlier were playing banjo and a mandolin. Good fun, blues and grass roots sort of music. I'm curious as to whether they were christian or not, because there were a few definitively christian songs that they played.
Today I've just come back from an all day cooking lesson at one of the local restaurants here in LP. Cannot recommend it highly enough- Tamnam Lao restaurant. I am so so so full right now, we did not manage to get through even 50% of the food I don't think. The dishes are small but they fill you up so quickly. Totally worth it though, I got morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner all for the bargain price of $30. Plus, as I discovered, this restaurant which is partly owned by an interesting Australian woman who's been living in Laos with her laos family since the 1960s, helps sustain and support an orphanage, particularly in the region of nutrition and health by increasing the protein content of their diet which I think is great! These orphanages are run by the government, who provide between 20 and 40 CENTS PER CHILD to cover all expenses. Its ridiculous, so I'm happy to help out as best I can with people like this.
As part of the day we went to the market. I found this extremely educational, (love love love food markets - except for the meat) as I could find out what all these weird and wacky foods I've been seeing around the place are (and deciding whether I'm game enough to try them or not. For example, there are many many eggs on display, and some of them are tinted, to indicate whether tehy are fresh or 'fertilised' (a delicacy) or off (some people like their eggs to smell apparently).
On a side note, I was introduced to the book 'Don't waste your life' by John Piper while I was in Hanoi. Discovered that you can read it online via a pdf version of the book which is brilliant as i severely doubt my ability to find a copy of it here in Laos! I've only managed to read a bit so far (i'm paying for internet access here in laos) but its definitely worth the read.
One thing that has been challenging me over the last few days in particular, is being culturally appropriate. I've become so aware of how few tourists and travellers actually respect the culture and customs of the local people, particularly when it comes to dress (and women especially). For example, it is inappropriate for women to have their shoulders exposed, and modesty is a big deal in Laos. I am no where near perfect, and not necessarily always the most modest girl in the world at home (probably the opposite, esp at the beach), but I try my best to do so over here, as I want to have the respect of the local people and not put them out. I've been wearing a top that has has my shoulders just covered (everything else is dirty and in the wash thanks to the dust bus) and the last few days I've felt slightly self conscious at times, especially with the hundreds of monks wandering around LP. But so many girls are walking around in itty bitty tops/dresses and shorts without a care in the world, or so it seems. hmmm. not good.
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