Checkered Lounge Pants

Here are some pictures from the week I spent in Laos. I went on the trip with 2 friends, a married couple, Gerry and Val.  It took 2 days to drive to the Thai-Laos border. Val is Chinese Laos and grew up a small village named Thukhet and after spending a few days with her family and motorbiking around the mountainous countryside, we hopped a bus and went to the capital city Vientiane.  I call it a trip but it was really more of an adventure. Laos was a french colony in the mid-century, so there was many french influences assimilated into the Asian culture such as;  the language,  the architecture (notice the Arc de Triumphe resemblance),   pastry...Yummy. . The pics, in the Laos spirit of no particular order, include  the Mekong River,  a traditional Laos bowl of noodles as a meal,  a Tuuk Tuuk women planting rice in a rice paddy,  Laos massage lady  temple gate with traffic (where is the rickshas??) monks The adjective most often applied to Laos is

Happy New Year. I wanted to do a blog post today's last day of the year, but the internet is down in the area. It was a good Xmas week outside of being away from family and friends. I had turkey on Xmas and Santa treated me to something special with a Thailand twist for Xmas. The beach has been fairly scenic and hot hot. I have ventured much further into the Thai cuisine and culture from last year with the help and guidance of refreshed friendships from last year. Not all experiences have been delightful but someone once told me, “Asia is like swimming in the waves, you can dive into the wave and swim out the other side, or you can let the wave knock you down”. Some aspects of the Thai tourist culture are still morally condemnatory for me to understand compared with many travellers, but, as they say here, “this is a Buddhist country and as such, Buddha is tolerant and forgiving”. With thanks to Buddha and Santa, I will persevere. LOL I dont know what New Years h