Boogacres: Asia - Vietnam to Laos - Sunday, February 25, 2018

New flight attendant on our plane today.

On our flight this morning to Laos, the flight crew clearly needed help with the pre-flight safely announcement. I obliged. I advised the passengers that there may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 8 ways to get off this plane, so listen up!! When we reached the seat belt portion, I told them if they didn't know how to fasten a seat belt by now ... just leave. The lifejacket portion of the presentation was a little complicated as I couldn't get the belt to tie, but I think everyone got the idea. Anyway, it was a humorous way to start the flight to Laos. I crack myself up.

We arrived in Laos just in time for lunch at a beautiful restaurant called Manda de Laos. Tables surrounded a pond with vine covered arbors to offer shade. The food was traditional Laos. Some was quite tasty, some not so much.

The setting for lunch was beautiful. Very Zen. but with crystal chandeliers.

The setting was lovely, but I would NOT want to go for a swim in the water here. There may have been raw sewage floating in the pond, but the lily pads were thriving on it.

These dishes were quite tasty,

These dishes were delicious too. However, the "river fish" tasted like it came from the polluted pond beside our table. It was foul tasting and oily.

After lunch, we had a short drive to The Amantaka Resort, which was spectacular and well worth the visit to Laos. After checking out my amazing suite, with my own private pool, I wandered to the gym for a much needed workout.

I have a thing for beds with canopies and curtains.

The living room was simple but adequate.

The sitting area opened up to my own private pool.

What a nice area. Such a waste for only one person. But I enjoyed it.

The tub was in a room by itself overlooking the pool area.

Twin vanities flanked the bathroom.

The gym was open air. In this tropical climate, it didn't take long to get the heart rate up.

With that out of the way, it was time for happy hour at the hotel before our evening events, a Baci ceremony in the lobby of our hotel before going to a lecture and dinner at Villa LuangPrabang.

Not sure why Stevie and I are always the first to arrive at Happy Hour. No problem. We get a head start on the cocktails.

The other girls weren't far behind.

Before diner tonight, we were treated to a traditional Baci ceremony. Steeped in tradition, Buddhists have countless ceremonies and customs. This particular ceremony was a blessing for us to celebrate special life events. Sort of reminded me of the "Lord's supper" in the baptist church or communion. A sermon was delivered by the monk, (spoken in their language) followed by chanting of the women and then they offered us special foods that were prepared for this ceremony, followed by a shot glass of what appeared to be moonshine. I did NOT partake of the moonshine-ish shot. Not for faith based reasons, rather there have been so many people sick on this tour. I didn't want to share the same shot glass with them. After passing around food and drink, the ladies tied strings around each person's wrists while chanting a blessing. We were told the strings must be worn for 1 - 3 days.

One monk and 6 chanters (ladies).

The ladies tie strings around Midge's wrists while chanting a blessing for her.

Stevie was next and she looks a little skeptical.

Lorri was next to receive the blessings and strings.

OK, I forgot to mention that we had to wear a sash around out bodies to participate in the Baci ceremony. I had my strings tied around my wrists and my blessing was received. Then I tried the snacks that they passed out as part of the ceremony. I think the photo speaks for itself. Ugh!! It looked like a chicken tender, but tasted like chicken poop.

After the Baci, we went to a Villa LuangPrabang for lecture and dinner. Stevie and I opted for the bar lecture just down the street at a lovely restaurant/bar called 525.

Option one. Lecture and wine at the villa

Option two, cocktails at 525.

OMG! That's a no brainer!!

Owned by a British chap, the bar was top shelf. Lovely decor, excellent cocktails with LOTS of ice, which is rare in this part of the world, served in beautiful crystal glasses. We had a great time chatting with the locals and then wandered back to the villa to have dinner with the rest of the group. We definitely made the right choice.

Monday, February 26, 2018

Early this morning, we participated in Almsgiving for the local monks. About 200 monks from various temples gather their daily meal. We sat along the street, while the monks of all ages, some quite young and some very old, passed by carrying large canisters. We were set up with a steamer of sticky rice and a plate of desserts and fruit to offer the monks. As the monks passed, we would grab a hand full of sticky rice and a dessert and place it in the monk's canister.

NatGeo prepared a basket of sticky rice and a basket of desserts for us to share with the monks for the daily almsgiving.

We were seated and ready for the monks to come by with their baskets to receive their daily food. Stevie, Lorri, Pat and Julie.

Pat shares sticky rice with a passing monk.

There are around 200 monks that walk the streets daily to gather food for the monastery.

Lorri gathers more sticky rice. It's called sticky rice for a reason.

My alms ran out about the same time the monk procession ended.

One of our guides was a former monk. I couldn't believe these men would eat cooked sticky rice that was placed in their canister from the hands of people on the street. He assured me that they do in fact eat the rice and have never gotten sick from the way the food was handled. We ran out of food to offer just about the same time the line of monks ended.

Next up, the local street market. I've NEVER seen so many things for sale. This is exactly why I have major concerns about eating Asian food. One just doesn't know what's been butchered, floured and fried. The food I ate at the Baci Ceremony ... case in point. At the morning street market, we saw everything from a pile of squirrels, to small cages with fat rats, even caterpillar larva, live bugs and small birds and many, many fruits and vegetables that were unidentifiable to me.

These ladies are carrying their wares to the market to sell.

I have no idea what she's selling, but she doesn't seem to be very enthusiastic about it.

These are live birds in tiny cages on display for sale.

This lady did NOT want to be photographed.

Even in Laos ...

This woman had a large group of squirrels for sale.

By far the most interesting purchase, a live chicken. I hope you are able to watch the video below, which shows the transaction. Be sure to watch to the very end.

Next stop for the chicken????

But perhaps the most interesting was the live chickens. I'm going to try to download a video here to show you how this transaction takes place. The chicken woman holds up the LIVE chicken by his feet to allow the woman to examine the bird. After negotiations take place and they agree on a price, she takes the LIVE chicken and places it in a plastic shopping bag, tying it at the top. Then she tears a hole in the side of the bag and pulls the chicken's head out so he can breath. It was an interesting experience for everyone except the chicken.

I hope this video works for you. If not, I'll describe what happens. The woman pulls a live chicken out of the basket that was filled with live chickens. She holds the chicken upside down by his legs and allows the buyer to examine the bird. After they agree on a price, the lady pulls out a plastic grocery bag and puts the live chicken inside and ties the top of the bag. She then tears the side of the bag to pull the chicken's head out to allow him to breath.

After the alms and market experience, we had lunch at a local spot called Ock Pop Tock, a living craft center. They had the most amazing Buffalo jerky here. It had a mild teriyaki flavor dotted with sesame seeds on the outside. Tried to find it everywhere afterwards to bring home. I found some of the crunchy unidentifiable things that were offered at the Baci ceremony, but took a HARD PASS on those. Sorry, no Buffalo Jerky.

Stevie and I had lunch with our new friends, David and Jenny.

Then a little shopping.

In the afternoon, we boarded a boat (of sorts) and sailed up the Mekong River to visit Pak OuCaves. This cave, located right on the Mekong river is filled with thousands of Buddhas, large and small, lacquered and gilded. The cave was interesting and took about 2 seconds for me to enjoy. Then back on the boat for a ride down river and return to the hotel.

It was an exhausting half hour ride to the boat. Pat catches a little cat nap.

Our river boat awaits to take us down the Mekong River to the Buddha caves.

The rickety planks leading up to the boat were a bit unstable.

We all made it on board and began our 30 minute cruise down the river.

Julie and Pat.

The Mekong River water seemed muddy and polluted, but the topography on either side of the river was quite beautiful.

Midge found the shady side of the boat.

We arrived at the Buddha cave with several other boat loads of people.

Every size and shape Buddha imaginable were stacked on the rocks inside the cave.

This photo gives one an idea of the size and quantity of the Buddhas. There are twice again as many behind me.

Even TINY Buddhas.

We thought the planks leading to the boat at the beginning were bad, this whole dock was rickety and moved with every step as though the planks could give out any moment. This probably wouldn't be OSHA approved in the U.S.

Shockingly, nobody fell off the floating dock.

We enjoyed our routine happy hour at this beautiful hotel and then off to the night market for a little shopping. That was quite a disappointment as it was one vendor after another with trinkets and trash for sale. It was worth the experience though, seeing all the colorful art, textiles and paintings.

Lorri, Midge, Julie Stevie and Pat gather for happy hour.

Then it's on to the night market in our personal TukTuk.

The night market was a major disappointment. Nothing but trinkets and trash and the vendors selling the same things.

After the night market we walked back to the hotel, stopping along the way at the 525 bar for a couple of cocktails. Playing match maker, Stevie and I wanted Midge to meet the bar owner, Andrew. But alas, this was Andrew's night off. Maybe next time. Oh wait! Laos is a one and done destination too. The hotel was lovely. Good news is ... the chain offers other hotels in nicer areas.