Laos

The following are pictures from one of my favorite countries (of those I have thus far visited). A country with stunning mountain landscapes and open plains. A nation of kind-hearted people ready to welcome you as one of their family, despite the scars of wars and death that litter the land and remind you of the hell these people have experienced in the last fifty years (and still do, as unexploded mines still kill people each year. I hope that the following pictures will give you an idea of a place you might not know much about. Enjoy.

My brother and I (I'm the one with the glasses) with villagers outside of Phonsavan in Laos. 

After a short Buddhist ceremony, these people fully embraced the strangeness that my brother and I represented (we were the first white people they had met). An afternoon of music and food and booze and heartfelt words of respect and welcome followed. 

This is the building where all of the preceding events took place. 

A huge palm tree in Luang Prabang, taken on the first day of my trip in October. 

Looking up at a temple in Laos as the sun begins to go down. 

Down by the Mekong River in Luang Prabang. 

A typical Laos countryside pic - nothing exciitng except that the country is wonderful to look at at any turn. I like the wooden bridge on the left side - it was a bit scary to cross though. 

A tray of chili peppers drying in the sun. This is seen often in the villages and towns of Laos. 

Not the most exciting picture, but it brings back nice memories for me. My brother and I rode bikes outside of Vang Vieng and left the main road to follow and smaller path and to see where it lead. We ended up in a small village and then on this path. As we were returning to our bikes later, we saw an old woman and her husband struggling to take bamboo poles out of the water. We stopped and helped them, and shared our water with the woman. The couple was extremely happy, and I am pretty sure the woman invited us to their home. It would have been an interesting opportunity, but we weren't sure that she was actually asking us to come, and the sun was starting to go down. Perhaps later this year I will try to find them again.

Another bike picture, this one outside Vang Vieng. I suspect that I will soon stop posting pictures here, leaving the page to wait until I visit Laos again later this year.