Laos

You know you are depressed when you lose interest in things you normally enjoy doing. Since I spent most of October swimming in the doldrums of my psyche, I did not take the opportunity to plan a trip for October break. I was more or less ready to just sit in my apartment for the week, but my friends decided that would not be the best course of action for me at the time. So, I tagged along with Sunny and Daylin, as well as Sunny’s mom and cousin who are visiting from Canada.

Sunny had planned a trip up to Chaing Mai and then to Laos to attend the Gibbon Experience, which consists of a couple days in the jungle living in a treehouse and spying on Gibbon monkeys. Since I was a slacker, I didn’t make a reservation soon enough and didn’t go on that part of the trip. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because when they returned, they told me about the five hour trek up and into the jungle as well as the leeches that plagued everyone. Yes, leeches. But I did enjoy traveling up north again where it is slightly cooler and definitely less congested than Bangkok. In Chaing Mai, we went to the Sunday market on the way up and the night market on the way back.

The pick up point for the Gibbon Experience is in Bokeo, Laos. Really, there isn’t much there; it’s just a sleepy little town on the Mekong River. Beautiful, relaxing, and slow. Once the others departed for their jungle trek, I just spent quiet days reading and writing. Since Laos was colonized by the French, wine is everywhere. Needless to say, this made me happy. I even saw boxed wine for sale which I never see in Thailand. The people in Laos are nice, but not as friendly as Thais are with foreigners. I ate most of my meals at the same little restaurant (they had chicken tenders and French fries) and the ladies who worked there were nice to me.

Bokeo was gearing up for a festival during the few days I was there. People were making paper lanterns and folding banana leaves into little cones for flower offerings at the local temple. In the morning I would wake up to hear the monks singing. People were practicing for the upcoming boat race. It looked something like crew, long skinny boats and lots of men lined up with short oars. The last morning we were there, Sunny and I went up to the temple and watched everyone bring their offerings to the monks.

The highlight of my holiday was that I read three books, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Water for Elephants, and Possible Side Effects. And I did find my mind in a better place after taking a break from the daily grind. Sleeping late and napping daily may have had something to do with that.