The drive to Laos was absolutely beautiful: rolling mountains, green leafy trees, and some gorgeous rivers. One major river is called "Pattyha Noi," which literally means "small Pattyha" (Pattyha is a popular beach vacation spot for Thais outside of Bangkok). It is still unclear to me whether Laos is pronounced "Laos" or "Lao," as I have heard mixed things from different people. Along the drive, we stopped at the most magical wat on the top of a hill. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name (oopsy!), but it is unlike any wat I have ever seen in terms of its architecture, and simply its secluded surroundings. P'Noon and I took many pictures there. Then we headed to lunch very near the border, but still in Thailand. The restaurant was "outdoors," as you paid for a mat to sit on, ordered your food, and ate overlooking the river. Simply gorgeous, and a cool breezy day nonetheless! As usual, we ate a feast: tom yom goong (spicy shrimp soup), a juicy chicken stuffed with lemongrass, fried crab on a stick, quail eggs with balsamic vinegar (so good!), and a dish called "goong dten," or LIVE SHRIMP!!! Eating live, or "dancing" shrimp, is probably one of the coolest things I've eaten here. I was really scared to eat them at first, but P'Noon told me they were "too delicious" and popped one in her mouth. As soon as I saw her eat it and survive, I started eating them too. It reminded me a little bit of the scene in the Disney movie "The Little Mermaid" where the mean chef serves the crab (Sebastian!) to Ariel and he is still alive on the plate. When the dish is served to you, the waiter, or 8 year old boy in our case, brings the dish out with an extra plate on top of the dish to keep the shrimp from jumping out. To my knowledge, we have nothing like this in America.
At the Thai-Laos border, we parked the car and walked maybe a quarter of a mile to the entrance. While P'Noon and her family were able to skate by with photocopied IDs in a fast moving line, I had to wait in a separate line (I was the only white person in sight- I guess Ubon to Laos isn't the hottest tourist destination), and the man looking at my passport had never seen my visa before and called over 2 other people to take a look. It was pretty hilarious, because I am technically a Thai government worker, along with an American government worker, and the government gave me a pretty rare visa with no hassle on my part whatsoever. (It's a multiple reentry visa). Once in Laos, P'Noon, her family and I went shopping at all of the local crafts shops. It didn't even really feel like I was outside of Ubon, because everyone speaks Laos in Ubon more than they speak Thai. I bought a really cool woven bamboo pillow, a ring, and some beautiful fabric with the Laos pattern. When we finally made it back to the Thai border, I was sent back to Laos because I hadn't purchased a Laos Visa. So, P'Noon and I walked back to the Laos entrance and had to buy a $35 visa to LEAVE Laos (they didn't make me purchase it upon arrival). I was in Laos for a total of 3 hours, and the Laos visa takes up an entire page of my passport. An adventure and memory!
Tomorrow I am off to Phuket for a long New Year's holiday with my college girlfriend Natalie. I am very excited, and I am sure that there will be some beautiful photos to be taken there. I have so many stories and pictures from my school, I really need to post those. It will be one of my new year's resolutions!
Happy New Year 2012! Or, if you're in Thailand, Happy New Year 2555! (Who knew that the whole world doesn't follow the Christian calendar?!)
A secluded, beautiful wat we stopped to see on our way to Laos.
P'Noon and me!
Wats are so grand and intricate, these pictures
don't even come close to doing them justice!
There are different Buddha statues that represent different meanings
(e.g. happiness, peace, good luck, etc.)
You can't really tell from this photo, but the wat overlooks a beautiful lake in the distance.
Too gorgeous
Me in front of a beautifully carved, tall door.
(Notice my shoes are off)
The structure to the left is the monks' residence. Every wat in Thailand has monks
that live on the premises, except for Wat Phra Keo in Bangkok's Grand Palace.
Bamboo Forest! No hungry pandas, though.
Market near where we ate lunch: teeny tiny dried fish!
This is a special Northeastern Thai delicacy. Small fish are somehow stuck
together in beautiful "star" or "pinwheel" arrangements.
View from our mat during lunch :)
The man on the boat is a fisherman. There were many fisherman out and about, catching
tiny shrimp, small crabs, and little fish.
Jigsaw, P'Noon's son, and me.
A very "Thai," "Southeast Asia-river" photo
Fried crab on a stick and quail eggs (the best appetizer)
Goong Dten! Notice how messy the dish is...they were jumping all around!!!
Me eating a live shrimp!
Tom Yom Goong and Chicken
Banana chips are made!
Different kinds of banana chips
Quite the mounds!
A monk checks out lottery tickets from a man selling them from his bicycle.
I love this picture.
Thai - Laos border. Does the giant image of the King give
away what country we are in?
The long walk to Laos
Market in Laos
Frogs! Frogs! Frogs! or "gope" in Thai. I do
not find them delicious.
A baby left alone casually napping. I hope she is not for sale.
This is one of my favorite photos. It lists the visa prices to enter Laos for different countries- isn't that prejudice if they're not all the same?! Most of them are $35, except for some reason Canada (top) is $42 and Afghanistan is $40. New Zealand, second from the bottom, once said $30 but now says "$3" (we can only guess how that happened :))
The best part: the bottom line says, "The Other Countries."
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